Props. 1, 2 would create affordable housing

As a lifelong renter, I know how precarious housing is in the Bay Area. My grandmother worked tirelessly to raise my siblings and me, thankful to even keep a roof over our heads. When I was in college, just as she started needing me to care for her, we were told our home was being torn down.

I know housing insecurity isn’t an abstract idea; I’ve lived it. And far too many of our children, families and seniors around the Bay Area are living it every day, too. One missed paycheck or an unexpected car repair or medical bill can leave families with little room to keep up with rising housing costs.

We must create more affordable housing and confront the related crisis of homelessness, not only in San Francisco but throughout the Bay Area.

This November, voters have the opportunity to do exactly that. We can support California Proposition 1, the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act, and Proposition 2, the No Place Like Home initiative. Both create the affordable housing that children, families, veterans, people with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness need.

A good job, or even five jobs, is often not enough to guarantee a safe, stable home. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a minimum wage worker would need to work 218 hours a week to afford a modest twobedroom rental home in San Francisco.

Prop. 1 is projected to build at least 50,000 affordable housing units, create 137,000 jobs and inject $23.4 billion into California’s economy. It pairs state bond revenue with federal and local funding to maximize housing opportunities for people all over the Bay Area.

Prop. 2 supports people suffering from serious mental illness and homelessness by building stable housing and expanding mental health services. It would create up to 20,000 permanent supportive housing units and pair that housing with mental health, substance use and medical care. Prop. 2 would strengthen partnerships among doctors, law enforcement, mental health and homeless service providers to help people living with mental illness who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

I am dedicated to keeping people in the affordable homes they have now, helping those without affordable homes get access to them, and developing the supportive housing that those suffering from serious mental illness need. But this isn’t just about San Francisco, and cities alone can’t solve these problems.

We need solutions that can help the entire Bay Area address affordable housing and homelessness. We need to come together and meet this challenge with regional and statewide strategies.

Let’s take the first step by saying yes to Props. 1 and 2 on Nov. 6.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Mayor London Breed speaks at the opening of an affordable housing complex in Chinatown in September.