The Century Community Fund (CCF) expands our mission to advance equitable housing and community development. Through impact-driven investments and grants, we aim to address the barriers to housing, employment, and other opportunities for stability that residents disproportionately face in low-wealth communities.
Daisy is the daughter of farmworkers and the oldest of her siblings. Her family has endured many obstacles, including financial instability: “As a first-generation immigrant in the United States, my knowledge and my parents’ knowledge of financial matters was close to nothing, we knew just enough to get by,” said Daisy.
Throughout high school, Daisy has been part of her apartment building’s teen leadership council, run by CHISPA (Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association, Inc.), Monterey County’s largest nonprofit housing developer. In 2022, the California Coalition for Rural Housing provided financial assistance for CHISPA’s teen leaders, using a grant from Century. CHISPA facilitated financial literacy training for the students who used the funds to start and manage savings accounts. Daisy shared, “Due to this program, I started to accumulate basic knowledge that I lacked to be financially successful. This program has started my journey to be financially literate and open my first bank account.”
Daisy has persevered despite hardships – and will soon be the first in her family to graduate from high school and attend a four-year college: She is bound for Stanford University on a full scholarship and plans to major in mathematics…
…“What excites me the most is starting a new chapter in my life after high school and attending Stanford. I can’t wait for the many adventures that it will bring along and having my family along with me through the journey.”
Sergio grew up in an Orange County neighborhood where gang violence was the norm. As a teenager, he experienced being incarcerated. Wanting to better his life, he committed himself to positive transformation, beginning with his education.
Sergio joined Project Rebound at Cal State Fullerton, a community-based program for formerly incarcerated students interested in academic careers. While earning his bachelor’s degree, he lived in the program’s residence – the first housing community for formerly incarcerated university students in the nation. “It took a long time to get used to the quiet,” said Sergio. “The program gave us peer support, book and meal support, parking passes – everything we needed to become successful students.”
With a community backing him, Sergio flourished at Cal State Fullerton and became a student leader. He didn’t stop once he received his bachelor’s degree – Sergio is pursuing his master’s degree in higher education, which he is set to receive in May 2023. He plans to pursue his doctorate in education and hopes to one day become a dean.
Sergio also serves as a housing coordinator at the residence that provided him peace and stability as an undergraduate: “I’m a role model for the students currently there, and I help to motivate them and get them on track…
…“This program embeds in students the desire to pay it forward and give back to their community.”
CCF made individual grants of $30,000 to multiple organizations across the state for student scholarships: California Coalition for Rural Housing, California State University Project Rebound, Venice Community Housing, and Coalition for Responsible Community Development.
Financial difficulties pose barriers to students from low-income communities hoping to be the first in their families to attend college. Through scholarships to nonprofit organizations—which then awarded the scholarships to community members—CCF is helping ambitious students pursue their educational goals and make strides toward personal and professional success.
In 2022, CCF provided an infusion of capital to Pacific Coast Regional Business Finance (PCR), a CDFI that offers small business and micro lending, especially to minority borrowers. The partnership between CCF and PCR will help fill an essential gap in the market, as underserved communities historically have faced barriers to accessing capital. With the $350,000 investment from CCF, PCR has since made a loan to the South Los Angeles-based nonprofit Coalition for Responsible Community Development that will benefit its construction division, CRCD Enterprises. Participants in CRCD Enterprises provide services, such as neighborhood beautification, while receiving job training.
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Century Housing Corporation is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution financing affordable housing development throughout California. Century Villages at Cabrillo, Inc. and Century Affordable Development, Inc. are independent nonprofit entities affiliated with Century Housing Corporation.