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Nonprofit and business leaders discuss Southern California housing crisis and Latino homeownership gap
SAN BERNARDINO, CA—-– On Monday, August 7th, Rep. Pete Aguilar hosted a roundtable with representatives from UnidosUS and Neighborhood Housing Services of the Inland Empire (NHSIE) to discuss how California’s housing crisis is affecting the Latino community and steps Congress has taken to address this crisis.
“In our community, securing affordable housing has become more and more difficult for families. This issue particularly impacts the Latino community, whose homeownership rate is still below 50% as of 2022,” said Rep. Aguilar. “Everyone needs to work together to tackle this crisis with the urgency and seriousness that it deserves. We’re doing that here in the Inland Empire and across California, but much more needs to be done.”
“The Inland Empire will play a critical role in growing the number of homeowners in the state of California over the next serval years and this is why gatherings such as this roundtable are vital, it encourages collaboration between local communities’ members while sharing directly with our elected representation, Congressman Pete Aguilar, the needs here in the Inland Empire. NHSIE was delighted to open its door to the community and partner with UnidosUS. We look forward to continuing our 40-year mission of creating homeownership opportunities alongside UnidosUS in partnership with all who attend and support this cause,” said Kailin Scott, CEO and Executive Director of NHSIE.
“There are 8 million Latinos nationwide who are ready to buy a home. In California only 46% of Latinos are homeowners, which is 18 percentage points lower than the non-Hispanic White population. Yet in spite these challenges, there are 1.9 million Latinos aged 18-45 in California who are considered ‘mortgage ready’. Given that Latino homeowners have 28 times the wealth of Latino renters, it’s clear that removing barriers to the American Dream for Latinos would close the wealth gap, stabilize our neighborhoods, and fuel our economy,” said Esmeralda Lopez, California State Director of UnidosUS.
