User Spotlight: Meet SF’s William Walker
Born and raised in San Francisco, community organizer William Walker is on a mission to ensure generations of Black families, including his own, are able to own their homes and stay in the city.
William Walker is an incredible force in San Francisco. He’s a San Francisco Community College + UC Berkeley graduate and works two jobs: one as a Southeast Community Organizer for SF Transit Riders and the other as a substitute teacher.
William wants to run for local office one day represent native San Franciscans and offer greater support to lower income neighborhoods that face significant challenges in affordability during the booming periods of intense growth and change in the city.
William’s mother moved to San Francisco in the 1960’s. Here’s his story in his own words:
“In 1969, my mom moved to San Francisco in search of opportunity, employment, a new life. She escaped the explosive Newark (NJ) riots to arrive to a Bay Area plagued with its own controversies. She sought to purchase a home of her own but was denied for not having a credit card. The year was 1971. She was a first Black employee at a Peninsula branch of Bank of California. That wouldn’t allow her to overcome the racist practices of the banking industry that prevented her from applying for home loans or even seeing apartments. She’s been a renter in Diamond Heights for over 40 years. I, too, would like the same solace.
For the past 10 years I have been a proud renter in San Francisco’s historic Lakeview, just three blocks from my grandaunt’s first home in OMI on Margaret Avenue, and another four blocks from her last on Holloway. No longer is this a place for Black Americans to easily enter the housing market. I’ve lived under two absent landlords, the second of which has been posting illegal eviction notices, requiring unnecessary inspections, and making it a nuisance for me to live there.
Because of the Dreamkeeper Initiative, I now have the opportunity to purchase the home I live in with a down payment assistance loan from Mayor London Breed’s Office of Housing and Community Development.”
London Breed became mayor of San Francisco in 2018. She is the first black woman and second black person after Willie Brown, as well as the second woman following Dianne Feinstein, to be elected mayor of San Francisco. Born and raised in SF, London’s mayoral work has included a number of initiatives to help keep the city affordable and accessible to communities that would otherwise quickly be priced out.
Mayor Breed's expansive $120M Dreamkeeper Initiative includes a Downpayment Assistance Loan Program to help low to middle-income buyers to compete in San Francisco’s high-cost housing market.
Image Credit: San Francisco Chronicle
The Dreamkeeper Initiative’s downpayment assistance loan program offers qualified buyers up to $500,000 as a loan for down payment on a home. According to the program guidelines, “the DK-DALP is a silent second loan that requires no monthly payments. When the property is sold or transferred, the owner pays MOHCD back the principal amount of the loan, plus an equitable share of appreciation.”
HousePlant is a strong supporter of creative ways to make down payments more accessible and realistic in today’s economy. We applaud programs for shared down payment support with repayment upon sale of the home and distribution of some of the accrued value of the home. It’s a total win win.
Additionally, HousePlant can be a great supplement to these programs by helping prospective homebuyers crowdsource additional gifts and very-low-interest simple loans to help boost their down payment purchasing power within a supported program.
William Walker is using HousePlant to help fund the additional down payment and closing costs for his participation in the Dreamkeeper Initiative as he makes history in his family buying a home here in San Francisco.
William’s story is an important one because his experiences and struggles are what fuels his dream and goals to create stable, consistent housing and pride + security of home ownership.
“Since 2001, I have lived in 23 places. That’s on average 1 place every 11 months. Considering I’ve been at the same address for ten years, that average drops to about one apartment every six months. Many of my stays were for less than a month, which has been very destabilizing.
Over that two decades, I dropped out of countless colleges and universities, often lost jobs, and found it very challenging to maintain relationships. Housing insecurity is very disruptive. I still managed to run three campaigns for office, complete my associate degree and my Bachelor’s in Urban Studies. I hope the next chapter of my life can be spent working to solve housing insecurity and transportation injustices for folks like you and me to make California and the world a better, more sustainable place for all of us to live.”
William has incredible drive and worked so diligently achieve his goals. It’s an honor to work alongside him and we can’t wait to send him a special housewarming gift when he purchases and moves in to his very own home. But first, we have work to do!
Can you pitch in to support William? Check out his HousePlant Ask page and pitch in today!
“My ask of you that have read this far, is to consider donating to my fundraiser. All proceeds will go toward the closing costs of the purchase of my home. Those costs, on a $1.3 million in San Francisco will be nearly $100,000. I also hope to build a website to discuss some of the inequities caused by public policy and discuss some solutions as well. All donors will be invited to my website on these matters.
Thank you for your consideration.”
- William Walker”
