Affordable rentals give a hand up, one family at a time

With rents high for even a small one-bedroom apartment in the East Bay, ride-share driver Lisa Sprague was living well beyond her means just paying her bills, and it only took a few setbacks for her to teeter on the verge of being homeless. But then she spoke with her pastor, who knew a way for her to get a roof over her head for a reasonable cost.

“I was giving it my best effort and working incredibly hard, but it became completely untenable in the last six months to a year,” the Lafayette resident said, noting she felt “trapped.” “No matter what my best efforts were, I would not have been able to catch up, I would not have been able to pay the back money that I owed and pay rent.”

Without a steady income and benefits from a full-time regular job, Sprague, like many, was just a paycheck or two away from “horrible things,” she said.

“In my case, it’s like if my back acts up for like a week or more, then that’s it,” the gig worker said. “I’m already so far behind the eight ball at that point, it just snowballs.”

Fortunately, Pastor Shawn Robinson from the Clayton Community Church had heard about a nonprofit, the Yellow Roof Foundation, which builds rental homes and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for people like Sprague who are working but still can barely afford to rent in the Bay Area. The foundation’s name symbolizes hope, which it aims to provide through its affordable housing.

Clayton is one of four East Bay communities where the DeNova Homes’ charitable arm has built or is in the process of building such rental homes. There are also ones in Pittsburg and others are planned in Oakley, Antioch and Solano County, many transforming city surplus or donated lands into affordable home sites.

Founded five years ago by Dave and Lori Sanson, owners of DeNova Homes of Concord, Yellow Roof aims to assist those who are hardworking, contributing members of their community but are experiencing hard times due to circumstances beyond their control and are at risk of becoming homeless. The foundation’s name symbolizes hope, which it aims to provide through its affordable rental housing.

As the housing crisis continues to grow in California – especially as the amount of affordable housing shrinks – so has the population on the verge of homelessness, the Sansons say.

The nonprofit’s first venture, Gonsalves Village, was in Pittsburg, where Yellow Roof built three homes and three ADUs on surplus city land it acquired downtown last year.

“When we founded Yellow Roof Foundation, we made it a priority to work with local jurisdictions on acquiring and developing successor agencies (former redevelopment) and surplus parcels to provide rental housing at below-market rates,” said Lori Sanson. “That is exactly what we are accomplishing in Oakley, and we are so thankful that the city is joining us in a solution to address the housing crisis in the region.”

Eight more units will be built on surplus land Yellow Roof recently acquired from Oakley. The land, three-quarters of an acre, will be used to create the foundation’s third collection of homes in the greater Bay Area. Construction will begin soon on four houses, all of which will include ADUs. Homes will range from 740 to 1,475 square feet, with one- and three-bedroom plans available.

For its fourth neighborhood in the Bay Area, Yellow Roof is negotiating the purchase of surplus land in Antioch. Once the purchase is completed, the foundation plans to build 10 affordable units.

Privately funded, the foundation ensures that none of its residents pay more than 30% of their income in one of its income-based affordable communities, according to DeNova officials.

“You know, the cost of living in California is not an easy thing,” Robinson said, noting Sprague was on the verge of being evicted and having her car repossessed when he referred her to the Yellow Roof program, which had two affordable homes with tenants yet to be selected in Clayton.

Robinson had helped Sprague when she moved back to Clayton from New Orleans many years ago to take care of her ailing mother, he said. She later got into a bad car accident, and the pastor connected her with church members who had a room for rent and eventually helped her find the Lafayette apartment closer to her work.

Sprague had been a professional cellist in New Orleans, but existing on a musician’s salary in the Bay Area would have been impossible, she said, and her health problems didn’t help. So, the Clayton native took to driving for Uber to pay expenses.

“She was gifted, kind of a rising star (musician), and then you know, with that accident and her mom’s death, it just kind of happened all at once and it just set her way back,” Robinson said. “It was just getting to a point where she just was not making it, and so we just prayed for her to find some other resource.”

The pastor said he was skeptical at first when Yellow Roof’s program coordinator reached out to him and other pastors, but he soon “was impressed” with the program.

“They (the developer) are building homes, but they also seriously care for people in need,” he said, noting that the rent is less than one-third of what Sprague had been paying.

And, though Robinson said Yellow Roof may only help a few residents at a time, he said that help is life-changing and he’s impressed with “anybody who’s making an effort to make a difference in people’s lives,” getting nothing in return.

“They could have just gone about like everybody else who’s out for greed and money, but they said part of what we want to be is giving back and giving people a hand-up, not a handout.”

Under the program, Sprague will enjoy the low-cost rental for three years. Job assistance and financial classes are also available to help tenants get back on their feet. After three years, another tenant will be given the same opportunity.

“So the hope – and I believe it’s going to happen – is that she’s going to be able to save some money so that when that three-year program is over, she’s a little more steady on her feet,” Robinson said. “I think she’s going to thrive.”

Sprague recently moved into the Yellow Roof 350-square-foot ADU. It is next to a new 1,580-square-foot home that the nonprofit also built. A young family of four has been selected for that house, according to Yellow Roof officials.

The ADU may seem small, but it is a new beginning for Sprague, who said she will be relieved to just sit in her own place after dealing with so much stress from past financial burdens.

Sprague hopes too that she will finally be able to get back to playing music, too, though she no longer has a cello.

“It’s actually giving me an incredible opportunity at sort of a rebirth at the age of 55,” she said.

The foundation plans a “Raise the Roof” fundraiser event April 30 at The Culinary Institute of America at Copia with country music Grammy Award winner Carly Pearce providing the entertainment. Tickets start at $175 each and can be reserved at https://bit.ly/3xompgz.

More information on the Yellow Roof Foundation is available at www.yellowrooffoundation.org