We are thrilled to honor our 2024 Changemakers for this year’s Soiree by the Bay: Mayor Jesse Arreguin and Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services. In this spotlight, we are honoring the work of Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services as Community Partner of the Year in Northern California.
Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services (RNHS) was founded in 1981 by a dedicated group of low-income Richmond residents. Since then, RNHS has worked to strengthen low-income families and neighborhoods by promoting affordable housing. RNHS is proud to be Black-founded and Black-led.
In addition to providing affordable housing for low-income renters and families across the Greater East Bay in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties, some of RNHS's most impactful programs include:
- The groundbreaking RNHS Homeownership Program, which has supported over 300 first-time homebuyers since 2017
- The Emerging Developer Program, which has supported 90 new Black, Indigenous, and people of color development industry professionals through five cohorts and counting
- The Money Matters financial literacy program, which has supported 331 residents with financial literacy courses in the community since 2022
- The Protect Your Legacy (PYL) Program, which started this year to support low-income seniors to create their living trusts
Nikki Beasley leads this important work as RNHS's executive director. With over 25 years in banking, she joined RNHS in 2016, doubling its rental portfolio and launching key initiatives. Nikki is a leading advocate in the Bay Area for homeownership, community reinvestment, and equitable programs. She serves on various boards and committees, addressing the wealth gap and disparities in communities of color through innovative homeownership projects.
RNHS, and especially Nikki, caught the attention of Enterprise through our shared work in 2016 on Measure KK in Oakland – an infrastructure and housing bond that funded affordable housing, including the purchase of unsubsidized affordable homes. She was passionate and had a model that was innovative and, at the time, unfamiliar to most Enterprise staff. She worked on small-scale properties to make them permanently affordable, especially with a keen eye toward homeownership for people of color.
Over the years, Enterprise has been proud to partner with RNHS to grow its geography, capacity, and portfolio. We have supported RNHS with Section 4 grants and an Equitable Path Forward line of credit. They have been taking careful steps to grow their scale. We are lucky to learn alongside and from Nikki and her team as we continue to develop a Small Sites Program with our preservation cohort. The organization has so much brilliance to share, and we are proud to honor their brilliance at this year’s Soiree!