About Us

Who We Are

We Are the Largest Provider of Affordable Housing in San Bernardino County

The Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino (HACSB) proudly assists low-income households to
attain safe and stable housing through a variety of rental assistance programs funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Through these programs, we serve approximately 24,000 people, most of whom are seniors, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and children.

Our core work is to provide rental assistance to prevent homelessness among low-income households. The
affordable rental housing programs we administer provide a critical safety net for households in San Bernardino County, where it takes nearly twice the minimum wage to afford rent for a two-bedroom apartment. We are working to help build a community where every household has the opportunity to access safe and stable housing by advocating for additional housing resources. Currently, we are able to serve only as many households as our limited funding will support. Unlike many economic assistance programs, the rental assistance programs we administer do not receive additional funding to match the need for assistance. As a result, we can only serve new households as currently assisted households transition out of our programs. While more than 11,000 households are served through our various rental assistance programs, there are more than 100,000 applications on our wait lists. In order to assist households to transition through our programs, we collaborate with many community partners to empower households to leverage safe and stable housing to move toward economic self-sufficiency.

We also assist households to move from renting to purchasing a home through our Homeownership Program, and, along with many partners, we help individuals who were formerly homeless through two Permanent Supportive Housing communities and special purpose voucher programs such as Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) and the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program.

We Are Innovators

HACSB was designated by Congress in 2008 as a Moving to Work (MTW) public housing agency, allowing us to waive some program requirements to develop policies targeting at least one of the three Statutory Objectives of the MTW demonstration program:

  1. Saving taxpayer dollars through efficient work
  2. Helping families achieve economic independence
  3. Ensuring a family’s freedom of housing choice

The MTW designation does not provide any additional funding. However, it has allowed us to modify some administrative processes to attain modest staff time and cost savings that have helped us weather ongoing funding cuts.

We Are Planners for the Future of Affordable Housing

HUD does not provide HACSB with capital funds for the development of additional affordable housing,
and so we have relied on a variety of partners to fill this gap and help us add to the supply of affordable housing in San Bernardino County. Development of new affordable housing has been made possible through funding and loans from San Bernardino County, various cities throughout the county, and other partners. Redevelopment of 80+ year-old Public Housing communities is the central focus of our development projects. This work preserves affordable housing for future generations and often increases the number of affordable housing units while improving the quality of these communities for the households who call them home.

Moving to Work

As a testament to our high performance, in 2008, HACSB was designated by Congress as a Moving to Work (MTW) public housing agency, allowing HACSB to waive some HUD program requirements in order to develop local policies adapted to the diverse communities that make up San Bernardino County. Currently there are 126 designated MTW agencies among the approximately 3,000 housing authorities nationwide.

Using flexibilities permitted through the MTW designation, HASCB has implemented various changes targeting the three MTW Statutory Objectives. These flexibilities are not available to traditional housing authorities, who must adhere to regulatory requirements. To evaluate the impacts of these changes, HACSB partners with Loma Linda University (LLU) for third-party research and evaluation. LLU has conducted nationally recognized research reports and needs assessments of several of our MTW initiatives, helping to inform policy and shape program design.

Click the link below to view our Annual MTW Plans and Annual MTW Reports.

Our Mission

The Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino empowers all individuals and families in need to achieve an enriched quality of life by providing housing opportunities and resources throughout San Bernardino County.

Our Vision

The Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino is committed to creating a world in which all people have a stable and enriched quality of life.

Core Values

Respect | Safety | Integrity | Service | Innovation