A unique public-service Web site for those seeking subsidized housing made its debut recently thanks to a collaboration of community, non-profit, and philanthropic agencies.

Unfortunately, the site is unique, in part, because it provides one-stop affordable housing shopping for residents only in Santa Clara County, CA, a community of more than 1.5 million residents. In the area also known as Silicon Valley, the listed rental housing is also only for those who earn significantly less than the county's median income of $96,000 for a family of four.

HousingSCC.orglists more than 10,000 rental apartments users can search by square-footage, rent, waiting list status, on-site social services and other categories.

The site was developed and funded by the Community Technology Alliance, Housing for Independent People, Inc., the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Sobrato Family Foundation, and the California cities of San Jose, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale.

The new Web site is also unique because it may be the first of its kind, designed specifically for both families seeking subsidized housing and social workers who provide home finding assistance.

The National Multi Housing Council says it knows of no other similar site.

Right now, HousingSCC.org provides links to housing available in housing communities, but plans later to include housing available through private Section 8 landlords with individual, scattered home sites.

Without such a site, subsidized housing residents typically must tediously contact one city after another, one agency after another and even go from property to property to get on waiting lists for much sought-after affordable housing in Santa Clara County, where the median price of homes is more than a half million dollars and rents average more than $1,200 a month.

"This is the first I've heard of. The concept is an excellent one, as there has been no coordination of affordable housing units on line or off line," said Terry Feinberg, executive vice president of the Arizona Multihousing Association in Phoenix. Feinberg left a similar job in Silicon Valley to take the Phoenix post.

The Silicon Valley group launched the site at an opportune time when vacancies are up and waiting lists have shortened somewhat.

The Web site has a tool that lets users determine eligibility for government subsidized housing based on income and family size. Then users can search for housing by eligibility status, type of housing, and area, among other factors. The site also has online sign up access to nearly 100 waiting lists and information about home-hunting strategies, tenants rights, eviction prevention and more.

The Web site also offers HelpSCC.org a sub site with links to referral agencies offering assistance for food, housing, health, children, seniors, employment and financial, social and medical emergencies. Some of the sister-site resources are also available in neighboring Santa Cruz County.

A Construction Pipeline page, which itself is under construction, will later inform visitors about the building status of subsidized housing currently in the pipeline.

Published: July 31, 2002

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.