Chinatown Community Development Center

Today, the Chinatown Community Development Center is at the forefront of community advocacy, planning, and affordable housing development in the City of San Francisco. Chinatown CDC has 34 properties in San Francisco neighborhoods, providing affordable housing to over 4,500 low income families, adults, and seniors.

Chinatown CDC works with community members young and old every day to help build a stronger community in Chinatown and across San Francisco.

Picture hundreds of high school youth working together to clean up Chinatown and then seeing some of them lead a Chinatown Tour. Imagine Chinatown Alleyways being renovated and filled with art, murals, new lighting and the occasional music street fair.

Picture 700 seniors, children, youth, and single room occupancy (SRO) families all coming together every month to learn what is happening in local policies, gain leadership skills, and plan for a safer Chinatown. Picture our kids and youth doing arts and crafts with the seniors at one of our buildings like the International Hotel.

Picture a multicultural holiday celebration in one of our Chinatown CDC buildings like Tenderloin Family Housing, or a huge Russian and Chinese Cultural kitchen at Notre Dame Apartments.

Our Program Teams--Community Planning, Organizing, Civic Engagement, Resident Services, Youth Leadership--all work together to build our communities. We envision neighborhoods that celebrate empowerment, neighborhood improvement, and positive community change.

Chinatown CDC's Strategic Plan

Goals:

A. Continue to build and strengthen organizational capacity and sustainability.

B. Address rising rents and SRO gentrification in Chinatown.

C. Preserve and enhance Chinatown as a place of economic vitality and strong cultural identity.

D. Continue to increase impact of Chinatown CDC affordable housing development

E. Continue to invest in Property Management and Resident Services to serve our tenants.

Today, the Chinatown Community Development Center is at the forefront of community advocacy, planning, and affordable housing development in the City of San Francisco. Some say Chinatown CDC does the work of many organizations in one. That may have to do with our beginnings as five organizations.


The Beginning

On April 1, 1977, five grassroots organizations came together and created the nonprofit community development organization the Chinatown Resource Center (CRC). The newly formed CRC comprised of organizations that advocated for affordable housing, tenant rights, open space, transportation and revitalization issues –

1.) Committee for Better Parks and Recreation in Chinatown (CBP&RC), founded in 1968, advocated for open space and recreation areas in Chinatown.
2.) Chinatown Coalition for Better Housing (CCBH), founded in 1972, advocated and organized for affordable housing.
3.) Ping Yuen Residents Improvement Association (PYRIA), founded in 1968, advocated for tenant rights, and continues to be one of the most active public housing tenant associations in San Francisco today.
4.) Chinatown Transportation Research and Improvement Project (Chinatown TRIP), founded in 1974, advocated and planned for Chinatown‘s transportation needs.
5.) Chinatown Coalition for Neighborhood Facilities, founded in the 1970s, advocated for funding for a neighborhood facility in Chinatown.

By 1978, the Chinese Community Housing Corporation (CCHC) was established as a subsidiary of CRC to provide safe and decent affordable housing. CRC and CCHC worked closely to integrate housing development activities into an overall neighborhood improvement strategy.


Chinatown CDC Today

On January 1, 1998, the Chinatown Resource Center and the Chinese Community Housing Corporation merged to become the Chinatown Community Development Center. The two organizations combined into one to better serve our constituencies as a community development corporation.

We now have a single Board of Directors with 27 members. The Chinatown CDC is perhaps the closest representation of a traditional community development corporation (CDC) in the San Francisco Bay Area, providing advocacy, planning, organizing, housing development, construction, and property management for neighborhoods across the city.

Chinatown CDC Impacts in 2019:

1.) 4,513 residents living in Chinatown CDC properties

2.) 1,805 residents participated in resident services, activities, workshops and programs at least once this year

3.) 642 clients received counseling to help stabilize their housing

4.) 2,379 Chinatown CDC residents over the age of 65 years

5.) 1,790 average annual attendance of SRO families at Super Sundays to learn about community issues and resources

6.) 3,486 hours contributed by youth leaders to build community and leadership

7.) 440 units of housing under construction

8.) 1,790 Community Tenant Association members attend monthly town hall meetings to increase awareness on issues impacting vulnerable immigrant populations