Housing Action

Safe, stable, and affordable housing is foundational to the health and vitality of a community. Unfortunately, housing in West Marin is scarce and expensive, making it difficult for local workers and residents to live here.

Restrictive land use policies, infrastructure constraints, high construction costs, and community resistance to new development have created a housing market that often places stable homes beyond reach for many workers and their families.

Our Housing Action initiative aims to accelerate the development and improvement of dignified housing, particularly for lower income service workers and their families in West Marin. Through grantmaking, advocacy, and by convening key partners and community stakeholders, we focus on improving the stability and quality of existing housing in West Marin and the creation of interim and permanent housing. We also work in close partnership with Marin County, Marin Community Foundation, and local community organizations to strengthen the safety net for families who may be facing displacement from their existing housing.

Purpose

Accelerating Housing Solutions

Ensure that efforts to address housing needs are well-informed and coordinated to support sustainable, community-driven housing growth.
Support efforts to develop immediate, interim housing sites for households in extremely substandard housing and most at risk of displacement.
Support efforts to rehabilitate existing and substandard rental housing throughout West Marin by working with local partners and community members to understand resident habitability, health, and safety needs and raise funds necessary to address those needs.
Expand funding for the acquisition and development of new, affordable housing by advocating for policies that are favorable to new development on the most feasible housing element sites.

Grantmaking

Housing Action Grants

Housing Action grants are by invitation only—if you would like to be considered for future grants, contact us to learn more.

See Grant Opportunities

Research for Action

West Marin Housing Solutions Study

In September 2024, West Marin Fund, together with the County of Marin, Marin Community Foundation, and other members of the Committee for Housing Agricultural Workers and Their Families released a study focused on the complex challenges and collaborative solutions needed to address the housing crisis in West Marin.

The study, “Growing Together: Advancing Housing Solutions for Workers in West Marin,” brings together diverse stakeholders — agricultural employers, community land trusts, county agencies, nonprofit organizations, and working families — to lay the foundation for a collaborative approach to solving the region’s housing issues.

To read the full study, explore key findings, and discover actionable recommendations, visit wmhousingsolutions.org.

Collaboration for Impact

Coalition for Housing All Workers & Their Families

This working group was formed in 2022 through a partnership between Marin Community Foundation, the County of Marin, and West Marin Fund to support the need for greater collaboration to solve West Marin’s housing crisis. The coalition includes representatives from all three organizations, as well as from the Bolinas Community Land Trust, Community Land Trust of West Marin, West Marin Community Services, Marin Agricultural Land Trust, the National Park Service and a number of West Marin workers and ranchers.

Coalition members meet regularly to advance action on several of the recommendations identified in the September 2024 West Marin Housing Solutions Study.

“

This isn’t just a bricks-and-mortar issue. This is a people issue — people living in the most dire and challenging circumstances. We need to do more and we need to do it with the level of urgency that is required.
Rhea SuhMarin Community Foundation

Photos by the County of Marin, West Marin Fund.

Community Voices

Housing Action

Two children playing in a fence in a field with white barn-style structures in the background.

March 2025 Housing Update

Our March Housing newsletter update shares timely information about how you can help during this period of significant change in West Marin.

West Marin Housing Study

A groundbreaking study that highlights the complex challenges fueling a housing crisis in West Marin – learn how you can get involved in supporting the study’s recommendations and solutions.