Orange County Community Housing Corp
PROGRAMS
SteppingUP Program - Financial Self-Sufficiency
The combination of affordable housing and FREE program services provides a direct path from homelessness to homeownership through OCCHC’s SteppingUP Program. By strengthening family self-sufficiency, SteppingUP’s Financial Self-Sufficiency focuses on Adult Education and assists minority families in stabilizing their housing, employment and income that will improve financial self-sufficiency during economic hardships and lead to the stepping up to market rate housing or first-time homeownership.
* Provide residents and the community with the services and resources needed during uncertain times such as payment plans, budgeting, and connecting residents to employment opportunities that will assist in getting them on a path to self-sufficiency;
* Remove barriers to sustainable homeownership through the provision of one-on-one counseling sessions creating individual action plans focused on the 4 C’s of financial progress that will lead to homeownership and assisting each of our families in unique financial circumstances with the financial education to become potential homebuyers;
* Expand education by providing 24 bilingual workshops to at least 800 individuals and a Community Resources Event focusing on budgeting, financial education & homeownership empowering individuals to take control of their financial future and gain access to capital and banking services while also providing the necessary steps needed to step up to homeownership including the FREE 8-hour workshops that meets the National Industry Standards for homeownership education.
SteppingUP Program - College Access Program (CAP)
Founded in 2006, the College Access Program (CAP) was created to increase high school graduation rates and expand access to higher education for historically underrepresented first-generation students from low-income households. As CAP enters its 20th anniversary, the program has grown from serving 26 students in its first year to supporting more than 600 students and 223 parents in 2025 alone. CAP is a free, year-round program serving first-generation high school students from low-income households. The program offers after-school individual and group advising sessions, campus tours, student and parent workshops, and educational excursions designed to support students throughout the college preparation process
* Serve 600 at-risk youth annually and ensure on-time high school graduation and college readiness;
* Increase postsecondary knowledge and enrollment for first-generation students;
* Increase career-connected learning opportunities for high school students;
* Strengthen college-going identity and academic confidence;
* Alumni enroll in college and persist beyond the first year at rates exceeding regional first-generation peers;
* Increase parent capacity to support college access and financial decision-making;
* Develop a culturally responsive college-to-career workforce pipeline in education, counseling, and community service.
Affordable Housing
Affordability remains the nation’s largest housing challenge. In California 1 in every 3 households has insufficient income to meet the basic costs of living. A large gap makes it impossible for those earning less than median income to try to buy or rent in high-cost housing markets like Orange County and even larger gap for underserved families. As an affordable housing non-profit, OCCHC's unique stance in developing and owning all of its units allows it to enhance the lives of at-risk families provided with a stable environment conducive to learning and self-improvement. OCCHC works with local transitional housing and homeless shelters to provide a permanent, affordable home for at-risk families where they can stabilize their housing and build upon the continuum of care through its signature program SteppingUP. Over the past 48 years, OCCHC has grown to be one of the largest providers of affordable housing dedicated to serving the extremely low-income population (30% AMI) in Orange County. OCCHC is committed to the preservation and creation of affordable housing throughout Orange County and continues its efforts in the development of affordable housing including its most recent 84-unit project, Espaira, at The Great Park in Irvine. Affordable Housing Development efforts continue at OCCHC as we partner with fellow affordable housing developers to create the affordable housing needed for families facing homelessness.
*Stabilize affordable housing for over 300 underserved families (over 1,200 individuals) once facing homelessness.
*Preservation of affordability for over 314 housing units at 28 sites housing at-risk families.
*Collaboration with local non-profits and housing shelters to transition 100 individuals of at-risk families to OCCHC who are in need of a stable and affordable place to call home.
*Continued efforts on the creation of permanent affordable housing with continued efforts on the acquisition, rehabilitation and creation of additional affordable housing throughout Orange County.
CONTACT
Orange County Community Housing Corp
501 N. Golden Circle Drive
Suite 200
Santa Ana, CA 92705
Erin Gunther
Phone: 714-558-8161