A local program is making a dent in San Diego’s housing crisis—helping dozens of first-time buyers finally get the keys to their own homes.
The Access Granted Homebuyer Program has already helped more than 100 San Diegans become homeowners across the county, including in Spring Valley.
For 64-year-old Stanley Greene, the program has been life-changing.
For years, Greene spent his free time playing guitar—but never in a place he could truly call his own. Now, he’s strumming inside his own condo.
“I love it because I finally have control,” Greene said.
After years of renting, Greene says it became increasingly difficult to stay afloat financially.
“It’s more difficult trying to have enough income to do it,” he said. “I received two eviction notices here in San Diego, and I was just ready to forget renting—let me live in my car.”
That’s when he discovered the Access Granted Homebuyer Program, which helped him become a first-time homeowner later in life.
The program is a partnership between the San Diego Foundation, LISC San Diego and the Urban League of San Diego County. It provides down payment assistance along with financial education—designed not just to help people buy homes, but keep them.
For Greene, the impact has gone far beyond finances.
“You’re talking relief and peace. Those things are so important—to have relief and peace,” he said.
San Diego remains one of the most expensive housing markets in the country, making homeownership out of reach for many. But since launching in 2021, the program has helped open doors for more than 100 residents like Greene.
Leaders say education is just as critical as financial support.
“Access Granted has given people a place to be able to close that gap and to become a homeowner—and to have the security of not seeing escalating rent prices and the fear that often comes with not being certain whether they will be able to afford rent on an ongoing basis,” said Pamela Gray Payton with the San Diego Foundation.
Greene says without the program, his future would look very different.
“If I could turn back time and I didn’t find the program, I’d still be living with my sister. I’d still be trying to save as much money as possible,” he said. “But even when you save enough money, the goal moves again—and it moves again.”
Now, instead of chasing a moving target, Greene says he’s finally found stability—and a place to call home.
