# New Way Homes A new, scalable solution for creating affordable and below-market-rate housing ## Elevator pitch New Way Homes funds and creates below-market-rate rental housing: affordable, workforce, supportive, and other discounted housing that is all financially sustainable.  We are proving a scalable new model for filling the HUGE housing production gap.  We often partner with non-profit land owners like churches who have available land for mission-driven housing. We do not compete for the scarce, government dollars for housing construction that are already fully used.  - Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/new.way.homes - Entity ID: wefunder:company:55469 - Last updated: 2026-06-04T05:02:16Z - Generated at: 2026-06-05T04:11:02Z ## Quick facts - You can make impact now. We've started construction on our first 19 homes, with 300+ in permitting. - You can invest in scaling a solution: our model can grow the missing part of the housing industry. - You can increase housing equity: many of our projects are creating housing owned by Black churches. - Our funders include Dignity Health, Facebook, Community Foundations in Santa Cruz & Silicon Valley. - You'll earn a steady return: we have a 4-year track record of making all interest payments. - Thousands of non-profits own land & want to develop affordable housing; we unlock that potential. - There isn't close to enough government funding to meet the growing affordable housing need. - Our team has decades of experience permitting, designing, operating housing & social services. ## Active fundraises - wefunder:fundraise:29613: 4(a)(6) successful (USD) ## Story In many regions, housing is too expensive, leading to rapidly increasing displacement, homelessness, length of commutes, overcrowding, and poverty. These changes affect everyone but are disproportionately displacing and burdening lower-income communities of color—the same communities that have long faced housing discrimination. New Way Homes creates new below-market-rate, affordable, and supportive housing by pairing private impact investment with non-profit landowners and new development strategies. A majority of our current and future projects are partnerships with black churches, with those organizations gaining the long-term full ownership of the housing. Sibley, President of New Way Homes, co-founded an initiative that has helped over 950 chronic and veteran homeless individuals into permanent housing in Santa Cruz County alone. But, homelessness continues to rise. California now has the highest poverty rate in the US (including housing costs) at 23.8% and rising. Yet, the state is building only about half the housing each year needed just for new demand.We re-designed the housing development structure from the ground up to create less expensive housing. Here’s how our model works:We've seen our community being torn apart. Just in Santa Cruz, we have half the families with young children than we had 20 years ago. We have less economic and racial diversity. We have more people becoming homeless — even those who have and keep employment. We have teachers commuting for hours because they can’t afford to live in their school districts. Every one of these problems trace back in part to the same thing — our housing crisis. It is causing or making each of these challenges much worse. Working on any of these problems directly without also solving the housing crisis is not enough. Our country needs a housing industry that can meet demand while also being equitable and putting people first.So in 2015, Sibley founded New Way Homes to be a big part of the solution to the underlying problem of housing affordability.We need far more housing and to have that housing really help people live affordably…. So, we’re building it! Our first 19 units (all either supportive housing or low-income affordable housing) are fully approved and being constructed. Our next 6 projects are under design and permitting - these projects include over 300 units ranging from very low-income housing to moderate-income housing for people like teachers, nurses, and so many other essential jobs in our community.Having succeeded in getting our first projects fully approved and funded, we are now raising capital to accelerate our work. We're ready to create these next 6 projects AND start engaging with dozens of other non-profit landowners who have already come to us. Here are some of the projects we're working on.We are actively exploring potential projects with churches, schools, cultural organizations, and many other parties. With your help, we're ready to accelerate this work. We hope you will be a part of our effort to create a new part of the housing industry. By lending New Way Homes funds for 10 years, you'll get a steady, annual interest payment and help solve one of the biggest underlying problems our society faces. ## FAQ 1. **Just to be clear, if I were to invest via this form, it would not be a donation, right? I could expect to get my investment back plus 4.25% interest (with a certain degree of risk, of course)? It very much seems that this is the case, but wading through all the financial termi...** - Wren, yes, you are right!  Even though we are a 501c3 nonprofit, these are not donations (and so not tax deductible).  The principal is due back to you at the end of the approximately 10-year time period.  We can pay that back because construction or permanent financing pays the $ from projects back to the NWH fund.  Our first two projects have already done this payback to the fund, and that capital is being reused on next projects.  Thank you so much for yo... 2. **Great idea. I truly appreciate that. I would had invested if it was not a Loan. I only prefer equity in the company.....** - Thanks Sagar.  Of course as a nonprofit, there is no equity ownership in our org by anyone.  But I appreciate the positive comment about the mission. 3. **When does this investment opportunity close. And do the payouts begin Ten Years After one invest** - Paul, we don't have an exact plan for that - we're seeing how this goes. As I understand it, the legal limits are a) we have to close the campaign by a date in early March at the latest, and b) the maximum we can raise in crowdfunding is $1,070,000. Since housing takes a lot of $ and we have many opportunities to do great housing projects, we may well keep the campaign open until we hit one of those limits or the other. On your second question - the payouts begin in year 1. We pay out in Q1 o... 4. **Hi Sibley! Are there any plans for New Way Homes to expand outside of California? Meaning, would you eventually like to build homes in other states?** - Thanks A.J.  There are not such plans today.  While I wouldn't rule it out completely, the fact is that CA needs over 2 million more homes for its population today, so it's hard to see past that.  That said, we want to maximize our impact.  I could see us approaching this in a couple ways once we have larger-scale proven success in CA.  Here are my quick thoughts.a) us having mission-driven activities that promote helping _other_ people doing ... 5. **A very interesting project. I wish you luck. Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but where does the money come from to repay investors? I saw 'construction funds' in the FAQ, but what does that mean? Isn't that what investors are providing? If not, what exactly are investor...** - Brand,Thanks for asking for clarification.  The funds we raise here are used for pre-development, which basically refers to all the work that goes into a project before construction can start.  That's the lengthiest part of the project by far and the most uncertain; therefore the hardest part to fund.  It includes establishing land partnerships in our case, and then investigation of the site (often environmental studies, surveying, infrastructure studies), then design... ## Team - Sibley V. Simon (President) - Alyssa Willett (Chief Financial Analyst, Envision Housing) - Pastor Raymond Lankford (Community Liason, Consultant) - Lexi Love (Intern & Lexi-of-all-trades) - Micah Silvey (Board Member ) - Christine Sippl (Board Member ) - James Rector (Treasurer) - Robert Singleton (Secretary of the Board) - Kimberly Edmonds (Board Member ) - Aura Oslapas (Board Member ) - Owen Lawlor (Board Member ) - Andrew Ow (Board Member) - Uche Uwahemu (Board Member ) ## Recent posts - Live at 10:30: Let's Zoom-Celebrate (2021-04-30T17:01:52Z) - Outer Space Already has a Housing Shortage? (2021-04-29T16:08:36Z) - You're Invited to Zoom-Celebrate: Our First Project is 99% Done (2021-04-28T23:58:14Z) - Genesis Worship Center Nears Completion (2021-04-25T15:30:16Z) - We purchased 8930 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland! With the help of our Wefunder investors. (2021-04-22T18:16:59Z) - Invest Funds from Your Retirement Account in New Way Homes (2021-04-08T21:57:51Z) - Project Update: She's Up! (2021-04-07T17:53:42Z) - Calling All Housing Advocates: Housing Element Kickoff - Friday, March 12 - 10am - 11:15am (2021-03-12T15:03:06Z) - Meet Santa Cruz County‘s new affordable housing advocates. They’re inspiring! (2021-02-13T00:21:40Z) - Oakland Affordable Housing Site Cleanup (2021-02-04T02:03:30Z) - Not one city in California is on the list despite for decades having most of the biggest supply/demand imbalances and highest prices. We have work to do. (2021-01-06T19:25:08Z) - Sibley Simon presents @ Community Speed Investing (2020-12-23T17:16:08Z) - NWH visits the revolutionary Factory_OS (2020-12-09T17:43:35Z) - Community Speed Investing (2020-12-04T15:11:04Z) - Sibley Simon presents @ Startup Monterey Bay Tech Meetup (2020-10-28T00:40:26Z) ## Q&A - Q: I love what you're doing! I'm curious how you verify the feasibility of projects you decide to support before lending to them. As you mentioned to Brand Fulcher back in October 2020, predevelopment (which you help fund) is "the lengthiest part of the project by far and the most uncertain". Having been involved in a project in CT, I know the predevelopment part of a project can be about establishing feasibility, which is never certain until the work has been done. - Q: Also when does funding close?What happens to investor funds if the goal is not met. - A: Michael - we have met our baseline goal last fall. We have done a few closings to date; the final one will be on about April 30th. Thanks! - Q: Hello where can i read about the agreement? - Q: A very interesting project. I wish you luck. Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but where does the money come from to repay investors? I saw 'construction funds' in the FAQ, but what does that mean? Isn't that what investors are providing? If not, what exactly are investors funding? 'Permanent financing' comes from where? Are you selling the building to the landowner? - A: Brand,Thanks for asking for clarification.  The funds we raise here are used for pre-development, which basically refers to all the work that goes into a project before construction can start.  That's the lengthiest part of the project by far and the most uncertain; therefore the hardest part to fund.  It includes establishing land partnerships in our case, and then investigation of the site (often environmental studies, surveying, infrastructure studies), then design and the full permitting processes (planning permits and then building permits).  The process through to planning permits often costs perhaps $100k-$300k for our range of projects in direct, 3rd party costs, not counting all the time we put in.  Then construction drawings and building permits costs more. Once we get all that in place, then we can get construction financing.  That comes either mostly or completely from a construction loan from a bank, CDFI, or other lender.  Then once construction is completed, that loan is repaid by a "permanent financing" loan - e.g. a 30-year mortgage that again comes from a bank, CDFI, or other lender.  One of those two loans pays back to NWH the amount + interest of NWH funds used on the project up to that point.  There are always variations on all of this, as each project is different.  But our first two projects are already fully financed and paid back the NWH fund out of their construction loans.  Hopefully that is clearer, but feel free to ask more, or I'm happy having a call about our model. - Q: Hi Sibley! Are there any plans for New Way Homes to expand outside of California? Meaning, would you eventually like to build homes in other states? - A: Thanks A.J.  There are not such plans today.  While I wouldn't rule it out completely, the fact is that CA needs over 2 million more homes for its population today, so it's hard to see past that.  That said, we want to maximize our impact.  I could see us approaching this in a couple ways once we have larger-scale proven success in CA.  Here are my quick thoughts.a) us having mission-driven activities that promote helping _other_ people doing what we're doing in other regions of the country.  Early on we'll share what we're doing at conferences, etc.  But I could see us having a more in-depth training or consulting practice to help mission-driven housing orgs get going.  and/orb) I could see us taking just one piece of what we do and making that national.  Perhaps there is a financial role to fill the gaps that aren't filled by CDFIs.  E.g. we've been inspired by the UCC Church Building & Loan Fund, which has been giving loans to all kinds of churches for all kinds of construction projects for 150+ years (but our project in Oakland may have been the first housing project they've done a construction loan for).  They are a great lender that fills a gap - many of these projects work really well but couldn't get other construction loans.  We can see a lot of gaps out there that the right financial structures could help with to make more affordable projects happen in the higher-cost / more restrictive areas of the country.Best,Sibley - Q: Just to be clear, if I were to invest via this form, it would not be a donation, right? I could expect to get my investment back plus 4.25% interest (with a certain degree of risk, of course)? It very much seems that this is the case, but wading through all the financial terminology makes me a bit nervous that I'm missing something. (This sounds super awesome and I just want to make sure it isn't one of those too good to be true things.) - A: Wren, yes, you are right!  Even though we are a 501c3 nonprofit, these are not donations (and so not tax deductible).  The principal is due back to you at the end of the approximately 10-year time period.  We can pay that back because construction or permanent financing pays the $ from projects back to the NWH fund.  Our first two projects have already done this payback to the fund, and that capital is being reused on next projects.  Thank you so much for your interest and taking the time to ask the question! Best,Sibley - Q: We are an impact investment firm (Revalue, http://revalueinvesting.com) and we have clients interested in this offering. Can we schedule a one on one with someone from your team to discuss further? - A: Thanks Angela.  Please contact me at sibley@​newwayhomes.org to schedule a time.  ​Note that we have a 506c offering for accredited investors as well in case that is relevant.  Thanks very much for your inquiry. - Q: Could some of the profit accumulated by tenants after paying back loans, be accrued for both individual tenants and a building governing body (run by tenants), like an LEHC? - A: Yes absolutely.  The top way we’ll do this is having significantly lower-than-market rent increases over time.  We want to make sure people have housing stability, so in a sense we voluntarily rent control the vast majority of the units.  After that, yes for some of the projects we’ve been looking forward to having a way to share profit with residents, in part to incentivize people to care about the financial side of the building, be responsible residents, etc.   - Q: This is awesome. In your model, one of your highlights is, "new environmental sustainability construction techniques." Could you elaborate on that? Also, who ultimately owns the homes? - A: Joseph, thanks for the questions.  1.  The top sustainability system and metrics we are pursuing are the Passive House standards.  This has been used in Europe for quite a while, is becoming more common in some NE US states in the last few years, and we're figuring out how to apply it best to CA.  You can look up lots about Passive House, but basically by having an air-tight building designed the right way, it takes extremely little energy for heating and cooling and enables high air quality, even with things like our fire season.2.  Every project is different in terms of ownership.  Some of them are ultimately 100% owned by 3rd party non-profits (e.g. existing social services non-profits or churches), some are jointly owned between landowners, mission-driven equity investors, New Way Homes, etc.  We basically just sort out whatever is going to work well for each project that preserves the mission of maximizing affordability. - Q: When does this investment opportunity close. And do the payouts begin Ten Years After one invest - A: Paul, we don't have an exact plan for that - we're seeing how this goes. As I understand it, the legal limits are a) we have to close the campaign by a date in early March at the latest, and b) the maximum we can raise in crowdfunding is $1,070,000. Since housing takes a lot of $ and we have many opportunities to do great housing projects, we may well keep the campaign open until we hit one of those limits or the other. On your second question - the payouts begin in year 1. We pay out in Q1 of each calendar year. Investors get one interest payment per year for the previous calendar year (or portion thereof in the case of the first payment). Then at the end of the (approximately) 10-year period, we repay the principal as well (i.e. the amount initially invested). Make sense? - Q: Great idea. I truly appreciate that. I would had invested if it was not a Loan. I only prefer equity in the company..... - A: Thanks Sagar.  Of course as a nonprofit, there is no equity ownership in our org by anyone.  But I appreciate the positive comment about the mission.