For more than 30 years, the California Housing Finance Agency has been supporting the needs of renters and first-time homebuyers by providing financing and programs that create safe and affordable housing opportunities for individuals within specified income ranges. Founded in 1975, the agency was chartered as the California s affordable housing bank to make below market-rate loans through the sale of tax-exempt bonds. It is a self-supporting state agency whose bonds are repaid by revenues generated through mortgage loans. California Housing Finance Agency s HELP program offers two funding cycles of more than $7.5 million a piece in the fall and spring of each year. Applications of the semiannual award are evaluated on six criteria, such as affordability, cost efficiency, maximization of benefits, implementation readiness, resource impact and comprehensiveness of program design.