HISTORY

Visionary Home Builders of California (Formerly ACLC, Inc.) is a non-profit housing developer based in Stockton, California. Founded in the early eighties, Visionary Home Builders of California (VHB) had a singular mission to provide decent, safe affordable housing for low-income families.  This mission has been realized with the construction and rehabilitation of over two hundred fifty single-family homes along with the construction and rehabilitation of over seven hundred units of multi-family housing.

The organization was first formed by a group of farmworkers in 1983 to improve living conditions for themselves and other low-income families -- its first project being a nine unit, self-help housing development, which was completed in 1985.  A huge success, sixteen additional self-help homes were constructed in collaboration with the City of Stockton in 1987; VHB has since completed eighty-seven more self-help units.

In addition to the self-help program, VHB constructed and rehabilitated one hundred sixty-five contractor-built single-family homes throughout Stockton, Ripon, Escalon, and Delhi, and continues to develop projects across the Central Valley.

With a desire to grow as an organization and to assist even more families in finding decent, safe affordable housing, VHB entered into the realm of multi-family developments.  Many of which are flourishing in their respective communities and offer amenities such as HeadStart day care, computer labs, organized monthly tenant meetings, after-school tutoring, and social services -- all provided to the residents at no charge.

While a great deal of VHB’s time is devoted to development activity, another important focus is homeownership counseling.  Offered in part to educate families, as well as to connect families with additional home purchasing opportunities within the community.  The counseling services garnered better public attention than anticipated, consequently pushing the program to go beyond a simple informational channel and move into a multi-service program that includes everything from credit counseling to homeowner services.

Over the years a successful track record shows how VHB evolved into a full-service housing development corporation producing single-family homes, multi-family rental units, and offering homeownership counseling.  It is the founding members’ recognition of homeownership as an effective means of securing happiness and financial stability combined with the continued efforts and commitment to excellence of today’s staff that ensure VHB’s mission will carry forward for many years.