The demand for affordable housing is high but in the Coachella Valley, the supply is low. With wait lists in the thousands, what is being done to make affordable housing more available?

Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia represents the 56th District and is an advocate for programs with the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition. One of the programs is funded through USDA and provides opportunities to buy affordable homes to gain equity.

One man reaping the benefits in Desert Hot Springs is Darin Thomas. He’s a survivor of the Las Vegas shooting, a war veteran and most recently a survivor of the housing market.

“Everything is raising but your wages,” Thomas said.

Thomas is helping his girlfriend literally build their future thanks to the CVHC program.

“This program is for those on the fringe, who can go either way and it saves people from having to pay astronomical rent versus something for longevity,” Thomas said.

Dozens of people own homes in his DHS neighborhood through what’s called “sweat equity”.

The coalition gives people like Thomas and his girlfriend land to build on and the resources to do it. Then they buy the home at a price that’s adjusted to their income.

“This is an opportunity for you to get ahead,” he said. “So maybe you might not make 50, 60, 70 thousand dollars or 100, 150 thousand but this is enough so you can have a place for a long period of time.”

Assemblyman Garcia said that’s also what they’re pushing for at the state level.

“What we hope to do is get those folks who are in the multi-family housing apartment complexes into the programs on a pathway to becoming homeowners,” Garcia said. “I think that’s what’s important is the American dream becoming achievable by equity.”

Thomas said there’s ten houses in his affordable housing group, another group is getting ready to build another ten and in the past there was at least thirty other houses as well. Thomas said that’s not enough.

“I think the one area that we continue to see is wanting to add reforms to certain laws like CEQA to be able to move the building process a little faster and I think we’ll see some attempts in the January session that’s up and coming,” Garcia said.

Garcia said Cathedral City is moving forward with a one million dollar project to house veterans.

Meanwhile, Thomas said he finished priming the house and putting in doors. Stay with NBC Palm Springs to follow this story.

Local Housing Program Allows Residents to ‘Build their Future’