Board Member
Chief Program Officer at Mercy Housing
My parents were immigrants that worked hard to put a roof over our heads. Now that quintessential American Dream seems more and more out of reach for hard working folks across the country.
Parag Gupta is the Chief Program Officer at Mercy Housing, the largest US nonprofit affordable housing provider for families, seniors, and people with special needs. Providing affordable housing is the first step, and Parag oversees the wrap-around support provided to Mercy Housing’s residents. Parag has worked in coffee, education, solid waste, sanitation, and other industries with a focus of empowering communities across the world. He returned to San Francisco Bay Area to stand with folks seeking to make the community more inclusive. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter where he attends public meetings and informs neighbors of pro-housing and pro-transportation initiatives.
I scrimped and saved after graduating college to go in on purchasing a house with others. My share eventually allowed me to put a down payment on a home during a time when the housing market was down. I recognize and appreciate my luck. But shelter is too important to be left to luck. It makes me angry that we don’t collectively muster the will power to make sure all our neighbors have a home.
I appreciate YIMBY Action’s big-tent long term solution-driven approach to alleviating the housing crisis across the nation. We may not solve the housing crisis tomorrow but solve it we will. As Victor Hugo once commented, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea who’s time has come.”
