With great excitement the Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce announces our last Summer Speaker Series held on Thursday, August 24th from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm at Mission Hills Country Club: 34600 Mission Hills Drive, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
Bring your team, stay informed and connect this summer with the center of valley business!
August 24: Housing Update with Lift to Rise
Lift to Rise is revolutionizing the way affordable housing is financed in our community. The cost of housing in the Coachella Valley is high—the median price for a single-family home is $549,000. And incomes are too low—49% of Coachella households earn below $50,000 per year. “We Lift” is the result of more than 70 community partners and their multi-year effort to change the way we develop affordable housing. It’s a groundbreaking solution that pools resources to attract additional capital, allowing local developers to get their community-focused projects built—creating more places that people can call home. This fund is integral to reaching our goal of building 10,000 affordable homes by 2028.
Registration can be made on the chamber’s website and tickets are $55 per person which includes the presentation, networking, lunch, and self-introductions.
Heather Vaikona, President/CEO, Lift to Rise will be our speaker for this session. 
Heather Vaikona serves as President and CEO at Lift to Rise, a non-profit collective impact organization that brings together community and institutional leaders to collaboratively solve the underlying causes of poverty and inequality. Lift to Rise convenes the Housing Collaborative Action Network (CAN), a network of over 60 cross-sector partners organized around radically increasing the supply of affordable housing in the Coachella Valley. Lift to Rise’s bold change agenda is anchored by significant institutional and grassroots partnerships including its Resident Leadership Table, Riverside County, all nine Coachella Valley cities, USC’s Price School of Public Policy, and dozens of local community organizations. Working with the Housing CAN, Heather has led Lift to Rise in launching We Lift: the Coachella Valley’s Housing Catalyst Fund as well as implementing the United Lift emergency rental assistance program, which has distributed over $300 million to more than 35,000 low-income renter households financially impacted by the pandemic. A Coachella Valley resident and fourth-generation Californian, Heather has worked both domestically and abroad focused on achieving social and economic justice through community development initiatives.
Michael Hilgenberg
Michael has over 40 years in the real estate industry. He developed one of the top producing teams in the Palm Springs area ranking in the top 25 teams in Keller Williams International. Michael comes from a family of real estate with his father starting their family firm near Green Bay, WI over 65 years ago. He and his son, Heath opened Keller Williams Palm Springs 19 years ago with 27 agents and now have 5 offices with over 600 agents.
Sponsored by INDIGO AUTO GROUP and Digital Party Sound
www.RanchoMirageChamber.org Info@RanchoMirage.org (760) 568-9351
