Facebook is designating $150 million of the $1 billion it has committed to affordable housing to build housing for low-income residents of the Bay Area.

The social media giant's new Community Housing Fund will support the development of at least two thousand affordable units in the region, making it the largest private fund in California dedicated to affordable housing for extremely low-income families, defined as those making less than 30 percent of the region's median income. To be managed by the Local Initiative Support Corporation, the fund, a component of the Partnership for the Bay's Future announced by Facebook earlier this year, will focus on filling a critical need in the state, which is facing a shortage of affordable housing for low-income Californians and few dedicated funding streams to build such housing.

Projects in Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties will be eligible to apply, with one-third of the funding dedicated to Santa Clara County projects through the company's partnership with Destination: Home, a nonprofit that is contributing $5 million to the fund.

"The COVID crisis demands we all step up and do more to protect the most vulnerable," said California governor Gavin Newsom. "I challenge other private-sector corporations to follow suit and provide additional low-cost capital to create thousands more homeless housing units all across California."