The five-stop tour is intended to give Ma the opportunity to gather information, collect insights and learn about regional housing issues and challenges, according to Mark DeSio, the Treasurer's Office communications director.

The event will begin at 3 p.m. at the San Diego Housing Commission, located at 1122 Broadway. Residents are encouraged to attend. RSVP here.

"This listening tour will be a time for me to hear from people about how well the state treasurer's office has been providing service in their area and how we can do better going forward towards making affordable housing available," said Ma, who was sworn in Jan. 7. "I intend to sit quietly and listen directly to the ideas and feedback from people of each of the communities that we visit. It will not be the time for me to make promises or commit to specific objectives."

The tour is set to begin Thursday morning in Los Angeles. It will conclude Jan. 25 in Fresno.

The Treasurer's Office has two programs offering assistance to those in need of affordable housing, both promoting private investment in affordable rental housing for low-income Californians.

The California Debt Limit Allocation Committee manages the state's tax-exempt bond allocations for affordable housing projects and the Single- Family First-Time Homebuyer Program. In 2017, the committee's allocation for tax-exempt bonds helped to finance more than 12,000 units of housing, including more than 10,000 affordable units, and assisted over 2,000 new homebuyers, DeSio said.

The California Tax Credit Allocation Committee administers the federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Programs. The committee's three Federal Credit Awards programs financed more than 13,000 low-income housing units in 2017, DeSio said.