After Georgetown Insurance Service was referred to HAND Member Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH), they spent several months auditing policies and assisting staff in order to get up to speed on APAH’s total insurance program. When Nina Janopaul, APAH’s CEO, remembers the experience, she was most impressed by the personalized service Georgetown provided: “APAH started working with Georgetown Insurance in Fall 2013 as we re-bid our insurance portfolio. Joe Smith and Carolyn Paulochik (from Georgetown) educated our staff and audited our policies, identifying gaps in coverage. Despite increasing our coverage limits, Georgetown decreased insurance premiums by 7%. They continue to be responsive to our requests and conscientious about our coverage.”
With the simple goal to “provide the finest quality customized insurance solutions possible and deliver them with exceptional service,” Georgetown Insurance makes it its policy to understand the true needs of its clients in order to match their needs with the right products.
Dedication like that has always set Georgetown Insurance Service apart in the competitive field of insurance brokerage.
Since 1977, the company has been delivering customized insurance solutions to clients who not only want to “buy” insurance products, but who are interested in strategizing on ways to manage risk in their businesses and in their lives. Over the past decade alone, Georgetown Insurance has handled the insurance needs of approximately 1600 businesses and 3500 individuals and families—with more than 95% of the business comprised of repeat customers, including those in the community development industry and in areas such as nonprofit Human Services.
“Many of our housing accounts have trouble getting valid long term risk management advice from brokers and agents,” said Joe Smith, the firm’s Executive Vice President, “It is unrealistic to expect your asset management staff to be able to cut through the typical ‘sales pitches’ that most agent’s use. By working almost entirely on referrals, we’ve been able to help asset managers and smart CFO’s get up to speed on good long term risk management and insurance buying principles and feel comfortable with their choices.”
As a brand new member, Georgetown Insurance Service is excited about its HAND membership and looks forward to networking and getting further involved in the DC area affordable housing community.
HAND is pleased to spotlight Georgetown Insurance, which certainly contributes to our organization’s COLLABORATION, INNOVATION and TRANSFORMATION within the metropolitan area!
Governor Hogan’s recently released 2016 Budget only includes $10 Million for Rental Housing Works (RHW) – $15 Million SHORT of what is needed to fund pending developments and maintain level funding at $25 Million. RHW is funded through GO Bonds, which the Legislature has the ability to increase. In fact, they have increased funding for RHW the last two years! Therefore, it is imperative that everyone start contacting your Legislators right way to let them know that rental housing matters and encourage them to take the necessary actions to restore funding levels for Rental Housing Works because the program “Really Works!”
How can you help?
Let your Legislators know that Rental Housing Works is important. First, contact your Legislators right away to urge them to restore funding for RHW. Second, attend Housing Day so we can send a message that Hou singMatters. By filling the room we can show them that we have a strong base of supporters.
Attend Housing Day:
February 12, 2015
8am – 12pm
House Office Building
6 Bladen Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
Contact Your Legislators Now:
Email your Legislators now to let them know the following important facts about the RHW Program:
Encourage them to restore funding for RHW to $25 Million to address this backlog, put people to work, and create much needed affordable housing units across the State.
Contact House Speaker Mike Busch
HERE
Contact Members of the House Appropriations Committee
HERE
Contact Senate President Mike Miller
HERE
Contact Members of the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee
HERE
DRAFT EMAIL LANGUAGE TO LEGISLATORS:
Dear (insert Legislator Name Here),
I am writing to request that you restore funding for the Rental Housing Works Program to level funding at $25 Million in GO Bonds. I represent (insert company name and info here, anything personal about a project you own or operate in their district). The Governor’s budget cut funding for this important program down to $10 Million. Rental Housing Works has been incredibly successful in its three short years by bringing new investment to Maryland and increasing State and Local revenue. RHW creates jobs (over 3, 000 to date), and for every $1 the State invests in these properties $11 in new public and private investments is leveraged. These funds are repaid with interest and the projects funded also generate new revenues to State and local governments.
There are $25 Million in applications in the pipeline and waiting approval, so $10 Million is far short of what is needed to keep this program going. I urge you to please restore funding for the Rental Housing Works Program
Sincerely,
NAME
On January 27, HAND convened its Resident Services Discussion Group to discuss strategies to connecting resident services to research based outcomes at Community Preservation Development Corporation’s (CPDC) Crawford Edgewood Terrace Community. In 2011, CPDC transitioned its resident services from direct service delivery to partner provided services within five impact areas: Health & Wellness, Resident Engagement, Environment, Education, and Economic Development. In 2013, the work further evolved to deeper engagement with residents as the stewards of their communities to support the desire to build trust with and among residents and to engage more residents in creating a better quality of life. As a result, the One Edgewood Network was born with the ultimate goals of removing barriers, building trust, and enhancing residents’ quality of life. Khyati Desai-Seltzer, CPDC’s Regional Resident Services Manager shared a wealth of information with HAND members on their journey creating the One Edgewood Network and shared the documents below as tools for members to reference. Thanks Khyati for sharing your expertise!!
November Network Night Recap
TSP Paper on Power of Networks and Edgewood
Appendix A
Appendix-B2
Appendix C
Driven by the philosophy “where you live matters,” the NHP Foundation has created 62 multifamily properties with approximately 12,000 affordable apartments. Operating its charitable mission with businesslike financial disciple, the organization has a portfolio of more than 6,000 units in 12 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to preserving and creating communities, NHPF also provides a robust array of placed-based learning and services for its residents, such as after school education, summer camps, health & wellness and financial literacy programs.
One of the shining stars at NHPF is Mansur Abdul-Malik, its Financial Analyst of two years. With a bachelor’s in Business Management from the University of Baltimore and a Master’s in Real Estate Development from the University of Maryland, Mansur is a strong believer in occupational development. He recently passed the Project Management Professional exam and the Housing Finance exam to earn both his PMP and HDFP certifications.
“The one piece of advice I wish I had gotten sooner was expand your skill set as much as possible within the industry you are working in so you can become more effective at your job,” Mansur shares. “I’m a big proponent of always adding more ‘tools to the tool belt’ in order to gain greater insight, provide comprehensive solutions and foresee opportunities and obstacles within a project. This gives me the ability to do my job smarter and make things simpler for the entire team. Real estate development is more than just numbers. If you understand your organization’s needs, the needs of stakeholders, the constraints within a project, timing, opportunities and risk and how to balance all these things, you will increase your odds of success.”
At NHPF, he’s had the opportunity to put both his professional experience and education to work. He has spearheaded a number of initiatives, such as closing recent acquisitions, conversions to permanent loans, creating and managing development and construction schedules, creating HUD packages for assignment of HAP contracts and more!
Mansur believes the biggest challenge facing our industry is the shrinking amount of capital available to develop affordable housing communities. NHPF is addressing this issue by consistently looking at creative ways to finance projects. They’ve either explored or used a number of strategies to raise capital including selling solar tax credits to investors in order to raise equity; using the 45L tax credit as well as energy efficiency/green building loans, grants and tax credit programs; and the list goes on.
Mansur’s participation in HAND has supported NHPF by providing a network of industry professionals from every sector of affordable housing. Each person Mansur has come into contact with has shared valuable insight that has helped to enhance the positive impact of a project for all of NHPF’s stakeholders involved. Additionally, the HAND member events have also given him the opportunity to learn about current issues affecting the industry as well as provide a venue for hearing how his peers are considering tackling pending obstacles.
His final piece of advice?
“A shorter learning curve ultimately leads to a better product and a healthier bottom line…and the better you plan, the better you execute and the easier it will be to do your job successfully.”
HAND is pleased to spotlight Mansur Abdul-Malik, an emerging leader who certainly contributes to our organization’s COLLABORATION, INNOVATION and TRANSFORMATION within the metropolitan area!
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Payments: Orders placed on the event registration page are not confirmed until payment is received. A confirmation email will be sent to the email address listed in your registration. If you paid by credit card, a receipt will be sent to the email address listed in your registration. If you mail a check, all payments must be received within seven days of completing your registration form. Checks should be remitted to: HAND, PO Box 48386, Washington, DC 20002
Guest List & Dietary Preference: If your registration includes a luncheon table or multiple guests, please submit guest names and menu choices by May 1, 2020. Submit guest names here.
Housing Expo: Plan to exhibit? Download the Housing Expo FAQs here.
Omni Shoreham Hotel Room Block: For attendees looking to secure overnight accommodations on May 25th, HAND has secured a rate starting at $189 for conference attendees. There are a limited amount of rooms available, so visit this link today to reserve your room. May 10th is the last day to secure a room at the discounted rate.
Ad Submission: The artwork for advertisements should be submitted to annualmeeting@handhousing.org. You can download the ad spec sheet here. Deadline for ad submission is April 13, 2020.
Cancellations & Changes: If you wish to cancel or change your registration for the Annual Meeting & Housing Expo, please send a request in writing to annualmeeting@handhousing.org. All cancellation requests made prior to April 27th will receive a 50% refund. For cancellation requests made after April 27th, no refund will be provided.
Door Prizes: Are you interested in donating a door prize to this year’s Annual Meeting? Email annualmeeting@handhousing.org to coordinate with our team.
Mailing Address:
HAND
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info@handhousing.org
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