HAND Releases its 2019 Strategic Alignment

March 27, 2019

Dear members, friends, and partners:

It is with great excitement, hope, and pride that we share HAND’s new vision and strategic direction for the future.

As we all know, our region is facing a serious and growing affordable housing crisis. Over the past 40 years, median household incomes in the Greater Washington region have increased by only 46%, while rents rose by 69% and home values increased by 144%.*

During the past six months, the HAND board and staff have undertaken a Strategic Alignment process to determine how we can leverage the power of our membership to make real and meaningful progress on this challenge.

We interviewed and surveyed hundreds of our members and we heard two resounding messages from you–

HAND’s high-quality trainings and cross-sector, cross-border convenings are what make our membership most valuable to you and the work that you do. Under the direction of our new plan, we will strengthen and leverage these unique offerings and continue to grow a diverse membership from the public, private, and mission sectors that work collectively to preserve and develop affordable housing.

And, you urged HAND to do more to leverage the power of our members to influence affordable housing programs and policy in our region. HAND accepts this challenge and is committed to taking bold steps – side-by-side with you – to build public and private will and to catalyze action that addresses our region’s affordable housing crisis in a meaningful way.

Creating this new plan is our first step in achieving our bold vision for the future, and we recognize that we have more work to do. Over the coming months, we look forward to sharing more information about how we will execute this strategy.

We can’t do this work alone, and we hope that you will join us in taking these steps forward to build and sustain communities where all can live and thrive.

Sincerely,

* Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition

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Exclusive HAND Discount to People & Places 2019!

March 25, 2019

People & Places 2019 is taking place April 15-17 in Arlington, Virginia! Eighteen national nonprofits have joined forces to present People & Places 2019, a national community development conference. Join placemakers from different places, races, and national networks to share local solutions to displacement, disinvestment, and racial inequity. The luncheon features a discussion on “People’s Right to Their Places: Community Accountability in an Age of Displacement” with community developers and organizers from Seattle, New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Register by April 9 using these HAND discount codes: HANDpeople takes $100 off the 3-day rate. HAND1day takes $50 the 1-day rate.

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Capital Region Housing Challenge Launch Featured in Bisnow

March 25, 2019

David Bowers, Enterprise Community Partners Market Leader & Co-Convener of the Housing Leaders Group of Greater Washington launches the Capital Region Housing Challenge. Photo courtesy of Bisnow.

The recently launched Capital Region Housing Challenge, was featured in a recent Bisnow article. Titled, “D.C.-Area Business Leaders Launch $1B Affordable Housing Challenge,” the story details the regional effort to catalyze $1 billion to accelerate greater housing affordability in the Capital Region. An excerpt from the piece reads:

The Housing Leaders Group of Greater Washington launched the Capital Region Housing Challenge, an effort to spur the D.C. region’s public and private sectors to each add $500M in affordable housing investments above their current baseline by the end of 2020.

Housing Leaders Group co-convenor David Bowers, also the market leader for Enterprise Community Partners, announced the challenge at Bisnow’s Metro D.C. Affordable Housing Summit Wednesday morning in a rousing call to action.

‘The challenge is the call to work collectively, across sectors and geographic boundaries, to fundamentally move the baseline of thinking and investment and connect capital to solutions,” Bowers said. “Those of you that are already investing, we’re challenging you to do more.’

Bowers emphasized that the challenge does not represent a new fund. Rather it is a campaign to spur additional investment in affordable housing from a wide range of sources by setting an ambitious goal and tracking its progress over the next 21 months.

HAND is a member of the Housing Leaders Group of Greater Washington, and you can learn more about the partnership here.

You can find more information on the Challenge and its launch here.

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DCHFA Celebrates 40 Years of Service

March 23, 2019

The District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) is celebrating its 40^th year of serving the housing needs of Washington, D.C. residents. The DCHFA was established on March 3, 1979 to stimulate and expand homeownership and rental housing opportunities in the District. The Agency’s mission is to advance the District of Columbia’s housing priorities. The Agency invests in affordable housing and neighborhood development, which provides pathways for DC residents to transform their lives. The DCHFA accomplishes its mission by delivering the most efficient and effective sources of capital available in the market to finance rental housing and to create homeownership opportunities.

The Agency has expanded beyond traditional bond and tax credit financing with the Housing Investment Platform Single Family Investment Fund which partners with emerging developers to construct homes priced for workforce families earning up to 120 percent of the area median income. The Agency’s homeownership programs DC Open Doors and the Mortgage Credit Certificate along with its co-administration of HPAP helps to create new D.C. homeowners. While the foreclosure prevention program HomeSaver helps residents retain ownership of their homes.

The DCHFA’s investment in D.C. communities extends to supporting local education, youth and senior programs through the Agency’s Community Outreach Initiative.

The Agency’s goal is to spend its 40^th year and many years to follow continuing to provide solutions in affordable housing for the residents of the District of Columbia.

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Housing Leaders Group Launches the Capital Region Housing Challenge

March 18, 2019

As a proud member of the Housing Leaders Group of Greater Washington (HLG), HAND is excited to share its new initiative: the CAPITAL REGION HOUSING CHALLENGE! Officially launched at the D.C. Metro Affordable Housing Summit, the challenge is a cross-sector, capital solutions platform created to catalyze $1 billion dollars of NEW capital commitments that will accelerate greater housing affordability in the Capital Region. As a key stakeholder, we wanted to make sure you heard the news, and most importantly, know how you can get involved!

WHAT IS THE CAPITAL REGION HOUSING CHALLENGE?
Effectively addressing housing affordability requires a collective effort across multiple sectors and jurisdictions in the Capital Region. The Challenge is a multi-faceted effort to secure $1 billion toward housing affordability in the region by 2020 ($500 million in new private capital and $500 million in new public funds above current commitments).

The Challenge is not creating a new fund, rather it’s a platform to catalyze support and a regional commitment to scale the investment of public and private resources to meet the region’s housing production needs.

READY TO TAKE THE CHALLENGE?
Commitments from private investors, employers, anchor institutions, the philanthropic sector, as well as local and state governments are encouraged. Thank you to these organizations that have accepted the challenge!

Bernstein Management Corporation
Greater Washington Community Foundation Partnership to End Homelessness
Justice Housing Partners
Kaiser Permanente
Metro IAF Community Restoration Fund, LLC
Montgomery Housing Partnership
The Washington Housing Initiative (Federal City Council & JBG SMITH)

In addition to catalyzing capital to support regional housing affordability, HLG will also be actively engaged in advocacy campaigns that align with the goals of the Challenge. In particular, state and local Trust Funds can leverage significant additional private investment to ensure housing affordability production, preservation, and additional housing support for individuals and families across the income spectrum. HLG will promote working with government officials, housing practitioners, and advocates to create or expand local housing trust funds in every jurisdiction in our region.

Check out this fact sheet for more information on the Challenge and how your organization can get involved.

You can read the full press release on the Challenge’s launch here.

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Virginia Housing Alliance to Host Emerging Leaders Institute

March 9, 2019

Kickstart your professional development today! Virginia Housing Alliance’s Housing Emerging Leaders Institute (ELI) is a three-day program designed to provide rising leaders in Virginia’s affordable housing industry with tangible knowledge and resources in the areas of leadership, communication, diversity, management practices and self-development.

The 3-day program is conducted by two highly skilled trainers with a great deal of experience. The program covers:

Leadership and Emotional Intelligence
Leading and Developing High Performance Teams
Comprehensive Performance Management
Managing Conflict
Fostering Shared Vision and Strategic Change

April 5 – June 28, 2019: Greater Hampton Roads Cohort
April 22 – June 24, 2019: Northern Virginia Region Cohort

You can check out the agenda & speaker bios here.

View the official flyer & register here.

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Archive for month: March, 2019