HAND’s 24th Annual Meeting & Housing Expo Lauded a Success
June 23, 2015

More than 1,200 affordable housing and community development industry members united at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.  for a day of collaboration, innovation and transformation.  Themed “Connected Region, Connected Future,” this dynamic meeting:

• explored innovative housing solutions through the lens of what the housing industry can accomplish regionally by combining resources and successful strategies from Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia;
• celebrated outstanding affordable housing communities and leaders;
• and captivated participants by challenging housing practitioners to look at how we conduct “business as usual” and envision a more streamlined way to help the communities we serve.

To kick the day off, the Greater Washington Housing Leaders Group (GWHLG), a collaborative of public and private sector stakeholders moved to action about the housing affordability crisis in the Washington, D.C. region and its potential impact on our economy and quality of life in the future hosted the interactive plenary “Regional Strategies to Increase Affordable Housing Development and Preservation in the Greater Washington Area.”  The engaged panel consisted of a never-before-seen cadre of elected officials from municipalities in the region, business leaders and academics who sought to start the conversation around regionalism, a cross-jurisdictional strategy to build and preserve affordable housing. Informed by a George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis forecast, The Washington Regions Future Housing Needs: 2023 and the paper commissioned by Enterprise Community Partners, Call the Question: Will the Greater Washington Region Collaborate and Invest to Solve Its Affordable Housing Shortage, the conversation proved to be a rousing interaction as panelists and presenters went in-depth on the importance of community and political will to create and preserve affordable housing. Today 250,000 households are paying more than half their income on housing, but by 2023 – that number will grow to 400,000 as new households with low-incomes will be added to the region.

The Awards Ceremony and Keynote Address were equally engaging as HAND started the afternoon luncheon off by honoring affordable housing leaders and innovative housing communities in the region with its 2015 Housing Achievement Awards:

Best Large Affordable Housing Project: Bass Circle Apartments, Telesis

Best Small Affordable Housing Project: Justice Park Apartments, Dantes Partners & Menkiti Group

Nonprofit Developer of the Year: Homes for America

President’s Choice Award: Walter D. Webdale, President and CEO, AHC Inc.

….and this year’s Children’s Art Contest First Place Entry….

Community Solutions President and Founder Rosanne Haggerty’s keynote address reminded the participants that by bringing everyone to the table at once, innovative solutions to building challenges can be addressed early in the development process. True collaboration leads to true success:

“Imagine if it always worked this way. Imagine if developers, governments and philanthropic agents saw themselves as part of a shared system with a shared aim. What if, instead of asking, “What would it take to get another deal done?” we asked, “How many apartments would it take to end veteran homelessness, and what’s the straightest line to that outcome?”  

Haggerty is a force behind local supportive housing developments like the John and Jill Ker Conway Residence currently under construction on North Capitol St. in Northeast D.C., as well as key national initiatives like the 100,000 Homes Campaign and the current Zero: 2016 effort.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors, guests, and partners for making this year such a success and look forward to seeing you next year for our 25th Anniversary Annual Meeting!

Featured media articles:

Washington Post: New Jobs Jobs in Region Will Boost Number of Low Income Household, Study Says
DC Curbed: By 2023, the D.C. Region Will Have 410,380 New Households
NonProfit Quarterly: The Nonprofit Agenda for Regional Affordable Housing: An Advocacy Manifesto

View all the photos of the day! Visit our Flickr page.