NHC Welcomes New Member Partners from "Solutions for Working Families"

During the "Solutions for Working Families: 2009 Learning Conference on State and Local Housing Policy," NHC welcomed several new Member Partners. These organizations, ready to unite with other industry stakeholders to proactively tackle the issues discussed at the conference, include: City of Savannah, Georgia; Community Builders, Inc., Chicago; Housing Action Coalition of Rhode Island; New Community Vision; and North Carolina Housing Coalition. In addition, we welcomed two new individual memberships representing Home, Inc. and Virginia Community Capital, as part of two special NHC-sponsored drawings at the conference.

NHC thanks these new Member Partners for their support and looks forward to working with them to help solve some of our nation's most pressing housing challenges. If you are interested in joining NHC, you can also Become a Member.

"Solutions for Working Families" Photos Now Available

From June 28-30, NHC and the Center for Housing Policy hosted the "Solutions for Working Families: 2009 Learning Conference on State and Local Housing Policy," which which focused on innovative housing solutions at the state and local level.

The conference, which featured a great lineup of keynote speakers, brought together over 400 policymakers, advocates and practitioners from around the nation, enabling participants to identify policies that have been successful in other communities to see what could work in theirs.

Pictures from Solutions for Working Families are now available. In addition to the pictures of the keynote speakers below, a full set of photos from the event is available on NHC's Flickr Page.


Carol Coletta, president and CEO of CEOs for Cities and host and producer of the nationally syndicated public radio show “Smart City," spoke at the Opening Plenary on Sunday, June 28.


Henry Cisneros, executive chairman of CityView, former Mayor of San Antonio and former HUD Secretary, delivered a keynote speech at a Special Plenary on day one of the conference.


Bruce Katz, vice president and founding director of the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, spoke at the Federal Policy Luncheon on Monday, June 29.


Shaun Donovan, secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, gave opening remarks at the Town Hall Plenary on Tuesday, June 30.


Town Hall Plenary speakers:
Bill Klein, American Planning Association
Nic Retsinas, Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies
Jeffrey Lubell, Center for Housing Policy
George McCarthy, Ford Foundation
Shelley Poticha, Reconnecting America


Town Hall Plenary in action.

Chicago's Highland Park Neighborhood Seen as Model for Successful Shared Equity Homeownership Strategies

Innovative housing strategies that provide sustainable steps towards homeownership, such as shared equity homeownership, were among the topics covered at the Solutions for Working Families: 2009 Learning Conference on State and Local Housing Policy.

In particular, a recent article in the Chicago Tribune details a session at the conference focused on successful shared equity homeownership strategies in the Highland Park neighborhood of Chicago, specifically through the use of a community land trust. The session featured Rob Anthony, Highland Park Community Land Trust; Jim Gray, NCB Capital Impact; Rick Jacobus, Burlington Associates for Community Development; Councilwoman Terri Olian, City of Highland Park, Illinois; and Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr., City of Chicago, Illinois, 27th Ward.

The Highland Park Community Land Trust was created six years ago, and has completed 30 housing units thus far – enabling teachers, health care workers and city employees, among others, to live in the city in which they work.

Under this land trust model, homes are sold for 20 to 65 percent below market price, depending on how a buyer's household income compares with the area median income. The trust retains ownership of the land and leases it to the homeowner for $25 per month. When the homeowner moves, they can either sell the home back to the land trust, or alternatively, sell it to another income-eligible buyer under a formula that keeps the home affordable. The seller shares some portion in any appreciation of the property with the land trust; however, if the property has depreciated along with the market, the seller isn't affected as much because the home was sold to them for a below-market price.

Strategies such as these, which are gaining momentum in light of the current foreclosure crisis, are seen as a way to bridge the gap between renting and traditional homeownership, allowing individuals who may typically be priced out of an area to still build wealth through property appreciation.

"We need an approach that can allow people to move up more gradually, as their circumstances permit," said Jim Gray of NCB Capital Impact, a national nonprofit that provides financial services and technical assistance in the area of affordable housing.

Bruce Katz Emphasizes Opportunities to Shape the New Generation of Federal Housing Policy

On Monday, June 29, Bruce Katz, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institute, delivered a keynote speech at the Federal Policy Luncheon at "Solutions for Working Families: 2009 Learning Conference on State and Local Housing Policy."

His remarks, which focused on a new generation of housing policy, discussed five central elements of an emerging national policy, including:

• The restoration of sanity, transparency, and fundamentals to mortgage finance and the process of home buying and homeownership;
• A return to balance in housing policy, with attention and leadership and resources dedicated to making rental housing affordable in safe, quality communities;
• The use of housing policy to advance communities of choice—where families can live close to decent schools, quality retail and decent amenities;
• The positioning of housing as a vehicle for energy efficiency at the building scale and sustainable, transit friendly growth at the metropolitan scale; and
• The renewal and transformation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) itself—to both lead and support the national response.

In addition to highlighting the initiatives of HUD, Katz also emphasized the rare opportunity policymakers and practitioners now have to "orchestrate a generational shift in federal housing policy—both in traditional housing legislation and action."

To learn more about Katz' remarks, please read his prepared Keynote Speech.

"One Story Up" Blog Focuses on Five Innovative Housing Solutions in Chicago

During last week's "Solutions for Working Families: 2009 Learning Conference on State and Local Housing Policy," One Story Up, a Chicago-based blog, posted information about the city's innovative housing solutions, encouraging local residents – regardless of how familiar they are with the housing arena – to take a look at how housing policy has positively influenced their communities.

Megan Cottrell, author of the blog, jested that policy wonks shouldn't be the only ones "having all the fun," as Chicagoans should be up-to-date on the cutting-edge programs shaping their very own neighborhoods. Cottrell breaks down five core areas in which Chicago is leading the way for cities facing similar challenges – including the use of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds, initiatives to reconnect neighborhoods, and the pooling of housing department resources.

In particular, Cottrell highlights the work of the Metropolitan Planning Council for their part in the "Reconnecting America" campaign, which is an initiative to transform the way people interact with each other by making transit a priority.

Chicago Sun-Times Blog "The Scoop from Washington" Highlights HUD Secretary Donovan's Remarks at Learning Conference

Lynn Sweet, columnist and Washington DC bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times, highlighted U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan's special remarks at the "Solutions for Working Families: 2009 Learning Conference on State and Local Housing Policy"on her "Scoop from Washington" blog.

Among other key topics, including the foreclosure crisis, Secretary Donovan spoke in detail about HUD's Transformation Initiative, which he said means "better research, evaluation, and accountability measures -- to figure out how we can do more with less and give the marketplace the information it needs to make informed choices."

"It means partnerships and collaboration with agencies, non-profits, and all levels of government. Too often, HUD hasn't been a catalyst for change - but a barrier to it," added Donovan.

He also emphasized that the ultimate goal of the initiative is a "comprehensive, balanced national housing policy that recognizes affordable rental opportunities are inseparable from sustainable growth."

"Solutions for Working Families" Mobile Workshop: Cutting-Edge Green Developments in Chicago

Several mobile workshops at NHC and the Center for Housing Policy's "Solutions for Working Families: 2009 Learning Conference on State and Local Housing Policy" provided conference attendees with an opportunity to visit affordable yet innovative properties in the Chicago Metro area. The mobile workshops took a closer look at mixed-income housing, cutting-edge green developments and housing affordability in affluent communities.

The Margot and Harold Schiff Residences

The mobile workshop on cutting-edge green developments took participants to Chicago's Near North community. The area was home to the infamous Cabrini-Green public housing projects and a few of the original buildings still remain. Workshop participants toured The Margot and Harold Schiff Residences developed by Mercy Housing Lakefront, which is new construction that includes 96 units of permanent, supportive housing for the chronically homeless and very low income adults. The Schiff Residences is part of the city's Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.

Green aspects of this innovative development include "Gray Water" waste water reclamation, which involves the capture of water from lavatories and showers -- after some filtering -- for the toilet flushing water. The building also has a reflective roof surface made of a light colored metal that reflects the heat energy ordinarily absorbed by conventional roofs. In addition, the building provides solar water heating that results in energy savings of about 30 percent for domestic hot water with roof collectors providing heat to an exchanger for the building's hot water supply.

Sankofa House

The mobile workshop also included a tour of the Sankofa House that was developed by the Sankofa Safe Child Initiative and the Interfaith Housing Development Corporation of Chicago in the North Lawndale area. The building includes 58 units for youth between 18 to 23 years old who are aging out of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, as well as low-income kinship families consisting of adults raising the children of close family members.

The Sankofa Safe Child Initiative has offices on site that provide supportive services, offer intergenerational building activities, and connect residents with community resources.

Earning a top-tier three-star certification from the Chicago Department of Housing's Green Development Program, the Sankofa House has wide-ranging sustainable features, including an eco-friendly elevator that uses 60 percent less energy than a hydraulic elevator, low flow plumbing fixtures that will save nearly 300 thousand gallons of water annually, and fixed sun shades on the southern windows to reduce heat gain in the summer.

In addition to the organizations that developed these innovative buildings, NHC and the Center for Housing Policy would like to sincerely thank CNT Energy and the Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago for helping to make this mobile workshop possible.