Location: Nationwide
Website: stablecommunities.org/ncst
The U.S. housing market remains extremely uneven. While some areas have rebounded significantly from the recession and have a robust housing market, others – especially communities of color, lower-income areas, and cities where economic activity remains depressed – continue to grapple with high rates of vacant, abandoned and distressed properties that weaken nearby home values, create health and safety risks, lower local tax revenues, and thwart neighborhood revitalization efforts.
The National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST) is a non-profit organization that works to restore vacant and abandoned properties to productive use and protect neighborhoods from blight. Our programs facilitate the rehabilitation of vacant but structurally sound homes, enable safe, targeted demolition when necessary, and support creative and
productive re-use of vacant land.
Established in 2008 by the sponsors listed to the left, NCST offers a unique blend of policy expertise and on-the-ground experience working with local partners to eliminate the blight caused by vacant and foreclosed properties and severely delinquent mortgages in distressed communities.
NCST supports neighborhoods and fights blight through these key activities:
Provide community-based buyers an opportunity to acquire vacant, abandoned and distressed properties as part of a neighborhood revitalization strategy. Our First Look REO acquisition program gives local affordable housing and community development organizations the opportunity to obtain properties in their market areas before they are marketed more broadly. In many cases, REO properties can be acquired at discounts that help make it financially feasible for nonprofit buyers to rehabilitate these properties for new occupants.
Partner with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative.
This partnership offers Fannie and Freddie REO properties to local affordable housing and community development organizations through a special First Look program in 18 strategic markets around the country, mostly east of the Mississippi river.
In collaboration with the Housing Partnership Network (HPN), NCST manages a portfolio of highly distressed mortgages to resolve delinquencies, assist homeowners, and prepare vacant properties for productive disposition. Financial institutions donate these mortgages to NCST and HPN to assist with asset resolution.
Along with many national and local partners, including our six sponsors, we research solutions and advocate for policies to help communities address blight and high rates of vacant, abandoned, and distressed properties.
Offer financing to support local housing work.
Our REO Capital Fund aggregates capital from philanthropic and social investment sources to provide flexible financing for local organizations to acquire and rehabilitate single family homes.
Showing posts with label Affordable Housing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Affordable Housing. Show all posts
Monday, December 12, 2016
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Silicon Valley Rising
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
Website: siliconvalleyrising.org
Silicon Valley Rising is a coordinated campaign driven by an unprecedented coalition of labor, faith leaders, community-based organizations and workers.
We aspire to a new vision for Silicon Valley where all workers, their families and communities are valued. We have high expectations for this Valley and for our communities:
We want to be a part of creating a new economic model that rebuilds the middle class.
We want to raise wages and standards for all workers so they can live and thrive here.
And we want to build housing that is affordable and accessible so that our families don't have to live in garages, in their cars, or near a creekbed.
Our campaign is about bringing everyone in this Valley together to solve the biggest challenges of our time.
Website: siliconvalleyrising.org
Silicon Valley Rising is a coordinated campaign driven by an unprecedented coalition of labor, faith leaders, community-based organizations and workers.
We aspire to a new vision for Silicon Valley where all workers, their families and communities are valued. We have high expectations for this Valley and for our communities:
We want to be a part of creating a new economic model that rebuilds the middle class.
We want to raise wages and standards for all workers so they can live and thrive here.
And we want to build housing that is affordable and accessible so that our families don't have to live in garages, in their cars, or near a creekbed.
Our campaign is about bringing everyone in this Valley together to solve the biggest challenges of our time.
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Neighborhhod Assistance Corporation of America
Location: Nationwide
Website: naca.com
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America ("NACA") is a non-profit, community advocacy and homeownership organization. NACA’s primary goal is to build strong, healthy neighborhoods in urban and rural areas nationwide through affordable homeownership.
NACA has made the dream of homeownership a reality for thousands of working people by counseling them honestly and effectively, enabling even those with poor credit to purchase a home or modify their predatory loan with far better terms than those provided even in the prime market.
The NACA homeownership program is our answer to the huge subprime and predatory lending industry. NACA has conclusively shown that when working people get the benefit of a prime rate loan, they can resolve their financial problems, make their mortgage payments and become prime borrowers.
NACA’s track record of helping people who have credit problems become homeowners or modify their predatory loan debunks the myth that high rates and fees are necessary to compensate for their "credit risk.
Started in 1988, NACA has a tremendous track record of successful advocacy against predatory and discriminatory lenders as well as providing the best mortgage program in America with $10 billion in funding commitments.
NACA is the largest housing services organization in the country and is rapidly expanding by growing its existing 30+ offices headquartered in Boston, MA,opening many new offices nationwide and expanding the services it offers its membership. NACA’s confrontational community organizing and unprecedented mortgage program have set the national standard for assisting low- and moderate-income people to achieve the dream of homeownership.
Website: naca.com
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America ("NACA") is a non-profit, community advocacy and homeownership organization. NACA’s primary goal is to build strong, healthy neighborhoods in urban and rural areas nationwide through affordable homeownership.
NACA has made the dream of homeownership a reality for thousands of working people by counseling them honestly and effectively, enabling even those with poor credit to purchase a home or modify their predatory loan with far better terms than those provided even in the prime market.
The NACA homeownership program is our answer to the huge subprime and predatory lending industry. NACA has conclusively shown that when working people get the benefit of a prime rate loan, they can resolve their financial problems, make their mortgage payments and become prime borrowers.
NACA’s track record of helping people who have credit problems become homeowners or modify their predatory loan debunks the myth that high rates and fees are necessary to compensate for their "credit risk.
Started in 1988, NACA has a tremendous track record of successful advocacy against predatory and discriminatory lenders as well as providing the best mortgage program in America with $10 billion in funding commitments.
NACA is the largest housing services organization in the country and is rapidly expanding by growing its existing 30+ offices headquartered in Boston, MA,opening many new offices nationwide and expanding the services it offers its membership. NACA’s confrontational community organizing and unprecedented mortgage program have set the national standard for assisting low- and moderate-income people to achieve the dream of homeownership.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development
Location: New York, NY
Website: anhd.org
The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD) works to build the strength of the community development movement in New York City. ANHD was founded in 1974 with the mission to help low-income communities thrive and to ensure that all New Yorkers can live in decent, affordable housing and neighborhoods.
Today ANHD leads a membership of 99 of the City’s leading community development and neighborhood-based not-for-profit affordable housing organizations. Our member groups use grassroots advocacy strength, bricks-and-mortar development skills, and focused neighborhood-level services to work for more decent, just and equitable communities. ANHD supports our member groups with a mix of training, capacity-building resources, strategic research, and high-impact public policy advocacy campaigns.
ANHD members groups have built over 100,000 affordable units in NYC in the past 25 years. ANHD’s policy activism has directly leveraged over $1.3 billion in new resources for affordable housing in the past 10 years alone, and our policy victories have resulted in the preservation of thousands of affordable units.
ANHD’s ACHIEVEMENTS
Over the past decade alone, ANHD’s training, policy research, advocacy, strategic communications, and leadership development for 100 grassroots groups and residents has resulted in leveraging over $1.3 billion for affordable housing, rescuing over 30,000 apartments and 160 buildings for low-income residents, and creating break-through policies for community development:
2012 – City Council passes Responsible Banking Act, developed with ANHD members.
Following ANHD’s reports on dramatic decreases in banks’ local reinvestments in the 2009 and 2011 “The State of Bank Reinvestment in NYC”, New York City Council passed the nation’s strongest RBA bill in May 2012, providing communities with lending data and a voice to ensure local reinvestments as requested by ANHD members.
Community Development Fellowship Program, matching Masters’ Degree students with community non-profits.
2009-present: 90% success in training and placing unemployed adults: ANHD’s Center for Neighborhood Leadership training and internships for unemployed adults has resulted in 90% of trainees graduating into full-time jobs and / or college.
2008-present – 1000s of units rescued from rent increases: ANHD’s activism achieved an important state regulatory reform, reducing a key rent increase pass-along by 1/3 for thousands of tenants.
2007-present – $750 million to save housing from the crisis of over-leveraging: ANHD won a commitment of $750 million in city funds to incentivize banks to sell to affordable housing developers rather than predatory speculators.
2007-present – 3,100 units for 60-year affordability, $145 million annual tax credits: a result of ANHD research and advocacy, NYC Council Speaker Quinn agreed to doubling affordability from 30 to 60 years on 3,100 housing units per year, leveraging $15 million in annual benefits from the tax credits.
2003-present – 6,900 new units via Inclusionary Zoning: ANHD’s member-group led advocacy established New York’s first inclusionary zoning, gaining 6,900 affordable units.
2002-present – $32 million savings on building costs: ANHD’s Affordable Housing Institute trains residents, developers and building managers in affordable housing maintenance, financing and green retro-fitting for a combined economic savings of over $32 million
1992 to present – Affordable Housing Institute helps housing developments save $32 million: the Affordable Housing Institutes on-going trainings – including green building management training – to affordable housing developers, managers, maintenance workers and low-income residents saves $32 million per year in operational costs.
2010 – Gains in permanently affordable housing: ANHD publishes, “A Permanent Problem Requires a Permanent Solution” to promote permanently affordable housing. In response, the city required permanent affordability in many key 2010 land-use decisions.
2007 – $7,250,000 Housing Preservation Initiative: ANHD secured $1.5 million in annual support for critical housing preservation advocacy in the city’s most disadvantaged areas of which $7.25 million has been realized to date.
2006-2008 – 9,736 fewer harassment cases: ANHD gained breakthrough legislation – the Tenant Protection Act – giving harassed tenants strong new legal rights, reducing the quantifiable instances of harassment in Housing Court by 9,736 documented cases.
2004-2007 – 1,100 Section 8 units rescued: ANHD outreach rescued eleven buildings containing over 1,100 units of housing from leaving the Section 8 affordability program.
2004-2005 – $530 million: ANHD held the City to a promise unfulfilled for 30 years to forge a new Battery Park City agreement that leveraged $130 millionfor 4,500 affordable units, and again in 2010, an additional $400 million for affordable housing.
2003-2005 – 7,200 apartments repaired per year: ANHD led the City to adopt the Targeted Cyclical Enforcement Program to enforce repairs.
Website: anhd.org
The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD) works to build the strength of the community development movement in New York City. ANHD was founded in 1974 with the mission to help low-income communities thrive and to ensure that all New Yorkers can live in decent, affordable housing and neighborhoods.
Today ANHD leads a membership of 99 of the City’s leading community development and neighborhood-based not-for-profit affordable housing organizations. Our member groups use grassroots advocacy strength, bricks-and-mortar development skills, and focused neighborhood-level services to work for more decent, just and equitable communities. ANHD supports our member groups with a mix of training, capacity-building resources, strategic research, and high-impact public policy advocacy campaigns.
ANHD members groups have built over 100,000 affordable units in NYC in the past 25 years. ANHD’s policy activism has directly leveraged over $1.3 billion in new resources for affordable housing in the past 10 years alone, and our policy victories have resulted in the preservation of thousands of affordable units.
ANHD’s ACHIEVEMENTS
Over the past decade alone, ANHD’s training, policy research, advocacy, strategic communications, and leadership development for 100 grassroots groups and residents has resulted in leveraging over $1.3 billion for affordable housing, rescuing over 30,000 apartments and 160 buildings for low-income residents, and creating break-through policies for community development:
2012 – City Council passes Responsible Banking Act, developed with ANHD members.
Following ANHD’s reports on dramatic decreases in banks’ local reinvestments in the 2009 and 2011 “The State of Bank Reinvestment in NYC”, New York City Council passed the nation’s strongest RBA bill in May 2012, providing communities with lending data and a voice to ensure local reinvestments as requested by ANHD members.
Community Development Fellowship Program, matching Masters’ Degree students with community non-profits.
2009-present: 90% success in training and placing unemployed adults: ANHD’s Center for Neighborhood Leadership training and internships for unemployed adults has resulted in 90% of trainees graduating into full-time jobs and / or college.
2008-present – 1000s of units rescued from rent increases: ANHD’s activism achieved an important state regulatory reform, reducing a key rent increase pass-along by 1/3 for thousands of tenants.
2007-present – $750 million to save housing from the crisis of over-leveraging: ANHD won a commitment of $750 million in city funds to incentivize banks to sell to affordable housing developers rather than predatory speculators.
2007-present – 3,100 units for 60-year affordability, $145 million annual tax credits: a result of ANHD research and advocacy, NYC Council Speaker Quinn agreed to doubling affordability from 30 to 60 years on 3,100 housing units per year, leveraging $15 million in annual benefits from the tax credits.
2003-present – 6,900 new units via Inclusionary Zoning: ANHD’s member-group led advocacy established New York’s first inclusionary zoning, gaining 6,900 affordable units.
2002-present – $32 million savings on building costs: ANHD’s Affordable Housing Institute trains residents, developers and building managers in affordable housing maintenance, financing and green retro-fitting for a combined economic savings of over $32 million
1992 to present – Affordable Housing Institute helps housing developments save $32 million: the Affordable Housing Institutes on-going trainings – including green building management training – to affordable housing developers, managers, maintenance workers and low-income residents saves $32 million per year in operational costs.
2010 – Gains in permanently affordable housing: ANHD publishes, “A Permanent Problem Requires a Permanent Solution” to promote permanently affordable housing. In response, the city required permanent affordability in many key 2010 land-use decisions.
2007 – $7,250,000 Housing Preservation Initiative: ANHD secured $1.5 million in annual support for critical housing preservation advocacy in the city’s most disadvantaged areas of which $7.25 million has been realized to date.
2006-2008 – 9,736 fewer harassment cases: ANHD gained breakthrough legislation – the Tenant Protection Act – giving harassed tenants strong new legal rights, reducing the quantifiable instances of harassment in Housing Court by 9,736 documented cases.
2004-2007 – 1,100 Section 8 units rescued: ANHD outreach rescued eleven buildings containing over 1,100 units of housing from leaving the Section 8 affordability program.
2004-2005 – $530 million: ANHD held the City to a promise unfulfilled for 30 years to forge a new Battery Park City agreement that leveraged $130 millionfor 4,500 affordable units, and again in 2010, an additional $400 million for affordable housing.
2003-2005 – 7,200 apartments repaired per year: ANHD led the City to adopt the Targeted Cyclical Enforcement Program to enforce repairs.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Homes For All
Location: Nationwide
Website: homesforall.org
Homes For All is a national campaign with the goal of broadening the conversation of the housing crisis beyond foreclosure and putting forth a comprehensive housing agenda that also speaks to issues affecting public housing residents, homeless families, and the growing number of renters in American cities.
Homes For All aims to protect, defend, and expand housing that is truly affordable and dignified for low-income and very low-income communities by engaging those most directly impacted by this crisis through local and national organizing, winning strong local policies that protect renters and homeowners, and shifting the national debate on housing.
RTC is working collaboratively across sectors to develop national housing policy that ensures that our communities and future generations have homes that are truly affordable, stable, and dignified.
Today, people who buy their homes are thrown out if they cannot make their mortgage payments, renters are either the new hot deal on the housing market or dealing with rising rents and costs and buildings in disrepair. With no comprehensive federal plan to preserve and build public housing, the idea of housing as a human right is under threat of demolition. As vacancies climb in cities, homeless families look on, wondering why there are so many homes without people in them.
The Homes for All campaign wants to draw attention to the housing crisis facing urban and suburban low and extremely low-income people of color. We want a to assert a holistic vision to affirming housing as a human right. Through this campaign, we are challenging the absurd assumptions that the housing crisis is over and that the market holds all (if any) of the solutions to our problems. We believe our government has a responsibility to create and strengthen laws and programs that will allow our communities to remain and flourish.
The recent and ongoing financial crisis has revealed that millions of residents of the United States experience housing insecurity, many of them for years at a time. Yet, housing policy in recent decades, whether implemented by government, the corporate sector, or some combination of the two, has contributed to a loss of affordable housing and has often displaced the members of our communities in the name of de-concentrating poverty. At the same time, corporations have shifted enormous amounts of investment into our cities, but their interest in property speculation and maximizing quarterly profits undermines our interest in long-term neighborhood stability. And when the crisis hit, they got bailed out and we got left out.With the latest wave of REO (Real Estate Owned) to rental properties being snatched up as the newest gambling scheme for hedge funds and private enterprise, we are on the cusp of what could become the creation of yet another housing bubble. Astronomical rents and displacement are already on the rise and this unbridled “game” threatens to further weaken an already fragile economy and devastate the hope for stable and sustainable communities now or in the future.
We want policies that allow us to strengthen the bonds we build with each other in our communities, and which help us to survive in the face of resource scarcity, economic hardship, environmental degradation, and political marginalization. To this end, we call for an end to speculation driven development in our cities that produces housing our communities can’t afford. We assert our right to stay in the communities we have built and refuse to be displaced!
Website: homesforall.org
Homes For All is a national campaign with the goal of broadening the conversation of the housing crisis beyond foreclosure and putting forth a comprehensive housing agenda that also speaks to issues affecting public housing residents, homeless families, and the growing number of renters in American cities.
Homes For All aims to protect, defend, and expand housing that is truly affordable and dignified for low-income and very low-income communities by engaging those most directly impacted by this crisis through local and national organizing, winning strong local policies that protect renters and homeowners, and shifting the national debate on housing.
RTC is working collaboratively across sectors to develop national housing policy that ensures that our communities and future generations have homes that are truly affordable, stable, and dignified.
Today, people who buy their homes are thrown out if they cannot make their mortgage payments, renters are either the new hot deal on the housing market or dealing with rising rents and costs and buildings in disrepair. With no comprehensive federal plan to preserve and build public housing, the idea of housing as a human right is under threat of demolition. As vacancies climb in cities, homeless families look on, wondering why there are so many homes without people in them.
The Homes for All campaign wants to draw attention to the housing crisis facing urban and suburban low and extremely low-income people of color. We want a to assert a holistic vision to affirming housing as a human right. Through this campaign, we are challenging the absurd assumptions that the housing crisis is over and that the market holds all (if any) of the solutions to our problems. We believe our government has a responsibility to create and strengthen laws and programs that will allow our communities to remain and flourish.
The recent and ongoing financial crisis has revealed that millions of residents of the United States experience housing insecurity, many of them for years at a time. Yet, housing policy in recent decades, whether implemented by government, the corporate sector, or some combination of the two, has contributed to a loss of affordable housing and has often displaced the members of our communities in the name of de-concentrating poverty. At the same time, corporations have shifted enormous amounts of investment into our cities, but their interest in property speculation and maximizing quarterly profits undermines our interest in long-term neighborhood stability. And when the crisis hit, they got bailed out and we got left out.With the latest wave of REO (Real Estate Owned) to rental properties being snatched up as the newest gambling scheme for hedge funds and private enterprise, we are on the cusp of what could become the creation of yet another housing bubble. Astronomical rents and displacement are already on the rise and this unbridled “game” threatens to further weaken an already fragile economy and devastate the hope for stable and sustainable communities now or in the future.
We want policies that allow us to strengthen the bonds we build with each other in our communities, and which help us to survive in the face of resource scarcity, economic hardship, environmental degradation, and political marginalization. To this end, we call for an end to speculation driven development in our cities that produces housing our communities can’t afford. We assert our right to stay in the communities we have built and refuse to be displaced!
Monday, June 22, 2015
WHEDco
Location: Bronx, NY
Website: whedco.org
The Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco) is a community development organization founded on the radically simple idea that all people deserve healthy, vibrant communities.
We build award-winning, sustainable, affordable homes but our work is not over when our buildings are complete. WHEDco believes that to be successful, affordable housing must be anchored in strong communities that residents can be proud of. WHEDco’s mission is to give the South Bronx access to all the resources that create thriving neighborhoods from high-quality early education and after-school programs, to fresh, healthy food, cultural programming, and economic opportunity.
Website: whedco.org
The Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco) is a community development organization founded on the radically simple idea that all people deserve healthy, vibrant communities.
We build award-winning, sustainable, affordable homes but our work is not over when our buildings are complete. WHEDco believes that to be successful, affordable housing must be anchored in strong communities that residents can be proud of. WHEDco’s mission is to give the South Bronx access to all the resources that create thriving neighborhoods from high-quality early education and after-school programs, to fresh, healthy food, cultural programming, and economic opportunity.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
National Low Income Housing Coalition
Location: Nationwide
Website: nlihc.org
In 1974, Cushing N. Dolbeare founded the Ad Hoc Low Income Housing Coalition in response to the Nixon administration’s moratorium on federal housing programs. While this group focused on federal advocacy, other members established the Low Income Housing Information Service (LIHIS) in 1975 to provide information on housing problems and federal housing programs, as well as technical assistance and support to state and local housing advocacy efforts.
In 1978, the ad hoc coalition was incorporated as the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). The two organizations operated jointly, with LIHIS focusing on information, public education, and technical assistance, and NLIHC focusing on advocacy. LIHIS launched a major initiative in 1992 to strengthen partner housing coalitions at the state level in response to devolution of many federal programs. The maturation of NLIHC and LIHIS led to a decision in 1996 to formally merge the two organizations into one 501(c)(3) membership organization, governed by one board of directors. NLIHC today continues the public education, research and policy analysis, organizing, and advocacy work of its predecessor organizations.
Since its inception, NLIHC has been a leader in the effort to address the housing needs of those with the lowest incomes. Ms. Dolbeare recognized that there was no shortage of constituents concerned about low income housing, but rather that constituents needed to be informed about when and how to make their voices heard. To better educate constituents, Ms. Dolbeare authored or co-authored dozens of articles, books and reports. Her writings focused on a wide range of issues, such as the economic underpinnings of the housing crisis; the impact of the crisis on various segments of the population such as women, Hispanics and farm workers; and the unique challenges faced in addressing the housing crisis in urban areas versus rural areas.
"Out of Reach", NLIHC’s widely-cited annual report on the gap between housing costs and the wages of low income people.
While numerous organizations concentrate on federal housing policy, NLIHC is unique because of our sole focus on the needs of extremely low income people, the only population experiencing an absolute shortage of affordable housing. Today NLIHC has hundreds of members across the county. Combined with incisive research and policy analysis, NLIHC is a respected voice in Washington, D.C. that has helped produce policies impacting the lives of millions.
Website: nlihc.org
In 1974, Cushing N. Dolbeare founded the Ad Hoc Low Income Housing Coalition in response to the Nixon administration’s moratorium on federal housing programs. While this group focused on federal advocacy, other members established the Low Income Housing Information Service (LIHIS) in 1975 to provide information on housing problems and federal housing programs, as well as technical assistance and support to state and local housing advocacy efforts.
In 1978, the ad hoc coalition was incorporated as the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). The two organizations operated jointly, with LIHIS focusing on information, public education, and technical assistance, and NLIHC focusing on advocacy. LIHIS launched a major initiative in 1992 to strengthen partner housing coalitions at the state level in response to devolution of many federal programs. The maturation of NLIHC and LIHIS led to a decision in 1996 to formally merge the two organizations into one 501(c)(3) membership organization, governed by one board of directors. NLIHC today continues the public education, research and policy analysis, organizing, and advocacy work of its predecessor organizations.
Since its inception, NLIHC has been a leader in the effort to address the housing needs of those with the lowest incomes. Ms. Dolbeare recognized that there was no shortage of constituents concerned about low income housing, but rather that constituents needed to be informed about when and how to make their voices heard. To better educate constituents, Ms. Dolbeare authored or co-authored dozens of articles, books and reports. Her writings focused on a wide range of issues, such as the economic underpinnings of the housing crisis; the impact of the crisis on various segments of the population such as women, Hispanics and farm workers; and the unique challenges faced in addressing the housing crisis in urban areas versus rural areas.
"Out of Reach", NLIHC’s widely-cited annual report on the gap between housing costs and the wages of low income people.
While numerous organizations concentrate on federal housing policy, NLIHC is unique because of our sole focus on the needs of extremely low income people, the only population experiencing an absolute shortage of affordable housing. Today NLIHC has hundreds of members across the county. Combined with incisive research and policy analysis, NLIHC is a respected voice in Washington, D.C. that has helped produce policies impacting the lives of millions.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Community Voices Heard
Location: New York City, NY
Website: cvhaction.org
Community Voices Heard (CVH) is a member-led multi-racial organization, principally women of color and low-income families in New York State that builds power to secure social, economic and racial justice for all. We accomplish this through grassroots organizing, leadership development, policy changes, and creating new models of direct democracy.
We are working towards building a society in which the systems that govern us foster racial, social and economic justice not exploitation – particularly for low-income people of color. We seek a society in which all people – regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender expression, sexual identity, citizen status, primary language, and ability – are treated with mutual respect and when privileges of one group do not exist. We seek a society in which all people are able to work with dignity, have access to a sustainable quality of life, and can obtain unconditional support in their time of need. We seek a society in which governmental structures are transparent and based on community needs.
We seek a society in which policies address the needs of all people and strengthen our communities. We believe in a society where “experts” do not have all the answers but rather a society in which the people most directly affected are the ones making the decisions.
Community Voices Heard (CVH) was founded in 1994 as a member-led organization by low-income people, predominantly women of color, many receiving public assistance and fighting the welfare reform policies that threatened their families. Leading members like Gail Aska worked to build power in New York City and State to improve the lives of our families and communities. From these early beginnings CVH has evolved into a multi-issue statewide organization of low-income people.
Community Voices Heard subscribes to the following principles as we move forward in implementing our strategic plan.
CVH believes that membership must have meaningful decision-making and control of the organization and the work we do.
CVH believes that base building is the foundation of what we do – we actively work to increase the numbers of low-income people and people of color involved in social change and leadership development of community leaders, particularly women and people of color, is core to our work and the empowerment of our membership.
CVH believes that the people whose lives are directly affected by enforced policies should lead the charge in defining these policies.
CVH is about organizing: we provide information and education and refer people to get their immediate needs met, but we remain focused on building collective power for systemic change.
CVH welcomes and respects people of all races, ethnicities, religions, ages, gender expressions, sexual identities, citizen status, primary languages and abilities.
Website: cvhaction.org
Community Voices Heard (CVH) is a member-led multi-racial organization, principally women of color and low-income families in New York State that builds power to secure social, economic and racial justice for all. We accomplish this through grassroots organizing, leadership development, policy changes, and creating new models of direct democracy.
We are working towards building a society in which the systems that govern us foster racial, social and economic justice not exploitation – particularly for low-income people of color. We seek a society in which all people – regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender expression, sexual identity, citizen status, primary language, and ability – are treated with mutual respect and when privileges of one group do not exist. We seek a society in which all people are able to work with dignity, have access to a sustainable quality of life, and can obtain unconditional support in their time of need. We seek a society in which governmental structures are transparent and based on community needs.
We seek a society in which policies address the needs of all people and strengthen our communities. We believe in a society where “experts” do not have all the answers but rather a society in which the people most directly affected are the ones making the decisions.
Community Voices Heard (CVH) was founded in 1994 as a member-led organization by low-income people, predominantly women of color, many receiving public assistance and fighting the welfare reform policies that threatened their families. Leading members like Gail Aska worked to build power in New York City and State to improve the lives of our families and communities. From these early beginnings CVH has evolved into a multi-issue statewide organization of low-income people.
Community Voices Heard subscribes to the following principles as we move forward in implementing our strategic plan.
CVH believes that membership must have meaningful decision-making and control of the organization and the work we do.
CVH believes that base building is the foundation of what we do – we actively work to increase the numbers of low-income people and people of color involved in social change and leadership development of community leaders, particularly women and people of color, is core to our work and the empowerment of our membership.
CVH believes that the people whose lives are directly affected by enforced policies should lead the charge in defining these policies.
CVH is about organizing: we provide information and education and refer people to get their immediate needs met, but we remain focused on building collective power for systemic change.
CVH welcomes and respects people of all races, ethnicities, religions, ages, gender expressions, sexual identities, citizen status, primary languages and abilities.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Greater New Orleans Foundation
Location: New Orleans, LA
Website: www.gnof.org
At the Greater New Orleans Foundation, we look to create a resilient, sustainable, vibrant community in which individuals and families flourish and the special character of our region is preserved, celebrated, and supported.
Recognizing that New Orleans is more than a city–it is an interconnected region–we serve the surrounding parishes of Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, and Washington.
Like other community foundations, the Greater New Orleans Foundation serves both donors and recipients–linking philanthropists with the needs and aspirations of the greater community. We pull together people, ideas, and resources; we serve as a champion of civil society and civil solutions; and we help the effectiveness of nonprofit leaders.
By partnering with donors, we help them achieve their charitable goals–whether that means starting a fund, creating an endowment, leaving a legacy, or just making a gift. Since our founding by forward-looking community leaders in 1983, the Foundation has grown from scarcely $4 million in assets to more than $275 million in assets under management–and 700 donor funds–today. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the region, but also prompted an outpouring of generosity from long-time supporters and new donors from around the world. The Foundation played a key role in the region’s recovery, coordinating donor efforts and rallying support for the Unified New Orleans Plan–which made possible the release of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid.
Our housing and community development efforts since Katrina included the Economic Opportunity Community Revitalization Fund, a five-year, $25 million initiative to support the organizations, people, and systems that produce affordable workforce housing in the City of New Orleans. Since 2007, the Community Revitalization Fund has made 63 grants and other investments to 51 organizations, supporting the development of nearly 9,500 housing units.
We also worked with the City of New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, and the Center for Community Progress to reduce the city’s number of vacant, abandoned, and blighted properties in the city.
Southeast Louisiana faced another unprecedented disaster when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 2010, causing the largest oil spill in the nation’s history. The Foundation responded within days by opening the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund, designated for projects that would restore and strengthen the communities and environments affected by the disaster. Donations poured in from around the world and were channeled into millions of dollars in grant assistance over the next three years. Recognizing that a full 44 percent of our region’s residents live in threatened coastal parishes, addressing both the short-term and long-term needs of these residents–and the environment upon which we all depend–is one of the Foundation’s top priorities.
Most recently, the Foundation’s Coastal 5+1 Initiative has been helping the region’s coastal parishes and the City of New Orleans identify and implement immediate, concrete solutions to long-term problems created by marginalized economies, poor planning, and environmental degradation. Today, GNOF manages more than 700 funds devoted to charitable, environmental, cultural, and economic development purposes. As one of the oldest and largest philanthropic organizations in the region, we’re proud of our investments in creating a thriving community for all.
Today, GNOF manages more than 700 funds devoted to charitable, environmental, cultural, and economic development purposes. As one of the oldest and largest philanthropic organizations in the region, we’re proud of our investments in creating a thriving community for all.
Website: www.gnof.org
At the Greater New Orleans Foundation, we look to create a resilient, sustainable, vibrant community in which individuals and families flourish and the special character of our region is preserved, celebrated, and supported.
Recognizing that New Orleans is more than a city–it is an interconnected region–we serve the surrounding parishes of Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, and Washington.
Like other community foundations, the Greater New Orleans Foundation serves both donors and recipients–linking philanthropists with the needs and aspirations of the greater community. We pull together people, ideas, and resources; we serve as a champion of civil society and civil solutions; and we help the effectiveness of nonprofit leaders.
By partnering with donors, we help them achieve their charitable goals–whether that means starting a fund, creating an endowment, leaving a legacy, or just making a gift. Since our founding by forward-looking community leaders in 1983, the Foundation has grown from scarcely $4 million in assets to more than $275 million in assets under management–and 700 donor funds–today. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the region, but also prompted an outpouring of generosity from long-time supporters and new donors from around the world. The Foundation played a key role in the region’s recovery, coordinating donor efforts and rallying support for the Unified New Orleans Plan–which made possible the release of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid.
Our housing and community development efforts since Katrina included the Economic Opportunity Community Revitalization Fund, a five-year, $25 million initiative to support the organizations, people, and systems that produce affordable workforce housing in the City of New Orleans. Since 2007, the Community Revitalization Fund has made 63 grants and other investments to 51 organizations, supporting the development of nearly 9,500 housing units.
We also worked with the City of New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, and the Center for Community Progress to reduce the city’s number of vacant, abandoned, and blighted properties in the city.
Southeast Louisiana faced another unprecedented disaster when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 2010, causing the largest oil spill in the nation’s history. The Foundation responded within days by opening the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund, designated for projects that would restore and strengthen the communities and environments affected by the disaster. Donations poured in from around the world and were channeled into millions of dollars in grant assistance over the next three years. Recognizing that a full 44 percent of our region’s residents live in threatened coastal parishes, addressing both the short-term and long-term needs of these residents–and the environment upon which we all depend–is one of the Foundation’s top priorities.
Most recently, the Foundation’s Coastal 5+1 Initiative has been helping the region’s coastal parishes and the City of New Orleans identify and implement immediate, concrete solutions to long-term problems created by marginalized economies, poor planning, and environmental degradation. Today, GNOF manages more than 700 funds devoted to charitable, environmental, cultural, and economic development purposes. As one of the oldest and largest philanthropic organizations in the region, we’re proud of our investments in creating a thriving community for all.
Today, GNOF manages more than 700 funds devoted to charitable, environmental, cultural, and economic development purposes. As one of the oldest and largest philanthropic organizations in the region, we’re proud of our investments in creating a thriving community for all.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Neighborhood Development Foundation
Location: New Orleans, LA
Website: www.ndf-neworleans.org
Neighborhood Development Foundation (NDF) is one of New Orleans’ greatest success stories and the key to a rewarding and productive life for many low and moderate-income families.
Building assets over a lifetime that will enable you to leave an inheritance to your children is a dream for many working families and a dream that the Neighborhood Development Foundation (NDF) has helped to make a reality for thousands of families throughout the greater New Orleans area since 1986.
NDF was founded on the beliefs that decent affordable housing is essential to the physical and emotional health, productivity and self-esteem of individuals and that homeownership has a significant effect on children’s success. Studies show that the positive behavioral characteristics required of homeowners are passed on to their children. These positive outcomes include: better health; fewer behavioral problems; greater achievement in math and reading; lower high school dropout rates; fewer teen births; more years of schooling by age 25; and an increase in high school graduation rates. And in the community, homeownership builds and stabilizes neighborhoods.
For over 25 years, NDF has provided knowledge, education, and advocacy that make owning and maintaining a home affordable. This education is something we can all benefit from. It’s fiscal responsibility 101 and it results in lifetime renters becoming homeowners, landlords, developers, and investors in our community.
The Mission of the Neighborhood Development Foundation is to educate and assist low and moderate-income families to build assets through homeownership.
Website: www.ndf-neworleans.org
Neighborhood Development Foundation (NDF) is one of New Orleans’ greatest success stories and the key to a rewarding and productive life for many low and moderate-income families.
Building assets over a lifetime that will enable you to leave an inheritance to your children is a dream for many working families and a dream that the Neighborhood Development Foundation (NDF) has helped to make a reality for thousands of families throughout the greater New Orleans area since 1986.
NDF was founded on the beliefs that decent affordable housing is essential to the physical and emotional health, productivity and self-esteem of individuals and that homeownership has a significant effect on children’s success. Studies show that the positive behavioral characteristics required of homeowners are passed on to their children. These positive outcomes include: better health; fewer behavioral problems; greater achievement in math and reading; lower high school dropout rates; fewer teen births; more years of schooling by age 25; and an increase in high school graduation rates. And in the community, homeownership builds and stabilizes neighborhoods.
For over 25 years, NDF has provided knowledge, education, and advocacy that make owning and maintaining a home affordable. This education is something we can all benefit from. It’s fiscal responsibility 101 and it results in lifetime renters becoming homeowners, landlords, developers, and investors in our community.
The Mission of the Neighborhood Development Foundation is to educate and assist low and moderate-income families to build assets through homeownership.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
TransForm
Location: California
Website: www.transform.org
TransForm started as a coalition of environmental, social equity, and community groups to bring a smart growth vision to life in the Bay Area. We continue to create innovate local models in the Bay Area and are working to promote smarter regional planning throughout California.
Since 2009, TransForm has also engaged in state policy, and from our Sacramento office we are leading advocacy efforts to reform state transportation policy.
Our successes in reshaping regional planning and winning billions of dollars for public transportation, walking and bicycling and affordable homes have been recognized and emulated throughout the nation. Today, we continue to build on our success in the Bay Area and are leading a statewide movement to transform transportation. Billions of dollars for California’s public transportation has been redirected for other uses over the past decade. For almost four years, TransForm has worked from its Sacramento office to provide a consistent voice for the urgent need for sustainable and equitable state transportation policies.
TransForm will host the second California Transportation Choices Summit and Advocacy Day on April 22-24. Hundreds of advocates and organizations will unite to share information and develop strategies for maximizing the impact of our movement. Our top 2013 priority is to get a funding commitment for sustainable transportation and land use from the State’s new Cap and Trade program. Another focus is reducing the voter threshold to 55% for measures that implement Sustainable Communities Strategies and have overall benefits for low-income communities.
The State is facing critical, cross-cutting growth issues such as the disbanding of redevelopment agencies, loss of affordable housing funds, and continued regulatory barriers to transit-oriented development issues. But many of our closest partners have not worked together on state policy. The State is facing critical, cross-cutting growth issues such as the disbanding of redevelopment agencies, loss of affordable housing funds, and continued regulatory barriers to transit-oriented development issues. But many of our closest partners have not worked together on state policy.
TransForm and ClimatePlan are bringing groups together to identify common ground, build relationships, and identify solutions such as developing new funding sources for transit-oriented development that includes affordable housing. ClimatePlan’s state policy group will continue to take the lead in making sure the Air Resources Board’s review of Sustainable Communities Strategies holds regions accountable.
TransForm will partner with allies to ensure the new law prioritizes bicycle safety.
TransForm and ClimatePlan are bringing groups together to identify common ground, build relationships, and identify solutions such as developing new funding sources for transit-oriented development that includes affordable housing. ClimatePlan’s state policy group will continue to take the lead in making sure the Air Resources Board’s review of Sustainable Communities Strategies holds regions to a high standard.
In 2012, TransForm joined with California Pan-Ethnic Health Network to sponsor and pass AB 441. The law requires the State to identify transportation projects and programs that improve public health and health equity and include that in the next update of Regional Transportation Plan guidelines. TransForm is seeking partners and funding to create an on-line,dynamic tool called for our 2012 report, this tool will document successful strategies across California,with updated case studies, measurable outcomes, and more. This can help inform state policy, and create a template of programs for when the guidelines are next updated.
Website: www.transform.org
TransForm started as a coalition of environmental, social equity, and community groups to bring a smart growth vision to life in the Bay Area. We continue to create innovate local models in the Bay Area and are working to promote smarter regional planning throughout California.
Since 2009, TransForm has also engaged in state policy, and from our Sacramento office we are leading advocacy efforts to reform state transportation policy.
Our successes in reshaping regional planning and winning billions of dollars for public transportation, walking and bicycling and affordable homes have been recognized and emulated throughout the nation. Today, we continue to build on our success in the Bay Area and are leading a statewide movement to transform transportation. Billions of dollars for California’s public transportation has been redirected for other uses over the past decade. For almost four years, TransForm has worked from its Sacramento office to provide a consistent voice for the urgent need for sustainable and equitable state transportation policies.
TransForm will host the second California Transportation Choices Summit and Advocacy Day on April 22-24. Hundreds of advocates and organizations will unite to share information and develop strategies for maximizing the impact of our movement. Our top 2013 priority is to get a funding commitment for sustainable transportation and land use from the State’s new Cap and Trade program. Another focus is reducing the voter threshold to 55% for measures that implement Sustainable Communities Strategies and have overall benefits for low-income communities.
The State is facing critical, cross-cutting growth issues such as the disbanding of redevelopment agencies, loss of affordable housing funds, and continued regulatory barriers to transit-oriented development issues. But many of our closest partners have not worked together on state policy. The State is facing critical, cross-cutting growth issues such as the disbanding of redevelopment agencies, loss of affordable housing funds, and continued regulatory barriers to transit-oriented development issues. But many of our closest partners have not worked together on state policy.
TransForm and ClimatePlan are bringing groups together to identify common ground, build relationships, and identify solutions such as developing new funding sources for transit-oriented development that includes affordable housing. ClimatePlan’s state policy group will continue to take the lead in making sure the Air Resources Board’s review of Sustainable Communities Strategies holds regions accountable.
TransForm will partner with allies to ensure the new law prioritizes bicycle safety.
TransForm and ClimatePlan are bringing groups together to identify common ground, build relationships, and identify solutions such as developing new funding sources for transit-oriented development that includes affordable housing. ClimatePlan’s state policy group will continue to take the lead in making sure the Air Resources Board’s review of Sustainable Communities Strategies holds regions to a high standard.
In 2012, TransForm joined with California Pan-Ethnic Health Network to sponsor and pass AB 441. The law requires the State to identify transportation projects and programs that improve public health and health equity and include that in the next update of Regional Transportation Plan guidelines. TransForm is seeking partners and funding to create an on-line,dynamic tool called for our 2012 report, this tool will document successful strategies across California,with updated case studies, measurable outcomes, and more. This can help inform state policy, and create a template of programs for when the guidelines are next updated.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Terwilliger Center for Housing
Location: Nationwide
Website: www.uli.org/research/centers-initiatives/terwilliger-center-for-housing/
The ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing engages in a multifaceted program of work that includes research, publications, convenings, awards, and technical assistance. Our mission is to facilitate creating and sustaining a full spectrum of housing opportunities—including affordable and workforce housing—in communities across the country.
Established in 2007 with a gift from longtime ULI member and former ULI chairman J. Ronald Terwilliger, the Center’s initial mission was to expand workforce housing opportunities for families earning 60 to 120 percent of the area median income.
While the Center’s primary focus remains on housing affordability, with a particular emphasis on workforce housing policies and projects, our mission has expanded in 2011 to include a broader range of housing issues.
This expanded focus will help to integrate ULI’s many housing efforts into a coherent program of work that furthers the development of mixed-income, mixed-use communities and a full spectrum of housing affordable to all, a critical aspect of ULI’s core mission of the “responsible use of land.
Website: www.uli.org/research/centers-initiatives/terwilliger-center-for-housing/
The ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing engages in a multifaceted program of work that includes research, publications, convenings, awards, and technical assistance. Our mission is to facilitate creating and sustaining a full spectrum of housing opportunities—including affordable and workforce housing—in communities across the country.
Established in 2007 with a gift from longtime ULI member and former ULI chairman J. Ronald Terwilliger, the Center’s initial mission was to expand workforce housing opportunities for families earning 60 to 120 percent of the area median income.
While the Center’s primary focus remains on housing affordability, with a particular emphasis on workforce housing policies and projects, our mission has expanded in 2011 to include a broader range of housing issues.
This expanded focus will help to integrate ULI’s many housing efforts into a coherent program of work that furthers the development of mixed-income, mixed-use communities and a full spectrum of housing affordable to all, a critical aspect of ULI’s core mission of the “responsible use of land.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
T.R.U.S.T. South LA
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Website: www.trustsouthla.org
T.R.U.S.T South LA is a Community Land Trust established in November 2005 as a democratic and permanent steward of land, to challenge the role that speculators, absentee owners and corporations have played in deciding the neighborhoods’ future.
With grant and loan funds raised from public and private sources, the Land Trust acquires land to be held in perpetuity by the community-controlled Land Trust. The land will be leased for the development of affordable family housing and other community-serving uses.
Permanent control over the assets of the Land Trust is ensured by its legal structure as a membership organization, with Regular Members restricted to low-income people who live or work in the land trust area.
Our principles guide how we engage our community:
- Educate and develop our consciousness, skills, and experience individually and collectively. We take responsibility to understand the context of the community, and our environment and together create a strategic plan.
- Develop a new generation of leadership through sharing tools, knowledge and creating opportunities for youth. Intentionally take a step back to allow for youth and young adults to step in and take ownership of their learning and participation.
- Work together to create a local economy and a community that has control over the use of the land,
- Take responsibility to take care of the earth, minimize what we take from her, and help heal what has been harmed.
- Take responsibility to delegate work in an ethical and responsible manner. Share knowledge and skills with others.
- Maintain our minds and hearts open and have flexibility to adapt to changes. Be curious and experiment with new ideas.
- Maintain credibility through transparent structures of communication and access to information such as: decision making processes, resources, and funding.
Website: www.trustsouthla.org
T.R.U.S.T South LA is a Community Land Trust established in November 2005 as a democratic and permanent steward of land, to challenge the role that speculators, absentee owners and corporations have played in deciding the neighborhoods’ future.
With grant and loan funds raised from public and private sources, the Land Trust acquires land to be held in perpetuity by the community-controlled Land Trust. The land will be leased for the development of affordable family housing and other community-serving uses.
Permanent control over the assets of the Land Trust is ensured by its legal structure as a membership organization, with Regular Members restricted to low-income people who live or work in the land trust area.
Our principles guide how we engage our community:
- Educate and develop our consciousness, skills, and experience individually and collectively. We take responsibility to understand the context of the community, and our environment and together create a strategic plan.
- Develop a new generation of leadership through sharing tools, knowledge and creating opportunities for youth. Intentionally take a step back to allow for youth and young adults to step in and take ownership of their learning and participation.
- Work together to create a local economy and a community that has control over the use of the land,
- Take responsibility to take care of the earth, minimize what we take from her, and help heal what has been harmed.
- Take responsibility to delegate work in an ethical and responsible manner. Share knowledge and skills with others.
- Maintain our minds and hearts open and have flexibility to adapt to changes. Be curious and experiment with new ideas.
- Maintain credibility through transparent structures of communication and access to information such as: decision making processes, resources, and funding.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
[im]possible living
Location: International
Website: www.impossibleliving.com
Abandoned buildings are everywhere:
in city centers, suburbs, countrysides, mountains, seasides, everywhere!
They are left there, day after day, night after night. They don't scream, they don't bleed, they just lose a little piece everyday, so you don't really realize that a certain place is falling down, until one day it's impossible to recover it and the only thing that is left to do is breaking it down!!
How is our society managing these buildings?
Most of the time just ignoring them, preferring to leave them behind and build new buildings instead! This approach is cheaper in the short term, but definitely it is not in the long run.
There is an enormous power trapped in these ruins and [im]possible living is a project that aims to free this power up!! It won't be easy, but we want to try to reverse this trend and give a new life to these places!!
The steps in front of us are very challenging, but we are very excited about them:
- build a worldwide database of abandoned buildings,
- provide tools and knowledge to help our users start rescue projects,
- connect professionals to help on the design process, and
- fnd money to make these projects become real.
[im]possible living wants to be an enabler, a catalyst of the energies available in every place in the world that are not able to get through and give birth to the abandonment market and, in general, to a new housing development model: it is a very ambitious goal, but we really believe in it and we are investing everything in this dream!
Website: www.impossibleliving.com
Abandoned buildings are everywhere:
in city centers, suburbs, countrysides, mountains, seasides, everywhere!
They are left there, day after day, night after night. They don't scream, they don't bleed, they just lose a little piece everyday, so you don't really realize that a certain place is falling down, until one day it's impossible to recover it and the only thing that is left to do is breaking it down!!
How is our society managing these buildings?
Most of the time just ignoring them, preferring to leave them behind and build new buildings instead! This approach is cheaper in the short term, but definitely it is not in the long run.
There is an enormous power trapped in these ruins and [im]possible living is a project that aims to free this power up!! It won't be easy, but we want to try to reverse this trend and give a new life to these places!!
The steps in front of us are very challenging, but we are very excited about them:
- build a worldwide database of abandoned buildings,
- provide tools and knowledge to help our users start rescue projects,
- connect professionals to help on the design process, and
- fnd money to make these projects become real.
[im]possible living wants to be an enabler, a catalyst of the energies available in every place in the world that are not able to get through and give birth to the abandonment market and, in general, to a new housing development model: it is a very ambitious goal, but we really believe in it and we are investing everything in this dream!
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Two Bridges Neighborhood Council
Location: New York, NY
Website: www.twobridges.org
Two Bridges serves the residential, commercial, and cultural life of Manhattan’s Lower East Side through community-based programs and strategic partnerships. Our service area includes the economically, culturally, and ethnically diverse neighborhoods of Two Bridges, Chinatown, Little Italy, the East Village, and the Bowery Corridor.
As it has for over a century-and-a half of immigration, the demographic composition of the Lower East Side varies widely across all neighborhoods. In spite of the recent wave of gentrification transforming many parts of the Lower East Side, tens of thousands of working-class and low- to moderate-income individuals and families—many with deep roots in the neighborhood, and others just arriving—still call the Lower East Side home.
Two Bridges serves the community by creating affordable housing, advocating for improvements related to quality of life, providing access to social services, education and recreation programs, providing access to technology, and engaging residents in the public, political and planning processes that impact the community in which they live and work.
For more than half a century, Two Bridges has nurtured the unique character of the Lower East Side by building bridges among its diverse communities. Two Bridges develops affordable housing, promotes the recognition and preservation of the area’s living history and culture, and advocates for residents and merchants through public programs, policy reports, public programs and events, and participation in neighborhood coalitions.
By engaging in relevant and constructive dialogue with residents, local political leaders and partner organizations, Two Bridges provides authoritative commentary on critical issues facing our neighborhoods.
Among the most pressing issues currently addressed by Two Bridges are affordable housing, growing income disparities, and bridging the digital divide to overcome the access and knowledge gap facing those who cannot afford computer technology.
Two Bridges is also committed to linking those in need to social services, skills development, and jobs programs through partnerships with other organizations, businesses, and entrepreneurs.
Website: www.twobridges.org
Two Bridges serves the residential, commercial, and cultural life of Manhattan’s Lower East Side through community-based programs and strategic partnerships. Our service area includes the economically, culturally, and ethnically diverse neighborhoods of Two Bridges, Chinatown, Little Italy, the East Village, and the Bowery Corridor.
As it has for over a century-and-a half of immigration, the demographic composition of the Lower East Side varies widely across all neighborhoods. In spite of the recent wave of gentrification transforming many parts of the Lower East Side, tens of thousands of working-class and low- to moderate-income individuals and families—many with deep roots in the neighborhood, and others just arriving—still call the Lower East Side home.
Two Bridges serves the community by creating affordable housing, advocating for improvements related to quality of life, providing access to social services, education and recreation programs, providing access to technology, and engaging residents in the public, political and planning processes that impact the community in which they live and work.
For more than half a century, Two Bridges has nurtured the unique character of the Lower East Side by building bridges among its diverse communities. Two Bridges develops affordable housing, promotes the recognition and preservation of the area’s living history and culture, and advocates for residents and merchants through public programs, policy reports, public programs and events, and participation in neighborhood coalitions.
By engaging in relevant and constructive dialogue with residents, local political leaders and partner organizations, Two Bridges provides authoritative commentary on critical issues facing our neighborhoods.
Among the most pressing issues currently addressed by Two Bridges are affordable housing, growing income disparities, and bridging the digital divide to overcome the access and knowledge gap facing those who cannot afford computer technology.
Two Bridges is also committed to linking those in need to social services, skills development, and jobs programs through partnerships with other organizations, businesses, and entrepreneurs.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Community Solutions
Location: Nationwide
Website: www.cmtysolutions.org
Community Solutions (CS), led by President Rosanne Haggerty, is a newly established, national not-for-profit organization whose mission is to strengthen communities to end homelessness.
Based in New York city, CS partners with community leaders, public agencies, non-profits, property developers and health and human services organizations to create practical, scalable, cost effective solutions to homelessness.
Our approach has been featured on “60 Minutes,” in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other media, and recognized with the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation, the World Habitat Award, and the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, among other honors.
As the national spinoff of Common Ground, a pioneer and leader in the field, our perspective is based on twenty years of experience ending street homelessness, developing and operating permanent supportive housing, and bringing a range of community stakeholders together to create and share cost-effective solutions to support our most vulnerable neighbors.
We’ve proven, time and again, that investing in effective housing strategies costs taxpayers far less than maintaining the status quo, where isolated, often sick people shuttle between the streets and shelters, hospitals and jails.
What others might see as the toughest problems, we see as the highest-leverage opportunities. We focus our efforts where homelessness is most complex, developing effective solutions with the widest possible impact on health and housing outcomes, practices and policies.
Our goal is to accelerate change by bringing proven, replicable innovations that end homelessness to a national scale, working with what we call “tipping point” communities, as well as to advance new models of homelessness prevention and community development.
CS’s cornerstone initiatives include:
The 100,000 Homes Campaign, an unprecedented effort to support and coordinate a multitude of national organizations and local communities to collectively house 100,000 homeless individuals and families by July of 2014;
The first supportive housing projects in post-Katrina New Orleans, where homelessness rose by 70 percent in the wake of the storm; and
Community partnerships with neighborhoods struggling with high rates of homelessness, including Brownsville, Brooklyn, and Northeast Hartford, CT.
Rosanne Haggerty, who leads a multi-disciplinary team of 30 professionals, is an internationally recognized leader in the arena of resolving homelessness.
She founded Common Ground in 1990, and presided over its growth into the largest developer of permanent supportive housing in the country for more than 20 years. Haggerty is a 2007 Ashoka Senior Fellow, a Hunt Alternatives Fund Prime Mover, and a 2001 recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Genius Fellowship.
Website: www.cmtysolutions.org
Community Solutions (CS), led by President Rosanne Haggerty, is a newly established, national not-for-profit organization whose mission is to strengthen communities to end homelessness.
Based in New York city, CS partners with community leaders, public agencies, non-profits, property developers and health and human services organizations to create practical, scalable, cost effective solutions to homelessness.
Our approach has been featured on “60 Minutes,” in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and other media, and recognized with the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation, the World Habitat Award, and the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, among other honors.
As the national spinoff of Common Ground, a pioneer and leader in the field, our perspective is based on twenty years of experience ending street homelessness, developing and operating permanent supportive housing, and bringing a range of community stakeholders together to create and share cost-effective solutions to support our most vulnerable neighbors.
We’ve proven, time and again, that investing in effective housing strategies costs taxpayers far less than maintaining the status quo, where isolated, often sick people shuttle between the streets and shelters, hospitals and jails.
What others might see as the toughest problems, we see as the highest-leverage opportunities. We focus our efforts where homelessness is most complex, developing effective solutions with the widest possible impact on health and housing outcomes, practices and policies.
Our goal is to accelerate change by bringing proven, replicable innovations that end homelessness to a national scale, working with what we call “tipping point” communities, as well as to advance new models of homelessness prevention and community development.
CS’s cornerstone initiatives include:
The 100,000 Homes Campaign, an unprecedented effort to support and coordinate a multitude of national organizations and local communities to collectively house 100,000 homeless individuals and families by July of 2014;
The first supportive housing projects in post-Katrina New Orleans, where homelessness rose by 70 percent in the wake of the storm; and
Community partnerships with neighborhoods struggling with high rates of homelessness, including Brownsville, Brooklyn, and Northeast Hartford, CT.
Rosanne Haggerty, who leads a multi-disciplinary team of 30 professionals, is an internationally recognized leader in the arena of resolving homelessness.
She founded Common Ground in 1990, and presided over its growth into the largest developer of permanent supportive housing in the country for more than 20 years. Haggerty is a 2007 Ashoka Senior Fellow, a Hunt Alternatives Fund Prime Mover, and a 2001 recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Genius Fellowship.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Positively Paseo
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Website:
www.positivelypaseo.org
Positively Paseo is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit community housing development organization, or CHDO, working to revitalize the Paseo Historic District and Classen Ten Penn neighborhoods in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Our mission is to increase homeownership by providing families and individuals with low-to-moderate income levels the opportunity to purchase a rehabilitated, restored, or newly constructed home that is affordable and of good quality.
Like other inner-city Oklahoma City neighborhoods, Paseo and Classen Ten Penn suffered in the 1970′s and 80′s when development began in the suburbs and drew families away from the center of the city.
This suburban flight led to urban blight – leaving behind large swaths of vacant, boarded up blocks. Homes deteriorated and crime moved in. The economic recession of the 1980′s led to further deterioration with the end result being a nearly abandoned inner city.
With some of the homes dating back to the Land Run of 1889 and neighborhoods designed by G.A. Nichols in the early 1900′s, it is important to save these historic buildings and make these neighborhoods safe again for families.
So began the work of Positively Paseo…
In the mid 1980′s residents of Paseo and surrounding historic neighborhoods joined forces with area church officials, non-profit community associations, local bankers, and commercial property owners to set in place a plan to revitalize the Paseo neighborhood.
Backed by an endorsement from a study by the Urban Land Institute in Washington D.C., Positively Paseo was formed to lead the way in housing rehabilitation. With a focus on owner-occupancy, staff and volunteers began to renovate deteriorated single-family homes and build new homes on long vacant lots. Initial funding sources included bank loans and federal grants administered by the City of Oklahoma City.
This work began more than 20 years ago and because of patience and perseverance, the Paseo Historic District (as it is now known) has undergone a renaissance. Property values have stabilized, criminal activity has all but vanished, and a strong neighborhood association continues to unite neighbors.
It is because of this success that Positively Paseo has joined forces with Classen Ten Penn residents in order to model the work that has been done in Paseo in another deteriorated inner-city Oklahoma City neighborhood.
The Classen Ten Penn neighborhood has a long history and, by some accounts, served as a home for at least one famous writer – Ralph Ellison. Today, the neighborhood boasts another famous resident, Wayne Coyne, of the band The Flaming Lips, and his wife and photographer, Michelle Martin-Coyne. A thriving commercial and arts district – The Plaza District – serves as the heart of the neighborhood.
All locally-owned, the district is home to four restaurants, a winery, a beauty salon, art galleries, a dance studio, an interior design studio, a floral designer, a tattoo parlor, retro and vintage shops, and The Lyric Theatre, Oklahoma’s only professional year-round musical theatre company. On the second Friday of each month, LIVE on the Plaza hosts a family-friendly event.
Classen Ten Penn is undoubtedly an ethnically and economically diverse hub of Oklahoma City and certainly a neighborhood to watch – maybe even a place to call your next home…
Website:
www.positivelypaseo.org
Positively Paseo is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit community housing development organization, or CHDO, working to revitalize the Paseo Historic District and Classen Ten Penn neighborhoods in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Our mission is to increase homeownership by providing families and individuals with low-to-moderate income levels the opportunity to purchase a rehabilitated, restored, or newly constructed home that is affordable and of good quality.
Like other inner-city Oklahoma City neighborhoods, Paseo and Classen Ten Penn suffered in the 1970′s and 80′s when development began in the suburbs and drew families away from the center of the city.
This suburban flight led to urban blight – leaving behind large swaths of vacant, boarded up blocks. Homes deteriorated and crime moved in. The economic recession of the 1980′s led to further deterioration with the end result being a nearly abandoned inner city.
With some of the homes dating back to the Land Run of 1889 and neighborhoods designed by G.A. Nichols in the early 1900′s, it is important to save these historic buildings and make these neighborhoods safe again for families.
So began the work of Positively Paseo…
In the mid 1980′s residents of Paseo and surrounding historic neighborhoods joined forces with area church officials, non-profit community associations, local bankers, and commercial property owners to set in place a plan to revitalize the Paseo neighborhood.
Backed by an endorsement from a study by the Urban Land Institute in Washington D.C., Positively Paseo was formed to lead the way in housing rehabilitation. With a focus on owner-occupancy, staff and volunteers began to renovate deteriorated single-family homes and build new homes on long vacant lots. Initial funding sources included bank loans and federal grants administered by the City of Oklahoma City.
This work began more than 20 years ago and because of patience and perseverance, the Paseo Historic District (as it is now known) has undergone a renaissance. Property values have stabilized, criminal activity has all but vanished, and a strong neighborhood association continues to unite neighbors.
It is because of this success that Positively Paseo has joined forces with Classen Ten Penn residents in order to model the work that has been done in Paseo in another deteriorated inner-city Oklahoma City neighborhood.
The Classen Ten Penn neighborhood has a long history and, by some accounts, served as a home for at least one famous writer – Ralph Ellison. Today, the neighborhood boasts another famous resident, Wayne Coyne, of the band The Flaming Lips, and his wife and photographer, Michelle Martin-Coyne. A thriving commercial and arts district – The Plaza District – serves as the heart of the neighborhood.
All locally-owned, the district is home to four restaurants, a winery, a beauty salon, art galleries, a dance studio, an interior design studio, a floral designer, a tattoo parlor, retro and vintage shops, and The Lyric Theatre, Oklahoma’s only professional year-round musical theatre company. On the second Friday of each month, LIVE on the Plaza hosts a family-friendly event.
Classen Ten Penn is undoubtedly an ethnically and economically diverse hub of Oklahoma City and certainly a neighborhood to watch – maybe even a place to call your next home…
Friday, March 8, 2013
Public Advocates
Location: California
Website: www.publicadvocates.org
Public Advocates Inc. is a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing and transit equity.
We spur change through collaboration with grassroots groups representing low-income communities, people of color and immigrants, combined with strategic policy reform, media advocacy and litigation, “making rights real” across California since 1971.
Communities that were once excluded and marginalized are energized by their collective power to shape public decisions and achieve justice. As a result of that engagement, all Californians have the building blocks to thrive and to create vibrant communities – excellent public schools, affordable housing, reliable public transportation, quality health care, good job opportunities, and economic security.
We believe that by engaging in strategic partnerships, policy and media advocacy and litigation, we will increase the capacity of grassroots organizations to shape public policy and discourse, and that we can also positively influence public opinion, the media, policy makers and courts to hold business and government accountable.
We do this to promote the expansion of civil rights and resource equity and create a mobilized community base to ensure that all Californians have the fundamental rights and equitable allocation of resources they need to build vibrant communities.
We choose to address areas such as education, housing, transportation and health that are fundamental to enabling individuals and communities to fulfill their potential, and we choose to challenge systemic problems in ways that will achieve maximum impact.
One of the oldest public interest law firms in the nation, Public Advocates Inc. was incorporated in fall 1970 and opened its doors in September 1971. Its purpose: challenge the persistent, fundamental causes and effects of poverty and discrimination that limited the opportunities of the poor and people of color. The firm, funded initially with generous support from the Ford Foundation, was conceived in part as a reaction to the rigid restrictions on the scope of California Rural Legal Assistance representation.
The need for a broad-based public interest law firm to address civil rights issues affecting the daily lives of low income communities was evident as soon as we opened our doors. The new Public Advocates engaged in a wide range of cutting edge legal issues – many of them still at the core of our practice – from school finance, urban development, transportation policy, food and nutrition issues, military base redevelopment, and language access, to employment discrimination in banks and universities, health services disparities, infant formula advocacy, telecommunications and discriminatory bar exam criteria.
Priorities and tactics were set to not only meet the challenges of the time, but also to have a broad and long-lasting impact.
Very early on more than a dozen actions were filed on behalf of clients such as La Raza Unida, the National Organization for Women, Officers for Justice, Self-Help for the Elderly, League of Women Voters, and the Sierra Club. Working at the national, state and regional level, the firm was initially best known for its litigation expertise and success in pursuing innovative legal strategies to protect low-income communities and civil rights.
From the beginning Public Advocates recognized the importance of collaboration with clients, communities and ally organizations, staking out the goal in 1971 that its work would be “with, not just for, their constituents,” and that commitment deepened over time. Outside the organization, more public interest groups arose, and the courtroom became a less hospitable place for progressive activism.
As Public Advocates evolved and matured, we developed a distinctive multipronged approach to civil rights advocacy incorporating policy advocacy, coalition building, communication and legal strategies.
We also recognized that we could be most effective when we created a long term strategy for engagement with a significant policy arena, and generated a legal strategy incorporating alliances, subject area expertise, and implementation and communication plans.
Public Advocates is proud of having served as an incubator for the launch of numerous significant issue advocacy organizations, as part of its role in building capacity for communities to engage in public policy advocacy and creation of broad based coalitions, including:
- Latino Coalition for a Healthy California: Statewide organization aiming to be the leading organized voice for policies, services and conditions to improve the health of Latinos.
- The Greenlining Coalition (now the Greenlining Institute): Broad coalition of fifteen multi-ethnic, business, consumer and disabled persons’ organizations committed to persuading corporate America to promote interests of inner-city communities and recognize the economic value of equal opportunity.
- HomeBase: Advancing regional strategies for addressing homelessness.
- Health Access: Statewide coalition
dedicated to insuring universal access to health care in California.
The firm has also contributed to the development of generations of public interest, bar, non-profit and other leaders who have served on staff and board, and in the well-respected fellow and intern programs. Public Advocates alumni, whom we call Pillars, have gone on to be leaders in a remarkable range of organizations.
Starting with a grant from the Zellerbach Family Foundation in 1971, Public Advocates has always put a high priority on its fellowship and intern programs, with significant responsibility and intensive mentoring to develop the next generation of public interest advocates.
Public Advocates has always had a strong personality. Over the years we have aimed to retain our independence, feistiness, cutting edge work and innovative legal approaches while building a reputation for genuine and effective collaboration.
We have also achieved a degree of financial stability, based on a combination of revenue from individual and firm contributions, foundation grants, state legal services funding, litigation fees, and interest on reserves.
We added a Sacramento office staffed with policy advocacy and community relations experts to deepen our influence on state policy and coalitions.
Throughout its history Public Advocates’ Board of Governors has had the benefit of the service of civil rights, bar, academic and community leaders motivated to sustain the organization’s bold approach to achieving social justice.
Now in our fifth decade, we continue to challenge the status quo by seeking legal victories and strengthening the voices of low-income communities, pursuing the civil rights that lie at the heart of everyday life.
Website: www.publicadvocates.org
Public Advocates Inc. is a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing and transit equity.
We spur change through collaboration with grassroots groups representing low-income communities, people of color and immigrants, combined with strategic policy reform, media advocacy and litigation, “making rights real” across California since 1971.
Communities that were once excluded and marginalized are energized by their collective power to shape public decisions and achieve justice. As a result of that engagement, all Californians have the building blocks to thrive and to create vibrant communities – excellent public schools, affordable housing, reliable public transportation, quality health care, good job opportunities, and economic security.
We believe that by engaging in strategic partnerships, policy and media advocacy and litigation, we will increase the capacity of grassroots organizations to shape public policy and discourse, and that we can also positively influence public opinion, the media, policy makers and courts to hold business and government accountable.
We do this to promote the expansion of civil rights and resource equity and create a mobilized community base to ensure that all Californians have the fundamental rights and equitable allocation of resources they need to build vibrant communities.
We choose to address areas such as education, housing, transportation and health that are fundamental to enabling individuals and communities to fulfill their potential, and we choose to challenge systemic problems in ways that will achieve maximum impact.
One of the oldest public interest law firms in the nation, Public Advocates Inc. was incorporated in fall 1970 and opened its doors in September 1971. Its purpose: challenge the persistent, fundamental causes and effects of poverty and discrimination that limited the opportunities of the poor and people of color. The firm, funded initially with generous support from the Ford Foundation, was conceived in part as a reaction to the rigid restrictions on the scope of California Rural Legal Assistance representation.
The need for a broad-based public interest law firm to address civil rights issues affecting the daily lives of low income communities was evident as soon as we opened our doors. The new Public Advocates engaged in a wide range of cutting edge legal issues – many of them still at the core of our practice – from school finance, urban development, transportation policy, food and nutrition issues, military base redevelopment, and language access, to employment discrimination in banks and universities, health services disparities, infant formula advocacy, telecommunications and discriminatory bar exam criteria.
Priorities and tactics were set to not only meet the challenges of the time, but also to have a broad and long-lasting impact.
Very early on more than a dozen actions were filed on behalf of clients such as La Raza Unida, the National Organization for Women, Officers for Justice, Self-Help for the Elderly, League of Women Voters, and the Sierra Club. Working at the national, state and regional level, the firm was initially best known for its litigation expertise and success in pursuing innovative legal strategies to protect low-income communities and civil rights.
From the beginning Public Advocates recognized the importance of collaboration with clients, communities and ally organizations, staking out the goal in 1971 that its work would be “with, not just for, their constituents,” and that commitment deepened over time. Outside the organization, more public interest groups arose, and the courtroom became a less hospitable place for progressive activism.
As Public Advocates evolved and matured, we developed a distinctive multipronged approach to civil rights advocacy incorporating policy advocacy, coalition building, communication and legal strategies.
We also recognized that we could be most effective when we created a long term strategy for engagement with a significant policy arena, and generated a legal strategy incorporating alliances, subject area expertise, and implementation and communication plans.
Public Advocates is proud of having served as an incubator for the launch of numerous significant issue advocacy organizations, as part of its role in building capacity for communities to engage in public policy advocacy and creation of broad based coalitions, including:
- Latino Coalition for a Healthy California: Statewide organization aiming to be the leading organized voice for policies, services and conditions to improve the health of Latinos.
- The Greenlining Coalition (now the Greenlining Institute): Broad coalition of fifteen multi-ethnic, business, consumer and disabled persons’ organizations committed to persuading corporate America to promote interests of inner-city communities and recognize the economic value of equal opportunity.
- HomeBase: Advancing regional strategies for addressing homelessness.
- Health Access: Statewide coalition
dedicated to insuring universal access to health care in California.
The firm has also contributed to the development of generations of public interest, bar, non-profit and other leaders who have served on staff and board, and in the well-respected fellow and intern programs. Public Advocates alumni, whom we call Pillars, have gone on to be leaders in a remarkable range of organizations.
Starting with a grant from the Zellerbach Family Foundation in 1971, Public Advocates has always put a high priority on its fellowship and intern programs, with significant responsibility and intensive mentoring to develop the next generation of public interest advocates.
Public Advocates has always had a strong personality. Over the years we have aimed to retain our independence, feistiness, cutting edge work and innovative legal approaches while building a reputation for genuine and effective collaboration.
We have also achieved a degree of financial stability, based on a combination of revenue from individual and firm contributions, foundation grants, state legal services funding, litigation fees, and interest on reserves.
We added a Sacramento office staffed with policy advocacy and community relations experts to deepen our influence on state policy and coalitions.
Throughout its history Public Advocates’ Board of Governors has had the benefit of the service of civil rights, bar, academic and community leaders motivated to sustain the organization’s bold approach to achieving social justice.
Now in our fifth decade, we continue to challenge the status quo by seeking legal victories and strengthening the voices of low-income communities, pursuing the civil rights that lie at the heart of everyday life.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
The Cottage Company
Location: Pacific Northwest
Website: www.cottagecompany.com
Since the beginning, in 1996, The Cottage Company has been nationally recognized as a leader by providing new models for sustainable living and smart housing choices — without giving up an ounce of style.
Our mission is to pioneer sustainable communities where homes are more than houses and neighborhoods are more than zip codes.
To date, we've completed, eight connected communities in the Pacific Northwest as in-fill within existing single-family neighborhoods close to jobs and transportation.
Our locations are diverse — from prime waterfront property near Silverdale, Washington to a bustling Seattle-area neighborhood, to a bucolic island town, to a tranquil woodland a bike ride from our regions technology employment centers. Yet, all of our communities are built to be: Simple. Smart. Sustainable.
We strive to be good stewards of the earth, as well as creating homes that are crafted with character & charm. Our high-quality communities of compact, energy-efficient single-family homes in pocket neighborhoods are unique & powerful because they are created by related layers of privacy and connectivity.
Intrinsic within that undertaking is connecting with people and environment in a simple, life-sustaining way. And, our over-riding theme is to create new housing choices that offer beautiful places where people choose to live their lives.
Website: www.cottagecompany.com
Since the beginning, in 1996, The Cottage Company has been nationally recognized as a leader by providing new models for sustainable living and smart housing choices — without giving up an ounce of style.
Our mission is to pioneer sustainable communities where homes are more than houses and neighborhoods are more than zip codes.
To date, we've completed, eight connected communities in the Pacific Northwest as in-fill within existing single-family neighborhoods close to jobs and transportation.
Our locations are diverse — from prime waterfront property near Silverdale, Washington to a bustling Seattle-area neighborhood, to a bucolic island town, to a tranquil woodland a bike ride from our regions technology employment centers. Yet, all of our communities are built to be: Simple. Smart. Sustainable.
We strive to be good stewards of the earth, as well as creating homes that are crafted with character & charm. Our high-quality communities of compact, energy-efficient single-family homes in pocket neighborhoods are unique & powerful because they are created by related layers of privacy and connectivity.
Intrinsic within that undertaking is connecting with people and environment in a simple, life-sustaining way. And, our over-riding theme is to create new housing choices that offer beautiful places where people choose to live their lives.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Urban Homesteading Assistance Board
Location: New York, NY
Website: www.uhab.org
The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board was founded in the midst of New York City’s economic crisis of the 1970s.
While landlords abandoned their buildings en masse, the city found itself with over 11,000 buildings on hand and no idea what to do with them. UHAB became a voice for the residents living in those buildings – longtime New Yorkers who had no intention of leaving.
Turning buildings over to the residents began as an experimental idea. But soon the city was convinced it could be sustained. The first year UHAB offered training in Harlem, 200 buildings learned how to cooperatively govern and operate their own buildings.
We have only grown since then.
Since 1973 UHAB has assisted in the preservation of over 1,700 buildings and created homeownership opportunities for over 30,000 households.
Over the years, we have developed an intimate knowledge of New York City’s low-income co-op community. We are experts in meeting the needs of that community. Our work is unmatched by any other organization.
Today, New York City has the largest community of shared-equity housing co-ops in the country.
Website: www.uhab.org
The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board was founded in the midst of New York City’s economic crisis of the 1970s.
While landlords abandoned their buildings en masse, the city found itself with over 11,000 buildings on hand and no idea what to do with them. UHAB became a voice for the residents living in those buildings – longtime New Yorkers who had no intention of leaving.
Turning buildings over to the residents began as an experimental idea. But soon the city was convinced it could be sustained. The first year UHAB offered training in Harlem, 200 buildings learned how to cooperatively govern and operate their own buildings.
We have only grown since then.
Since 1973 UHAB has assisted in the preservation of over 1,700 buildings and created homeownership opportunities for over 30,000 households.
Over the years, we have developed an intimate knowledge of New York City’s low-income co-op community. We are experts in meeting the needs of that community. Our work is unmatched by any other organization.
Today, New York City has the largest community of shared-equity housing co-ops in the country.
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