Dear AHS Friends and Supporters,  

I hope you are enjoying the beginning of summer and its days of joyous sunshine.

During the past month, AHS has been hard at work finalizing a strategic plan that will further strengthen our ability to advocate for a plentiful supply of quality affordable housing that meets the needs of a growing and diverse Arlington.

I am grateful to our board members who put in many hours of discussion and thoughtful debate to help AHS continue to be an effective leader on affordable housing issues in the months and years ahead.

One of the important issues we face is making sure the County follows its own plan to provide enough affordable housing for people of all incomes. The plan is called the Affordable Housing Master Plan (AHMP) and it aims to create 2,500 affordable units in the Langston Boulevard area. In this newsletter, we will tell you how you can urge the County to achieve this goal by advocating for a Langston Boulevard Area Plan that supports the AHMP vision. 

In preparation for a busy and active fall celebrating our 20th anniversary, I am excited to inform you that we are finalizing our plans for a big celebration in November that will include our Leckey Forum and the Bozman Awards. In the coming weeks we will also debut our revamped website. We're kicking off the festivities by giving you a sneak peek of our 20^th Anniversary logo in this newsletter!
 
Are you interested in getting more involved with AHS? It's never too late. We are currently recruiting volunteer board members who are dedicated, passionate, and committed to the work of affordable housing. If you or someone you know fits this description, please read on to learn how you can get involved and join us in building an #ArlingtonforEveryone.

With Gratitude,

On Friday, June 23rd the County released the Draft Langston Boulevard Area Plan based on community and commission input collected to date. County staff is now seeking additional community input on the draft plan. This is your opportunity to let the County know how important it is that the final plan has measures to ensure Arlington meets its previously stated affordable housing goals for this corridor.

The county will host Draft Plan Open Houses at the Design Studio (located at 4500 Langston Boulevard, Arlington, VA) on July 12th, 20th and 26th at the times below:
 

• Wednesday, July 12, 2023 | 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM
• Wednesday, July 12, 2023 | 06:30 PM - 08:30 PM
• Thursday, July 20, 2023 | 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM
• Thursday, July 20, 2023 | 06:30 PM - 08:30 PM
• Wednesday, July 26, 2023 | 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM

 

Go to  https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Plans-Studies/Land-Use/Plan-Langston-Boulevard to learn more about the plan and view video presentations on Plan Langston Boulevard.
 

 

Developer Walker & Dunlop recently announced the conversion of Park Shirlington apartments to committed affordable housing. This was made possible through a $46 million Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan and $31.9M Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) loan from Arlington County, which will enable the renovation and preservation of all 294 units at 60% AMI for a period of 75 years. 

“The availability of affordable housing is an issue of national concern,” said Chris Rumul, senior managing director of FHA Finance at Walker & Dunlop. “Park Shirlington is an excellent example of how the federal government, local municipalities, and private investors can collaborate to be part of the solution.”

Read more about the Park Shirlington conversion here.

Our June AHS Meet the Board spotlight is on Kellen MacBeth. Kellen has worked extensively on tenant advocacy and housing issues in Arlington.

What drove your interest in AHS?
 

I believe that a socio-economically diverse community is beneficial for all residents and improves our civic life and economy.  Arlington has an affordable housing crisis, and without robust and innovative solutions, our community will continue to lose housing for our low- and moderate-income residents and workers. For 20 years, AHS has provided thought leadership and proven itself as a respected advocacy and policy development nonprofit, working to develop housing solutions to increase the housing supply for low- and moderate-income residents. I was honored to join the board in 2021 and work with staff and volunteers who are experts in housing policy and care deeply about the Arlington community, and advocate for policy solutions that have made Arlington a more welcoming and affordable community for low-income residents. 

What are your AHS goals for 2023?
 

2023 continues to be a year of celebration and transition for AHS. We are celebrating 20 years of nonprofit service to the Arlington community. We are continuing the leadership transition begun last year when Charles joined AHS as our Executive Director and as the board works on a new strategic plan to determine how best to serve the community moving forward. The strategic planning discussions have been thoughtful and detailed and I hope to work with Charles and the board to be able to share AHS' strategic priorities by the end of the year. In the meantime, I think it's critical that AHS continue advocating for the policy and planning decisions that will serve low- and moderate income residents best, including with the upcoming Plan Langston Boulevard, Housing Grant Review, Fair Housing Plan, and Barcroft Redevelopment.

AHS is celebrating 20 years of being Arlington's most trusted voice for Affordable Housing policy. We have created a special logo for this occasion. You will see this commemorative logo on our new website and other materials that we are launching to mark our anniversary.

 

To help us better understand where you get your AHS news and updates from, please complete this two question survey and let us know where we are reaching you.

You can access the survey here.

 

AHS is looking for committed and dedicated board members who want to lead the way in creating an Arlington for Everyone. Let us know if you have the time and interest in helping AHS advocate for affordable housing by completing the Volunteer Board Member Interest Form on our website, which you can access here!

 

Mark your calendars for Sunday, November 19th from 3:30pm -7:30pm for an AHS 20th anniversary celebration featuring the Leckey Forum and Ellen M. Bozman Affordable Housing Awards. Stay tuned to AHS for more information!

Become a member of the Alliance for Housing Solutions community on the platform Mobilize.io to learn, share ideas, and be part of policy discussions. We currently offer the following groups:
 

Increasing the supply of affordable housing through education, policy, advocacy, and innovation.