Dear Network Members and Friends,
Even amid the celebration of the multiple tremendous and inspiring recent wins for our network, I’m also sad for all those suffering the incredible loss and evolving aftermath of the recent tragic wildfire on the island of Maui. It’s also the most recent in a series of such fires impacting life all over the globe. Large-scale devastation has unfortunately become a far too frequently repeated scenario as a growing number of lives, homes, and communities continue to be devastated by fire and other natural disasters. In so many places where the supply of housing is already scarce and unaffordable, these horrible and unpredictable events only exacerbate the anguish of families already struggling to afford a stable quality home to buy or rent.
This dire context also frames and elevates the importance of several recently announced significant gifts by MacKenzie Scott. Recently published reports state that her most recent grants, much of which focused on giving to nonprofits focused on affordable housing, bring her total giving in 2023 to an estimated $100 million. Those gifts include support for the racial equity-centered housing work of not only Grounded Solutions ($12 million) but also that of our member Homestead CLT in Seattle ($10 million), San Francisco CLT ($20 million), and that of our CDFI partners at the National Housing Trust ($10 million).
While none of our organizations are focused exclusively on disaster relief, our entire network’s focus on increasing housing opportunities that serve families of color and prevent displacement with quality housing production and preservation efforts will be needed to advance any meaningful recovery effort. However, we can only provide adequate replacements for each of the numerous homes lost based on securing the appropriate magnitude of resources and increasing our organizational capacities to provide stable housing with lasting affordability at scale.
We’ve previously seen new shared equity homes built to serve families in the recovery from Hurricane Harvey’s impact on Houston in 2017, after the 2020 Alameda Wildfire in Medford, Oregon, and following the impact of Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida last year. Our new reality means that thousands of affordable homes will be needed in the future to mitigate the combined destructive impacts of storms, wildfires, and unchecked market speculation.
We must revise and replace our ineffective public policies, which are fueling widespread displacement, eviction, and foreclosure. Our policy work must prioritize future housing investments that specifically prevent the expiration of affordability over relatively short periods of time. We must also directly address the fact that a majority of our communities today are ill-equipped to achieve the resilience to withstand the combination of natural and human-made disasters. Energy-efficient and walkable communities with jobs, schools, transportation options, and high-quality housing for all must become the norm if we hope to survive the legacy of previous generations who failed to steward resources in ways that have left us all at risk.
While many of us have engaged in passionate debates over the years testing the merits of scale versus community control, climate change has emerged as an existential threat, forcing us all to adapt and creating dire need to generate well-crafted community-driven plans to house the ever-growing number of its survivors. Informative and relevant research featuring multiple case studies of success from our CLT members validate the impact of shared equity homes in addressing climate resilience, which is outlined in the 2021 Georgetown Climate Center report Community Land = Community Resilience: How Community Land Trusts Can Support Urban Affordable Housing and Climate Initiatives.
I’m also very excited to share that our recently formed Innovative Finance team is among the 16 finalists competing for portions of a $20 million total to be awarded later this year by the Wells Fargo/Enterprise Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge. Raising the significant capital needed to finance the launch of our planned Homes for the Future Fund pilot, designed to initially acquire up to 400 existing single-family homes in three select markets, is a high priority for demonstrating an effective approach to achieve greater scale. Initially, the acquired homes will be rented and managed, for a period of up to 10 years, by a high-performing private partner with relevant experience. As the homes accumulate equity over that period, we will transition portions of the rental portfolio to shared equity for-sale homes.
Our market analysis and modeling have resulted in an approach that requires no public subsidies at any stage of the initiative and is prioritized for market segments and locations likely to predominantly serve households of color.
We are confident our strategy will result in a significant portfolio of homes with lasting affordability, which one or more of our local member organizations will steward. Once proven, the Homes for the Future Fund will be replicated in additional locations to support the accelerated portfolio growth required for scaling to achieve our goal for many more homes with lasting affordability.
Please also note the recent departures of two highly respected long-term staff members. Beth Sorce has departed her previous role as our Vice President of Sector Growth to join the Detroit-based Rocket Community Fund as Senior Director of Housing Stability. Emily Thaden has also recently departed her previous Vice President of National Strategy role to assume a new position as Senior Director of Housing Solutions at Habitat for Humanity. We are thankful to them both for their long service and commitment to our mission and their many contributions of time, talent, and creativity toward supporting my leadership and our growth as the nation’s premier nonprofit leader for lasting affordability. Join me in wishing them both much future success and looking forward to the affordable housing progress they will achieve in their new endeavors.
A profound change, which I’m frankly still processing along with many of you, is the loss of our dear friend Gus Newport in late June. He was a powerful lifelong organizer with a wealth of personal relationships that included the influential activists Malcolm X, Harvey Milk, Angela Davis, and Bernie Sanders, as well as decades-long friendships with celebrities such as Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte. Gus served in a wide range of diverse leadership positions during his 88 years, including his tenure as the former two-term Mayor of Berkeley, CA (1979-1986), Executive Director of Boston’s Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, joining the faculties of MIT, Yale, UC Santa Cruz, UMass Boston, and Portland State University. Most recently, he served on the Board of Directors for the Center for CLT Innovation. Gus will be sorely missed, but his influence remains to guide those of us who benefitted over many years from his friendship, vast civil rights organizing-based leadership experience, and mentorship.
The many events of this summer season have collectively signaled a continuing evolution for our network and my leadership, both of which made significant leaps forward in August. I often pause briefly to appreciate the many successes of our members, the consistent progress of our growing team, and the thoughtful advice and support of our Board of Directors. The vision for creating 1 million homes with lasting affordability in 10 years is moving ever closer to reality.
In solidarity,
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott Gifts $12 Million to Grounded Solutions Network
Grounded Solutions Network received tremendous news when we learned philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gifted the organization a $12 million unrestricted grant. The gift is the largest single grant contribution in our history and we provide our deepest thanks to Ms. Scott for her belief in our work and our vision of housing with lasting affordability.
Dive into the latest federal policy and legislative updates with National Policy Director Brian Stromberg. This quarter, Brian details the latest on Congressional funding proposals for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. We’re also tracking the Housing Crisis Response Act and Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2023, both sponsored by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). Read about the current funding proposals along with the details included in Rep. Waters’s bills in Brian’s full policy update on our Medium.
Now Open: Call for Nominations for the Grounded Solutions Board of Directors!
Based on our annually recurring cycle, two Practitioner seats on the Grounded Solutions Board of Directors will require an open call for candidates to be issued soon. Board members have a variety of responsibilities like setting the strategic direction of the organization, ensuring sound financial management, proposing, and adopting new organizational policies, attending quarterly meetings, and more.
We strive to have an inclusive and diverse Board strongly encourage self-nominations from our Practitioner members who represent the diversity of the field. Per the bylaws, members who currently work in organizations that implement (i) inclusionary housing programs, (ii) community land trust programs, or (iii) shared equity housing programs may nominate themselves as candidates for the board.
Only current members can self-nominate in this process, so If you—or another member you know—are interested in serving on our Board and meet the criteria, please consider responding to our upcoming open call for candidates between September 7 and October 5, 2023. Check your inboxes for an email we sent on Thursday, September 7, which included the Board nominations submission form.
July 2023 Monthly Network Conversation
Topic: Duty to Serve (DTS): Survey of Progress
Description: On July 26, we held a special virtual gathering for both members and non-members to connect, discuss, and share their level of experience and interest in engaging in the Duty to Serve certification program. Certified Duty to Serve organizations shared how they market their certification and approach to lenders. Non-certified participants learned that the Fannie Mae Duty to Serve Shared Equity Homeownership Certification program offers home mortgage lenders preferred pricing for all shared equity loans that meet the FHFA Duty to Serve requirements. The preferred pricing incentivizes lenders to originate more shared equity mortgages, which is a longstanding need for the growth, expanding impact, and sustainability of our field. Ground Solutions Network's next Monthly Network Call, "Post-Purchase Stewardship: Foreclosure" is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27.
Grounded Solutions Innovative Finance Update
Earlier this year, we launched our latest endeavor—our Innovative Finance team, to advance the scale of housing with lasting affordability. Innovative Finance is charged with developing patient low-cost capital solutions and real estate strategies to help the field of shared equity housing programs scale their portfolios to one million units in the next ten years. The team works toward this goal in a variety of ways by:
- -Evaluating regional real estate markets, political landscapes, to discern capital and subsidy environments and create viable strategies to produce a significant number of additional homes with lasting affordability;
- -Creating new partnerships with foundations, CDFIs, and other social impact investors to bring in capital to better serve the needs of shared equity organizations; and
- -Providing finance expertise and technical assistance and direct support to shared equity housing organizations across the country in growing their portfolios.
The Innovative Finance team also leads and manages the Homes for the Future Fund, a new initiative that positions us to acquire and reposition real estate for shared equity homes in select markets.
Once launched, the Homes for the Future Fund will be Grounded Solutions’ first capital real estate venture in the organization’s history and will support the direct acquisition of single-family homes to be placed in shared equity portfolios for homeownership with lasting affordability. Our initiative is specifically designed and modeled to reduce the typical reliance that shared equity organizations have on public subsidies for home acquisition and rehabilitation., Most importantly, the Homes for the Future Fund will increase sustainable and lasting homeownership and wealth-building opportunities for Black and Brown communities across the U.S. Stay tuned for more information on this exciting initiative!
Update on New Staff
In recent months, we have welcomed several new staff members to the team, bringing a wealth of experience, knowledge, and a new level of excitement into our organization. Here are a few details about our new staff we’d love to share.
Our Sector Growth team welcomed three new members in recent months including:
Rachel Enwright as our new Training Manager. Prior to joining the team at Grounded Solutions, Rachel managed training for a statewide housing counseling intermediary. She has proven skill in designing, as well as delivering, effective in-person and online learning sessions which will enhance our various training offerings.
Zeke Jalloh as our Membership Coordinator. Zeke graduated from American University with a B.A. in International Relations and a minor in Japanese. Outside the office, you will likely find Zeke running, volunteering (at local Washington, DC serving nonprofits - Martha's Table, Meals on Wheels, and Damien Ministries), and playing his violin.
Colby Sledge as Local Policy Principal. Prior to joining Grounded Solutions Network, Colby served two four-year terms as an elected District Councilmember for Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County (Tenn.). He led efforts to triple Nashville’s annual housing trust fund budget, helped create the city’s first affordable housing strike fund, created permit review priority for affordable projects, and eliminated parking minimums in the urban core.
Other recent hires included:
Joel Mendelson as the Director of Communications, who most recently served in the same role for national Jobs With Justice. Joel has spent the past 15 years working for a wide variety of organizations and campaigns, having worked with a variety of nonprofit organizations, several electoral campaigns, and spent time serving as a legislative aide in the Georgia General Assembly. While he’s primarily worked in communications, Joel’s experience includes campaign management and coordination, research, strategic planning, and more.
Alex Cabral as Senior Principal of Innovative Finance. Prior to joining the Innovative Finance team, Alex served as the Director of Lending at National Housing Trust with prior experience at RSF Social Finance and Silicon Valley Bank.
Kathryne Lebell joined as the CRM Data Administrator for the organization’s Tech Ops. Kathryne is a certified Salesforce Administrator with over 5 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector. Kathryne comes from a background of supporting administrative operations in organizations serving young people experiencing homelessness, at the National Runaway Safeline and Ignite Chicago. In these roles, she developed skills in CRM database management, data visualization, and project management.
Sophia Corugedo joined the Research & National Strategy team as the Senior Research Associate. Prior to joining our team, Sophia was pursuing her Master of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida, where she gained experience in housing policy research with the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies.
Grounded Solutions is hiring for a Human Resources Principal!
Check out the job description and join our mission to build strong communities that are equitable, inclusive and filled with opportunity for all.
The HomeKeeper team took on Dreamforce!
The HomeKeeper team attended Dreamforce, Salesforce's annual event that brings the global Salesforce community together in San Francisco, to dive into all the opportunities to learn and grow within the Salesforce ecosystem.
Check out our social media channels for a recap of their adventures!
Contact [email protected] for info about signing up for HomeKeeper today!
Where we live matters.
We bring together an extensive network of partners and member practitioners from local communities who have a deep understanding of best practices in community land trusts, shared equity housing, local housing policies such as inclusionary zoning, and more.
At Grounded Solutions Network, we know what policies and strategies work to build and preserve housing opportunities, and we help communities use them.
 |
