Dear John,

As 2021 draws to a close and we look back over the past year, we are energized to tackle the challenges that lie ahead!

The COVID-19 pandemic placed many residents at-risk of losing their homes and many landlords at-risk of foreclosure due to lost rental revenue. Our work as a regional resource on eviction prevention and rental assistance, and as a co-convener of the Northern Virginia Eviction Prevention & Community Stability Task Force was recognized last month when the Task Force was awarded Best Regional Partnership at the 2021 Virginia Governor’s Housing Conference. We will continue this work in 2022 and beyond as long as households continue to struggle with the economic fallout from the pandemic.

At the same time, our housing education, research and advocacy activities must continue. Last year, we brought private sector stakeholders together to successfully advocate for enhancements to a number of local and state-level housing and land use policy issues. Our popular “Housing in Action” series for advocates and housing industry professionals created 30 monthly summaries spanning three jurisdictions. This series will continue with the plan to cover more jurisdictions in 2022.

We will continue our efforts to bring a more intentional focus on racial equity to our work. This year, we partnered with graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy to conduct an in-depth analysis of barriers to affordable homeownership in the Bailey’s Crossroads Corridor, shedding light on racial disparities in access to homeownership for Corridor residents. In 2022 we will work to dismantle the land use and regulatory barriers in our area that challenge homeownership opportunities for Black and Brown households.

Our partnership with Tenants and Workers United and Harmony Place Mobile Home Park residents to design and complete a community-engaged survey, was the first survey of a mobile home park in Northern Virginia and the first in the state to use a community-engaged framework. This work provided invaluable insights for how to foster authentic community engagement and will inform future activities.

To learn more about our accomplishments over the last year, download our 2021 Year-in-Review report. We look forward to building on these accomplishments in the year ahead, but we need your help! Please donate now to support our work to bring housing opportunities to all Northern Virginia residents.

Thank you for your support!
Michelle

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