A Very Busy 1st Quarter

NHPF kicked off 2023 with some impressive acquisition, development and event news. We also made important staff additions to increase the work done by our resident services subsidiary, Operation Pathways. We are also pleased to announce the 7th Annual NHPF Symposium. Read all about it!

In February NHPF, in partnership with Magnificat House, Inc., providers of housing, food and mental health programs for those without resources, began construction on RoseMary’s Place, a $45 million affordable housing development that will create 149 affordable rental apartments for those experiencing homelessness in Houston. The groundbreaking event, attended by notables including Councilwoman Carolyn Evans-Shabbaz, Director of Houston's Housing and Community Development Department; Keith W. Bynam; and Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin showcased how well public and private partnerships can work together to build the kind of supportive housing needed in Houston and other cities across the country.

 

NHPF was named 2023 Bankrate Visionary winner for Best Nonprofit for Affordable Housing, the first such award in this category of the Bankrate honors.

 

NHPF Transaction News

Virginia Housing and City of Falls Church Affordable Homeownership Program
The City of Falls Church has launched its Affordable Homeownership Program (CFCAHP), which will make $3.8 million available to support affordable homeownership. CFCAHP is being directly managed by The NHP Foundation (NHPF) with support from the City's Housing and Human Services Department. The City has received $3.4 million from Virginia Housing’s Resources Enabling Affordable Community Housing (REACH) program and has provided a $400,000 match, for a total budget of $3.8 million to provide affordable homeownership opportunities to employees and residents of the City. To advertise this opportunity, a new website, www.FallsChurchAHP.org, was recently launched to reach interested and eligible buyers.

Blue Mountain Apartments
NHPF is completing a $65M renovation of 217 units at the Blue Mountain Apartments, which are contained in 19 buildings on scattered sites around the Elm Hill Avenue neighborhood in Roxbury, MA. The affordable housing community was originally built in the early 1900s and was last substantially rehabilitated in the 1980s. The buildings are included in the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s Historic Places inventory.

The Residences at Pine Knoll
Construction is complete on Princess Anne townhouses, in Princess Anne, MD. In keeping with our other recent acquisitions, Princess Anne is an energy-efficient property in compliance with Enterprise Green Standards, and the residents of the 120 townhome property will also benefit from resident services via NHPF’s subsidiary, Operation Pathways.

Operation Pathways Names Director of Resource Development

Operation Pathways, a subsidiary of The NHP Foundation,  is pleased to announce that it has named Rebecca Ely, Director of Resource Development, responsible for overall development and implementation of all funding initiatives of Operation Pathways, CORES-certified providers of onsite resident services.

Ms. Ely  has extensive  management and fundraising experience in the non-profit sector and a strong record of success in raising funds through annual funds, grants, corporate sponsorships, and major gifts.

“Rebecca brings the experience and drive necessary to ensure that Operation Pathways continues to provide the robust onsite services that residents of our properties rely upon,” said Ken White, Vice President, Operation Pathways. “Her track record in identifying, cultivating and obtaining funding, through a combination of established and innovative approaches, will help us reach our goals.”

Most recently Ms. Ely served as Vice President of Institutional Advancement for Jubilee Housing where, over a five-year tenure, she elevated the organization’s brand and profile, launched a signature event – Raise the Roof, increased individual donor giving, and raised a combined $13M for impact investment funds to acquire new properties.

Ms. Ely obtained an MBA in Human Services from Brandeis’ Heller School of Social Policy and Management as well as a BA in Economics from the University of Mary Washington.

NHPF’s 7th Annual Symposium

In order to create the affordable housing of the future, a healthy built environment that works for all, our industry must incorporate innovation where construction, demographics, and government action meet. Demographically, US population shifts—from the aging of Baby Boomers and Millennials to the influx of Generations Y and Z—bring new challenges in home design requirements and affordability. The constant threat to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and other housing finance programs sharpens our awareness of the vital role government policy and elected officials play.

This year’s Symposium, The Future of Affordable Housing: Interconnecting Construction, Demographics, Government, and Innovation, asks all of us in the affordable housing industry to let our imaginations run free and explore the possibility of a future with abundant, resilient housing that is affordable to people at all income levels and appropriate to where they are in their lives. Join us for an evening of lively discourse and expert opinion to help affordable housers draw up blueprints for a future filled with sustainable, inventive housing for generations to come. Our keynote speaker will be Wemimo Abbey, the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Esusu, the leading financial technology company helping individuals save money and build credit, one of only a few Black-owned start-ups in the world to be valued at $1 billion.

NHPF presents its Affordable Housing Advocacy Award to two champions of legislation supporting LIHTC, Suzan DelBene, Representative (D-WA) and Brad Wenstrup, Representative (R-OH). NHPF presents its Affordable Housing Trailblazer Award to the young affordable housing visionary referred to as a “YIMBY with a conscience.” At 29 years old, Donahue Peebles III is out to change housing development via his tireless work aimed at curbing the effects of gentrification and closing the racial wealth gap.

Our Symposium 2023 Co-chairs are NHPF Trustees Glynna K. Christian and Charu Singh.

Former Cleme Manor Resident Returns to Give Back and Spread an Important Message to Children

Delores McGruder lived in Cleme Manor for twenty-five years and returned this past fall to bring joy and educational activities to current young residents and their parents. While she lived at Cleme Manor, Delores took advantage of financial literacy programs that taught her how to save and eventually helped her purchase a home of her own. She was more than a neighbor you could rely on for a cup of sugar—she befriended many of the residents and shared her support whenever she could.

Even after she left Cleme Manor, Delores continued to look for more ways to give back to residents. This past fall she applied for and received a grant from the Urban Transformation organization to host four meetings at Cleme Manor where children and their parents could participate in educational, artistic and recreational activities. She also provided healthy snacks to the 122 youth and adults who participated. McGruder dubbed this effort the Mustard Seed Program, inspired by a conversation with an HPD officer who shared her vision of helping children in the community. A mustard seed is known to be one of the smaller seeds but grows into a large plant firmly rooted in the ground.

The program was offered through Operation Pathways, The NHP Foundation’s subsidiary providing onsite resident services. In December, this culminated with a fun holiday party where Houston City Council Member Letitia Plummer came and provided meals and gifts to participants. The Council Member said, “Mustard Seed became part of the community; really doing great things with the kids. Delores McGruder is someone I respect highly.”

 

Our Top 4 First Quarter Picks

Start the year off right with some interesting and provocative selections in books, TV, culture and podcaststackling social change, racial inequity and housing in the US. Take a closer look at some timely offerings below:

1. Hello Tomorrow! follows Jack Billings (played by Billy Crudup), a traveling salesman hawking time-shares on the moon, who wows new clients with grandiose visions of a better life off Earth.  On the dark side, as an allegory for the illusory promise of the American dream, parallels to those who’ve experienced deceitful practices in real estate will be interested. For those looking for a fun example of candy-coated retro-futurism, enjoy the Jetsons-like view of the future.

2. The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America, the popular Washington Post columnist Philip Bump has analyzed how the end of the baby boom will impact American politics and economics including affordable housing. Bump will be a speaker at the 7th annual NHPF Symposium.

3. A new exhibition now open at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Architecture Now: New Publics, New York, focuses on architecture firms that are designing for different facets of the public realm including a broader vision to build more housing and resident amenities on NYCHA’s large land holdings. It is anexhibition that explores how architects are applying blue-sky thinking to some of New York City’s biggest public housing issues.

4. Can Religious Groups Help Build Affordable Housing? We at NHPF know that the short answer is yes—this recent podcast from public radio station KQED delves into the challenges of actually making it happen

 

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About the NHP Foundation
Headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington, DC, and Chicago, IL, The NHP Foundation (NHPF) was launched on January 30, 1989, as a publicly supported 501(c)(3) not-for-profit real estate corporation. NHPF is dedicated to preserving and creating sustainable, service-enriched multifamily housing, and scattered-site communities that are both affordable to low and moderate income families and seniors, and beneficial to their communities. Through Family-Centered Coaching, NHPF’s subsidiary Operation Pathways engages with, and assists, families experiencing poverty and other hardship, to problem-solve together. Through partnerships with major financial institutions, the public sector, faith-based initiatives, and other not-for-profit organizations, NHPF has 57 properties, including nearly 10,000 units, in 16 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, please visit
www.nhpfoundation.org.
 
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