NHPF Industry Report

veterans or older adults. It is more challenging when residents are people who have substance use disorders, experience untreated mental illness, or are returning citizens.” However, additional collected wisdom from our NGO survey touts the steps below as critical to gaining popular support to create housing for even the most challenging residents: • Providing affordable housing tours • Promoting follow-up stories on residents who used to be homeless (or on the edge of being homeless) but are now active contributors to a community • Connecting people with affordable housing residents • Using messaging that humanizes the people who are being served, is more positive than negative, and demystifies the affordable housing development with statistics and facts

Add in “work with religious

institutions” to the above protocol and you will have the successful formula presenter Eva Thibaudeau, Chief Executive Officer, Temenos Partners CDC in Houston has followed. Her organization rallied

with support from a faith-based partner, the community, and officials to complete the construction and preservation of Temenos Place Apartments, which is exclusively supportive housing for those in crisis from addiction issues, returning from incarceration or experiencing untreated mental illness.

Who Makes Housing Happen?

Which stakeholders are most responsible for making affordable housing happen? More than 80% of NGO survey participants consider local elected officials very effective or most effective as a stakeholder, compared to 57% who think the same for state elected officials. 68% of respondents in the general population believe local elected officials should “create partnerships with funding sources, onsite resident services providers and others.” Interestingly only 38% of survey participants believe it is local government’s role to tackle zoning changes, often crucial to the creation of more affordable housing. This presents an opportunity for civic education. Other highly effective stakeholders according to the NGO study, include community leaders (83%), community nonprofits, and local coalitions of community organizations (both at 76%). On the public side of the survey, we found no consensus on who is most effective in ensuring creation of affordable housing, although 29% believe it is federal-level housing programs.

BATTLING HYPOCRISY TO BUILD POPULAR SUPPORT FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING • 7