Roles of Nonprofit Housing Organizations

Step 4

• : The PHA will be added to the list of approved PHA's to partner with CalHFA.

The PHA's will be solely responsible for all program eligibility, administration, training/counseling, reporting and annual review of the homeowners who receive Section 8 assistance. Eligible prospective homebuyers or those wanting more information must contact their local PHA for details. CalHFA and the PHA may have different eligibility requirements. The most restrictive requirements will apply. All prospective homeowners must be able to meet the following CalHFA Homeownership Program requirements:

development corporations. In addition to its advocacy work, NPH offers professional training, networking opportunities, and resources for housing policy analysts, advocates and activists. NPH’s 700 members include the full spectrum of housing practitioners, including non-profit housing developers of all scopes and sizes, for-profit developers, housing advocates, local governments, financial institutions and environmental and faith-based groups. While extremely diverse, its supporters share a singular passion for making the Bay Area a more affordable and equitable place to live. NPH plays several important roles in this community: They are policy pioneers, called upon to formulate new ideas for promoting affordable housing; They are clear communicators, nationally recognized for gaining community acceptance of affordable housing; They are coalition-builders, advocating for affordable housing through strategic partnerships and alliances; they are networkers, connecting practitioners in this incredible diverse field so they can learn from one another’s experiences.

NPH’s programs can be organized into three primary areas: Advocacy, Professional Development and Public Education. Their goals are simple and fundamental, and help us with the mission of advancing affordable housing as the foundation for thriving individuals, families and neighborhoods: To increase support for affordable housing at the neighborhood, city, region, state and federal levels; To build the capacity of the non-profit housing sector. NPH advocates for favorable conditions for affordable housing development. From affordable housing legislation, to permanent funding sources for affordable housing, to land use policy, NPH activates a network of professionals to advance effective policies. Through its working groups, NPH provides members with up-to-date information on shifting development, property and asset management, and legislative issues. NPH has a major role in building consensus within the affordable housing field about what legislative priorities should be. NPH also regularly holds public policy forums and other topics to influence public opinion, government jurisdictions and lenders. To support the advocacy goal, NPH builds allies

across many sectors and at all levels. These collaborations not only amplify the voice of key stakeholders in support of affordable housing, but help us all to understand each other’s “language.” Over the years, NPH’s alliances have helped form a powerful web of influence, from local homeless service providers, to regional environmental non-profits, to the statewide Housing California, to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In addition to legislative advocacy, NPH’s program structure focuses on strengthening the housing development and management capacities of the core membership of housing development corporations. Programs include technical trainings, human capital development efforts, workshops, brown bags, an annual conference, and networking opportunities. Throughout the years, NPH has maintained the flexibility of this structure in order to remain nimble and responsive to changes in the field. NPH stays abreast of changes in funding climate and local political support, and initiates forums for discussion and training so that members may better navigate the influx system. NPH regularly relies on its network of leaders in the field to lead discussions and trainings on current development, management and funding issues.

As part of its policy work, NPH also engages in public education and community acceptance training to create community support for affordable housing. Little is possible without acceptance from the neighborhoods and towns which will be impacted. Some of this may take the form of published research and reports, such as the first study to examine the production and impact of non-profit housing organizations on affordable housing in the Bay Area (1995), the first study to re-examine the way we look at residential parking planning and its impact on the affordable housing supply (2001), and the first-ever comprehensive look at local governments’ plan for meeting housing needs (2002). The other community acceptance strategies are through stories, images, blueprints of effective campaigns and advocacy tools to help run better campaigns. NPH mobilizes or helps other organizations to

mobilize citizens at public rallies and continuously seeks ways to remain in the public eye so that its cause is constantly fresh in the minds of each citizen.

NPH’s policy and advocacy work is informed and guided by experts in the fields of housing, finance and government. You can stay up to date with affordable housing issues and make a difference today. As an NPH member you are open to attend Working Groups such as the Legislative Issues Committee⁸⁾ and the Local Government Working Group⁹⁾, which can help you connect with peers in the housing community and share best practices. They also keep you connected through Action Alerts when legislators need to hear from you on critical affordable housing issues.

By visiting its Call to Action page you can see what the hot topics of the day are and how you can plug in. NPH’s Toolkits¹⁰⁾ are packed with facts and statistics about

8) The NPH Legislative Issues Committee was formed in 1983 to focus on statewide and national housing legislation and public policy. The Legislative Issues Committee closely follows changes in legislation and creates Action Alerts. The group distributes timely information to members via email announcements and monthly newsletter articles. The group is open to all NPH members. The group is convened on a monthly basis on the first Thursday of the month typically from 9:30am to 11:30am. At times, the committee meets for a longer period of time to accommodate longer agenda items such as reviewing bills and establishing legislative priorities.

9) The Local Government Working Group was initiated in 2004 to provide NPH’s local government members with a forum for sharing ideas and best practices in local government housing policy. The Local Government Working Group provides a unique networking and professional development opportunity for housing staff in planning departments, redevelopment agencies, community development departments, housing authorities and other agencies that manage housing programs. The group is open to all NPH members with a particular emphasis on local government agency staff. The group meets quarterly.

10) NPH has tools on how to win community acceptance for your development, run an effective advocacy campaign, and get the straight facts on housing policies. For example, NPH tools address “Zone for Homes and the Housing Element Toolkit.” That is, every city and county in the Bay Area has a housing plan or

“housing element” due in June of 2009. The Housing Element update process is a great opportunity to change the rules governing the development process. Through the housing element advocates can help identify great sites for future housing, create new revenue streams dedicated to affordable housing and break down regulatory barriers to make it easier to build affordable homes. The Inclusionary Housing Advocacy Toolkit is a tried and true method of creating affordable housing. Inclusionary policies require new housing developments to include homes affordable to a wide range of incomes. Voter Registration Toolkit is that residents of affordable housing are particularly affected by many of the issues at stake in national and local elections. This tool is designed to help service coordinators, resident organizers and property management staff get these under-represented voices heard and registered to vote through a get-out-the-vote effort.

how affordable housing impacts the community, as well as tips and strategies on how to win over your neighbors, craft a campaign, and talk to your local officials. In addition to its core policy work, NPH is also involved in several regional campaigns.

These campaigns are designed to be issue focused and deliver significant impact.

Another leading housing nonprofit in California is the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH) that supports the production, preservation and management of homes affordable to lower-income households. While SCANPH works in broad coalition with other nonprofit, public and private partners, SCANPH believes that nonprofit community development corporations do the best job of advancing its mission. They increase the capacity and expertise of the members, educate policymakers and the public about the need for affordable homes, and help to establish policies and programs that further these objectives. SCANPH creates affordable housing opportunities for low-income people by expanding the knowledge, capacity and influence of the nonprofit development sector. SCANPH values policies, programs and projects that build a long-term commitment to community development by:

Serving households with the lowest incomes;

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Delivering permanent affordability;

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Building to the highest and most environmentally sustainable standards:

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Contributing to the social and physical fabric of the surrounding community

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Incorporating broader community development strategies;

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Demonstrating good stewardship of public resources and maximize public benefit;

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Providing supportive services;

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Contributing to strategies for ending poverty.

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Activities of SCANPH is to increase the non-profit development expertise of its members, educate policymakers and the public about the need for affordable housing, and serve as a source of information about affordable housing initiatives for its

members and for the wider community. Member Services staff coordinates more than a dozen forums throughout the year on development, initiates "best practices" research for publication, produces a Membership and Resource Directory, and holds an annual conference which attracts over 750 participants. Public Policy staff researches innovative ways to encourage the production of affordable housing. Based on this research, SCANPH provides leadership for new affordable housing initiatives in collaboration with other stakeholders in the private, public and social sectors.

The working groups are the vehicle for SCANPH staff and the membership to interact on a regular basis. They are designed to bring members together around a particular problem or policy issue within the industry. The working group, which is facilitated by a SCANPH staff person, meets a few times a year to discuss workshop ideas, policy changes or research needs, and to generally build camaraderie amongst members. For example, the Building Allies initiative is SCANPH’s campaign to jointly plan new housing with new school developments across Southern California.

The campaign engages a variety of public school districts and submits feasibility proposals and concept drawings on the potential for joint housing and school development on school district owned land. SCANPH has developed multiple working feasibility models of how joint-planning can be a win-win situation for both school districts as well as affordable housing developers.

Second, the Home Ownership Collaborative (HOC) supports member developers and operators that are committed to affordable home ownership opportunities. The HOC’s focus is on building capacity amongst SCANPH developer members by exploring innovative land use techniques to promote home ownership, expanding the homeowner education delivery system, and advocating for more funding to keep homeownership affordable. This working group’s major accomplishments have been the standardization and accreditation of homeowner education counselors and providers in Southern California.

Third, Housing LA (HLA), the broad coalition that fought for and won Los Angeles’ Housing Trust Fund, is now working to significantly increase the supply of safe, decent homes that people can afford. From 1994 through 1999, the LA Working Group led SCANPH’s LA City Policy agenda. In 1999 the LA Working Group folded into the Housing LA campaign. The campaign succeeded in winning the Trust Fund in 2001, but the struggle continues so the LA Working Group reconvened as the… Housing LA Working Group in early 2003. Creating more affordable housing that people can afford is necessary if we are to restore the middle class in Los Angeles.

With strong leadership, HLA can build many more homes that people can afford, as well as protect the ones we have. In November 2006, HLA sent a clear message that HLA wants the Mayor and Council Members to address the city’s housing crisis. In 13 out of 15 council districts, strong majorities voted for new housing bonds, state Proposition 1C and local Proposition H. Housing LA's 3-Point Plan is to 1) dedicate Funding for the Housing Trust Fund to ensure the continued building of homes people can afford. To do this, the Housing Trust Fund must be taken out of the annual budget wrangling by dedicating permanent sources of local funds, 2) build Mixed Income Housing More than 170 cities and counties in California have programs that create mixed-income homes – including San Francisco, San Diego, Pasadena, and Santa Monica. It’s time for Los Angeles to adopt this strategy. Housing LA supports a balanced mixed-income housing program where developers get some incentives to build moderate and low-income homes and we preserve our single family neighborhoods. In-lieu fees from the ordinance would go the Housing Trust Fund, and 3) support strong enforcement of rent-control laws to ensure that people who live in rent-controlled apartments are not illegally forced out. Table 3-3 summarizes characteristics of California low-income housing services.

<Table 3-3> Characteristics of California low-income Housing Service Government leading

agency The Department of Housing and Community Development Self-Supporting State

Agency The California Housing Finance Agency

Major Programs

First Mortgage Loan Program (Call 30)

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Affordable Housing Partnership Program

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•California Homebuyers’ Downpayment Assistant Program Section 8 Rental (Voucher Program)

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Leading Nonprofit Housing

The Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern

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California (NPH)

The Southern California Association of Non-Profit

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Housing (SCANPH)

Home Ownership Collaborative (HOC)

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Housing LA

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