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 Walker Appointed Director at Rockefeller FoundationNational Housing Institute Board Member Darren Walker has been appointed director of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Working Communities division. Walker will oversee a grantmaking portfolio in excess of $25 million per year that pursues anti-poverty strategies focusing on employment, community development, education, and democracy-building in the United States. Previously, Walker served as chief operating officer of the Abyssinian Development Corporation in New York City, a community development corporation focusing on affordable housing and commercial business development in Harlem. He also helped establish Housing First!, an organization created to raise public awareness of housing issues in New York City, and co-developed the Harlem Economic Literacy Project (HELP), an initiative designed to increase the economic and asset-building skills of low- and moderate-income residents in Harlem. “Darren Walker has proven experience tackling many of the critical needs of low-income communities and families, such as affordable housing, job creation, and better schools,” said Gordon Conway, president of the Rockefeller Foundation. “As the Foundation strives to foster greater equity and create healthy, working communities globally, we look forward to Darren playing a vital role on our leadership team.” Dolbeare Receives Lifetime Achievement Award Cushing Dolbeare, the founder of the National Low Income Housing Coalition and a member of the Millennial Housing Commission, has received the McAuley Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award. “Cushing Dolbeare is a wonderful inspiration for us all in community development,” said JoAnn Kane, executive director of the McAuley Institute. “Through her writing, research, analysis, interest and life’s work, she has made a difference to thousands of individuals and families in need of affordable housing.” David Beer has joined New York City’s Common Ground Community in the newly created position of director of housing development. Beer will be responsible for conceptualizing new housing programs to serve the needs of homeless people and implementing new housing development projects. Formerly, he worked with Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City and the Church of the Messiah Housing Corporation in Detroit, Michigan. David Pagan has been elected board president of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD) in New York. Pagan is the executive director of Los Sures/Southside United, a Brooklyn-based CDC and community organizing group. |
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| Organizations & Initiatives | The Enterprise Foundation, with funding from the MetLife Foundation, presented six organizations with the MetLife Foundation Award for Excellence in Affordable Housing. The organizations, awarded between $10,000 and $25,000, were cited for their innovative support services for low-income people and results-oriented property and asset management. They were: Riverbend Community Mental Health in Concord, NH; Integrated Community Services in Green Bay, WI; Greater Germantown Housing Development Corporation in Philadelphia, PA; Project New Hope in Los Angeles, CA; House of Ruth in Baltimore, MD; and Sarah’s Circle, Inc. in Washington, DC. For more information see www.enterprisefoundation.org. The National Network of Women in Community Development (NNWCD) was officially launched at the McAuley Institute’s National Women and Housing Conference in November. NNWCD is a peer support, leadership growth, and advocacy network whose primary goals are to support and advance the work of women in the housing field and to advocate for community and economic development policies that respond to the needs of women and children. The advocacy group will also work closely with the McAuley Institute’s “Make It Your Own” homeownership campaign. For more information, contact Susan Rees at the McAuley Institute, 301-588-8110 x247. State Farm Insurance Companies has committed $1 million to lower-income neighborhoods in six cities to support Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation’s (NRC) national Loss Prevention Partnerships. The funds will help make homes safer and reduce homeowner losses from fire, theft, wind, and water. The partnership program will provide education and financial assistance to homeowners who wish to improve their homes’ safety by repairing or replacing heating systems, roofs, pipes, wiring, or other systems. Participating cities are: Richmond, VA; New York City, NY; Charleston, SC; St. Louis, MO; Denver, CO; and Chicago, IL. Contact Debra Daniels at NRC, 202-220-2354. As of January 1st the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has increased its single-family home mortgage limit in low-cost areas by 9 percent, to $144,336, in an effort to enable more working families to become homeowners. The loan limits for high-cost areas and for two-, three- and four-unit dwellings also increased. For more information, contact your local HUD field office or www.hud.gov. The New Market Tax Credit Program (see Shelterforce #110 & #113) officially got off the ground in December, and is being administered by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Individual and corporate investors can receive a tax credit of 39 percent of the amount invested in an eligible community development entity (CDE), which uses the investment to support business activities in poor communities. Any domestic corporation or partnership that has a track record of working with or investing in poor communities can be certified by the federal government as a CDE. For more information, contact CDFI Fund at 202-622-8662 or www.cdfifund.gov. |
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