Housing News Network, November 2008

Housing: The New Environment, turned out to be far newer than the Florida Housing Coalition had anticipated with passage of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) in late July. Quick to respond, our presenters peppered key HERA provisions throughout the conference plenary sessions and workshops. 

Foreclosure recovery was at the collective forefront. The combination of tracks on the mort- gage market and nonprofit capacity fed directly into the start of the Florida Housing Coalition’s technical assistance on the HERA Neighborhood Stabilization Program. 

The keynote address, planned long before the RNC made community organizing a topic of national conversation, rang acutely relevant, as community organizer, Gihan Perera addressed the role that community organizing plays in housing and economic development. See article on page 24. 

The public policy plenary ably moderated by Annetta Jenkins, brought together state and national perspectives on the mortgage and credit crisis, tools for bringing non- profit development to scale, and greening affordable housing. And each conversation begun at the public policy plenary was teased out in workshops the following day. 

Clearly, we are living in a very new housing environment— housing prices have fallen, and good credit is at a premium. Unfortunately, there is this constant: during the housing “boom” Florida was not adequately meeting the needs of extremely and very low income Floridians, and in the housing “bust,” those at the lower end of the spectrum are still without sufficient housing options. The good news is that housing is nothing if not dynamic, and housing advocates are up to the task of responding to all manner of change. In this edition of the Journal, as with all others, we hope you find information and inspiration to meet our current housing challenges.