CCDA Housing Pre-Conference Symposium: A participatory First Step toward an Official CCDA “Best Practice”

We have been working on this housing symposium since February and are thrilled to invite you to this engaging opportunity Sept. 24, 2014, 1:00 to 5:00 pm. – A free event, but please rsvp to hold your spot at our table!

Calling all housing practitioners – affordable housing developers, community developers, investors, New Urbanists, policy advocates, shared equity experts, homeless ministry practitioners, those providing housing services, those in the sustainable building construction and intentional community movements. We want all who share a common concern for housing and community development for capturing the experience and expertise of everyone as a step toward creating a CCDA resource on the best practices for housing ministries.

 Our 10 Symposium Housing Practitioners & Break Out Conversation Groups: Practitioner presentations will be given Pecha Kucha style, where each person has a 7-minute time frame with 20 or less presentation slides. Then, break out conversation groups will be facilitated along with a review of CCDA core concepts & a finale vote of all attendees on symposium “best practices”.

• For-profit and nonprofit Affordable Housing Development Community, including investors – Gregg Warren 

Gregg has served as President of DHIC(formerly Downtown Housing Improvement Corp.), since 1985. Based in Raleigh, DHIC has developed 37rental communities across NC and 500+ homes for first time homebuyers. Gregg is founding member and past Chair of the North Carolina Housing Coalition and has served on the boards of: North Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations, Advisory Council of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, StepUp Ministry, Community Housing Capital and Hope Center at Pullen.

• Faith Based nonprofit housing models with a sampling of CCDA ministries – Jill Shook

Jill is a Missions Door Catalyst, professor and author/editor of Making Housing Happen: Faith Based Affordable Housing Models, featuring many CCDA ministries. She coordinated work teams from Berkeley to Harvard for Food for the Hungry, Intl.; worked collaboratively planting a Spanish speaking church, an afterschool program, and a citywide gang prevention program. She seeks the redemption of both people and places initiating sustainable programs and just policies

• The Smart Growth Design Community, New Urbanism – Kristen Jeffers

Kristen is a Greensboro, NC native who founded The Black Urbanist, an outlet for promoting urban studies and community development. Her work has been featured in CityLab, Next City, Sustainable Cities Collective, Streetsblog Network, Yes! Weekly, and the Greensboro News and Record. She has served on panels at the Congress for New Urbanism, UNC Global South and the APA Virginia annual conference metropolitan planning and governance in the state of North Carolina and Kristen’s Workshop, a group of online courses and coaching services

• The Shared Equity movement – Community land trusts, Inclusionary Zoning, cooperative housing – Selina Mack

Selina is the Executive Director of Durham Community Land Trustees (DCLT) in Durham, NC.  She provides leadership to this organization and its efforts to both stabilize and revitalize the West End neighborhoods of Durham. Through her guidance, DCLT has completed over 200 units of permanently affordable housing. Selina is a graduate of East Carolina University and NC Central University, with a Masters in Public Administration. She is a Board member of the National Community Land Trust Network and the NC Community Development Initiative.

• The Homeless community – Shelters, transitional housing, Housing First and strategies to end homelessness – Lloyd Schmeidler

Lloyd has lived and worked in Durham since 1999. He has been a pastor, educator, and nonprofit executive director. He led St. Philip’s Community Kitchen, 1999 – 2001; Urban Ministries of Durham, 2002 – 08; and has been working with the Ten Year Results Plan to End Homelessness in Durham since 2009. Lloyd staffs Durham’s HUD Continuum of Care grants competition and coordinates provision of housing and supportive services for Durham’s Department of Community Development.

• The intentional community movement, including cohousing and New Monasticism – Jim Bergdoll

Jim is President of Neighborhood Development Ministries, Inc. and has a consulting practice, Housing and Neighborhood Development in Oakland, CA. He coordinated housing ministry at Rockridge United Methodist Church in Oakland for many years, where he was one of the founding owners and coordinator for Temescal Commons Cohousing intentional Christian community planted 1997-2000.  Jim also served as staff Director of Real Estate at Habitat for Humanity South Hampton Roads, (Virginia), and previously at Habitat East Bay (California).

• Shared housing and special needs housing – Group homes, board and care, recovery and sober living homes – Pastor Susan McSwain

Susan is Executive Director of Reality Ministries in Durham, NC. Reality, along with Duke Divinity School and Hope Spring Village, started Friendship House Durham, a creative housing opportunity in the North Street area where young adults with developmental disabilities share apartments with Divinity School students. Susan, as well, lives joyfully in the North Street community and is part of CityWell Church, a diverse family engaging the gifts of relationships across all sorts of dividing lines. She graduated from Wake Forest University and served many years with the Community Children’s Ministry in Washington DC. She now also serves on a team working to bring a L’Arche community to Durham.

• Alternative construction methods, sizes and sustainable materials – Sweat equity, tiny homes, alternate materials, etc. – Mary Welch

Mary is Senior Director of U.S. Affiliate Services for Habitat for Humanity International. She began as a volunteer in 1992.  Now, she currently manages a team of organizational development, grant-writing and subject matter experts and call center personnel. She has also worked as a coordinator for Laubach Literacy, Director of WV Council on Aging, consultant for Points of Light Foundation and also led the Center for Community Involvement at United Way.

• Policies to mitigate displacement, incent affordable housing – Flats, secondary dwellings, subdividing, fee waivers, etc. – Robert Baird

Robert is a Policy Analyst at Community Health Councils, a community-based policy organization in South Los Angeles.  His work includes efforts to develop healthy food retail in urban food deserts, zoning initiatives that address gentrification and displacement, urban design initiatives to promote mobility and physical activity, and economic development policy in under-invested communities. Rob earned a Master of Planning degree from the University of Southern California in 2009, and completed a Servant Partners urban ministry internship in 2003.

• Housing Services – Foreclosure prevention, first time home buyers, housing counseling, etc. – Shelia Porter

Sheila manages Homeownership Center operations, compliance, and service development and delivery for DHIC in Raleigh, NC. In 2013, DHIC’s Homeownership Center offered one-on-one counseling and classes to 360 families –100 purchased first homes with sustainable first mortgages. Sheila joined DHIC in 2000 and has over 25 years of mortgage, banking and counseling experience. She holds certifications from NeighborWorks® America and the North Carolina Association of Housing Counselors, management certifications from the National Council of La Raza and NeighborWorks® America and a N.Carolina Real Estate Brokers license.