National Housing Conference Member of the Month
NHC.org, September 2008

Why did you join NHC?

 
NHC provides a great resource for knowledge about current housing programs and legislative policy. LINC’s board and staff have been provided with tools to increase their effectiveness through programming, active participation on the NHC board, and peer learning.

How does membership in the NHC help your organization achieve its mission?

Membership allows our board and staff to keep abreast of key industry concerns and leverage our voice with our colleagues to participate in making policy changes. Our participation has facilitated in-person meetings with key legislators, allowing us to put a real face on the issue of the need for affordable housing and the real people doing the critical work to provide it.

 
What role does your organization play in ensuring that affordable housing is available?

LINC builds, preserves, owns and manages its affordable housing. LINC is a good steward of California’s affordable housing stock and communities. Not only does LINC build energy-efficient systems into their pipeline of more than 1,400 units, but they are actively implementing their sustainability plan to improve all 36 existing properties in their portfolio. They are committed to providing healthy homes for their residents with LINC Cares resident services programming that provides an opportunity for families and seniors.

LINC’s board and staff take an active role in reaching out to the community at-large to educate and advocate for affordable housing. In addition to NHC, LINC plays a leadership role in both the Housing Partnership Network and California Housing Consortium. These active organizations enhance LINC’s own communications outreach which includes their award-winning “Notes from the Housing Studio” podcast, active placement of positive articles in the public media, a “Speakers Bureau” program that reaches out to local service clubs and organizations, and LINC’s schedule of small and large events.

What are the greatest issues facing the creation and preservation of affordable housing today? Money: Access to capital for affordable housing has always been tough for nonprofits. In today’s financial market, it is even tougher. Visibility: Housing is one of our state’s and nation’s most critical needs, and lack of quality shelter impacts virtually every other facet of our citizens’ lives. How is it that housing is rarely discussed as a key issue in the legislature, media, and our homes?

According to LINC, becoming part of a unified voice in such organizations as NHC has allowed them to call greater attention to the need for affordable housing, as well as leverage LINC’s experience and concerns with their colleagues to hold ground and make some financial gains in this difficult economy.

Reprinted with permission.

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