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Advocacy
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.
Professional 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.
Public Education / Community Acceptance
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 our cause is constantly fresh in the minds of each citizen.
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