SELECT EVENTS INDEX

• Asset-Building Coalitions in States: Innovative Coalition Development and Policy Advocacy Strategies

• FDIC's Boston and Worcester Alliances for Economic Inclusion General Forum on Innovation in Savings and Wealth-Building

• Working Together to Build Wealth in Lower-Income Communities

• Inclusion in the Economic Mainstream

• The Digital Age

• • • • •

IASP Events

Affordable Housing in the Suburbs: Tools for Citizen-Led Affordable Housing Development

Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts - June 14, 2005

The Institute on Assets and Social Policy partnered with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and the Fannie Mae Foundation to sponsor a conference exploring issues, strategies and messages to improve access to affordable housing in the suburban Boston region. Nearly 140 citizen leaders, elected officials and non-profit, municipal and state staff gathered to discuss challenges and policy and program models of success for increasing the supply of affordable rental and ownership housing.

Robert Kuttner, co-founder and editor of The American Prospect and Visiting Scholar at the Institute, delivered the luncheon keynote address. Mr. Kuttner addressed the challenges that have arisen as that Federal and state support to assist low-income families in accessing safe and affordable housing has diminished over the past few decades making it necessary for local communities and non-profit organizations to attempt to fill the gap. He suggested that the solutions lie not only in the creation of more affordable housing, but also in supporting policies that provide opportunities for low-income people to build their overall assets so that they might better compete in the housing market.

This theme was expanded upon in a workshop led by Janet Boguslaw and Sandra Venner of the Institute, and David Dangler of NeighborWorks USA. They focused on strategies to build household assets through individual and community-wide initiatives by increasing housing opportunities. The discussion centered on policies and programs that increase the available resources that can be used for housing through saving and investment mechanisms such as EITC, IDA's and others to make a broader range of housing options "affordable."