Advocating for affordable housing

Julie Gould, Mercy Housing

 

 

 

 
By Julie Gould, Mercy Housing Senior Vice President, Capital Investment and Impact

Throughout the nation, Mercy Housing is taking action to raise awareness about the ever-growing need for quality affordable multifamily rental housing and stabilized communities. Mercy Housing’s mission embraces the entire fabric of low- and moderate-income community building. Far and away, the biggest challenge in closing the affordable housing gap for nonprofit developers and lenders like Mercy Housing, Mercy Loan Fund and Mercy Portfolio Services is raising capital that supports our work serving low-income people in low-income communities.

Our regional offices are engaged at every level with local leaders and neighborhoods to meet housing needs. We pride ourselves on the quality of our developments and services to resident as well as the level of community involvement we seek out during the planning process. But without strong support from national, state and local housing policies, it can be difficult to develop or finance new housing projects or preserve the stock of existing affordable housing.

Mercy Housing strongly believes that a collaborative and educational approach to national, state and local public policy education and advocacy is essential. We are constantly forming new partnerships and working with others to find effective ways to promote legislation and regulation related to the production, preservation and operation of multifamily rental housing and sufficient funding for resident programs and services. We are working hard to finance such developments through Mercy Loan Fund and to stabilize neighborhoods starting with Chicago through Mercy Portfolio Services.

In a world of uncertain economic times and limited resources, it is more important than ever to ensure that there are affordable housing options for families and individuals in need for generations to come. With your support, we are working to be a catalyst that causes our nation’s leaders to find ways to dramatically increase capacity and production to close the gap that exists between the supply and demand for affordable housing.

Learn more about Mercy Housing’s Public Policy Education and Advocacy efforts.