THE WORKFORCE HOUSING CHALLENGE

In two weeks, the Richmond region will continue a conversation on affordable housing that started a year ago. The Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce’s annual Vision 2010 gathering – set for the morning of Friday, November 17, at the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen – will focus its attention on workforce housing.

The keynote speaker for the event is housing veteran Conrad Egan, president of the National Housing Conference. The 75-year-old organization is dedicated to raising the visibility and support of quality affordable housing in the United States. NHC’s Center for Housing Policy recently published its “Landscape for Affordable Housing” report, which showed that “the number of American working families paying more than half their incomes for housing increased by 76 percent from 1999-2003. And the Center's Paycheck to Paycheck interactive web data base was updated and expanded to provide homeownership and rental affordability data for nearly 200 Metropolitan markets and over 60 occupations.”

The Richmond Chamber's attention to the issue of affordable housing began several years ago, when research commissioned (click to download a Powerpoint of the research) by the Chamber identified housing as one of the 10 top issues facing the Richmond region. In June, the Chamber’s Greater Richmond Challenge sent teams of residents into the community to explore and engage area organizations addressing five of those issues – workforce development, crime and safety, education, transportation and affordable housing.

As a member of one of the two affordable housing teams, my understanding of the complexity and nature of the affordable housing issue in Richmond quickly changed. I went into the Challenge equating affordable housing with public housing, or low-income housing. I emerged with an understanding that affordable housing is an issue that impacts everyone in the region – from the homeless to recent immigrants to middle-class workers to corporate executives.

During our two days of exploration, my team spent time with volunteers and staff at the William Byrd Community House; at Richmond’s only Single Room Occupancy (SRO) center; at a Hanover Habitat for Humanity project; at the Better Housing Coalition’s Winchester Green development in Chesterfield County; and at the Richmond Refugee and Immigration Services offices.

In addition to broadening our understanding and awareness of the scope and nature of the issue, we learned that the Richmond region is chockfull of people and organizations making a huge difference in the lives of area residents.

Since June, about half of the original affordable housing team from the Greater Richmond Challenge has remained engaged on the subject. Our primary goal has been to share our experiences to help increase awareness in the Richmond community. Fortunately, the Chamber and the Richmond Times-Dispatch have chosen to stay engaged with the subject, as well.

In early September, the Times-Dispatch’s Public Square opened its doors to more than 300 residents, builders and developers, advocates and students for a community discussion on the topic of affordable housing. The TD sandwiched that event with a series of articles and commentary that provided participants (and the paper’s readers) with context.