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Real estate agent showing a family a house

Sculpting the Housing

Landscape in Arkansas:

Current Conditions,

Future Opportunities

A Symposium of ACHANGE Members

and Housing Advocates

Thursday, June 20, 2024 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Friday, June 21, 2024 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
U of A Cooperative Extension Service State Office
2301 S University Ave, Little Rock, AR 72204

This housing policy symposium is designed to bring together parties interested in expanding the supply and accessibility of affordable housing in the state. We’ll identify the current state of housing legislation in the state, then direct our attention to tools that can be used to increase housing options in the state. This is an educational event to spur conversation, partnership and engagement within communities across our state. It is also meant to highlight opportunities to create and enhance existing housing legislation in the state.

  • Be there to discuss the urgent issues that limit the supply of housing to Arkansans with moderate incomes.
  • Hear experts like our luncheon speaker, Jacqueline Waggoner, President of Enterprise Community Partners Solutions Division.
  • Learn about new technologies and strategies for providing housing, like modular housing and energy independence.
  • Find out what’s happening with the Arkansas Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
  • Develop stronger connections with your colleagues and peers between education sessions and after hours.
Friday Lunch Speaker Jacqueline Waggoner, President, Solutions Division, Enterprise Community Partners

As president of Enterprise Community Partners’ Solutions Division, Jacqueline manages a team of more than 300, leading the company’s programmatic, policy and advisory work in alignment with its strategic priorities: increasing housing supply, advancing racial equity and building upward mobility and resilience. From working on the ground with local partners in hundreds of communities nationwide, to advocating for affordable housing policy at the highest levels of government, Jacqueline maximizes Enterprise’s impact across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

Sessions

In Housing We Trust
Speaker: Billy Cerullo
Billy Cerullo is a housing advocacy organizer at the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). In this role, Billy helps grow the Coalition’s network of advocates and support efforts to strategically engage federal policymakers on key policy priorities. Billy has been working as an organizer for almost a decade and has organized winning campaigns to change education and healthcare policies. Before joining NLIHC, he organized multiple unionization drives as an organizer for the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA).
About the Session:
According to Community Change, Housing trust funds are distinct funds established by city, county, or state governments that receive ongoing dedicated public funding sources to support the preservation and production of affordable housing and increase opportunities for families and individuals to access decent, affordable homes.  Housing trust funds systemically shift affordable housing funding from annual budget allocations to the commitment of dedicated public revenue.  During this session you will learn about the National Housing Trust Fund,  successful local jurisdictions based HTF, along with receiving an update regarding the Arkansas Housing Trust Fund.
It’s All in the Design 
Speaker: Audra Butler, Communities Unlimited
About the Session
You may have heard the term “modular housing” before. You may have even seen promotions in the state saying that a company offers modular homes.  But what does that mean? By definition modular housing are houses built off-site, usually in an indoor quality -controlled setting. Modular homes are completed in sections called modules, according to specific plans. These sections are then transported to the site where they are assembled by builders and installed into the foundations. Modular and manufactured housing are not the same and the terms are not interchangeable.  During this session, learn the differences between a variety of types of housing and the potential modular housing has to not only provide quality affordable housing but also create employment and support community growth.
Additional Speakers:
          Codney Washington, We Center We Build

Codney Washington is the founder and Director of WE Center WE Build (formerly the construction company Washington Enterprises). WE Center We Build’s goal is revitalize inner-city areas by constructing affordable homes,built by participants of their vocational training programs. These homes are typically constructed offsite, using the modular home concept, to offer better supervision, training opportunities, and to mitigate cost, throughout Pine Bluff and throughout the region where affordable housing is needed. We Center We Build offers NCCER courses and certifications specializing in framing, plumbing, electrical work, HVAC, and excavation. The organization primarily works with at-risk youth in the community and provides vocational training within state youth detention centers all done under the umbrella of WE Center.

     Chris Nicely, ManufacturedHomes.com

Chris is President of ManufacturedHomes.com & ModularHomes.com and recently contributed to three published studies by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, comparing the cost of site-built housing to manufactured housing, and overcoming obstacles in siting factory-built housing. Chris  has 30 years’ experience in factory-built housing and management. With a proven track record, he has collaborated with industry leaders, non-profits, developers, and municipalities to leverage factory-built housing for positive community development in cities such as San Bernardino, CA; Phoenix, AZ; LaGrange, TX; Danville, VA; Jackson, MS; and Detroit, MI.

Additional speaker:            Benje Feehan, Bcworkshop

 

Solar for All

Speaker: Tyler Archie, Hope Enterprise  – Solar for All

Tyler is a VP on HOPE’s Corporate Strategy team and led the Climate and Energy Initiative that resulted in HOPE’s $156 million “Solar for All” awards as a state-level applicant in Arkansas and Mississippi. Tyler will be discussing Arkansas’ Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to advance affordable and resilient solar energy access for low-income and disadvantaged households across Arkansas, utilizing a multi-pronged approach. Prior to joining HOPE, Tyler practiced law and served as a SME and Director of Compliance for a New Orleans-based software company.
About the Session
The Inflation Reduction Act created a first-of-its-kind, national-scale program: the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund—a $27 billion investment to mobilize financing and private capital to address the climate crisis, ensure our country’s economic competitiveness, and promote energy independence while delivering lower energy costs and economic revitalization to communities that have historically been left behind. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will be designed to achieve the following program objectives: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants. Deliver the benefits of greenhouse gas- and air pollution-reducing projects to American communities, particularly low-income and disadvantaged communities. Mobilize financing and private capital to stimulate additional deployment of greenhouse gas and air pollution reducing projects. Arkansas has been awarded $93 million. Learn how these funds are going to be used to advance affordable and resilient solar energy access for low-income and disadvantaged households across Arkansas, utilizing a multi-pronged approach.
Cost for the symposium is $25 for members of ACHANGE, $50 for nonmembers.
Register for this event HERE!

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