HouseATL, a membership coalition aiming to engage civic leaders and promote the development of a housing affordability plan, announced its new advisory board last week.
The group elected four new directors to the board. In addition, six incumbent board members were reelected to their positions for three-year terms, to round out the 25-member board.
The four new electees come from a variety of backgrounds that overlap with affordable housing:
- Mandy Eidson, director of business development and community engagement of the Self-Help Credit Union
- Dr. Christie Cade, vice president of the southern region of NeighborWorks America
- Dr. Sara Patenaude, director of policy solutions for the southeast region for the Reinvestment Fund
- Rachel Carey, chief real estate officer for the Westside Future Fund
“I am excited and honored to join HouseATL’s Advisory Board and contribute to its impactful work in addressing housing affordability in our region,” said newly-elected board member Eidson. “I look forward to collaborating with HouseATL’s diverse group of leaders to advocate for equitable housing strategies and advance scalable solutions for local residents and communities.”
Another newly-elected board member echoed that sentiment.
“I have been involved with HouseATL for many years, and I know from experience that it is the best place for the kinds of cross-sector conversations and collaboration that actually move the needle on Atlanta’s affordable housing needs,” said Patenaude. “I am honored to be elected to the Advisory Board and look forward to advancing HouseATL’s strategic priorities in the five-county Atlanta region.”
The coalition, with the initial idea originating in 2017 but formally founded in 2018, started as more than 200 community leaders joined to craft 23 actionable recommendations aimed towards civic leaders on how to increase affordable housing in the city.
It initially used various working groups to advance these recommendations, and, over time, has become more formally organized. Working groups include Funders Collective, Pipeline Review Committee, Homeownership, Policy, Prioritizing Communities and Rental Housing Preservation. Soon after its 23 recommendations, the pandemic and its subsequent market changes ensured, forcing the group to pivot to the immediate needs.
In 2022, the advisory board hired its first staff, and it continues to build out its structure. The 23 recommendations from 2018 were updated, too, in 2023 to “reflect the changing market.”
The Atlanta metro region recently surpassed Washington D.C. and Philadelphia to become the sixth-largest metro area in the country. Between 2010 and 2020, it added over 800,000 new residents.
Atlanta, like many American cities, is struggling with a housing crisis. According to the Bipartisan Center, Metro Atlanta was 105,000 homes short of meeting its regional demand.
According to HouseATL, for-sale home prices increased 117 percent between 2017 to 2022, with wages increasing only 27 percent in that same period. It also reported that there are “148,000 renters alone in Metro Atlanta who are considered extremely cost burdened” in that same Background and Primer document.
In October, one of the most promising developments coming to the city reneged on its commitment to affordable housing, opting to pay a fine to the city instead and allowing itself to set its more than 300 units at market rate, which is unaffordable for many Atlantans.
With support from both the public and private sectors, HouseATL is uniquely poised to advance its recommendations in a city that needs it.
