At the National Housing Conference we often repeat the sentiment that we are only as good as our members. Collaboration has always been key to our success, and the opportunities we have to collaborate have proven to be opportunities for us to learn most effectively. Throughout 2022, NHC has been fortunate to partner with our member NeighborWorks® America to produce a webinar series focusing on specific and timely issues for housing and community development policymakers and professionals.
The series highlighted a number of topics influencing policy across the spectrum of housing advocates. In January, panelists discussed the intersections of health and housing and the impact of COVID-19 on the housing landscape. March’s webinar explored shared equity models and the counter-displacement efforts that can be driven by community land trusts, housing cooperatives, and resident owned manufactured housing. In May, a group of practitioners and researchers highlighted the opportunities presented through mindful adaptive reuse development and tools for identifying buildings capable of being repurposed. In celebration of Homeownership Month, June’s webinar featured a showcase of innovative programs that tackle specific barriers to homeownership for low- and moderate-income households, as well as a fireside chat between David Dworkin and NeighborWorks® America president and CEO Marietta Rodriguez. Finally, our most recent webinar in September spotlighted the state of Native American housing and offered strategies for partnering with Tribal entities to help much needed community development initiatives on Native lands.
We are currently planning our sixth and final webinar in this series for January 2023, where we look forward to hearing from experts on disaster resilience. Panelists will discuss the impact of climate change and extreme weather events on housing and communities, and best practices to make disaster response both timely and equitable. Look out for a registration link for this webinar coming soon!
We have been thrilled with the academic and practical value that each webinar brought to our members and nonmembers alike who attended these events. Every webinar had over 600 registrants, with a peak number of 1,163 registrants, truly highlighting the value of the work being done by housing practitioners across the nation as we continue grappling with the impacts of COVID-19 and corresponding volatile housing market.
Thanks to the sponsorship, we were able to offer these webinars free of charge to anyone interested in learning more about housing policy. The webinars allowed individuals to ask questions directly to our panelists and provide real time advice to help bridge the silos that we often face in the policy world. We hope that any groups who are not members of NHC found the information valuable and will consider joining us for more collaborative partnership and opportunities to advance our common policy goals.
NHC could not have produced such high-quality material without the dedication and partnership of our friends at NeighborWorks® America, whose on the ground experience and vast network of impactful organizations were invaluable for us to learn from throughout the year.
You can find all of our webinars on NHC’s YouTube page.. If your organization is interested in sponsoring a webinar series in 2023, please reach out to us at bwebb@nhc.org.