Tax Credit Advisor Article Archives

After consuming bushels of news articles, social media posts and White House Coronavirus briefings over the past several months, I think we have all become amateur epidemiologists.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, MidCity Financial Corporation was founded in 1965 by Eugene F. Ford, Sr., an engaged leader and community advocate with a visionary approach to delivering quality multifamily housing to support the diverse needs of local communities.

Three years ago, I published a book that I wrote with Dr. Michael Osterholm, the renowned epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, entitled, Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs.

Coming into a presidential election year, we knew the outlook for advancing legislation was dismal. Then the Coronavirus stole lives and shuttered businesses across the nation. Then Ahmaud Arbery was murdered by vigilantes while jogging, Breonna Taylor was shot eight times by officers in the middle of the night in her own home, an officer choked George Floyd to death with his knee amidst cries of “I can’t breathe” while three other officers watched, and Rayshard Brooks was shot by police for falling asleep in his car. Legislatively, where do we go from here in the waning months of 2020?

The sudden rise of Coronavirus—and the subsequent four-month shutdown of society—sped up certain technology shifts. Digital communications like Zoom, Skype and Amazon were already bringing disruption to work, education, shopping, medical provision and more.

Because infrastructure always reaches the poorest last, its networks are always uneven. Because the business case for prevention can never be made until the cost of allowing failure is proven, preventive policies arise only after catastrophe.

Madi Ford is listening. As you will read in this month’s Talking Heads interview (p. 6), her team at MidCity Financial includes a director of community engagement, as well as additional staff committed to listening to the residents and to neighbors.

Affordable assisted living can be a triple winner if it is done right using Medicaid waivers, according to a developer that has an active portfolio of properties in Indiana.

It’s an idyllic scene out of a past when COVID-19 was not disrupting senior communities across the country: Seniors in lawn chairs and wheelchairs have gathered outside their assisted living facility on a sunny day, enjoying a performance by a singer with a guitar.

America has seen shifts in senior care provisions. There are at least some elderly people who prefer to retire near urban centers, not suburban campuses, since that puts them near a greater diversity of people and amenities.