A Matter of Vision

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4 min read

Sometimes it feels like our lives are a progression of acute crises. It is rare that an initiative or transaction goes exactly as planned, and in adversity it easy to lose sight of the big picture. As I write this column on December 12, the fiscal cliff looms ever closer and the Northeast begins the long recovery from Hurricane Sandy’s devastation.

If ever there was a time to draw on a reserve of inspiration that time is today.

I was inspired as I listened to the three recipients of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association’s 2012 Affordable Housing Vision Awards at the presentation ceremony on December 10 at NH&RA’s 2012 Fall Developers Forum in Boston. I’d like to share a few excerpts from their comments, to inspire you as well to continue advocating for and delivering affordable housing in 2013 and beyond.

Jim Keefe, Trinity Financial, Inc.

Looking out the window of my first job I saw Tent City Apartments being built. I probably had one of the best views of this beautiful, game-changing project that had been so much the center of controversy for so many years. The thing that really impressed me was how beautiful it is, how the design just fits into the urban context. It was an inspiration to me personally. Not to mention that it had all this affordable housing, something that I really didn’t know that much about back then…It was a big inspiration to me to be associated with projects like that…It’s not just the bricks and mortar. These projects can change lives, change neighborhoods, and change possibilities.

Patrick Lee, Trinity Financial, Inc.

Many people at the start [of the low-income housing tax credit program] in 1987 said that it was really important that we do right by this program. That we make better lives through this program, that we make better communities. That was enlightened self-interest. As time goes by I hope we don’t lose that vision, which has been the bedrock of what we have tried to do at Trinity Financial. All that Jim and I try to do is to pass on that story.

Patrick Clancy, (formerly with) The Community Builders, Inc.

Ultimately the work that we do is very local. And the success of what we do is in the success of the communities that we create…I feel very fortunate to have been able to spend over 40 years doing the work that is so important for this country, providing a decent home at an affordable cost to families that are in need. Today the need is even greater. Close to 50 million people in this country live in poverty. Through the work that you all do about a quarter of those households are able to be significantly better off, having affordable housing as a base to survive poverty and move their lives forward. You are all anti-poverty warriors. I urge each of you to find a place where you have been a part of making a successful environment for families, and to get to know a family, get to know what their life is like, and find out how you can be useful to them. Then let that experience enrich your understanding of the value that you bring to your work and of the value of the work that you do every day. And let it also embolden you to continue to fight for more resources, for more investment in those families, and for a fairer, more economic justice in this country.

I couldn’t have said it any better.

Thom Amdur is Associate Publisher of Tax Credit Advisor and Executive Director of National Housing & Rehabilitation Association