Nina Burges

Ms. Curtin

May 8, 2017

Intern/Mentor

Data Analysis

The interview with Councilman Jon Weinstein offered meaningful insight on the process of

implementing affordable housing initiatives through his detailed description of Downtown Columbia

Affordable Housing Plan. Through various funding and incentive programs such as Tax Increment

Financing and live-where-you-work incentives, in addition to built units, the plan will produce over nine-

hundred units. Some of the organizations that served as sounding boards for the county, such as PATH and

Bridges to Housing Stability, will continue to serve as watchdogs for the government as the plan is

implemented. The role of watchdog fits these organizations perfectly because they are local nonprofit

organizations. According to secondary sources, these organizations tend to have greater connections with

low-income families seeking low cost housing because of their willingness to work with these families

throughout the house-seeking process. In the case of Downtown Columbia, the watchdog status of

organizations like PATH and Bridges to Housing Stability would ensure that the affordable housing plan

serves fulfills its goals of providing housing for single and married professionals, elderly citizens, and

single or two parent families with children. The interview with Councilman Weinstein also reveals that

local governments can also create non-profit organizations. In the case of Downtown Columbia, the

creation of the Downtown Columbia Housing Corporation seems to be driven by a desire to remove

waste, politics and money from the implementation of the redevelopment plan in order for the greater

population of Columbia to be served, a goal unfulfilled in the hand of a government entity or a for-profit

corporations because they are responsible to constituents and shareholders, respectively.

In respect to the interview with Ms. Kristin Siglin of the Housing Partnership network, Ms. Siglin

offered her perspectives on current affordable housing policies such as Section 8 and inclusionary zoning,

and explains the intricacies of nonprofit participation in affordable housing policy. Many of the reasons
Ms. Siglin cited for the employment of nonprofit housing organizations in affordable housing policy

coincided with that stated in secondary sources read previously: the willingness to help lower-income

individuals due to a lack of responsibility to shareholders. However, Ms. Siglin expounded upon other

roles, such as financing and managing. that could be assumed by certain nonprofit housing organizations

should they have sufficient resources. In the case of financing, nonprofit participation could prove

beneficial to low income families seeking a home because it allows them to purchase a home offered at a

lower down-payment and/or lower interest rates, because these organizations would be more willing to

assist these families in buying a home. This, depending on the size of the family, essentially benefits the

low-income family because of the increased space that a house offers for each member of the family to

maintain their own privacy and complete their own tasks without infringing on that of another family

member. In addition, Ms. Siglin indicates that housings affordable status could be maintained through

the employment of nonprofit housing organizations in the rehabilitation of housing. Mrs. Siglin contends

that when old, run-down developments are torn down and rebuilt by for profit organizations, they are

more likely to be rebuilt as luxury homes because that is the current market trend in todays market. If in

the hands of the nonprofit organization, the run-down units would be refurbished and the affordable price

would be maintained allowing poorer residents to live in decent quarters for an affordable price, which

would improve their quality of life by reducing the likelihood of residents encountering insects and

vermin in their residences.