New Year, New Opportunities

NAHRO family,

First of all: our hearts go out to everyone affected by the Los Angeles fires, including our colleagues in the area, their teams and the residents they serve. Your NAHRO team has been working to connect affected agencies with resources and provide disaster aid information. If your agency has been affected by the wildfires and you have questions, please reach out to Eric Oberdorfer at eoberdorfer@nahro.org.

Though the beginning of 2025 has been difficult for many affected by the wildfires, the recent cold front and more, we can and will work through our present challenges while holding hope for a better future. I wish you all a happy new year full of happiness and success, as well as a renewed commitment to the work we do all across this great nation: providing homes for our communities.

But we all know that being a Houser is more than just building and maintaining homes. It also means finding ways to keep the work going.

In the face of a worsening housing crisis and insufficient federal investment, we must advocate for the resources and policies we need to repair and maintain our public housing units, to help our voucher holders find places to live, to ensure our seniors and children have the wellness and educational programs they need to thrive, and so much more.

This advocacy in turn requires intentionality and collaboration. No matter how much we excel as an agency or an organization, we can always increase our impact when we reach out to our communities. We need to find and nurture partnerships with other organizations, to show our mayors, city councils and other local elected officials how important our work is, to gain support from our neighbors for our projects and initiatives. Our colleagues in Texas come together each legislative session. They work together unselfishly on behalf of Texas NAHRO for the people and communities they serve. In Indiana, we developed a state white paper to make it easier for our elected officials to understand the needs of their constituents.

There’s a lot we can do locally, but we can’t stop there. We can and must continue to make a collective impact on the national stage. We have a new Congress and a new administration – this means new opportunities to educate our elected officials, tell the stories of our successes, and ask for the resources and regulatory changes we need.

As I write this, the federal government is being funded by yet another Continuing Resolution instead of a full fiscal year bill. This blanket extension of the previous year’s funding creates budget uncertainty for both federal agencies and the entities (like us) who depend on them, doesn’t allow us to adjust for changing circumstances, and leaves no room to adjust existing programs or develop new ones. It’s not a sustainable situation, and we need to raise our collective voices and demand change.

That’s why we need you to join us on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, March 12, during our Hill Day at the NAHRO Washington Conference – the week that the current Continuing Resolution expires. NAHRO staff are working hard to ensure that we can advocate effectively: they’re preparing a Legislative and Regulatory Agenda for us to bring to the Hill, providing plenary and concurrent sessions with the latest regulatory and policy updates to keep us informed, and even scheduling our Congressional meetings for us. Let’s take this opportunity to work together and make a collective impact on our nation’s capital!

Welcome back and congratulations to Professional Development Director, Jackie Taboada and the new addition to her family, Maximo. He’s a handsome fella!