Helpers and First Responders

My heart goes out to all those affected by Hurricane Milton and those who are still recovering from Hurricane Helene. As housers, we are often called upon to be first responders and caretakers – to help our staff and our residents to safety, provide them with food and other forms of aid, and, eventually, to repair and rebuild what’s been destroyed.  

Whether you’re a NAHRO member or not, we’re here for you. We send our disaster resource emails to ALL affected housing agencies; we take all calls and emails for information and do our best to get you what you need.  

Over the next week, we’ll keep updating affected agencies, collaborating with regional and state associations, and speaking up on your behalf here in the nation’s capital. Are you with an affected agency who has questions or needs help? Get in touch with us. We are here for you. 

An Attitude of Gratitude 

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I pause and reflect with gratitude on what I have: a loving family and friend circle, a supportive community, a nationwide network of hugely talented housers and community builders, and so much more. Here are just a few things that I have been giving thanks for. 

The 2024 National Conference and Exhibition 

While some folks couldn’t join us due to weather concerns, we were grateful that Hurricane Helene missed Orlando, the site of our 2024 National Conference and Exhibition. I was so glad to be in community with more than 1,700 of you from all across the nation, including 150 first-time NAHRO conference-goers. Many of you shared with me the tremendous connection you felt with your fellow housers and how fantastic it felt that so many of us were together at this pivotal moment.    

The first and last speakers of our conference were two very different, very successful people who lived in public housing: hip hop legend Roxanne Shante, and DEI scholar and practitioner Dr. Michael Benitez, Jr. Both spoke powerfully about the roles that federally assisted housing played during different times of their lives.  

For Roxanne Shante, public housing provided her family with a steady community that supported her as she grew up and embarked on a successful career. With her DJ, she made several musical points about how much hip-hop and other forms of music owe to public and affordable housing. “They ought to call it housing hop,” she memorably quipped. 

For Dr. Michael Benitez, Jr., affordable housing anchored his life twice – first as a child when his family experienced homelessness in Pennsylvania, then later as a graduate student struggling to complete his studies and support his young family. As he said, “All these things, then here come the housers – here comes the love letter and the gratitude. Because of you I’m here, and I want people to know how intensely important the work you do is. Half of who you serve are children, and you are serving the future of America.” 

In the face of our current affordable housing crisis and the lack of resources and political will to give our programs the funding to serve everyone in need, I appreciate hearing of challenges overcome and the accomplishments that followed. 

An Historic Moment  

Barely a week later, I was in Georgia, celebrating another former public housing resident. The Housing Authority of Americus in Georgia invited me to participate in a moving and historic ceremony last week: the rededication of 215 Paschal Street, 9a, the public housing unit where President Jimmy Carter and his family lived from 1953 to 1954.  

That small, unassuming single-story house, paid for by our taxpayer dollars and run by the Americus Housing Authority, was home to a man who rose to the highest office in the land. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to tour President Carter’s boyhood home, the Boys and Girls Club that he helped build with his own hands, and of course unit 9a, and to stand with the leaders and officials who continue to provide safe, decent, affordable housing to this Georgia community. 

As we approach the elections – early voting is getting underway! – and get ready to work with a new administration, I hope that the President, the Congress and our new colleagues at HUD are able to viscerally understand that a safe, stable home is the springboard from which to launch more Presidents, more Supreme Court Justices; more Roxanne Shantes and Dr. Michael Benitez Jrs, more teachers, firefighters, healthcare workers – more successful people who are able to thrive and build better communities together. Thank you for your continued commitment to sharing these stories with whomever we elect.