1. Describe your local community revitalization environment. Walking on sunshine! The banks and corporations are supportive of our work and
regularly invest. The foundations and the city regularly support us for both core operating support and projects and we have a longstanding and collaborative relationship with the intermediaries and legislators. We have a collaborative trusting relationship with other CDCs and work together through our dynamic city community development association.
It varies quite a bit with some great relationships and some entire sectors less than
supportive or invisible.
It's just us! We're out here on our own and swimming against the tide without
support from legislators, intermediaries, bankers, or CDC associations at the city, state or national level.
2. What are your community revitalization activities? We are comprehensive and diverse and provide rental housing and homeownership to
wide variety of clientele - very low income to market rate. We also are engaged in a broad variety of community revitalization efforts throughout a broad geographic area.
We mainly focus on housing in a limited target area. We do one thing and do that well: develop and sell single-family homes to very
low-income people.
3. Describe your construction and management policies and
activities. Like a Swiss watch: We ensure quality construction and effective property
management. Our rent collection, tenant services and routine maintenance are performed effectively. We work closely with local social services to ensure tenants in properties receive the support they need.
Our properties win building awards and we use the finest of construction
materials. We are struggling with management as we face some vacancies and problem tenants.
We are trying to solve macro problems with micro money! We patch it together
as best we can. We will improve our policies once the next developer's fees come in.
4. Describe your internal management. Our director and senior staff are highly skilled in management and development and
wholly focused on the organization. Our board of directors is highly sophisticated and can help with any weak points. The board and staff also bring community support and respect. We openly address issues of race and gender and are able to come to conclusions that represent a win-win for all involved.
We just wish the city and the banks would stop stealing our people! We simply do not
have the ability to pay a competitive salary to highly skilled people. Our board is too passive about our finances. We have run into numerous NIMBY complaints about our projects and the board has not helped us because they are not connected to the residents of the community in which we do our work.
Our last three directors and board chairs have said that our financial projections were
pure fiction and that our underwriting assumptions were overly optimistic. They also said we had inadequate cost controls and accounting systems. We would be taking care of that if we were not so busy with property management problems and communication problems between the board and staff.
5. How much competition for resources do you face? Competition? Although money is tight, we compete successfully for federal and state grants and can rely on local grants and fees from the city and foundations to continue to operate. We also earn income from the wealth building effects on our activities by capturing funds on the back end of our deals. Yeah, yeah, things are tough all over! We fight the good fight and sometimes we win
and sometimes we lose. Still, we are able to collaborate with other groups to get deals done and the bills paid.
Call us Cinderella! We are always the last to go to the ball! We should change our name to "The Ugly Stepchild CDC!" We have no regular support from the intermediaries, the City, foundations, or individual donors. 6. What is your impact on your community? Through our efforts, we can tell any investor the percentage we increased the home ownership rate, property values, and tax revenue in our community. Our annual report and quarterly updates regularly report to state and federal agencies and foundations the improvements in quality of life indicators as well such as increase in voter turnout, decrease in students qualifying for free school lunch, and greater participation in neighborhood block clubs and other local institutions. My CDC increased the number of housing units we produced by ten percent last year. The default rate in our loan program is less than three percent and we currently have 46 loans outstanding. You know, I'm done taking this silly quiz.
