Seeking Racial Equity in Faith-Based Development
On September 25th, Bay Area LISC (BALISC) convened a workshop titled “Racial Equity in Faith-Based Development” at the (virtual) 41st Annual NPH Affordable Housing Conference. In case you missed it, below is a recap of that conversation.
Over the last year, BALISC has been managing a capacity building program for faith-based and community-based organizations interested in developing their property into affordable housing, generously funded by Alameda County and the San Francisco Foundation (SFF). Via the Alameda County Housing Development and Capacity Building Program (AC HDCB), BALISC provides targeted technical assistance, training, and limited grant resources to support faith-based landowners to make the best decision for their property, and if they choose to move forward with an affordable housing development, how to enter into an equitable joint venture partnership with an experienced developer.
Faith-based development has gotten a lot of buzz recently, with the failed passage of SB899 in the Senate, the successful passage of AB1851, the Terner Center’s recent policy brief, and a variety of blog posts, white papers, and other memos on the subject. However, systemic racism is as embedded in faith-based development as in every other facet of our society. The objective of this workshop was to call to action the affordable housing development community to think critically about how to partner with faith-based organizations in a way that does not reinforce a history of exploitation of congregations, but rather centers the assets of these community anchor institutions in the development process.
Panelists (top row): Charmaine Curtis, Principal of Curtis Development; Laurel Engbretson, Program Officer at BALISC; Pastor Paul Bains, President/Co-Founder of WeHOPE and United HOPE Builders. (Bottom row) Pastor Rochelle Frazier, Pastor of South Hayward United Methodist Church; Michelle Myles Chambers, FAITHS Program Officer at the San Francisco Foundation
Laurel Engbretson, Program Officer at BALISC, moderated the conversation between Michelle Myles Chambers, FAITHS Program Officer at the San Francisco Foundation, Charmaine Curtis, Principal of Curtis Development, Pastor Paul Bains, the President/Co-Founder of WeHOPE and United HOPE Builders, and finally, Pastor Rochelle Frazier, Pastor of South Hayward United Methodist Church. As participants in the AC HDCB, each speaker lent their respective perspective as a program funder, development consultant providing 1-1 assistance to congregations, strategic advisor to the program, and leader of a participating congregation actively exploring development on their property.
In revisiting the origins of the program, when Alameda County passed Measure A1, which included the eventual funding for faith-based development capacity building, Michelle Myles Chambers reiterated a key value which undergirds AC HDCB: “Everyone should have safe and affordable housing. Housing is a human right.” From the get-go, Alameda County and SFF knew that if the goal of the program was to provide technical assistance to build strong organizations, it was going to be very important to proactively include communities of color in the development process. Indeed, the development industry is not very representative of the communities it serves.
Pastor Rochelle Frazier first heard about the AC HDCB program when Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley spoke to faith leaders about their role in housing the unhoused. Her church, South Hayward United Methodist Church (SHUMC) recognized an opportunity to act on one of their congressional values of providing shelter to the unhoused, by building affordable housing on their 2.5 acre lot. So far, the AC HDCB program has helped SHUMC to determine if it is ready to consider housing on its land by providing educational seminars on the development process, and troubleshooting how to surface concerns within a congregation about development. In particular, SHUMC learned about how to work with developers, fit development within the church's operations, and identify which populations to serve and whether to lease or sell their land.
Pastor Rochelle was especially complimentary of the educational nature of the program: “in real estate it is all about location, location, location, and with LISC it was all about education, education, education.” In particular, Pastor Rochelle highlighted her partnership with Charmaine Curtis, who provided 1-1 development consulting over the course of 10 months.
Charmaine Curtis’ objective was to get congregations like SHUMC to think through potential development and get to either a “go” or “no-go” position. She highlighted several challenges which faith-based communities face when diving into the world of housing development, including the unique decision making structures of each organization, the topography of their land, existing structures on properties, and minimum parking requirements. She pointed out too that many churches are currently only zoned for single family housing, and that without reforms such as SB899, which would have allowed for greater density and faster approvals of 100% affordable housing on religious properties, it would continue to be incredibly difficult for faith communities to act on their development objectives, no matter how well thought out.
Everyone should have safe and affordable housing. Housing is a human right.
The need for such reforms is urgent, in particular when considering the large numbers of unhoused individuals in the Bay Area and California writ large. Pastor Paul Bains shared his experience operating shelters in the South Bay, noting that the conditions many unhoused face amount to society telling them that they do not matter. Unfortunately, faith-based communities and folks of color seeking to address this need have historically been locked out of the development process. Typically land rich but cash poor, these anchor organizations which already have deep roots and trust within their communities have been kept apart from the resources needed to develop housing.
Pastor Bains acknowledged that programs like the AC HDCB are key because they help faith-based land-owners to make well informed decisions about their property. Better real estate outcomes stabilize these organizations in their communities and enable them to grow their range of services. In particular, helping women owned and minority owned businesses to scale is key to breaking the cycle of larger organizations- which lack the local perspective- from dominating the industry.
In closing, Michelle noted that the San Francisco Foundation’s 27 years of providing resources to faith-based communities has shown how faith-based organizations are already some of the largest land bankers in the country. Funders and capacity builders need to give these faith-based organizations the tools to make the difficult decisions on developing land themselves, because communities already trust their local faith-based organizations and go to them first in times of need.
If you are interested in funding, partnering, participating or just learning more, please contact Laurel Engbretson at lengbretson@lisc.org.