General Background
- Building Prosperity and Abundance in Your Community: A Guide to Launching a Financial Education Program in Your Church.
- Published by the Faith Center for Community Development, Inc., and the Fannie Mae Foundation. For ordering information, call (212) 785-2782.
- Putting Faith in Neighborhoods: Making Cities Work through Grassroots Citizenship by Stephen Goldsmith.
- The story of how Indianapolis invented a national model for creating vibrant urban centers through encouraging citizenship and engaging faith-based organizations. Published by the Hudson Institute. Order through the Hudson online bookstore: www.hudson.org.
- Rebuilding Our Communities: How Churches Can Provide, Support, and Finance Quality Housing for Low-Income Families.
- A 280-page resource manual published by World Vision. Cost: $15.50. All prices include postage and handling. Send order request and check or money order to: World Vision, Mail Stop 310 P.O. Box 9716, Federal Way, WA 98063-9716.
Housing Issues, Homeless, and Advocacy
Building Healthier Communities (www.mcauley.org)
BHC is a wonderful resource for faith-based groups interested in community development. Click on “Healthy Community Resources” for an exhaustive list of links to other organizations.
8300 Colesville Road, Suite 310
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: (301) 588-8110
Fax: (301) 588-8154
Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest (www.indepsec.org)
From the Independent Sector homepage, click on “Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest.” Educates nonprofits about the importance of lobbying and advocacy, and how to do it appropriately, effectively, and legally to achieve your organization’s mission.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness (www.endhomelessness.org)
Check out the “Best Practices and Profiles” of organizations doing great work. Click on “Fact Sheets for Kids” to download and print age-appropriate information, worksheets, and projects for grades K-12, which make excellent faith and justice education materials.
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 638-1526
E-mail: naeh@naeh.org
National Coalition for the Homeless (www.nationalhomeless.org)
This organization works for justice in housing, economic, health care, and civil rights. NCH offers education, partnerships, and technical assistance for grassroots organizations and is active in political advocacy. This Web site is a wealth of information. Click on “Facts about homelessness” for fact sheets on various aspects of homelessness. Click on “Directories” and select your state from the pull-down screen to find links and contact information for an advocacy group in your area.
Washington, DC 20005-3471
Phone: (202) 737-6444
Fax: (202) 737-6445
National Low Income Housing Coalition (www.nlihc.org)
An excellent resource for education and advocacy. Check out the NIMBY report online. Click on the Out of Reach publication to learn more about America’s growing wage-rent disparity and the extent of the affordability problem in your own community.
Washington, D.C. 20005
Phone: (202) 662-1530
Fax: (202) 393-1973
E-mail: info@nlihc.org
National Faith-Based Programs
Habitat for Humanity International (www.habitat.org)
HHI is a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing organization working to eliminate poverty housing. They welcome people of all faiths to help people in need build simple, decent, affordable houses. Click on “Find Your Local Habitat Affiliate” to contact a group near you.
Mercy Housing System (www.mercyhousing.org)
Develops, operates, and finances affordable and attractive service-enriched housing; builds strong, healthy communities, and revitalizes distressed neighborhoods.
Denver, CO 80203
National Interfaith Hospitality Network (www.nihn.org)
This nonprofit organization helps faith-based and community groups organize networks programs that provide shelter, meals, and assistance for homeless persons. It also works to increase community involvement in direct service and advocacy.
Summit, NJ 07901
Phone: (908) 273-1100
Fax: (908) 273-0030
E-mail: info@nihn.org
The above listing is just one way to get you started. Most of these Web sites have links to other sites and organizations, but you can do your own Web search, too. Different search engines will yield different results, as will using different keywords. Try search engines such as Yahoo, All the Web, or Lycos using keywords such as:
“affordable” + “housing” + “faith”
“church” + “affordable housing” + your city or state
“NIMBY”; “housing advocacy”; and so forth
Education and Partnership Organizations
Affordable Housing Design Advisor (www.designadvisor.org)
“A tool, resource, idea bank, and step-by step guide to design in affordable housing.” This Web site is for those working to be part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis. The Affordable Housing Design Advisor is loaded with advice from experienced designers, developers, and builders from all over the United States. It is designed to help you at every step of the process of creating affordable housing. The gallery has beautiful photos and stories of successful, safe, and attractive affordable housing projects that incorporate the principles of “good design.”
The Congress of National Black Churches (www.cnbc.org)
An excellent community and economic development program. CNBC partners with HUD and Fannie Mae to offer training and technical assistance to churches and other faith-based organizations seeking to bring economic opportunities to African Americans.
Washington, DC 20036-4962
Christian Community Development Association (www.ccda.org)
Compelling and challenging ideas for Christians wanting to live out their faith in service to the poor. Makes a plea for wholism: evangelism and social action.
Chicago, IL 60623
Phone: (312) 762-0994
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (www.hud.gov)
This government site provides information and education about every aspect of home buying, renovation, and community development. Offers grants and loans, and helps interested organizations develop partnerships. See their Best Practices and Profiles for stories of churches and c
ommunity organizations doing wonderful work.
Faith and Community at Work (www.faithandcommunityatwork.com)
This is an informational resource for faith-based organizations working for community economic development (CED). It helps faith-based groups understand what skills, resources, and planning are needed to carry out a CED project and provides access to technical assistance and training tools. This organization is a collaboration of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Fannie Mae Foundation, and the National Congress for Community and Economic Development (NCCED).
The Faith Center for Community Development (www.fccd.org)
This organization helps churches and other faith-based organizations organize, plan, and develop their own nonprofit community development projects. FCCD also offers organizational development grants and credit counseling, and teaches organizations where and how to access monies for further community development.
Faith in Communities (www.hudsonfaithincommunities.org)
A Hudson Institute initiative and active “Charitable Choice” supporter, this organization provides information, resources, and education to faith-based groups working on community development.
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Phone: (434) 293-5656
The Fannie Mae Foundation (www.fanniemaefoundation.org)
Dedicated to creating affordable homeownership and housing opportunities, FMF offers a wealth of education and partnerships to individuals and organizations in order to build healthy communities across the United States. Every year FMF offers grants, fellowships, and awards to various organizations, including churches, for developing housing programs. Visit their Web site to learn more about this invaluable resource.
National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (www.ncne.com)
This organization provides training and technical assistance to faith-based organizations seeking to address housing issues, homelessness, deteriorating neighborhoods, as well as many other needs of the poor. NCNE also links organizations to other sources of support.