CONGREGATIONS
Faith fuels affordable housing

IN THE NORTHEAST
• The Rev. Carl McCluster is managing director of M.C. Vision Ministries, a national network of faith-based development corporations working on economic renewal in their areas, including affordable housing. It is based in Bridgeport, Conn. Contact 203-367-4839, pastormccl@aol.com.
• The National Fellowship of Housing Ministries calls itself a national ministry that helps faith communities find creative ways to create affordable housing for families. It posts a list with links to housing ministries it works with across the country. Contact executive director Jerome Garciano in Boston, 617-669-7241.

IN THE EAST
• The Rev. Floyd Flake is a former Democratic congressman from New York and pastor of the 15,000-member Greater Allen AME Cathedral of New York in Jamaica, Queens. In summer 2007 the church completed the Greater Allen Cathedral Affordable Housing Residence, which has 54 apartments for low-income tenants. Contact 718-206-4600.
• Queens Congregations United for Action in New York, which is affiliated with PICO, is involved in affordable housing. Contact 718-637-3054. Contact Jaime Weisberg, 718-426-6565.
• Lucille McEwen is president and chief executive officer of Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, which has developed more than 2,000 units of affordable housing. It is a diverse, interfaith coalition of more than 90 congregations. Contact 212-281-4887.
• ARISE (A Regional Initiative Supporting Empowerment) includes 12,000 members of congregations and community groups around Albany, N.Y. Affordable housing is one of its goals, and it is promoting a regional housing plan. Contact 518-426-1552.
• The Reformed Church of Highland Park Affordable Housing Corp., in East Brunswick, N.J., was created to build six apartments for girls to live in after they are too old to be in the foster-care system. The church created the entity after deciding it needed to help provide affordable housing. Contact aging out of the foster-care system. Contact Debra Morgan, who is a member of the church and a board member of RCHP, dmorgan842@aol.com. 
• The Washington Interfaith Network is a coalition of 45 congregations that works on increasing the amount of affordable housing, both by building it and by lobbying city officials to create it. WIN is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation. Read a November 2005 article in Affordable Housing Finance about its award-winning Dupont Commons project. Contact 202-518-0815.
• Clergy and People of Conscience for Toms River Workforce Housing is a coalition of clergy and “people of conscience” that develops affordable housing for working people of different incomes in Toms River, N.J. It created a land trust in 2007.
• John M. Wagner is director of the Office for Community Development of the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which works to provide affordable housing in the area. Contact 215-587-3589.

IN THE SOUTHEAST
• Faith and the City was created to nurture community and shared responsibility in Atlanta. It is made up of the executive leadership of Candler School of Theology, Columbia Theological Seminary, and the Interdenominational Theological Center, all in Atlanta, and also works with the Center for Ethics in Public Policy and the Professions at Emory University. The spring 2006 issue of its newsletter is devoted to articles about the role of the faith community in affordable housing. Contact co-chairs James T. Laney and Andrew Young, 404-523-5554.
• St. John’s Community Development Corp., a project of St. John’s Baptist Church in Miami, to create affordable housing and offers home ownership counseling. It has created more than 40 homes and multifamily units. Contact president and CEO David Alexander, 305-372-0682.
• Bishop Harold Calvin Ray is pastor of Redemptive Life Fellowship in West Palm Beach, Fla. Its Redemptive Life Urban Initiatives Corp. has built affordable housing. Read a January 2000 Dallas Morning News story about him posted by RaceMatters.org. Contact 561-805-7900.

IN THE SOUTH
• Charles F. Strobel is executive director of Campus for Human Development, an interfaith coalition of 200 congregations in Nashville, Tenn., that provides services to the homeless. It plans to build affordable housing for the homeless. Contact 615-242-9139, charlesstrobel@chd-nashville.org.
• BUILD (Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct-action) is a coalition of 20 congregations in Lexington, Ky., that is concerned about affordable housing. Contact lead organizer Ondine Quinn, 859-367-0152, build_organizer@yahoo.com.
• Churches Supporting Churches is a program to help rebuild 36 churches destroyed or damaged in 12 predominantly African-American neighborhoods in New Orleans. The National Council of Churches is working with six denominations on the project. Read a May 29, 2006, story in The Christian Post. Contact C.T. Vivian, chairman of the Churches Supporting Churches National Working Group, 404-505-8521, ctv@comcast.net.

IN THE MIDWEST
• Steven McCullough is president and CEO of Bethel New Life, a faith-based community development corporation on the West Side of Chicago. It has built 1,100 units of affordable housing in its neighborhood, including single-family homes and a five-acre campus with a 125-unit apartment building; read about its real-estate development on its Web page. Contact 773-473-7870, SMcCullough@bethelnewlife.org.
• United Power for Action and Justice in Chicago is a coalition of people from religious, civic, health and labor organizations. Through Ezra Community Homes, it has built 1,000 affordable homes on the city’s West Side. Read its October 2006 report on Chicago’s housing crisis. Contact senior organizer Matt McDermott, matt_mcd@sbcglobal.net.
• Religious Action for Affordable Housing in Ann Arbor, Mich., works to increase the amount of affordable housing in a variety of ways. It has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Avalon Housing project. Contact 734-821-0345.
• Jonathan Bradford is executive director of Inner City Christian Federation, a nonprofit corporation that develops, builds, rehabilitates and repairs affordable housing in Grand Rapids, Mich. Contact 616-336-9333.
• Joy Sorensen Navarre is executive director of MICAH (Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing), through which 150 Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations organize to advocate for affordable housing. It’s based in Minneapolis. Contact 612-871-8980 ext. 107, joysn@micah.org
• East Side Heart & Home works to develop affordable housing for low-income families. It’s a project of the Family Center of East St. Louis, St. Vincent DePaul Church in St. Louis, the Catholic Urban Program of East St. Louis and the East St. Louis Development Corp. Contact 618-875-7295.
• Leslie Strnisha is director of program and evaluation at the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland in Ohio, where she works on the foundation’s affordable housing initiatives. They include two projects where affordable housing is linked with comprehensive services. Contact 216-241-9300, lstrnisha@socfdncleveland.org.

IN THE SOUTHWEST
• Kim M. Drayton is director of the Metroplex Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit established by Bishop T.D. Jakes, pastor of the Potter’s House megachurch, to address economic inequities in Dallas. It is co-developing Capella Park, a 400-acre community in southwest Dallas that will include 1,200 homes ranging from the $100,000s to the $600,000s, condos, retail and a school. Contact 972-759-7161.
• The Rev. Rickey Hill is executive pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, which is planning a housing development. He moderated a panel at the church in March 2007 on the need for affordable housing and congregations’ role in filling that need. Contact 972-228-5200 ext. 204, rhill@friendshipwest.org.
• Norman Henry is president and executive director of Builders of Hope Community Development Corp., which builds affordable housing in west Dallas. Contact 214-920-9850, nhenry@buildersofhopecdc.com.
• The Rev. Mark Twietmeyer is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Boulder, Colo., which is working to build affordable housing on land adjacent to it. Read about the plans. Contact 303-442-2300.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST
• EAH develops, manages and promotes affordable housing in California and Hawaii. Originally named the Ecumenical Association for Housing, it has developed, acquired or renovated more than 5,000 units of affordable housing since its founding in 1968. It has won dozens of awards and has a staff of 350. Contact president and CEO Mary Murtagh in San Rafael, Calif., 415-258-1800.
• Shalom Ecumenical Center-Affordable Housing builds affordable housing for the elderly and disabled in Kennewick, Wash. It has completed two projects and has another under way. SEC is a project of All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Richland Lutheran Church and Lord of Life Lutheran Church, all in Richland, Wash. Contact chairman Rich Barchet through Richland Lutheran Church, 509-943-3164.
• Congregations Organizing for Renewal works to create affordable housing in Hayward, Calif., where 80 percent of families can’t afford the median-priced home. COR represents 13 congregations. Contact 510-727-8833.
• Orange County Congregation Community Organization recently lobbied the city of Anaheim to include affordable housing in a large new housing development. Contact director Regina Martinez, 714-491-0771.
• Project CATCH (Charitable Assistance to Community’s Homeless) is a partnership among the city of Boise, Idaho; 12 local congregations; and the business community to provide long-term housing and supportive services to the area’s homeless population. Each participating congregation sponsors a homeless family’s housing for six months or a year; Project CATCH also is developing a 10-year plan to address homelessness. Read a Nov. 17, 2006, city news release. Contact Elizabeth Duncan with the city of Boise, 208-384-4422, eduncan@cityofboise.org.
• Silver Sage Manor Inc. is a nonprofit organization created by members of local churches to provide affordable housing for senior citizens in Reno, Nev. Silver Sage Senior Residence opened in spring 2007. Contact 775-823-8880.