The enormous need for affordable housing just got even bigger. If the COVID-19 crisis continues to make people sick, close businesses, and sideline workers, the demand for affordable housing and emergency shelters is sure to balloon as families can no longer afford to keep a roof over their heads.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Marty Hartman has been among those working under unprecedented circumstances. The head of Mary’s Place, she operates nine family shelters across King County in Washington. “History has told us that those in poverty will struggle and will be the last to recover from any crisis,” she says.
But Hartman is lifted by a sense of optimism. “No one is giving up,” she says.
That certainly includes the affordable housing developers and owners highlighted in this issue, our annual AHF 50 edition. When we started working on this issue in January, there was much anticipation, confidence even, by developers about the year ahead. No one was concerned about a virus that they had never heard of before.
The world is different today, but the accomplishments of the AHF 50 companies are still noteworthy and deserve to be celebrated. And the people behind these firms, both for-profit and nonprofit, will be even more critical in the years ahead. Even before the health emergency, they understood the deep connection between health and housing.
It’s too early to know what the long-term effects of COVID-19 will be on the affordable housing industry. I’m sure there will be some bad—declines in production and growth in need and economic uncertainty—but also some good. Perhaps some new resources will come of this.
As the crisis began to unfold in March, AHF posted nine coronavirus-related stories in eight days, with more coming. Stay tuned to housingfinance.com for continued coverage. As Marty Hartman says, “It will take all of us.”
