COMPANY: New Hope Housing
SKILL OR TRAIT THAT HAS HELPED YOU MOST IN YOUR CAREER: Persistence
PIVOTAL MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER: Stepping into one of New Hope Housing’s first 40 studio efficiency apartment homes for the unhoused, and immediately and clearly seeing the possibilities.
PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Building New Hope from tiny beginnings into a permanent institution.
LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: Transformational, servant leadership—set a persuasive vision, raise the standard, and serve the team.
ADVICE TO OTHERS WORKING IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Ask for advice—do that all the time.
MOST RECENT BOOK: “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans
IN HER OWN WORDS “I don’t think we should forget that doing work like this is fun because it is. Just think about the people you meet, the bright interesting people you work with. I had the enjoyment that comes from assembling a group of stakeholders to do meaningful work, understanding that the core business of any nonprofit is to help people add meaning to their lives.”
•••
Years ago, word began spreading in Houston that Joy Horak-Brown was looking for a good cause to get behind.
She had built a solid career in the oil industry, evaluating oil and gas leases for Quintana Petroleum Corp., and she wanted to give back to the community. That’s what people do in Houston, she says, citing the city’s history of private philanthropy, including that of her former employer, oilman Hugh Roy Cullen’s family.
Horak-Brown was thinking about lending a hand to a health organization or perhaps supporting the arts when Walter Taylor, dean of Christ Church Cathedral–Episcopal, invited her to visit the 40 efficiency units the church built for people who had been homeless.
“It wasn’t at all what I was looking for,” recalls Horak-Brown, but Taylor’s voice message swayed her to take a look. “One of the things that I truly learned from this was the power of leaving charming messages to others. Although I admired the mission, I had no interest in the position they had. But, I had an interest in meeting the dean.”
On a cold, rainy Friday afternoon, Horak-Brown went to see the affordable homes that the church had built. She calls it “a moment of clarity.”
“When I met the dean and saw what the church was doing, I recognized that it was bare bones, but the bones were really good,” she says.
Horak-Brown joined New Hope Housing in 1996, becoming its first employee—a part-time position at the time. She went to work on building her first development, expanding the original housing property to 127 studio homes.
Few people were talking about affordable housing back then even though the need was enormous with 8,000 people living on Houston’s streets or in its shelters and an estimated deficit of 108,000 affordable homes for low-income families. Today, the number of people struggling with homelessness in the area has fallen to about 3,300.
There’s no doubt that Horak-Brown and New Hope Housing have been central to that reduction, bringing new attention to the issue and developing 15 communities with 2,115 units, including 1,100 for individuals who were formerly unhoused and another 187 for unhoused families.
The organization, which has nearly 400 more units under development, is just getting started, insists its longtime leader, who announced earlier this year that after 30 years she will be stepping down from her role as president and CEO.
For her lasting contributions, Horak-Brown is being inducted into the Affordable Housing Finance’s Hall of Fame this year.
Lasting Impact
“For more than three decades, Joy Horak-Brown has shown Houston what it looks like when a community decides everyone deserves a home,” says city council member Sallie Alcorn. “She started with 40 studio efficiency apartments and built New Hope Housing into the gold standard for permanent supportive housing, serving more than 18,000 people along the way. Joy’s legacy is in the homes, the families, and the seniors who now have a place to build a hopeful future.”
State Sen. Carol Alvarado has known Horak-Brown for years.
"She is Houston's best advocate for housing," says the lawmaker. "Her credibility on the issues, ability to work across the aisle, and passion for her work set her apart from the crowd."
Like Alcorn, Alvarado points to the growth and significant of New Hope Housing, one of the largest providers of supportive housing in the state.
"Joy insisted that housing for the least fortunate among us could be dignified, beautiful, and long lasting," Alvarado says. "We are a better city for it and for her."
Finding a Way
Over the years, Horak-Brown has built many important alliances. Camden, a prominent national developer and builder of multifamily housing, has constructed all but one of New Hope Housing’s developments.
The relationship came about after Horak-Brown was quoted a whopping $1 million for air conditioning work. Instead of getting a second bid from another contractor, she picked up the phone and called Ric Campo, who was head of the real estate investment trust, asking for his advice. Camden ended up doing the air conditioning work for a fraction of the original estimate and became its longtime construction partner.
Horak-Brown is approachable and good to work with but also determined, says Campo, executive chairman of the Camden board and the company’s former CEO.
He once had to cancel a call with her, which prompted an email back from Horak-Brown expressing how disappointed she was because she had been looking forward to talking with him and how important it was to her. “She made the extra effort, reaching back out and saying he really needed to have the meeting,” Campo says.
Needless to say, they had a call right away instead of waiting to reschedule for the following week.
Her work can be seen throughout Houston in the developments that New Hope Housing has built. Helping the neediest—those who are unhoused—has been at the core of the nonprofit’s work, but the organization’s reach is much broader.
It has built six developments that are home to residents earning up to 60% of the area median income. Anyone at that income level is still at risk, says Horak-Brown, and these homes are important in preventing households from becoming homeless.
Recent developments include NHH Avenue C, a 120-unit community that is New Hope Housing’s third for active adults 55 and older.
The organization has also been an early provider of services and programs to its residents. Most recently, it opened Bezos Academy tuition-free preschools at two of its developments. Another community has a health clinic, and a second is planned.
All of this goes back to Horak-Brown’s original mission of doing good. Although she was born in Buffalo, New York, she says she moved to Texas so long ago that she’s a native and only knows the other places from photographs.
Horak-Brown, New Hope Housing, and Houston have been a perfect match.
“We’re all entrepreneurial,” she says. “Long ago, the leaders who built Houston into the city that it is today created the ethos that if you were going to be important in the city you were going to give. You were going to give back. That spirit imbues Houston. It’s a city that takes on pioneering challenges.”
As she steps down from her longtime role, Horak-Brown shares she’s not looking for another full-time job. “But, I’m confident I’ll be seeking another mission,” she says.