A Holiday Message from TSAHC President David Long

December 19, 2023 | by David Long

Categories: Affordable Housing, Homeownership, Rental Housing, Texas Foundations Fund

As we celebrate the holidays, I'm mindful of how important it is to have an affordable, safe place to gather with friends and family. It's why we do the work that we do. Whether it's temporary or forever, our mission is to make sure everyone has a place to call home. 

Sometimes our work is challenging like when interest rates rise, the cost of construction goes up, or inflation makes it harder for households to afford housing. But what I always know is that we are more than capable of responding to these challenges. 

Whether it's adapting an existing program or launching a new initiative, we remain eagerly and steadfastly committed to addressing Texas' housing needs and adjusting to those needs as they evolve.

And I also know that we're never alone on our mission. I'm mindful that our partnerships are critical to our success. It's because of these partnerships that we’re able to reach new heights and surpass expectations.

As we celebrate the end of 2023, I'd like to reflect on the milestones and successes we’ve achieved. 

TSAHC's 2023 in Review: 

• We assisted more than 10,000 home buyers (as of November) in accomplishing their homeownership goals through our home buyer assistance programs. Thanks to our incredible network of mortgage lenders and REALTORS®, we're able to offer fixed rate interest loans, down payment assistance, and mortgage credit certificates to help make homeownership affordable for low and moderate-income families from one corner of Texas to the other.

• We earned the distinction of being the top producing housing finance entity in the country based on the number of households we served through our home buying programs.

• Our suite of development finance products continue to foster the creation of an array of housing solutions for households at all income levels. Our Multifamily Private Activity Bond and Texas Housing Impact Fund programs produced 863 rental homes for low to moderate-income households while our Affordable Housing Partnership fostered the creation of 13 deeply affordable units for residents with long term health needs. 

• Additionally, we provided affordable homeownership opportunities to nine households through our Affordable Communities of Texas program and Texas Housing Impact Fund. 
• TSAHC awarded more than $1 million in grants to 66 nonprofit organizations across Texas through our Texas Foundations Fund program. To date, we've awarded almost $10 million in grants through this program, and we've expanded it to include housing counseling services and disaster-related assistance. 
• We offered our Housing Connection training to help organizations build capacity and meet their community's housing needs. This year, we trained 47 housing professionals representing 21 organizations, but I'm most proud of the fact that we provided a scholarship to each participant to cover training and hotel costs. 
• TSAHC produced four new On the House podcast episodes to expand our outreach to lenders, REALTORS®, home buyers, and affordable housing professionals. We also recorded our first ever podcast in Spanish.
• And for the first time ever, we hosted a conference in 2023. Our Permanent Supportive Housing Symposium was held in early November. Nearly 200 people gathered to share best practices, collaborate, and apply lessons learned in the supportive housing space. This builds upon the work of our Texas Supportive Housing Institute and our commitment to address the housing needs of the most vulnerable.

People often ask me to tell them about what we do at TSAHC. Depending on how much time they have, my answer varies. But the long answer can be found in our 2024 Draft Annual Action Plan.

In addition to explaining what we do and how we do it, the document looks back on successes from the prior year and objectives for the upcoming one. We invite you to provide feedback by emailing Michael Wilt at [email protected] between now and January 25, 2024. 

On behalf of everyone at TSAHC, we wish you a healthy and happy holiday season, and may you have a celebratory start to the New Year.

Sincerely,

 

David Long
President
Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation 

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