Turning Conversation into Action on Affordable Housing
On June 9, United Way of Johnson & Washington Counties, in partnership with Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, brought together community leaders for an Affordable Housing Strategic Doing session. The room included local government leaders, nonprofit organizations, developers, landlords, financial institutions, housing advocates, and elected officials—all coming together around one shared goal: ensuring everyone has access to safe, stable, and affordable housing.
Affordable housing rose to the top as one of our community's greatest challenges during our recent Community Needs Assessment. Although many excellent community organizations are working to address affordable housing issues in our community, we know no one organization can solve it alone. That's why we invited partners from across the housing ecosystem to move beyond talking about the problem and start identifying practical solutions we can build together.
Our conversation centered around one simple question:
What would Johnson County look like if everyone had access to safe, stable, and affordable housing?
Among the ideas that gained momentum were creating a Johnson County Housing Network to strengthen communication and collaboration across the housing ecosystem; launching a quarterly Housing Roundtable Series where developers, nonprofit leaders, municipalities, lenders, and landlords can learn from one another and tackle shared challenges; offering grant writing workshops and technical assistance to help organizations and developers accessing local, state and federal funding for affordable housing projects; and collaboration to incorporate housing pathways into comprehensive plans.
What made this gathering so encouraging wasn't just the ideas—it was the willingness of people from different sectors to roll up their sleeves and work together. Strategic Doing is designed to help communities move from ideas to action through small, measurable steps that build momentum over time.
The Strategic Doing session on June 9th was just the beginning. The cohort will continue meeting to advance the four projects, strengthen partnerships, and keep moving toward a community where everyone has a place to call home.