[caption id="attachment_1047" align="aligncenter" width="700" caption="Putting Cohousing on the national housing agenda"]
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I know...the image is blurry. That's partly because it was cold, partly because I was rushing, and in large part because I was so excited to be walking through those doors!!! Some of you know that I serve on the national board of the Cohousing Association of the US (CohoUS). This past weekend I was in Washington DC for a face-to-face board meeting (one of two annually) followed by two days of advocacy meetings with the following national housing organizations headquartered in DC:
US Department of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUD)
Smart Growth America
Enterprise Community Partners
Urban Land Institute National Association of Realtors
National Low Income Housing Coalition
Housing Assistance Council
Opportunity Finance Network
National Alliance of Community Economic and Development Associations
Leading Age
Council of State Community and Economic Development Agencies
National Housing Conference / Center for Housing Policy
National Fair Housing Alliance
Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition
National Council of State Housing Agencies
Stewards for Affordable Housing for the Future
Our objective was to introduce them to the concept of cohousing and establish a relationship. Much to our surprise, we were universally welcomed and all of the organizations were genuinely interested to learn about our “innovative housing model”.
It was a tiring 2 days of back to back meetings scheduled on the hour and walking briskly in the cold weather. But I’m returning to my daily routine inspired and invigorated! Who knows, maybe that lofty goal to “make cohousing a household word” isn’t so lofty afterall?