Stephanie Preusch, Executive Director, Neighborhood Finance Corp.

Challenge: Polk County, Iowa, faced a challenge: People who had the ability to be mobile moved. Those who didn't were stuck in housing too expensive to maintain. When they couldn't do it anymore, absentee owners bought the property up, converted them to small apartments and milked them.

Joan Carty, President and CEO
Suchana Costa, Innovations Analyst
Housing Development Fund

Jesse Ergott, President and CEO, NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania
 

Colin Kelley, Chief Executive Officer, NeighborWorks Western Pennsylvania

Challenge: To expand the scope and geographical reach of housing services through partnerships with community development agencies across western Pennsylvania.

Noel S. Halvorsen, Executive Director, NeighborWorks Green Bay

Challenge: When a big regional bank moved one of its departments to another site, it left a sprawling office building in downtown Green Bay, WI. Meanwhile, two leading nonprofits needed new offices, either because their leases were expiring or their locations were no longer adequate.

Rosemary M. Heard, President and CEO, CATCH Neighborhood Housing

Rollin Wood, executive director, Native Partnership for Housing

Challenge: The Navajo Nation covers more than 27,000 square miles. Seventy percent of those living in the nation earn less than $15,000 per year. Many banks will not lend to residents of sovereign Native American Nations out of fear they will not be able to foreclose on delinquent loans.

Mike Loftin, Chief Executive Officer, Homewise, Inc.

Jim King, President and CEO, Fahe

Challenge: Central Appalachia had an estimated 100,000 units of substandard or overcrowded housing. Housing nonprofits serving the area could only produce 2,000 units annually. The organizations thus needed to change the way they did business to meet the challenges in the impoverished region.

Jeffrey Eaton, CEO, Arbor Housing and Development