Austin Housing Coalition
Founded in 2003, the Austin Housing Coalition (formerly the CHDO Roundtable) represents the community of “housers” across Austin and Central Texas. We are nonprofits, affordable housing developers, housing and policy experts, and other interested organizations, businesses, and residents who support the development of safe, affordable housing for Austin residents. . Our members work to house people experiencing homelessness, repair the houses of low-income homeowners, provide quality affordable rental housing, and empower low-income households to become successful, first-time homebuyers.
As members of the Austin Housing Coalition, we are intimately familiar with the barriers low-income Austinites face in obtaining safe, decent and affordable housing; whether that be a chronically homeless woman living on the streets or a single father struggling to feed and house his children on minimum wage. We serve and advocate on behalf of the housing needs of Austin’s low-income populations, including: seniors, young adults aging out of foster care, families with children, persons with disabilities, chronically and non-chronically homeless, veterans, and low-income students.
Our Guiding Principles
AHC seeks to:
- Uplift Multiple Perspectives – by engaging a variety of perspectives from across the housing community
- Be Member-Focused – by seeking and addressing the priorities of our members through transparent communication and multiple feedback loops within the organization
- Prioritize Peer Learning & Education – by taking a network-based approach that allows for all members to engage and support their organizational interests
- Identify Partnerships – by building relationships with institutional and advocacy partners to promote a proactive approach to addressing policy
- Employ Bold Leadership – by leading the narrative on housing and engage with policymakers to make change in our community and funders
Our Core Values
Focused goals: Increasing the supply of income-restricted housing available to a variety of income levels and across the community.
Creating, improving and preserving a variety of housing opportunities and management types.
Inclusive engagement: The ability for residents, neighborhoods and communities to be engaged in the housing solutions that they wish to see.
Equitable Development: Increasing the supply of local affordable housing means building the capacity of local organizations to learn to develop affordable housing better.
Coalition-building: Meeting the community’s housing goals equitably will necessitate weighing in on other cross-cutting issues (e.g. criminal justice, education, health, etc) and aligning with other coalitions and community collaborations.
What We Do:
Advocacy:
We advocate for city, state and national policies that create opportunities for more affordable housing
Networking:
Our monthly meetings provide our members the opportunity to collectively problem solve, discuss critical issues related to affordable housing, and learn from one another
Training:
We promote best practices for developing and providing affordable housing through training opportunities for our members