Conference notes
Inside my notebook from the U.S. Habitat for Humanity Affiliate Conference
I thought I’d share some of my notes from my time in Atlanta with almost 3,000 other Habitat folks at our 2024 national conference. Unedited, incohesive and unbothered.
4 MARCH- 7 MARCH, 2024
The vibe. Honor history, but adapt for the future. The Habitat model needs to evolve within our rapidly evolving world. “Religious about principles but not tactics.”
Market shifts. Wages are stagnant but incomes are rising… because income includes more than just wages, so AMI increases and then an 80% AMI begins to capture a higher socio-economic status.
A “forever home”. Is that/should that be the policy goal?
Be who we are. Habitat has radical roots of courage in challenging times. We were born from civil rights revolutionaries, from the first interracial community farm in the United States. Racial tensions were so high in our birthplace of rural southern Georgia that MLK Jr. didn’t lead a march there. Be fluent in the language of housing history and solutions.
How do we measure success. Not just homes built, but families served and opportunities created and stability achieved.
Habitat can be a demonstration plot for what’s possible.
Early dreams. Habitat’s first board minutes back in the 70s called the attendees “dreamer-conferees” and set out a bold vision for serving the world at scale.
Finally, sabbatical. One affiliate offers "anniversary leave” — four consecutive weeks of paid leave once you reach five years, and more from there.
Collaboration -> belonging.
I’ve tried asking and not asking, and it turns out asking works better. - Millard Fuller, Habitat for Humanity founder.
Together. Give your community something to invest in - catalyze around a big vision.
Language matters. Families with low incomes vs low-income families. Expense vs investment. Affordable housing vs housing affordability.
100% Women. Habitat Haiti launched a build program where every single person — from the mason to the head engineer to the homebuyer — is female. Beautiful.
Responding to the call. Habitat Poland, Romania and Hungary along with Habitat regional office in Slovakia were at the Ukrainian border just days after the war began. They continue to help house displaced families, their host families and families who were in need of better housing long before the war, both in Ukraine and in neighboring countries. Habitat is setting up an office in Kiev, advising on national housing policy, there for the long haul.
Generative thinking. Yes and, what would happen if, reflective, problem framing, constructing understanding.
Not just about wealth creation. But also the retention and transfer of black wealth. Black homeownership matters.
Life is motion. We are all moving through experience. We are all experience makers. We can design love in. - Marcus Buckingham, gently paraphrased
Excellence is weirdly idiosyncratic. Be weird, be yourself.
Numbers. How many people have you served instead of how many homes have you built. The people # should be higher.
Community land trusts. CLTs had 1/8th of foreclosure rate as conventional loans during great recession. CLTs don’t discourage resale, they plan for it! Mitigates speculative aspect of market-rate homeownership. Think about use value of a house vs exchange value.
Help build wealth. But remember, wealth can be easily extracted.
CULTURE SHIFT. We need one.
Notes on what to read/watch:
Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a
Culture of Belonging at Work by Ruchika Tulshyan
Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square
“The Great Progression: 2020-2025” by Peter Leyden
Love + Work by Marcus Buckingham
Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community by Martin Luther King, Jr.
