Home Funders’ housing forum, Housing Matters: Securing a Future for our Lowest Income Families, drew a standing-room only crowd to The Boston Foundation to hear U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Assistant Secretary Mercedes Márquez and a panel of experts explore the role of government and philanthropy in creating and maintaining affordable housing. Home Funders, together with Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), co-sponsored the February 7th event to outline strategies for housing Massachusetts’ most vulnerable families.

An audience of 200 attended to hear Secretary Márquez talk about HUD’s growing commitment to the affordable housing sector and strategies for responding to local needs. She was impressed with Home Funders’ unique approach to addressing family homelessness through permanent housing and a strong public/private partnership. She was joined by Lieutenant Governor Tim P. Murray, who discussed the state’s current policies and proposed budget priorities to promote access to permanent housing as a cost-effective measure to addressing homelessness. Both speakers were introduced by Barbara Fields, New England Regional Administrator of HUD.

A video featuring three Home Funders projects demonstrated how decent housing serves as a platform for positive life changes for extremely low income families living in shelter or with relatives.

A panel of experts moderated by Xavier de Sousa Briggs, Associate Professor of Sociology and Urban Planning, MIT and former Associate Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, went on to discuss the long-term benefits of affordable housing and what factors are critical to its production. While government has tended to focus on the costs of various programs, he emphasized the costs to society if basic needs such as affordable housing are not addressed.

Aaron Gornstein, Incoming Undersecretary of Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, thanked Home Funders for its work to date and shared a number of current and proposed state efforts to create and preserve more affordable housing. He also shared plans to create a new supportive housing program and a special task force to address the continuing problem of homeless families being housed in motels and hotels.

Lisa Alberghini, President of the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, gave an overview of two Home Funders projects and what it took to bring them to completion. She highlighted how the Planning Office is able to regularly allocate 20-25% of units for extremely low income families with creative approaches to financing.