Fall 2011
Rebuilding Together: Congressman Turner – you have a strong background supporting community development and housing issues, having worked with and led not-for-profit groups. Based on your first hand experience, what difference and impact do you see housing nonprofits, like Rebuilding Together, making in communities and on a national level?
Congressman Turner: As the former Mayor of Dayton, I worked directly with private-public partnership to rehabilitate neglected housing in Dayton’s neighborhoods and revitalize our downtown. Organizations like Rebuilding Together play a vital role in stabilizing neighborhoods which in turn promote a sense of community and encourage economic growth throughout the region. In addition, these non-profits have additional relationships with local churches and community groups to educate and assist a new generation of homeowners. By removing blighted structures and rehabilitating homes, the difference is apparent in not just the buildings, but the community itself.
RT: Why do you believe safe and affordable housing and preserved communities are so crucial to our nation?
CT: We need neighborhoods where children can play, friends can meet and families can grow strong. When homeowners have access to safe and affordable housing, communities grow, and the entire region prospers.
RT: About a year ago, you released the Report on Housing and Foreclosure Crisis – what were some of your key findings and how do nonprofits like Rebuilding Together, address the needs that the foreclosure crisis has presented in our communities?
CT: In February 2010, I released a report on “The Impact of the Housing Crisis on Local Communities and the Federal Response.” These findings were based on a housing forum convened in Dayton with both local and national experts to examine the ongoing housing crisis. The forum included local leaders of the non-profits who are working on the front lines of this effort, including Amy Radachi from Rebuilding Together’s Chapter in Dayton. The report examined contributing factors to the foreclosure and mortgage crisis and offered recommendations to curb predatory lending, increase housing counseling, encourage community organization participation. The report also suggests that the local and federal government can work together to help communities recover. Rebuilding Together, and other local non-profit organizations, make a measurable difference. By helping at risk families improve the energy efficiency of their homes, and assisting with much needed repairs and maintenance, they are helping impact individual families which in turn stabilizes neighborhoods, communities and cities. With the assistance of groups like Rebuilding Together in Dayton, communities in Southwest Ohio have been able to better address this crisis and continue to grow their communities.