Coalition News

V o l u m e X I I , I s s u e I I

Coalition Awards Presented at 2019 Tennessee Housing Conference

Sharon Bosworth - “Sharon’s unfailing patience and knowledge of complicated pro-

grams have served thousands of households in our area,” said AHR Executive Director Eddie

Latimer. “These particular families are facing very insecure futures. Sharon and her staff give

the best advice and find workable solutions in most cases.

“She is a tremendous and effective leader with a big heart.”

Bosworth, director of Lending and Foreclosure Prevention at the non-profit housing organiza-

tion, was celebrated for her leadership while she and her staff supported 3,000 homeowners

facing foreclosure. Her team closed 20% of the Hardest Hit foreclosure prevention loans pro-

vided by Tennessee Housing Development Agency (in 2011- 2015). Understanding how mort-

gages worked enabled Bosworth and her staff to excel in foreclosure prevention.

She directed the NFMC program, another foreclosure mitigation partnership with THDA.

AHR helped over 1,000 Tennesseans mitigate mortgages with their first mortgage servicer.

Marshall Crawford – Marshall’s nomination came from USDA’s Don Harris: “As

Executive Director of The Housing Fund, his vision and leadership have led to significant suc-

cesses with…the Make a Mark Loan Program. This program helped creative entrepreneurs find

affordable living and working spaces in the Nashville area. A specific area … was the Buchan-

an (St.) area. . . Marshall and THF became an approved Intermediary for USDA’s Direct Loan

Packaging, not only for Tennessee but two additional states. He is always seeking new oppor-

tunities to advance affordable housing.”

Since joining The Housing Fund, Crawford’s leadership has helped drive the success of multi-

ple efforts, including the establishment of Nashville’s first community land trust model and Homebuyer Education programs. Both align eligible borrowers with affordable housing and help enhance neighborhoods through entrepreneurship and working spaces. In the past two

decades, the organization has lent over $55 million, leveraging a total of $400 million to help low-income communities secure their own homes.

Eric Haralson – As the immediate past-chair, Eric was charged with coordinating the

Nominations Committee. The board took pride in surprising him with his own installation. Eric has served the Coalition in leadership positions for 10+ years. More on Eric on next page.

Each year we ask the membership: Who inspires you? We’ve all been privileged to meet great

people. As members we can celebrate those among us who have made our housing work easier by providing an example of excellence. In March we applauded standout members. The Coalition also installed remarkable leaders into its Hall of Fame. The winners are presented in alphabetical order.

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AWARDS CONTINUED

Cont’d from the first page

In his professional career, Eric served as an executive at Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises (Fahe). He helped

lead a unique collaborative model connecting a network of local, regional, and national leaders, all working together to up-

lift our nation’s rural places. Working with their network of 50+ nonprofits across the Appalachian portion of Kentucky,

Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Alabama, and Maryland, Eric leveraged expertise in finance, collaboration, innovation,

advocacy, and communication to achieve a more prosperous region. With a focus on leadership, housing, education, health

and social services, and economic opportunity, Eric and the Fahe leadership team empowered the people and communities

of Appalachia with the resources, opportunities, and tools needed to build a better life.

Carla Jarrell – Carla has worked with various community partners to help

them achieve their housing goals by presenting Pinnacle Financial Partners as a will-

ing and eager “member bank” through the Affordable Housing Program offered by

the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, securing funding on several applications.

Early in her tenure at Pinnacle, Jarrell was a member of a small team of individuals that developed what became the Community Investment Tax Credit Program. The strategy encourages more financial institutions to invest in affordable housing pro-

grams and community development. A champion was found who made it into state law. Since its inception, CITC has helped create thousands of affordable housing

units across the state. Though her work at Pinnacle Carla has been able to think out-side the box, willing to innovate with her community partners, she is always willing

to think of ways to layer funding to help families get into homes. And to help devel-opers in the affordable arena work through the financing aspects of projects.

Rosalind Robinson – Rosalind’s innovative efforts have inspired Lethia

Mann, her organization’s board chair, to remain 10 years.

“It continues to amaze me … the quality and quantity resulting from their labor with

such a small staff. For years the operation has run like a fine-tuned machine with

just two full-time and one part-time employee...which is even more astonishing when

you consider that they average serving 800 clients annually. Rosalind created an in-

genious workflow to encompass how staff hours are charted to maximize dedicated

quality time to face-to-face counseling, group training, follow-up and administrative

duties. This was the result of her Business Administration and Industrial Engineer-

ing education.

“Because of her concern that clients sustain their choice of housing, 30 years ago she

initiated the first financial literacy program in Nashville, which she titled “Financial

Empowerment.” In addition to her agency, she also provided financial literacy and/or

homebuyer education classes free for many organizations across the community.”

Since the agency’s inception, Residential Resources, Inc. has served over 18,000

clients.

Terry Cunningham - executive director of the Kingsport Housing & Rede-

velopment Authority for over 22 years, has used his gentle nature to transform physi-

cal developments and refresh community spirit. Securing federal funding, reporting usage accurately and timely, staying within budget are all skills our members possess

and exercise. We honored Terry for the diplomatic and sensitive work required to effect radical change necessary for neighborhoods’ growth. For that we presented him with the Cathie Dodd Memorial Award for Outstanding Advocacy .

We thank our Hall of Fame inductees for their service and appreciate that they are willing to teach us the better way.

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Strong Leadership Foundation

I can’t believe we are already in April. The flowers are blooming; the grass is greening out and it’s home buying season for many. Home buy-ing season reminds me of the important work of the Tennessee Affordable Housing Coalition in educating members, government officials, nonprof-its, REALTORS® and others about housing issues across the state. With our mission of connecting, educating and advocating for housing opportu-nities for Tennesseans we are the one source for all things related to af-fordable housing.

We are on a roll this year with an increase in membership, more infor-mation provided through our emails and website, and our regional council meetings are getting into full swing. I encourage you to find out when

your regional council meeting is and be there. We had a series of great meetings in March in conjunction with the Tennessee Housing Conference and elected a new slate of officers. We even surprised a few of our Board members like Eric Haralson, Sharon Bosworth and Carla Jarrell with much-deserved Hall of Fame awards for the great work they have done with the Coalition. They may be rolling off the Board but assured me they will continue to be a resource and advocate for the Coalition. I’d like to take this time to once again thank those Executive Board members rolling off, Sharon, Eric, and Carla, for their valuable knowledge and energy devoted to the Coalition. And, I’d like to welcome our new Executive Board members, Colleen Dudley – Vice Chair, Keith Lampkin – Secretary and Maria Catron – Treasur-er. It’s an exciting time for the Coalition and I encourage all members to reach out to me or our new Ex-ecutive Director, Patricia M. Smith PMS56@comcast.net, with any suggestions or ideas to make the coa-lition even better. We are here to serve you and any of your needs as we all work to make Tennessee a better place for all families.

Submitted by Keith Turbett, Coalition Board Chair and First Tennessee Bank

Tiffany Searcy Wright Knows People

Nobody wants to hear the pre-recorded telephone call about anything – not the top

spot on search engines, not the fresh app to take the place of Skype or even a trip

to Bora Bora, unless you are ready for that product. Success with buying any

product, whether it’s membership in coalition of like-minded professionals, or

floor mats for the car, depends on knowing the person who can get it for you.

Tiffany Searcy Wright knows people. She makes herself available at community

meetings, worship centers, organization meetings, LinkedIn postings, wherever

people are seeking information. Why? She wants to be known and available when they want to ask a

question about mortgage finance. She has faith in the products Synovus Mortgage has to offer. She has

great faith that she will preset all the possibilities for the customer who wants her attention now.

She had not planned to work in mortgage financing, she enjoyed two years in advertising until someone recruited her. Why? Her focus on the customer. That focus has kept her in the housing business for 23 years knowing she was helping people with their first step into generational wealth.

Find Tiffany in the Middle Tennessee Council meetings, or through email at TiffanyWright@SynovusMortgage.com!

THOUGHTS FROM NEW CHAIRMAN

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Are Bad Loan Products Back in Style?

Have we gone back to wing-tip shoes, metrosexual makeup or knee high gladiator sandals? All hot items in

2006-2008. Is the mortgage industry trending like the fashion industry? Every year we have a new hip or hap-

pening style, only to find out it is a retro look being marketed as fresh and new.

This editorial will not address Collateralized debt obligations, credit default swaps, derivatives or mortgage

backed securities or the loss of one’s job - all of which exacerbated the housing crisis. Although it is a widely

held belief in some circles that the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 was a major cause of the housing

crisis, this is simply not true. The Community Reinvestment Act did push banks to lend more in “poor” neigh-

borhoods, and in 1989, Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) strengthened

the CRA by publicizing banks’ lending records, adding pressure to comply or risk forfeiting expansion. How-

ever, the law never required banks to make subprime loans or ask them to lower their lending standards. Unlike

Stated Income Stated Assets (SISA), No Income No Assets (NINA) or other exotic loans, the CRA loan prod-

uct required basic verifiable documentation from the borrower.

CRA loan products had basic, and some may say strict, underwriting guidelines that had to be followed. This

was to give reasonable assurance to the lender that the borrower could afford this debt obligation. One had to

submit a myriad of documents for a CRA loan product, unlike the SISA and NINA which usually just required

one to fill out an application and have a credit score of 680 or better.

Now we are witnessing the return of the “bad mortgage” products: No income, No reserves, No employment - a

very retro SISA or NINA. Have we forgotten the lives, the neighborhoods, and the families that were de-

stroyed behind not verifying basic information?

The environment is a little different than before; Dodd-Frank, Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB)

and other legislative items have seen to that. Many financial institutions have created their own products to

assist home owners and avoid some of these exotic loans. However, there are still enough lenders who are will-

ing to make a few extra dollars on the very consumer that the coalition advocates for every day.

There are agencies within our network that can assist persons of low to moderate income by empowering them

with housing education, financial literacy and counseling. This will ensure that these

Continued on next page

MORTGAGE NEWS

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Become a Healthier TN Neighborhood!

The Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness is currently seeking Nashville neighborhoods

to participate in the Healthier TN Neighborhoods program. The Foundation’s primary initiative,

Healthier Tennessee, strives to increase the number of Tennesseans who are physically active,

promote a healthy diet, and reduce the number of people who use tobacco.

HealthierTN is designed for neighborhoods of all shapes and sizes in Nashville and, through this

grass-roots, community-led program, Nashville neighborhoods develop sustainable health and

wellness initiatives in their respective communities. Neighborhoods ultimately work to become

designated as a “Healthier Tennessee Neighborhood” and receive formal recognition from the

Governor at that time. The Foundation offers grants, professional development, best practice

sharing opportunities and other promotional materials to participating communities.

There are currently 100+ participating HealthierTN Communities across the state including 23

neighborhoods in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Examples of HealthierTN

Neighborhood initiatives include walk/run clubs, community gardens, neighborhood sports

teams, recipe swap/healthy cooking series, cigarette butt pick-ups and smoke-free neighborhood

parks just to name a few!

If you, or someone you know, is interested in learning more or leading

this initiative in your neighborhood, please contact Kate Kennedy, the

Nashville Neighborhoods Director for Healthier Tennessee, at

kate@healthiertn.org or 615-610-1880 ext. 830.

For more information about Healthier Tennessee visit: https://

healthiertn.com/

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Continued from previous page

consumers will know what real homeownership looks like, how much can they afford, and more importantly, how to stay in their homes.

Spanish philosopher George Santanya’s wisdom is relevant here: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Are we doomed? Are we the gatekeepers? Are we the gatekeeper just standing in front of the door, or are we the advocates for sustainable homeownership?

Submitted by Daryl Hill, TNAHC Education Chair and Woodbine Community Organization

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West TNAHC Regional Meeting

Southwest Tennessee Fair Housing Conference in conjunction with West

TN Affordable Housing Coalition Regional Council meeting

June 21, 2019

Southwest TN Development District, 102 East College Street, Jackson, TN 38301

Middle TN Regional Council Meeting

May 17, 2019

Begins at 11:30 a.m. CDT

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville

414 Harding Pike, Nashville, TN 37211

UPCOMING COALITION MEETINGS

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Kingsport Housing And Redevelopment Authority has Ribbon Cutting

M O R E R E G I O N A L N E W S

Coal i t ion Board Meeting

June 5 , 2019

11:30 a .m. to 2:00 p.m. CDT

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashvi l le

414 Harding Pike , Nashvi l le , TN 37211

East TN Regional Council Meeting

May 8, 2019

Begins at 10:00 a.m. EDT

Crossville Housing Authority

67 Irwin Ave, Crossville, TN 38555

Coalition members attended the March 28 ribbon cutting for the Holly Hills

Playground in Kingsport. In center, in purple blouse, is the Coalition’s

Treasurer, Maria Catron. Second from right is Terry Cunningham and last

on right is Sharon Hayes. All are also staff of KHRA.

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THDA’s Investments and Impacts report available now with interactive maps!

The Investments and Impacts Report

provides a comprehensive account of

THDA’s activities during the calendar

year. THDA’s 2018 impact is broken

out by state summary, congressional

district and then by all 95 Tennessee

counties. THDA’s Investments and

Impacts can also be viewed through

interactive maps. In 2018, THDA-

related activities generated an estimat-

ed $1.4 billion in economic activities.

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Looking for your county’s housing facts?

View newly mapped census housing data.

Whether you need housing data for a grant application, a presentation or to satisfy general curiosity,

the answer can likely be found in the County Housing and Housing Affordability Profiles. County pro-

files include the most recent ACS data (5-year sample), a five-year lookback and a state comparison.

For the first time, these profiles are now accompanied by an interactive mapping tool to visualize

county level variation on various housing metrics. Find state and

county data on housing basics like the number of households, me-

dian income, homeowner-

ship rates, median mort-

gage loan payments, me-

dian rent, and other rele-

vant statistics from the

U.S. Census Bureau’s

American Community

Survey (ACS).

Additional data including THDA’s single family pro-

duction and HOME Bene-ficiary report are also posted on the Research

pages of THDA.org.

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NeighborWorks® Alliance of Tennessee making meaningful visits

N E W S F R O M O U R P A R T N E R S

THDA has posted many of the presentations from the March 2019 Housing Conference

on the site: https://tnhousingconference.com/2019-agenda/

Where available, the presentations are linked below the session description.

The NeighborWorks® Alliance of Tennessee visited our federal elected officials in March, bringing the affordable housing message to Congress. From left are Sherry Trent, Eastern Eight CDC; Jackie Mayo, HomeSource east tennessee; Amy Schaftlein, United Housing; Senator Lamar Alexander; Senator Marsha Blackburn; and Eddie Latimer, Affordable Housing Resources.

Do you know how to access the legislative workings of Tennessee’s General Assembly?

Here is the main site address: http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/. From here you can

search bills, listen live to committee hearings and read about each member.

We are members of the National Housing Coalition, NHC.org.

Each one and every one of us can learn from their reporting, attend their events and join

their webinars. Please use our member code: TNcoalition

The Carol M. Peterson Housing Fund (Federal Home Loan Bank) funds will be availa-

ble for reservation on a first-come, first-served homeowner-by-homeowner basis beginning on June 3,

2019, at 10:00 AM ET and will remain available until all funds have been reserved. The FHLB has reserved $2,000,000 for the 2019 offering. Additionally, a project is limited to $75,000 in total dis-bursements under the program.

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The Housing Fund’s Community Land Trust (CLT) is a program of The Housing

Fund, started with support from the office of the Metropolitan Nashville Mayor. The heart of the

CLT’s work is the creation homes for persons of low and moderate income that remain permanent-

ly affordable, providing successful homeownership opportunities for generations. The CLT ensures

affordability via fixed resale models, shared equity, and a ground lease.

To date we have: 1) created a coalition comprised of 15 community leaders to serve as thought

leaders; 2) visited with two other organizations currently operationalizing a community land trust;

3) participated in two trainings at the Grounded Solutions Network annual conference; 4) estab-

lished policies and procedures for operationalizing the community land trust; 5) increased public

awareness with a cover feature in BOOM! Magazine, as well as articles in The Nashville Post, The

Tennessean, and The Tennessee Tribune; 6) successfully hired a Director of Strategic Partnerships

& Engagement and a CLT project manager; 7) secured a $100,000 donation to develop a compre-

hensive community development strategy; 8) received 15 donated scattered site undeveloped lots;

and 9) secured the first official partnership: Moody Nolan, the largest African American architect

firm in the United States, will design a single-family house, build the house on a CLT lot, and ab-

sorb all of the cost. Construction is anticipated to start in June 2019.

Dominique Pryor-Anderson has two related titles at The Housing

Fund: Director of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement, and Com-

munity Land Trust Manager. She creates the opportunities and rela-

tionships that increase funding to help individuals and communities

create affordable housing. Her background includes successes in di-

versity and inclusion, public relations, education, and entrepreneur-

ship. She holds a Masters in Secondary Spanish Education, a BA in

Spanish, and extensive coursework in Public Relations and Communi-

cations.

As we move forward, we will complete the title work on the 15 properties we received, host and be

included in various community outreach efforts, create a developer process and RFP for developers

to build on the CLT properties, and maintain stewardship opportunities across the state of Tennes-

see.

Submitted by Angela Belcher, Middle TN Regional Council Chair and The Housing Fund

R E G I O N A L N E W S

We will be posting the membership list

behind the login portal. Please review

your listing and report corrections to

PMS56@comcast.net.

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Executive Committee

Chairperson Keith Turbett, First Tennessee Bank

Vice Chairperson

Colleen Dudley, Habitat for Humanity of TN

Secretary

Keith Lampkin, City of Clarksville

Treasurer

Maria Catron, Kingspor t Housing & Redevelopment Authority

Immediate Past Chair John Roberts, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nash-

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West TN Regional Council

Chair - Brody Wamble, Simmons Bank

Vice Chair - Tom Skehan, SW TN DD

Secretary - Kathy Moore Cowan, Regions Bank

East TN Regional Council

Chair - Melanie Cordell

TN Valley Coalition for the Homeless

Vice Chair - Chris Osborn

Secretary - Cindy Ross

Membership Coordinator - Donna Lewis

Middle TN Regional Council

Chair - Angela Belcher, The Housing Fund

Vice Chair - Colleen Dudley

Secretary - Tyane Powell

Operating Committee Chairs

Communication and PR-Advocacy Committee -

Sernorma Mitchell Education Committee - Daryl Hill

Finance Committee - Maria Catron

Legislative Committee - Vacant

Membership Committee - Keith Lampkin

Board Members

Member # Term Affiliation

Daryl Hill 2 HCET Rep.

John Besser 1 PHA

Carr Hagan 1 For-profit

Melanie Cordell 1 Regional Chair

Maria Catron 2 Officer

Richard McClain 1 PHA

Angela Belcher 2 Regional Chair

Amy Schaftlein 1 At-Large

Lorrie Shearon Ex-Officio Fed/Fund Agency

Ralph Perrey Ex-Officio Fed/Fund Agency

Sernorma Mitchell Ex-Officio Fed/Fund Agency

Keith Turbett 2 Officer

Keith Lampkin 2 Officer

Colleen Dudley 1 Officer

Jackie Mayo 1 Non-profit

Brody Wamble 1 Regional Chair

Paul Morris 1 State /Local Gov’t

John Callow 1 At Large

John Roberts 1 Officer

Robert Sampson 1 Real Estate

Gerald Hallenbeck 1 Financial Instit.

Anne Cooper 2 Low Income Rep.

Coalition’s Mission Statement

To connect, educate and advocate for housing opportunities for Tennesseans.