From the Director – July 2019

By Janet Byrd

Happy July! Here at Neighborhood Partnerships, July is the beginning of our organizational fiscal year. The theme of beginnings seems very appropriate right now, and there is a lot that we’re looking forward to this year. Here’s a quick preview of some of what’s to come.

We’re working to launch a network of residents of affordable housing, to allow those most impacted by housing needs to help shape our policy and resource agenda. Reyna Gillet is leading this work at NP, and she recently wrote a blog post that describes the goals and purpose of the resident network.

We’re also looking forward to an amazing year for the Oregon IDA Initiative. We are working with our partners on vision and strategic planning, and will be working to be sure we infuse equity into how we approach and do that work. Marketing is well underway for the 2019 year, and we look forward to telling the story of the initiative in compelling ways to make sure we keep resources flowing to new savers.

The 2019 Legislative session ended on June 30 in a dramatic fashion, after the approval of major changes in policy around zoning and tenant protections as well as bold investments in many kinds of housing for our communities. We know there will be important work to do in the short 2020 legislative session, and then as we begin planning for 2021. We hope you’ll join us in that work.

The 6th annual RE:Conference, happening on October 29 and 30 this year will be a chance for us all to dig deeply into this work together. We are beginning to firm up content, and are excited about the tools we’ll be using and the ideas and knowledge to be shared.  We will have sessions on using data to drive equity, on equity centered program design, on strategic communications, on engaging and supporting new voices. We hope you’ll join us to learn, to share, and to celebrate our progress. Save the date, or take advantage of one of the few remaining discounted tickets.

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