Heather Raspberry

The Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND) made big leaps during the past year in advancing affordable housing developments in metropolitan D.C.

The nonprofit membership association partnered with Greystone in March 2021 to launch a new Equity in Action partnership, designed to boost affordable housing real estate investments throughout the mid-Atlantic region by creating direct access for minority developers to the lender’s debt and equity platforms.

HAND, which is marking its 30th anniversary in 2021, spurred the collaboration with Greystone after Greystone CEO Steve Rosenberg reached out following one of its racial equity learning sessions last summer after the police murder of George Floyd.

“We’ve never done something like this, and it was a matter of timing with HAND’s board really wanting to lean in and have an action item that we could lift up,” Heather Raspberry said. “Here we are, a year later, and we have been able to launch that program.”

HAND under Raspberry’s leadership has sought to educate the real estate profession and policymakers about the lack of affordable housing options around the nation’s capital. The organization launched a housing indicator tool in March, showing that the D.C. region created only 12 percent of new affordable housing units that the Urban Institute has said are needed by 2030 to meet demands.

Raspberry said the issue took on even greater importance after Amazon opted to open its second headquarters in Alexandria, Va.

“We wanted to create a regional dashboard that really shows you where the region landed, in terms of new production in 2019, and where did it land in 2020 in the middle of a pandemic,” she said. “It doesn’t only track the production of each jurisdiction, but it also really points to what your jurisdiction’s toolkit needs to look like if you really want to tackle affordable housing goals.”

After an active past year, Raspberry is looking to continue HAND’s momentum by expanding development opportunities for developers of color through its many member partners. She also wants to explore addressing other policy initiatives to assure that the recovery from COVID-19 is equitable for more vulnerable populations.