November 18, 2005

CHICAGO – Lutheran Services in America (LSA) launched an initiative to change the face of affordable housing in the United States and Caribbean. LSA is an alliance of nearly 300 social ministry organizations, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

"Lutherans have an enormous presence in affordable housing across the country," said Jill Schumann, president, Lutheran Services in America. Many Lutheran social ministry organizations are known for this work, and many Lutheran congregations are also engaged in providing shelter for people with low incomes or no incomes, she said.

"We don't really know who is doing what where," she said. "Each group is doing it somewhat in isolation."

"Our goal is first to map what is it that Lutherans are doing in affordable housing," contacting all Lutheran social ministry organizations and congregations, and asking them key questions about their ministries, Schumann said. "We are building a very robust database and lots of anecdotes," she said.

The next step will be to form a steering committee from the people those mapping surveys identify as "doing good work in affordable housing," Schumann said. That steering committee can "mobilize expertise, assets and models," she said, and take a leadership role in private and public conversations about financing, housing and urban development, and increasing the stock of affordable housing.

About two-thirds of the nearly 300 LSA member organizations provide some sort of housing, said Janice Ulrich, LSA project manager, Baltimore.

"We are trying to identify their struggles and what makes them successful," she said. "Where are the successful programs? Who are the experts and who are the movers and shakers willing to respond creatively and immediately to need? Who are the bulldogs in advocacy?"

"Lutheran organizations provide affordable housing across the country in urban, small town, suburban and rural areas," Ulrich said. "Lutherans supply housing and housing opportunities to the elderly, persons with disabilities, children and families, the homeless, to people with low to very low incomes, and even to individuals with moderate incomes in the case of workforce housing," she said.

Ulrich said the surveys are still being conducted, but she offered some "initial findings."

"For most social ministry organizations, starting a housing project seemed daunting in the beginning because of the associated paperwork involved. They needed the help of developers and consultants, but after a couple of years many confidently moved to self-sufficiency once they learned the routine," Ulrich said.

"Having a Lutheran housing network of experienced colleagues and resources to rely on could help more organizations not feel so isolated during the start up of a new program," she said.

"One barrier that severely hampers progress in many areas is the ‘not in my back yard' attitude. Fears that affordable housing will decrease a community's property values, causes strong opposition by residents and adds a lot of time and money to the project," Ulrich said.

"These fears are unfounded when there's good planning, quality construction, good support for residents and good property management. It's a safe bet these conditions exist when it's a Lutheran organization involved with the project," she said, and a Lutheran housing network would only increase those odds.

Jeff Schacht is surveying Lutheran congregations "about three categories of involvement" in affordable housing ministries.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a nonprofit financial services organization based in Minneapolis, is working with Habitat for Humanity to build as many as 500 homes annually in the United States by 2008. The congregations' involvement in the Thrivent Builds Homes program is the first category, Schacht said.

Schacht said he has also been asking more general questions about any support congregations may provide local shelters or other agencies.

The "most intensive" part of the survey is to question congregations directly involved in providing housing, Schacht said. "A number of congregations have organized independent not-for-profit corporations to manage property or properties," he said.

Schacht surveyed congregations in four of the ELCA's 65 synods for his final diaconal ministry project – an analysis of how and why Lutheran churches become involved in affordable housing – at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa. He has since contacted congregations in two more synods.

"There are approximately 50 facilities owned and/or operated by congregations in those (six) synods. This does not represent 50 congregations, however, because some congregations have built or run multiple housing properties," Schacht said.

ELCA News Service