Jubilee Advocates for More Justice Housing in DC

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On June 4, 2021 Jim Knight, Jubilee Housing CEO and President; Martin Mellett, VP of External Affairs; and Sam Buggs, Board member and resident testified before Councilmember Anita Bonds, Chair Committee On Housing And Executive Administration. The testimonies spoke to the importance of funding for both affordable rental units and homes that are available for purchase below market rate.

Testimony of James D. Knight, President and CEO, Jubilee Housing

Good morning, Chairwoman Bonds and Members of the Committee. My name is Jim Knight and I have had the privilege of serving as the President and CEO of Jubilee Housing for the past 19 years.

Founded in 1973, Jubilee works to build diverse, compassionate communities that create opportunities for everyone to thrive. Jubilee owns and operates 10 deeply affordable housing properties serving nearly 600 residents in the Adams Morgan community, where gentrification threatens to displace countless long-term residents. We have another 4 properties totaling 120 homes under development that will provide much needed family sized homes, and a continuum of housing and services for men and women returning home from incarceration.

As the City looks to emerge from the devastation of the pandemic, we must focus our resources on strengthening our communities and building a pathway to prosperity for all residents. Few investments offer greater long-term impact for inclusion and equity than affordable housing development.

We applaud the Mayor’s proposed historic investment of $400M in new HPTF funds through the FY 21 supplemental and FY 22 budgets. We need an investment of this magnitude, because the affordability crisis is growing, and because we have a large pipeline of high quality projects that are ready to use these funds quickly.

  • About half of the $400M will be used to fund existing projects that have been waiting in the pipeline since 2019.
  • The remaining funds will support other projects that were not able to advance during the pandemic shortfall, as well as new projects that have yet to apply for financing.
  • The last RFP was conducted in 2019, more than 20 months ago. There are scores of new projects waiting to apply that will likely exceed the remaining FY22 funding almost immediately.
  • In addition, at least 4000 units are caught in the TOPA tolling process and barring an extension to the health emergency, will go on the clock to exercise their rights as soon as August of this year. Of those, Jubilee is aware of about 300 units in our own footprint that will be ripe for preservation.

So, it’s critical that at minimum Council support the existing $400M funding level, and that city leaders be prepared to follow in FY 23 with another substantial investment in order to keep pace with available project demand.

The remainder of my testimony will focus on critical needs that can’t be met with HTPF investments alone. Jubilee believes that housing budget and policy should focus support for residents who are most cut off from prosperity and equity:

  • Residents earning 30% AMI and below and those with the greatest barriers, such as residents returning home from incarceration.
  • Residents who are ready to transition into homeownership but are priced out of DC’s extremely hot ownership market.

The pathway to prosperity starts with deeply affordable rental housing as a beginning point and ends with affordable home ownership that enables more people to move into the middle class.

Despite the historic investments of the Mayor and this Council, we still do not meet legislated levels for 30%MFI affordability. Over the last three years, the percentage of HPTF spent on 30% MFI units ranges between 15 and 20%, instead of the mandated target of 50%.

30% units cost the same to produce, but they generate less rental revenue, and therefore require more subsidy per unit. Increasing production will require that we allocate resources with that goal in mind. Our recommendations include the following:

  • Adopt underwriting criteria that favors 30% MFI production, through clear scoring advantages, and priority selection status
  • Assure that there is enough LRSP to match the designated %of HPTF. A general rule of thumb is$7M in LRSP per $100M in HPTF
  • Use the 9% LIHTC on projects that have a high number of 30% MFI units
  • Streamline selection for projects that produce large numbers of PSH, large numbers of 30%MFI, and large numbers for returning citizens or other disadvantaged populations.
  • Support set-asides for special populations, especially returning citizens, who presently must experience long periods of homelessness in order to qualify for PSH

For decades we’ve watched as Jubilee residents move from affordable rental housing into homeownership. In recent years, that rung on the ladder has grown increasingly wide to the point where it is no longer commonplace for residents.

The city has a rare chance to resurrect and super charge that pathway by utilizing some of the unprecedented federal funds to create new affordable homeownership opportunities.

Today in D.C. white households have 18x the wealth that black households do. Homeownership is widely recognized as the most potent way to generate wealth for families. HPAP is a very important tool for making home ownership more affordable, but it is not enough. In current market conditions, we need development subsidies that help developers absorb the higher cost of producing homes. We support:

  • Establishing a new fund dedicated to home ownership production where homeowners are able to realize enough equity to develop intergenerational wealth
  • Carving out 1/3 of property dispositions from city owned sites that are well suited for affordable homeownership to reach prospective homeowners earning at 50, 60 and 70 % MFI

Jubilee applauds the historic level of investment in the bold production goals for 2025. We also caution city leaders to be sure that the race to a bold unit count does not prevent investments from going where they are needed most – for those with greatest barriers to stability, and those who are ready to move into homeownership.

Testimony of Martin Mellett, Vice President of External Affairs, Jubilee Housing

Good morning, Council Chair Bonds and Members of the Committee. My name is Martin Mellett and I serve Jubilee Housing as Vice President for External Affairs.

Few investments offer greater long-term impact for inclusion and equity than affordable housing development. Few factors affect health and prosperity more than where you live. To promote equity and inclusion now and in the future, we must invest heavily in safe, healthy, affordable housing. And for residents and families whose income is at or below 30% of the Area Medium Income (AMI), the availability of housing affordable at their income level is even more critical and could be the last barrier before homelessness. As the city embarks on a critical review of all new legislation through a racial equity lens, we believe that strategies to ensure our lower income and minority residents have access to affordable housing are some of the most important strategies to address racial equity.

Jubilee Housing, founded in 1973, works to build diverse, compassionate communities that create opportunities for everyone to thrive. 47 years later, Jubilee owns and operate 10 deeply affordable housing properties, in the now thriving, resource-rich Adams Morgan community, where gentrification threatens to displace countless long-term residents. Recognizing the role we can play in the Adams Morgan neighborhood to combat gentrification and maintain an inclusive, diverse community, and the power of zip code we can offer to low-income residents, Jubilee has come to understand its work as Justice Housing – deeply affordable housing, in thriving neighborhoods, with supportive services onsite and within walking distance.

By bridging the gap in access to resources between lower- and higher-income District residents, Jubilee is bridging the gap in outcomes that divides our city along both racial and economic lines. To help Jubilee residents leverage the resources and opportunities around them, Jubilee provides supportive services both internally and through a network of local partners within walking distance.
Our internal services include Youth Services for children K-12, Family Services, and Transitional Housing for men and women coming home from incarceration.

As our city emerges from a year of pandemic shut down, it is critical that the city focus its efforts on those who bore the brunt of the economic shut down. The city should target both appropriated funds as well as the federal funds approved through the American Recovery Plan (ARP) towards those individuals and communities most impacted by the pandemic. ARP funds amounting to over $3 billion presents the city with one of the rare opportunities to address a long term racial equity imbalance.

Jubilee Housing is an active member of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED) and fully supports its FY 21 Supplemental and FY 22 budget recommendations for DHCD, the Housing Production Trust Fund, and the Local Rent Supplement Program. We are certainly pleased that the Mayor’s budget includes a significant increase in HPTF – the critical gap capital needed to move projects in the pipeline forward and to prepare for a new RFP designed to grow our city’s portfolio of affordable housing. We believe that we will see increased demand on HPTF funds due to significantly increased costs of construction as well as a pent up demand for TOPA projects which had been tolled during the covid moratorium.

With the increased availability of HPTF capital, it is critical that sufficient LRSP is available to ensure that the city abide by HPTF guidelines which seeks to ensure that 50% of the HPTF awards support housing which can serve residents earning 30% and below of the area medium income. Without the availability of sufficient project/sponsor based LRSP in the next DHDC NOFA, developers simply will not propose housing for this population and the city will not reach the goals the Mayor stated as recently in her announcement of another set of HPTF awards. While the Mayor’s proposed LRSP budget only increases LRSP funding by $2.9 M in FY 2021, it also proposes another $39 M in LRSP be available over the next 3 years. Developers and investors need to be confident that these rental subsidy funds will be appropriated and available when projects are ready to be occupied.

Jubilee also supports CNHED’s recommendation to increase funding for technical assistance to assist tenant associations exercise their TOPA rights. The Mayor’s FY 22 budget proposes a flat budget from FY21. We are recommending a $5 M increase of funding in this area. Our experience as a developer of deeply affordable housing in the Adams Morgan/Columbia Heights neighborhood tells us that tenants associations who access strong technical assistance designed to understand and exercise their TOPA rights are able to make better decisions. Well informed decisions often result in the long term preservation of rental housing in an affordable manner. Indeed, 2 of our last 5 acquisitions resulted from tenant associations selecting Jubilee to develop their buildings into long term affordable projects. As the TOPA tolling period ends in August 2021, we anticipate a flood of building sales in the next 6 -12 months. TOPA rights will be triggered in the majority of those sales. Preserving rental housing for long term affordability is directly in line with the Mayor’s overall goal of building/preserving 12,000 affordable units by 2025. However without strong TOPA technical assistance at this critical moment, the preservation opportunity will be lost.

Finally, we need to ensure full implementation of the Nonprofit Fair Compensation Act that was passed in 2020 and became law in 2021. Agency directors need to train relevant staff in the new requirements in order to be prepared to implement the law by October 1. Agencies also need to have funding in their budgets to implement the indirect cost requirements of the law without reducing services. This Act must be implemented according to the law so that nonprofits that provide services that are more necessary than ever can come back even stronger after the pandemic.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am available for any questions from the committee.

Testimony of Samuel Buggs, Board Member and Resident, Jubilee Housing

Good morning, Chairman Bonds and members of the Committee. My name is Samuel Buggs, and I am a member of the Board of Directors for Jubilee Housing, as well as a resident of Jubilee’s Maycroft building in Columbia Heights. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

Jubilee Housing works to build Justice Housing, which is deeply affordable housing, in thriving neighborhoods, with supportive services onsite and within walking distance. These programs are necessary for low-income District residents; especially for returning citizens such as myself, who face even stronger barriers to finding stable and quality housing. Given proper assistance and opportunities, a lot of the men and women who are returning from incarceration can become productive, outstanding community members. The path to success would be much easier if affordable housing was available from the day of release.

Over my time struggling to successfully reenter society, I eventually discovered how difficult it is to secure housing. When I was last released after a few periods of incarceration amounting to about 25 years, I realized that many things have improved about the way that returning citizens are viewed and supported, but it is still very difficult. Previously, I had been able to stay at my mother’s house when I was released from serving time. However, once she passed away, I had nowhere to go and was subsequently homeless. I was forced to stay in hotels or at people’s houses for a cost, all while continuing to engage in criminal activity. Finally, I got sick and tired of my lifestyle and using drugs.  In March of 2012 I was able to become a part of this community through my mental health case worker at Community Connections. I got connected with Christ House, which was a place for homeless people who struggled with medical conditions. I lived there for 6 or 7 years, and through Christ House I was introduced to their community partner: Jubilee Housing.

When I first lived at Jubilee Housing I saw how different it was from any other housing situation I had been in. Other than housing, much to my surprise, I saw that Jubilee offered the wraparound services that it provides like employment help, education, family services, and more. I have lived my whole life in DC, and I have never been involved with a housing complex that had all of the programs that Jubilee has. This was a turning point for me as I began to get very interested in Jubilee’s mission. While living in Jubilee’s Euclid building, I first became a volunteer at the Teen Renaissance program that prepared young people for college, and was for both Jubilee residents and other kids in the community. Then I began to get more involved, and in 2017 I was asked to become a board member. Since then I have risen to new heights in leadership, serving recently as vice chair of the Jubilee Housing Board.

The Reentry Transitional Housing Program is Jubilee’s response to target housing, community support, and comprehensive services explicitly to returning citizens. However, units are very limited. I believe that it is necessary to invest more in supportive housing that is specific to returning citizens.

Significant funding is needed in this budget to support the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) and the Local Rest Supplement Program (LRSP), with additional capital set aside specifically for units that house returning citizens. The property where I live was developed using the HPTF and LRSP. Forty of my neighbors benefit from LRSP, and all 64 of us benefit from the HPTF. Residents of Jubilee Housing would not be able to live in thriving neighborhoods like Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights without these supports. My neighbors wouldn’t have access to supportive services such as the teen center and employment assistance without these funds.

Finally, returning citizens face extra challenges to securing housing and becoming productive members of society. The District should prioritize budget funds to reflect their commitment to supporting this vulnerable population.

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify before you. I am willing to answer any questions you may have.