Doge activities at Neighborworks America Sparks Call to Action

What’s at stake?

According to the Bulletin, Doge has assigned one of the teams under his competence to the subject of NWA financing.

“Although it is not clear what their goals and timeline are, it is the same team that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Institute for Peace (Usip), “said NHC.

NWA is a congress -chartered non -profit organization, which means that its funds have been approved by the congress and that it has no employees on the federal payroll.

“It is mainly funded by annual loans directly from the congress, in addition to some private subsidies and contributions,” NHC explained.

“In FY2023, NWA had $ 232.5 million available with all financing sources together, of which $ 166 million came from core congress credits. This financing offers flexible, strategic, training and capital fairs to 247 NWA network organizations.”

Neighborhood offers subsidies and technical assistance to around 240 organizations for community development in the US. The network has a high performance threshold, according to David Dworkin, President and CEO of NHC.

Investment efficiency

“The federal dollars that help them distribute are used at a speed of 71 to 1,” said Dworkin in an interview with Housing. “In an environment where we are expected to do more with less – both in terms of people and resources – neighboring is an essential partner.”

The timeline and the intention of DOGE research remains uncertain. But NHC does not want to take opportunities to sound alarm, given the speed with which other federal organizations are dismantled at insistence.

“It is important to keep in mind that dismantling USIP lasted less than 10 days, despite the fact that, like NWA, his employees are not federal employees and their financing is directly from the congress,” the NHC Alert explained.

“A DOGE team also approached another non -profit organization that received federal financing but was not chartered in the congress and has an independent board of directors and told his leadership that the members of his team wanted to assign to all institutions or agencies that receive federal funds. The request was subsequently fallen.”

Dworkin said that the urgency that NHC uses to inform its network comes from the essential role of NWA in affordable homes throughout the country.

“Neighborworks America is an essential part of the affordable housing cosystem and an important ally for policymakers in Washington,” he said. “Their network is spread throughout the country, even in communities that are often not well represented in Washington – in particular rural areas and what we usually regard as red states that are confronted with a growing affordable home crisis.”

‘Strategic’ opportunity

NWA’s work has led to the construction of “hundreds of thousands of” affordable houses, Dworkin said, adding that there is “no reason why Doge should be involved at all.” This is because NWA is not an Executive Tanch organization, its staff are not part of the government and its funds are directly allocated by the congress.

“There are not enough potential savings here to justify attention,” he said. “It is not logical that a DOGE team would waste a minute on neighboring. If there is a policy problem, this must be tackled by the federal credit process. To be honest, I believe that the administration would be very strategic to expand its investments in neighboring – not to reduce it.”

This is because Neighborworks represents ‘the ultimate public-private partnership’, “said Dworkin. “It is precisely the type of approach that you want if you want to reduce the government’s footprint while expanding the availability of affordable homes.”

When asked if there is a chance that the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) could come to the defense of the organization, Dworkin said he was hopeful that the broader administration would see its value.

“I hope that HUD and others in the administration will see the value here,” he said. “The DOGE team can be very diligent and sometimes runs for itself. This can be one of those times.”

Since there is such a clear lack of affordable housing stock, Dworkin also believes: “There is a chance here to be strategic – organizations such as neighboring with the help of federal investments.”

Doug Robinson, the head of the media stories for Buurmanworks America, e -mailed a statement to the housing goods in which he said that the organization “is tailored to the housing goals of the administration.”

“Over the years it has been shown that our work has offered affordable housing options for the American communities in all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico,” the statement was partially. “We want to continue to collaborate with the administration on the daring affordable home goals.

“There is no organization – public or private – that has similar positive multiplier effects to support affordable homes for the American people. We know that an intact neighbor America serves the country in the best possible way.”