Mayors’ Partnership for Progress launches new housing resources

With housing challenges especially daunting in Appalachia, a regional collaborative for local governments has released some additional resources to tackle the problem.

The Mayors' Partnership for Progress (MPP) recently launched a Housing Development Toolkit with information on planning, funding and other aspects developed by Ohio University’s Misty Crosby.

Crosby, who recently retired as senior executive in residence for local government services at the George V. Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, said she’s hopeful the information will be useful to the municipalities.

“The MPP team, with the help of (Senior Project Manager-Creative Design) Lindsey Siegrist, really focused on ensuring the site contained resources and data that would be useful to a mayor or their staff,” she said. “Our municipal leaders are mostly under resourced and have a lot of direct responsibility that more resourced community leaders don’t necessarily have. And many of them have full time jobs while also serving their community in an elected or appointed capacity.”

Following detailed planning steps, the Funding section of the Housing Development Toolkit recommends a list of core team members and their roles, as well as other optional partners.

“Successfully planning, funding, and building housing requires a mix of local leadership and technical expertise. Seek to engage members of your community and council, as well as developers (non-profit and for-profit), land banks, and grant writers,” the guidance states.

The MPP Housing Toolkit also includes helpful links on Zoning and Code Enforcement, Policy and Regulation Support, and other resources.

“It’s important that resources provided by support organizations be relevant, easy to consume and accurate,” Crosby said.

“The information contained on the site is living and breathing. As more information or best practices for rural communities comes to the attention of the mayors or the Voinovich School and MPP staff, the site will be updated and kept current. Of utmost importance is for the information to remain relevant and helpful,” Crosby said.

Learn more online at: https://mayorspartnership.org/housing-tool-kit.