Partnering on Homeownership

MODULE 5: Partnering on Homeownership

ENHANCING AND IMPLEMENTING HOMEOWNERSHIP PROGRAMS IN NATIVE COMMUNITIES

Why should we consider working with partners to provide homeownership opportunities to tribal members?

There are many components of providing homeownership opportunities for tribal members and homeownership development. While it is important that the lead entity (a Tribally Designated Housing Entity [TDHE], a tribal department, or a nonprofit, for example) understand these different components, it is not necessary that one entity be an expert in each area, or carry out each component. One organization rarely has all of the capacity, experience, or staff to handle all of the pieces of the process. More often, one organization takes the lead, and then identifies partners to carry out certain parts of the framework.

We recognize that many TDHEs and housing departments have small staffs, and some TDHEs are one-person programs. Here again, it is vital to identify the partners that can manage different pieces of the homeownership puzzle.

In thinking about partnering, we can start by assessing where we are and what our strengths are:

◉What does our organization do well?
◉What does our staff enjoy doing?
◉What do we have the capacity to do effectively?
◉What should we build our capacity to do?
◉What do we have the resources to do?

Once we have a sense of our starting point, and what pieces our organization can focus on, the homeownership checklist shared earlier and again on the next page can help us identify potential partners:

◉Who is doing this work already in our community?
◉Who have we partnered with in the past?
◉Who are new potential partners to consider?

As we think about potential partners, it’s helpful to think about them on different levels – the tribal level, the local level, the regional level, the state level, and the national level.

Homeownership Checklist

NEEDS ASSESSMENT, OUTREACH, AND RECRUITING	HOMEBUYER EDUCATION AND CREDIT IMPROVEMENT	PLANNING, LAND, AND INFRASTRUCTURE	DEVELOPMENT FINANCING
☐ Have you conducted a needs assessment recently? ☐ Who can conduct a survey/ needs assessment? ☐ Who are your potential homebuyers? (TDHE residents, veterans, young families, tribal employees) ☐ How will you reach out to and recruit potential homebuyers?	☐ Who can teach financial education and homebuyer education classes? ☐ Which curriculum will be used? ☐ Who can assist families in improving credit? ☐ Who can conduct homebuyer counseling?	☐ Where will you build? ☐ Where do families want to live? ☐ Are you thinking about a subdivision or scattered sites? ☐ Are leases in place? Will families need to obtain leaseholds? ☐ What infrastructure will be necessary? (septics, lagoon, water line, wells, roads) ☐ What are your infrastructure costs?	☐ What will your development budget include? (construction, roads, infrastructure) ☐ Are you familiar with sources of development financing? ☐ How is your repayment ability for development financing? ☐ What needs to be in place to access development financing?
AFFORDABILITY AND MORTGAGE FINANCING	GAP FINANCING AND SUBSIDIES	HOME DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION	CAPACITY AND PARTNERS
☐ How will you determine what families can afford? ☐ Who will work with families to complete loan applications? ☐ What sources of mortgage financing will homebuyers access? ☐ Do you have relationships with mortgage lenders?	☐ How will you determine what/how much gap financing/subsidies families will need? ☐ What sources of gap financing will homebuyers access? ☐ How can you assist families who are credit-ready and income-qualified now?	☐ What design features do families want? ☐ Are you working with an architect? ☐ Do you have construction plans, floor plans? ☐ Who will do your building? (force account, contractors, other crew)	☐ Do you have the capacity to carry out these different pieces? ☐ Where are your gaps? ☐ How can you build staff capacity? ☐ Who can you partner with on some of these pieces?

Carousel Activity

Through this activity, brainstorm partners for the different components of homeownership. Jot down your own existing and potential partners.

Partner Listing

HOMEOWNERSHIP COMPONENT	PARTNERS (EXISTING OR POTENTIAL)
Housing needs assessment
Homebuyer readiness programming
Planning, land use, and infrastructure
Development financing
What were the main obstacles to purchasing a home in the past?
Mortgage financing
Gap financing and subsides
Home design and construction

Partner Listing

Developing Effective Partnerships

Now that we have our listing of potential partners, let’s take a look at how we can ensure that our partnerships are effective.

Group Partnership Activity

What’s needed for effective partnerships?

◉Effective communication
◉Clear goals
◉Mutually-beneficial relationships

A Key Element of Partnering: Experience in and Understanding Native Communities

As we identify potential partners in our outer circles (on the local, regional, state, and national levels), it’s important to think about experience in Native communities. Do partners understand your community’s history, your issues, and challenges?

Why does it make sense to seek partners with experience in Native communities?

If your partners haven’t worked in Native communities, what are some steps you can take to help make your partnership successful?

Recognizing the Power Dynamics in Partnerships

As we look at partnerships, we want to recognize the power dynamics in these relationships and work to create an equilibrium.

Working in TDHEs and other nonprofit settings, we often feel like others have the resources that we need. We assume that they have the power in our relationship. But we also want to recognize the resources that we have, which they might need. We have strong staff, for example, solid projects, and clear community needs that we are working to address. Funders need strong projects to fund! This comes back to creating “mutually beneficial partnerships,” where each side “gives” something, and each side “gets” something from the partnership – partnerships won’t be successful if they are too one-sided.

Enhancing and Implementing Homeownership Programs in Native Communities

Partnering on Homeownership

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Enhancing and Implementing Homeownership Programs in Native Communities

Partnering on Homeownership

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