In Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, a region known as the DMV, HAND is one of the leading housing nonprofit membership collectives with over 450 members across the public and private sectors. HAND’s members are working to achieve their goal of producing and preserving affordable housing throughout the region. HAND convenes their members, educates and  activates them to advocate for the right policies that further affordable housing goals.

Recently, we had the privilege of speaking with two members of HAND’s team, Executive Director Heather Raspberry and Director of Strategic Membership & Partnerships, Courtney Battle, about the organization’s mission, role in the field and the tools they use to make an impact the DMV.

HAND is proud to represent a membership collective with a variety of backgrounds. Their membership includes for-profit and nonprofit organizations, government agencies, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), universities, consultants and more. HAND is responsible for convening this diverse group of members and bringing their voices together to magnify impact.

HAND has used their annual conference as a way for all voices in their membership to come together. As Raspberry and Battle highlighted in the interview, it is about giving members the “space and place” to impact change in the affordable housing world. HAND is expanding their role as a convener, with member mixers, a new Spring conference, and their capacity building trainings. All of these are examples of ways that HAND’s members stay in constant communication with each other and build relationships that enhance their work. Raspberry and Battle made it clear that you cannot do this work in a vacuum. We have to be intentional in bringing voices together in order to create a positive learning environment and foster change.  

HAND uses an equity lens when approaching affordable housing, asking why is it so difficult to put people in an affordable home and how can families thrive in affordable housing? HAND and their members have started using data to see which services are the most impactful and where affordable housing units are needed, specifically in vulnerable Black and Brown communities. They have also created a Housing Indicator Tool, which provides key data and insights on how many affordable housing units are available, the demographics of housing, how many more units are needed, and much more information on housing in the DMV. 

Not only does the Housing Indictor Tool educate HAND’s members, but it allows for targeted advocacy efforts that can put in place appropriate affordable housing policies in the region. According to Raspberry, the Housing Indicator Tool is a “call to action.” It is not just a resource; it is a guide to impacting change no matter your background. HAND has a diverse membership, but they are also aligned in their fight for housing justice. They are also proud to have expanded to Baltimore, MD and Richmond, VA over the last year, increasing their impact drastically.  

Raspberry and Battle emphasized that they want to see HAND continue the work they have already started and bring even more voices together in the DMV. With an issue as crucial as housing, HAND is playing an integral role in creating and sustaining affordable units. HAND is going to continue to advocate for policies that support affordable housing for underserved communities while listening to their members’ community needs. They will not stop creating spaces and places to fight for equitable housing.  

To learn more about what HAND is doing, check out their Events Calendar