Based in Arlington, Virginia, affordable housing developer Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) has been building homes since 1989. The nonprofit initially focused on Arlington, but has since expanded into the greater Washington, DC, metro area.
The community need for affordable housing is higher than ever, and the Arlington area is highly desirable. Between 2000 and 2016, Arlington County lost 86 percent of its market-rate affordable housing. As a result, more than 7,500 families and individuals are unable to access housing in their price range. The APAH believes that all people in the community deserve to have housing options and opportunities that suit their needs. To achieve this, the county adopted an Affordable Housing Master Plan in 2015 that outlined a path to doubling Arlington’s affordable housing over 25 years.
The APAH recognizes that the need is even greater than just Arlington. Alexandria City has lost 90 percent of its market rate affordable housing, and Washington, DC, lost 34,000 affordable housing options between 2005 and 2013. On a larger scale, more than 150,000 residents in the DC area apply more than 50 percent of their income to rent. There are approximately 35 affordable housing options for every 100 families or individuals in need of one.
The APAH seeks to ease homelessness and related problems in three ways. The first is developing real estate. The organization owns more than 2,000 affordable apartments and continues to build more. For the first 20 years, the APAH bought and redeveloped one project a year, but as housing needs grew, the organization also grew in terms of production and geographic coverage. The nonprofit expects to build substantially more over the next decade, with the introduction of two projects in 2022 alone.
To continue building, the APAH pioneered innovative financing, combining low-income tax credits to get both 4 percent and 9 percent credits within the same development. Thanks to this strategic thinking, the state of Virginia revised its tax credit allocation plan to encourage other affordable housing developers to utilize the same financial model, which in turn has resulted in hundreds of new affordable housing units. The APAH also benefits from being a small but influential organization, one that relies on a strong but manageable team that doesn’t suffer from bureaucratic loopholes or stalemates.
The APAH also advocates on behalf of the residents and communities it serves. The nonprofit offers guidance for programs and policies working to help lower-income residents and works with many agencies and groups, including civic associations and service providers, to ensure that land use, housing, and social service goals and policies are equitable and serve all. The organization has partnered with many community nonprofits and Arlington County’s Department of Human Services. It was selected by the Citi Foundation to receive the Community Progress Makers Fund, through which the nonprofit was able to form the Community Progress Network to further advocation efforts.
The APAH also provides other opportunities in addition to housing, such as services that build family and financial stability. The nonprofit partners with more than 20 organizations, including food assistance organizations, educational programs such as Aspire! Afterschool Learning and Virginia Cooperative Extension, and mental health organizations, including Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services. Through these opportunities, APAH residents can further build stable, sustainable lives.
