Saving Affordable Housing Table of Contents.

The idea for this report grew out of conversations between Pat Morrissy, the director of HANDS, Inc., a non-profit community-based housing organization, and Mark Elliot of the Ford Foundation. Without Mark Elliot's active, patient support, this project would not have been possible, and his expertise and perspective helped shape the research team's initial efforts. Pat, who is also the National Housing Institute's former executive director, continued to provide invaluable advice and input during the course of the project.

I want to especially acknowledge the work of my co-author Ellen Shoshkes, who also wrote the case studies. Ellen, along with research assistant Cindy Wong, was responsible for all the field work. Cindy's energy, dedication, and cooperation were also critical to the project. Matthew Reed's research was extremely important in showing the depth of the housing problem.

This study greatly benefited from the expertise and outlook of our advisory committee, whose names are listed in Appendix D. Most of this dedicated and knowledgeable group reviewed earlier drafts and provided assistance at one of two meetings held at the National Housing Institutes' office. Their efforts helped provide a broad overview and deepen our understanding of how community-based housing groups succeed. I am particularly grateful to Rachel Bratt, John Davis, Dan Pearlman, and Michael Bodaken for sharing their time and knowledge and making detailed comments and suggestions that corrected errors and misconceptions.

There is no way to give adequate thanks to Peter Dreier. Peter understands most things better than anyone I know. And if he doesn't understand, he will stimulate ideas that lead to knowledge and perception. Stephen O'Connor's experience in the government housing sector provided important guidance on the section of our report on the role of government. I am indebted to Harold Simon, the current executive director of NHI and editor of Shelterforce, for his assistance on the policy recommendations section and on turning a manuscript into the publication you now hold. Special thanks go to Karen Ceraso, the associate editor of Shelterforce, and Warren Craig, a freelance editor, for their excellent help in crafting the final report and whose editing helped make the report so much better. Thanks also to Jean Seiler for proofreading assistance, and to Dale Coleman and Bernice Henry for their administrative and clerical support.

The project would not have been be possible without the cooperation of the nonprofit housing organizations we studied. To the staff members, board members, residents, and other involved in these organizations, I extend our thanks for your help. I hope they will use our findings to enhance their future efforts.

– John Atlas