Strategic Plan 2022 - 2025
RootedHomes
Looking Ahead
Dear Community Members,
The City of Bend is one of the nation’s fastest growing mid-size cities. However, this growth has caused generations of families with low-incomes and a disproportionate number of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) to be displaced because of the rising cost of housing. To truly overcome the current housing challenges, the City of Bend needs more affordable and sustainable homes that will serve the community, and help its residents build generational wealth. RootedHomes is stepping up to meet that need. RootedHomes' new strategic plan shares its intentions for the next four years.
The 2022-2025 strategic plan was developed from an equity assessment in which RootedHomes' Board of Directors and staff connected with homebuyers, homeowners, partners, and community leaders for learning and goal setting. Thanks to this intentionality, RootedHomes' strategic plan is rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
The City of Bend is one of the nation’s fastest growing mid-size cities. However, this growth has caused generations of families with low-incomes and a disproportionate number of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) to be displaced because of the rising cost of housing. To truly overcome the current housing challenges, the City of Bend needs more affordable and sustainable homes that will serve the community, and help its residents build generational wealth. RootedHomes is stepping up to meet that need. RootedHomes' new strategic plan shares its intentions for the next four years.
The 2022-2025 strategic plan was developed from an equity assessment in which RootedHomes' Board of Directors and staff connected with homebuyers, homeowners, partners, and community leaders for learning and goal setting. Thanks to this intentionality, RootedHomes' strategic plan is rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
To ensure equitable access of its homes for everyone, RootedHomes is committing to strategies that break down homeownership barriers to its new priority population - BIPOC households, earning less than 80% AMI, with family housing needs.
Looking ahead, RootedHomes will not only build award-winning net-zero housing, but the Community Land Trust will center the needs of its priority populations in its home designs and outreach strategies. With an expanded pipeline, RootedHomes will have more homeownership opportunities to offer the community and dedicated staff capacity to help homebuyers realize their dream of family stability through homeownership.
In Partnership,
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Laura Fritz, Board Chair
Framework
Mission
RootedHomes provides environmentally sustainable and permanently affordable homeownership opportunities for Central Oregon’s workforce and all who make up the fabric of the economy and community.
Vision
RootedHomes envisions sustainable, equitable communities where everyone can afford to live where they work and play.
Values
Affordability - RootedHomes creates mixed-income communities with homes that are permanently affordable through the Community Land Trust model.
Sustainability - RootedHomes develops to goal net-zero energy standards to ensure equitable access to energy-efficient homes, and the health and savings that come with it.
Equitable Access - RootedHomes is committed to providing access to healthy homes to homebuyers who have been excluded from the opportunity to build wealth through homeownership.
Goal One
Build 42 permanently affordable and sustainable homes by 2025.
A. Increase private and public funding for permanently affordable and sustainable homeownership opportunities.
- Leverage private loans and public land acquisition funds.
- Raise funds to cover net-zero upgrades for each community.
- Seek out new down-payment assistance grants.
B. Broaden affordable homeownership product offerings.
- Partner with non-profit and/or private developers to access larger land parcels where more units can be developed in a single project.
- Build relationships to expand development beyond the City of Bend.
- Explore an acquisition, rehab, and resale program.
C. Advocate at the city, regional, and statewide level to increase affordable housing funding.
- Produce an annual impact report to showcase data, stories, and program achievements to local leaders and their communities.
- Host annual listening sessions in each city that RootedHomes plans to serve.
Goal Two
Address systemic inequities for priority populations in housing and lending offerings through quarterly programmatic evaluations and improvements.
A. Create a continual community-centered feedback loop to gather insights regarding RootedHomes’ program.
- Develop a Homebuyer Committee that is reflective of the demographics of RootedHomes homebuyers to help guide programmatic decision making.
- Develop a reflection and feedback program with a target of 50% return rate of homebuyer and homeowner reflection forms.
- Annually assess and adapt program policies for disparate impact by using an equity lens.
- Expand homeownership pre- and post-purchase workshops by offering 8 per year as well as one-on-one realtor mentorships for all homebuyers.
- Reevaluate the homebuyer selection lottery process to ensure the preference point system provides equitable allocations.
B. Reduce financial barriers for homebuyers to increase equitable access to RootedHome’s communities.
- Develop 2 funder partnerships in order to offer access to IDA programs and other homebuyer down-payment assistance grants that build equity.
- Build relationships with banking institutions that can offer ITIN lending for homebuyers without citizenship or social security numbers.
- Partner with 2 agencies providing homebuyer counseling and workforce readiness to increase education and access for homebuyers to bolster mortgage-readiness.
C. Evaluate the design of RootedHome’s housing units to ensure the homes meet the needs of RootedHome’s priority populations.
- Develop only family-sized units consisting of 2 and 3 bedrooms.
- Host at least 2 community meetings for each new development, with 1 meeting prior to building design to get feedback from priority populations.
Goal Three
Center the voices of RootedHomes’ priority populations in all levels of the organization to ensure equitable decision making and representation.
A. Elevate and integrate the perspectives of RootedHome’s priority populations.
- Ensure that at least 50% of Board and Committee Members have lived-experience with housing instability.
- Increase access by holding recurring office hours at an ADA accessible site.
- Raise restricted funding to expand programmatic language services.
- Create a Spanish-specific communications plan with guidance from native Spanish-speaker consultants.
- Invest in capacity to bolster Rooted Home’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice.
B. Adopt a community engagement partnership model that meets priority populations where they are and ensures partnerships are mutually beneficial.
- Build new partnerships with 3 culturally-specific organizations.
- Strengthen and build trust with 5 existing partnerships.
- Invite partners to annually evaluate their partnerships with RootedHomes.
- Formalize the vetting process for financial institutions and real estate development partners using an equity lens.