5Q: Michael DeVos

 / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
/ PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

1 What experience has most prepared you for the role of executive director?

As executive director of resources for community development in the east San Francisco Bay area, I worked for a nonprofit organization with a passion for the people we served. Like at ONE Neighborhood Builders, the staff was intelligent, highly skilled, committed to underserved populations and zealous in their desire to make a difference.

2 Who are the families trying to access affordable housing in the communities you serve?

Generally, the families and individuals ONE NB serves are representative of our neighborhoods. The population in our Census tracts are roughly 75 percent minority, with incomes far below the state median. Most apartments have individuals or families who work, but not with livable wages. … But importantly, these are people just like you or me, who hold their individual hopes and dreams, and who aspire to work to create a better life for themselves and their children.

- Advertisement -

3 What is the role of the private sector in creating housing opportunity?

The private sector is most active in areas where the production of homes or apartments is an economically viable, i.e., profitable activity. And certainly this is why ONE NB and our fellow [community-development corporations] have done the lion’s share of real estate production and rehabilitation for many years now, for the families living below a living wage in a large swath of Providence.

4 What is the key to turning individual neighborhoods around, given significant poverty?

First, financial resources are key. This is why we must pass the housing bond in November. … Second, a strong partnership between the nonprofit community, the city agencies that administer housing funds and the principal actor in the state, the state housing agency. Third, a commitment to effect change that is both long and strong. … Last is an understanding that we must make available a broad array of services to underserved populations. … A few key services include homeownership training, credit counseling, access to capital for small businesses … and access to health care and healthy foods.

5 What is on your to-do list in your first 100 days?

Building relationships with the city planning department, Rhode Island Housing, NeighborWorks America, Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Rhode Island Foundation. This is the core group who move the affordable-housing agenda. •

No posts to display