This is an amazing woman on an awesome mission! Please, please, please take the time to read and contribute!
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Who I Am:
My name is Elizabeth Glenn and I am the Chair Emeritus and current member of the International Research and Global Exchange Committee of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). I also serve as a member of NAHRO's Board of Governors and Chair of NAHRO's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force.
Our committee works to build bridges between our national organization with international social housing agencies and entities that seek to expand housing opportunities for low income families. Many countries and social housing organizations seeking to professionalize the housing industry and provide professional development programs in the human settlements sector are in need of quality technical assistance and capacity building support that focuses on providing beneficiaries with the necessary skills and training to be self sufficient and to be able to sustain their housing programs.
Presentation to the Southern African Housing Foundation's Conference and Exhibition October 2014
I have over 25 years experience in housing and community development programs with a susbstaintial number of those years in leadership roles. I bring a culturally comptent approach to community development which affords local communities a place of dignity and respect, while incorporating local traditions and values into the development and implementation of policies, programs, and housing.
Ndaba Mandela (grandson of Mandiba Nelson Mandela), Liz Glenn, & John Hopkins (Southern African Foundation) October 2014
I have a great deal of on the ground authentic experience that will benefit communities in places such as South Africa, China, Indonesia, Australia, Namibia, Zimbabwe AND the United States. I have given lectures on cultural compentent community development and affordable housing in South Africa, China, France, and throughout the United States. I served as a Policy Expert for the UN Habitat 3, while also participating as a member of the US State Department-led Delegation to the UN Habitat 3 Conference that contributed to the draft of the New World Urban Agenda which was approved in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016.
Liz Glenn presenting at the Southern African Housing Foundation Annual Conference and Exhibition.
In May of 2016, the Maryland Association of Housing and Redevelopment Agencies (MAHRA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Association of Social Housing Organisations (NASHO) in South Afica. NASHO consists of 19 social housing agencies that are providing affordable housing in South Africa. They function as a membership organization devoted to building the capacity of their members to create vibrant and sustainable communities.
Liz Glenn looks on as Montebang Lawrence Ramashamole Chair of South Africa's National Association of Social Housing Organisations signs an MOU with the Maryland Association of Housing and Redevelopment Agencies. May 2016
I am raising money to help pay for expenses to support my efforts to develop and implement a professional development and exchange program with NASHO and MAHRA that will benefit the nonprofit social housing sector in South Africa. There is a great need and desire to build a robust professional affordable housing sector that provides South Africans with the skills and resources to self-direct their housing efforts and to promote sustainability within the housing sector. South Africa has more than 2000 informal settlements most without running water and sanitary sewer.
Informal settlements outside of Cape Town, South Africa.
The Nelson Mandela University has established a Chair in the Professionalization of Human Settlement and is actively engaged with the National Association of Social Housing Organizations, a nonprofit organization seeking to build the capacity of social housing organizations in South Africa. I am proposing to work with these organizations to establish a professional exchange with public housing authorities in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States and to provide technical assistance with them on the professionalization of the affordable housing sector. Open sewer in an informal settlement located near Somerset West in South Africa.
Funds will be used to pay for expenses related to organizing an annual study exchange between South African and US social housing practitioners, to include a stipend, travel expenses, and basic operational costs for the first two years of the NASHO/MAHRA MOU. The travel costs are for travel to and from South Africa and other expenses for acommodations and local travel within South Africa during the next two years. It will also help fund the efforts to seek resources to fund a long-term implementation and institutionalization of the social housing sector.
New container-type affordable housing in Cape Town region of South Africa.
The first professional exchange will be August 9 through August 19, 2017. Six delegates from South Africa representing the NASHO and 2 social housing organizations will meet with and tour affordable housing, revitalization projects, and historic preservation projects in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George and Talbot Counties as well as in Baltimore City. They will also be registered to participate in the Mid Atlantic Regional Council of NAHRO's Annual Conference being held in Washington, DC on August 17-18 when US HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson will give the opening plenary speech.
New social housing in South Africa.
The project is an important mission for me personally and professionally. It is a life-long dream to work on behalf of the people of South Africa as they pursue a more equitable, inclsive, and sustainable life in their country. The country of South Africa has spent precious resources to build 3 million new housing units in the past 20 years, however, the demand for affordable housing continues to grow. The flood of immigrants arriving daily and the sustandard construction and unsanitaary conditions of the informal settlements fuel the need for additional housing and well-planned communities. The current need is estimated to be over 2 million new units. Further, the housing industry has left out the beneficiaries of the housing and there were few if any jobs that went to the victims of apartheid. An example of informal housing or slum settlements.
With unemployment reaching as high as 40% in the Western Cape of South Africa, creating a sustainable housing sector that provides workforce development and employment opportunities is critical for the sustainability of the housing sector and provides an entry point into the local economy through the contruction, management, and maintenance of housing.
Another example of informal housing or slum settlements.
Your contribution will enable me to take some important first steps to work with the National Association of Social Housing Organizations and the Nelson Mandela University towards the professionalization of the social housing sector and will create a more sustainable approach to housing development. Through this initial effort we can begin the process of bringing sustainability and equity to the affordable and social housing in South Africa. You can be a part of this movement to uplift South Africans through the housing sector.
Proposed new Social Housing community in South Africa |
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