CHW Joins Coast-to-Coast Coalition in Announcing Launch of Home Matters

SAN DIEGO - March 14, 2013 - PRLog -- Community HousingWorks is part of a coast-to-coast coalition that launched a unique national initiative called Home Matters™ in Washington, DC today. The initiative aims to unite America around the essential role that Home plays as the bedrock for thriving lives, families, and a stronger nation.

Home Matters emerged from a growing coalition of housing and community development organizations across the country whose leaders believe that the importance of Home, as a core building block for America, is not sufficiently recognized. The coalition includes regional and local organizations providing housing and related services in 26 states – from California to Vermont, Florida to Washington – as well as national entities like the National NeighborWorks® Association (http://www.nnwa.us/), Citi Community Development, and Wells Fargo. Community HousingWorks is a member of National NeighborWorks Association.

As it grows, Home Matters will go beyond housing and illuminate the connections between stable housing and other important facets of American life such as:

·  Individual Success: Home recharges adults and children alike for the day ahead.

·   Education: Children in stable homes learn and achieve more in school.

·   Health: Healthy habits take root more easily in stable affordable homes.

·   Public Safety: Stable homes make communities safer.

·   A Strong Economy: Homes that are affordable are crucial to a vibrant job-generating economy.

The launch took place on Capitol Hill with hundreds of leaders of housing and community development organizations gathered from all over the nation. CHW President Sue Reynolds attended the launch on behalf of Community HousingWorks.  

Launch events, which continue today and tomorrow, include a keynote address by U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan and a gathering at the U.S. Senate with Members of Congress.

“Home is fundamental to the strength of our nation,” said NNA Executive Director Dave Brown. “It’s at the core of having strong families, schools, neighborhoods, and an effective workforce for the 21st century. That’s why it’s so important that its role be understood.”

“Michelle, a veteran resident at one of CHW’s affordable rental communities, put her feelings about home best,” says Sue Reynolds. “She said ‘After months of living in my car, when I’m at home at night and hear the rain beat on the outside of my bedroom window, I know that now I am safe and warn on the inside of that window and I feel healed.’”

In raising public awareness of the importance of Home, Home Matters will do the following: educate, highlighting the benefits of Home; collaborate, bringing disparate organizations and industries together; engage, rallying local leaders and mobilizing the public; advocate, encouraging policymakers to protect and support Home and related initiatives; support, raising funds and increasing investments to sustain the work that makes Home a reality for more Americans; and, celebrate, promoting and honoring the extraordinary impact of Home.

More information on Home Matters is available at www.HomeMattersAmerica.com.