Affordable Housing

The affordable housing program of study features courses that enhance participants' ability to conduct project feasibility analyses, use the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and other programs, and to become successful asset and property managers. Some of the skills addressed include:

• Project Feasibility Analysis
• Using the Low-Income Housing tax Credit Program
• Introduction to Asset Management for Corporate Board Members and Executive Directors
• Nuts and Bolts of Asset Management
• Exit Strategies for Low-Income Tax Credit (LIHTC) Projects
• How to Maintain Compliance in tax Credit Projects
• Understanding the New Markets Tax Credit Initiative
• Basic Budgeting and Accounting for Real Estate Managers
• Managing Nonprofit Housing
• Basic Marketing and Leasing for Real Estate Managers
  

Community Building

The Community Building program of study features courses that help practitioners to increase their neighborhood capacity and build livable communities by enhancing skills in grassroots leadership development, community organizing, partnership building, evaluation strategies and more. The Community Building Program of study puts a strong emphasis on the importance of building relationships that bind a community together in a meaningful way. Some of the skills addressed include:

• Principles of Community Building
• Grassroots Leadership Development
• Fundamentals of Community Organizing
• Building Communities from the Inside Out
• Evaluation Strategies for Community Building
• Building Powerful Community Partnerships
• The Power of Social Networks to Change Neighborhoods

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Community Economic Development

The Community Economic Development Program of study focuses on developing strategies to make low- and moderate-income neighborhoods more competitive by rebuilding businesses and the workforce. This program of study features coursework in workforce development, commercial real estate development and data analysis methods. Some of the skills addressed include:

• Community Economic Development Principles, Practices and Strategies
• Analytical Tools and Methods Used in Community Economic Development
• Commercial Real Estate Development
• Strategies for Strengthening Businesses in Your Community
• Connecting to the Economic Mainstream
• Employment Strategies for Targeting Industry Sectors

• Design and Specification for Rehab Specialists
• Cost Estimation for Rehab Specialists
• Rehab Management
• Design and Development for Project Managers
• Project Management

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Home Ownership and Community Lending

The Home Ownership and Community Lending Program of Study features courses in both pre- and post-homebuyer education, residential lending, and housing counseling. Program of Study candidates can also satisfy their elective requirements by choosing from a wide range of courses on other topics, including financial literacy, foreclosure prevention and the use of Section 8 vouchers. Some of the skills addressed include:

• Homebuyer Education Methods: Training the Trainer
• Home Maintenance and Financial Management for New homeowners
• Involving New Homeowners in the Community
• Helping Homeowners Avoid Delinquency and Predatory Lenders
• Reaching Immigrant Populations through Home Ownership
• Home-Equity Conversion Mortgages
• Housing Counseling
• Creating a Successful Section 8 Home Ownership Program
• Beginning to Intermediate Foreclosure Prevention
• Financial Fitness: Teaching Financial Management Skills
• Credit Counseling for Maximum Results
• Fundamentals of Residential Lending
• Compliance with State and Federal Regulations
• Understanding the Challenges While Creating Home Ownership Opportunities
• Using Census Data to Created Targeted Home Ownership Opportunitie

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Management and Leadership

The Management and Leadership Program of Study features designed to enhance practitioners' skills in strategic management, staff development, communication, conflict management, financial management, resource development, marketing and leadership development. The skills addressed include:

• Strategic Thinking and Planning
• Competitively Positioning Your Organization for the Future
• Developing a Winning Business Plan
• Board Development

• Advanced Leadership for Executive Directors and Senior Managers
• Winning through Excellence in Customer Service
• Financial Management for Senior Managers
• Tasks and Roles of Chief Financial Officers
• Community Development Financing for Senior Managers
• Marketing Programs and Organizations
• How to Best Work with the Media
• Grant Proposal Writing

Neighborhood Revitalization

The Neighborhood Revitalization Program focuses on transforming neighborhoods that lack community vitality and suffer from stagnant or declining property values into neighborhoods of choice. Participants learn how to conduct block walk, develop and implement successful revitalization strategies and measure the impact of their work.

• Creating Neighborhoods of Choice through Revitalization
• Measuring the Impact of Your Revitalization Strategy
• Reading a Neighborhood: What a Bock Walk Can Tell You
• Creating and Delivering a Powerful Revitalization Presentation
• Techniques and Tools for Running a Revitalization Organization
• Social Equity in Neighborhood Revitalization
• Affordable Housing Strategies in Hot Markets

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Rural Development

This one-week-long rural concentration will feature a two-day course followed by a three-day course. This foundation week of courses addresses linkages between affordable housing programs and economic development programs, along with resource development and growth strategies to make it happen. While each of the two courses can stand alone, they are designed to flow from one to the other and to be mutually reflective: the first to focus on organizational development issues and the second to delve into program design issues:

• Building the Rural Community: 1. Effective Growth and Resource Development Strategies (A two-day course)
• Building the Rural Community: 2. Affordable Housing and Economic Development (A three-day course)