To Our Partners, Supporters, and Friends
I write to you today to share an update on HDC’s work and mission during this time of national crisis. HDC MidAtlantic is no different that many organizations and businesses right now: the last few weeks have presented tremendous challenges to our organizational operations. I am humbled to lead an amazing team that has demonstrated an unwavering commitment and continues to push through with strength and compassion to meet the needs of our residents and communities. This support extends beyond our employee as HDC’s Board of Directors, our funders, and investors have proven as committed as ever to advance our mission of creating, preserving and strengthening affordable housing communities.
Upon understanding the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic, HDC acted swiftly to ensure the health and safety of our residents and employees and immediately created a plan for the continuity of operations, taking into account the evolving guidance from federal, state, and local health officials. Our work in managing affordable housing and providing services to residents is considered an essential, life-sustaining business in all three states across our footprint – Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. We implemented an action plan to modify business practices to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our communities and keep our employees and residents safe. This included the cancellation of all resident group activities, eliminating in-person interactions, have nonessential personnel working remotely, and initiating enhanced cleaning protocols for all HDC communities. Even with these operational limitations, the core of our mission to provide affordable housing and support our residents remains fully operational.
We are working hard to position ourselves to ensure the long-term sustainability of the organization and to create financial stability now. We are actively finding ways to eliminate non-essential spending, restructuring positions for greater efficiencies, placing a hiring freeze on open positions and reducing or eliminating expenditures on consultants. We have also completed stress-testing of our portfolio to identify residents and communities at the highest risk of rental income loss. We are proactively reaching out to residents to see how they are doing and where we can be of assistance. We are reaching out to our partners and investors for their flexibility and creativity, helping us implement mitigation strategies to weather this storm in the coming months. And we are completely overwhelmed by our corporate donors and friends who, despite the cancellation of our annual fundraiser, shared that we can keep their contribution. This is so impactful and now more than ever, we will need to work harder and redouble our efforts with friends and funders to help mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19.
What does all of this mean for over 5,000 residents living in our 58 housing communities? It means things will get harder as we know the most vulnerable populations will be most adversely impacted. Many of our residents will struggle to pay rent, to stay healthy, and to make basic ends meet to support themselves and their families. Truth be told, this struggle existed before COVID-19, but HDC has always been and will continue be there for our residents and those in need of affordable housing.
For any resident who cannot pay rent on time, they will enroll in our eviction prevention program to ensure housing stability and connect them to various services and benefits to assist with longer-term financial capability. We have also made sure our food distribution programs hosted at many of our housing communities remain open to serve not only our residents, but the community at-large. And we are ramping up advocacy efforts at the state and federal levels to support policies and programs that help our residents, communities and the affordable housing industry, both in short-term with stimulus programs and in the long term with systemic change.
I am heartened by the resilience and compassion of our residents, the nimbleness, skillfulness, and open-heartedness of our employees, and the outstanding stewardship of our Board of Directors. I have faith that together, we can move through this crisis and be stronger in the end.
Above all, we remain steadfast in our vision of creating a world where a safe, welcoming, affordable place to call home is available to everyone. And we know that you will be there right beside us – now and for whatever the future may bring.
Your support, friendship, and partnership mean so much to us!
With gratitude and hope,
Dana Hanchin
President & CEO
Every voice matters. At HDC, we are committed to raising up resident voices and opening doors so that residents can actively participate in the democratic process, speak out on issues important to them and their communities, and communicate how policies affect their everyday lives. We believe it is important to make the time and space to listen, and to support resident leaders in effectively using their voices. We support resident advocacy opportunities through our Resident Academy of Leadership & Inspiration, Voter Registration Drives, and holding constituent meetings and tours with elected officials.
Allentown, PA
Fredericksburg, PA
Lancaster, PA
Finding a place to live that meets one’s basic needs and budget can feel like a never-ending challenge. The complexity of lower-income families and individuals extend far beyond simply finding a safe, affordable, and welcoming place to call home. At HDC, we are committed to being an ally in speaking to issues, programs, and policies that improve quality of life of our residents. Issues that we know are important to our residents include:
We know we can’t solve the affordable housing challenge alone. We need champions to help change the conversation around what home means and why it matters. We are committed to educating elected officials to understand the needs and challenges of their constituents. We are here to provide solutions that work and offer affordable housing expertise that demonstrates the impact policy decisions have on lower-income families, seniors and those with disabilities. We work closely with and participate in alliances and coalitions to educate and advance shared policy priorities. Our advocacy partners include:
Wendy Smith serves as the Vice President of Property Management, responsible for the overall strategic direction for HDC’s management portfolio and the organization’s largest staff team. Previously, Wendy served as Asset and Operations Manager for a leading real estate firm based in New York City which owned over 11,000 affordable homes. Since 2008, Wendy has held roles in regional level operations for commercial and for-profit housing agencies. Wendy holds a degree in International Studies.
