Faith Communities As A Solution To The Affordable Housing Crisis

Abstract

This paper examines how faith institutions can use the Facilitating Affordable Inclusive Transformational Housing Zoning Text Amendment (FAITH ZTA) to build affordable housing in Montgomery County, Maryland. We examine past literature on the means and methods other communities have undergone to build affordable housing on church-owned land across the countries. We also conducted interviews with faith institution leaders in Montgomery County. Our results suggest that faith leaders are interested in what the ZTA provides and believe that their churches’ missions closely align with the amendment's provisions. Given the data collected from our literature and our independent interviews, we propose three recommendations for how faith leaders should approach the FAITH ZTA: (1) Partner with nonprofit organizations and developers; (2) Join and/or learn from Enterprise Faith-Based Development Initiative; and (3) Engage in community outreach events to address pushback concerns.