Small but mighty – that’s the self-described motto of the two-person team leading the Utah Housing Coalition (UHC), a nonprofit organization that promotes equitable and sustainable communities by ensuring all Utahns have a safe and affordable place to call home.
“We always say we take on the role of a low-income voice because those are the voices that are not being heard,” said Tara Rollins, executive director of UHC. “A lot of our work is around housing stability and tenant laws.”
UHC provides community education, fosters a network of support for housing industry professionals and works with decision makers in the nonprofit, private and public sectors to create innovative solutions. The coalition has over 100 members, including service providers, developers, community-based organizations, state and local government entities and investors.
Making an impact
Rollins has been with the organization for over 20 years, starting as a volunteer treasurer for the coalition’s board of directors. Founded in 1973, UHC was run by volunteers until 2005 – the same year Rollins helped the coalition host its first Utah Housing Matters Conference, the premier housing conference in the state.
Since then, UHC has made a significant impact on the housing advocacy space in Utah. In 2006, the organization helped establish the Housing Education Coalition of Utah where counselors came together to establish a state-wide housing practitioner curriculum. UHC received a $1.8 million grant for foreclosure prevention efforts that helped nearly 1,300 Utah families. The organization has also led legislative efforts on manufactured housing policies since 2008.
Fostering community discussions
Rollins and her colleague, UHC’s project manager Zoë Newmann, play a critical role in Utah’s housing ecosystem by convening industry leaders, community groups and government offices to work in partnership towards realizing housing equity for all Utahns.
“What we’re going to start off with is getting everyone together in the housing space and having those real, raw conversations about how we are going to fix this,” Newmann said.
UHC’s most recent initiative, the Landlord and Community Partner Coalition, began when the team discovered that 30% of Utah’s housing vouchers were going unused. Rollins and Newmann surveyed tenants, landlords, property managers and case workers, finding significant disparities between urban and rural regions. Rural communities had affordable housing shortages, fewer landlords participating in assistance programs and inadequate public transportation. UHC shared their findings in a report, with 45 groups pledging to come together to work on solutions.
“Getting the right people together is the most meaningful thing,” Rollins said.
Through UHC’s membership in the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), Rollins and Newmann were able to tap into resources and networks at a wider scale than a two-person organization might normally have access to. UHC has met with professionals working on various housing issues across the nation and made plans for new projects to educate others about the steps towards homeownership and credit building opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals.
“Tapping into their [other NCRC members] resources and talking to them has been very helpful,” Rollins said, “and learning from other members – that has been so good.”
Kaitlyn Ridel is a Contributing Writer.
Photo caption: UHC executive director Tara Rollins (center left in yellow blazer) and local coalition members.
