A Boot Camp for Non-Profits Combating Homelessness Across California

For the people dedicated to closing California’s housing gap through the complex and highly-regulated world of affordable home development, there is no roadmap.

“We refer to regulations every day, all day long,” said Zohreh Khodabandelu, a project manager for Resources for Community Development, a Berkeley-based affordable housing developer that has built 2,200 homes in the Bay Area. “There is the financial part, rental market analysis, entitlement process, site feasibility, tax credits. Each project is comprised of many small pieces. We have to keep track of all of them.”

For most project managers, it’s a daunting task, and one that can take years to master. Which is why, nearly 30 years ago, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation launched the first Housing Development Training Institute (HDTI), a kind of boot camp for developers that lessens the learning curve for non-profit groups working to create and preserve affordable housing in California…