2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 38

PHILANTHROPIC IMPACT
" At ULI, we're not experts on
homelessness, " Herbig notes. " We
can't go at this alone. To be successful,
we have to partner with the
experts in the field who've long been
working on the issue, and [who]
understand the nuances and the
unique sensitivity that this conversation
needs to have. If we can do that,
my hope is that we'll have a transformative
impact. "
Social entrepreneurship
Charlotte-based developer and ULI
member Philip Payne-who has
served as an adviser to Homeless to
Housed and who wrote a portion of
the initial 2022 report-first became
engaged in the issue during 2017,
after he went to Los Angeles to take
part in an Advisory Services Panel on
homelessness there. Payne says the
experience led him to contemplate
how to get the real estate industry
involved in a solution.
Payne got back home and called
Beth Silverman, who at the time
was a ULI vice president, and got
together with her and Molly McCabe,
founder and CEO of real estate
advisory firm HaydenTanner, to have
another discussion. The result was
the Lotus Campaign, a nonprofit
organization that facilitates housingdriven
solutions to homelessness.
(Silverman is now the campaign's
executive director, while Payne serves
as chair and McCabe is a director.)
One of Lotus' key programs connects
people who are at risk of
homelessness with landlords who
have available units but might
be reluctant to rent to them over
concerns that they will be unable
to keep up with the rent or may
damage the property.
To eliminate those concerns,
Lotus makes a nonrefundable payment-the
equivalent of 8 to 12 percent
of the annual rent-in lieu of a
deposit as an incentive to landlords.
It also guarantees rent payments
and covers any damage. In essence,
Lotus becomes the equivalent of
" the parent on a student's lease, "
Payne says.
Lotus also arranges for the tenant
to receive " intensive social service
support " from various agencies
during the lease term, including
home visits at least once a month.
If a problematic tenant needs to
be evicted, Lotus-after exhausting
other approaches-will even appear
in court on the landlord's behalf.
Since Lotus began the program
several years ago, it has facilitated
housing for about 420 people,
including approximately 270 who
benefited enough from the stability
bestowed that they eventually were
able to live independently. " There's
been a grand total of one eviction, "
Payne says. Lotus has had to cover
less than $50,000 in lost rent and
damage, with most of the expense
related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program's track record is so
good that some landlords now waive
the upfront incentive payment.
Lotus also helps improve housing
A communal dining space at LifeMoves Mountain View. The project inspired
Preston Butcher and his wife, Carolyn, to donate $1.5 million to fund the ULI
Homeless to Housed Initiative in September 2022.
availability by investing in multifamily
residential properties. In 2018, for
example, the organization partnered
with a real estate company to purchase
a 144-unit multifamily development
in southwest Charlotte and was
able to reserve 30 of the units for
Lotus Campaign clients.
Payne, who's currently writing a
paper for ULI on innovative solutions
to homelessness, thinks it's time to
start viewing the real estate industry
as an important participant in remedying
the problem. He doesn't see
private-sector efforts as competing
with government ones but, instead,
as a means to free public resources
to be deployed in other ways.
If more ULI donors step up to support
Homeless to Housed, that might
enable the initiative to have an even
larger impact on homelessness, and
lead to solutions that could ease the
suffering and hardship of hundreds
of thousands of people in need.
" The problem is too big if we don't
step up to help, " Payne says. UL
PATRICK J. KIGER is a Washington, D.C.-based
journalist.
38
URBAN LAND FALL 2023
LIFEMO VES
2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land
