For more information about assessing who is at your table, see The Collective Impact Forum, “Equity – Who is At Our Tables?” Available at http://www.collectiveimpactforum.org.

For more information about assessing who is at your table, see The Collective Impact Forum, “Equity – Who is At Our Tables?” Available at http://www.collectiveimpactforum.org.

Special needs population can mean different things, depending on the location where you are considering developing. For the purposes of this guide, “special needs populations” includes, but is not limited to, the following groups: veterans, people with disabilities, seniors, families, intergenerational families, persons experiencing homelessness, justice-involved individuals, and seasonal workers.

This question aims to understand what is truly affordable for intended residents, which may not align with the commonly accepted standard of housing affordability (paying no more than 30 percent of household income toward housing costs).

Consider things like alignment of unit size with characteristics of intended residents; accessibility features, including compliance with all ADA and Fair Housing requirements; and health and wellness features.

Consider access that enhances educational and employment stability (such as proximity to job centers with living wage employment and schools); access to essential services, such as shopping and health care providers; and transportation service. Access to these destinations may vary by intended residents (for instance, proximity to schools may be less important to seniors living alone than intergenerational families or families with children).

Consider things like financial education programs, saving programs, and use of shared-equity renter or homeownership models. It should be noted that shared-equity homeownership models with deed restrictions for long-term affordability may limit the possibility of home equity growth for homeowners.

Consider things like use of criteria in construction bids and direct hiring of M/WBEs; businesses and firms owned by Black, Indigenous, or People of Color; or other business and firms that are owned or employ the intended residents or community residents, are representative of the intended residents or community residents, or align with broader organizational DEI goals.

Project partners refer to all project partners, including professionals used, such as architects and market analysts, community engagement specialists, general contractors, service providers, project managers, and property managers or management companies.

For more information about assessing who is at your table, see The Collective Impact Forum, “Equity – Who is At Our Tables?” available at http://www.collectiveimpactforum.org.

For more information about assessing who is at your table, see The Collective Impact Forum, “Equity – Who is At Our Tables?” available at http://www.collectiveimpactforum.org.

Consider if the marketing tactics for the property align with the intended residents’ communication needs, such as language, accessibility, medium, and messengers.

Community is a complex term – it can be used to refer to a physical location, such as a neighborhood, or a collection of people with shared histories, experiences, or identities who may or may not share the same physical location (for instance, live in the same neighborhood or area). For the purposes of this self-assessment, community is used to refer to both people and their shared relationship and a physical location, such as a neighborhood or other geographically defined area.

To understand different types of power, see these resources on power from the Institute of Development Studies.

Self-sufficiency refers to the ability to provide for one’s own needs.