The 27th annual conference is put on by the Utah Housing Coalition. Executive Director Tara Rollins says the organization has been around for 50 years and was run by an all-volunteer board for more than 30 years.
“We're all about increasing housing people can afford,” Rollins said. “When it came to the foreclosure crisis, we were trying to help people have a positive outcome with that. We had received a $1.8 million grant from the governor to help with that we had nine different organizations on the ground doing that. We also have done a lot of work on eviction and trying to stabilize our tenants living in rentals.”
The coalition is an advocate for both tenants and landlords but what’s changed over the years, Rollins says, is that large corporations are now the owners of affordable housing.
“Housing used to be a mom and pop,” Rollins said. “You knew who your landlord was, you could talk to them. And now it's become a portfolio for people you have no idea who is investing. All over the world people are investing in housing in Utah. And so, they're not on the ground, and then they hire a management company that is also a corporation that needs to make money. And we’re seeing a lot of instability in the way they run their business.”
The housing coalition works with several members and sponsors, including Park City Municipal, Habitat for Humanity and the Mountainlands Community Housing Trust, who will all be part of this year’s conference.
A number of sessions will be held over the three days, including a beginner’s track for participants to learn all about affordable housing. There will also be sessions for those who do a lot of work on affordable housing and look at ways to innovate it.
Anyone can register and there are different price points for different participants.
“We definitely want to make sure that our conference is affordable,” she said. “But affordable, you know, in a world that is expensive, is sometimes challenging. And so, if somebody wants to just come for one day, we want to make sure that come for one day. So, if you're a member, you do get a discount. But I also want to point out that we do have scholarships available. So, if anybody does want to come all we ask is for you to apply for a scholarship and just let us know what days you're going to be there. So, we're not, spending extra money on meals.”
Securing housing for those most vulnerable, she says, is the right thing to do and benefits the entire community.
“I am really excited about moving forward with housing people can afford because there's a lot more people under the tent working on this,” she said. “Previously, I felt like I was in the corner, going, ‘hello, over here.’ And now this just seems like there's a lot of people that want to have a better understanding and take down barriers to make this happen. And I just want to let people know, low wage earners are the backbone of our economy, and they should be living in our communities.”
Find more information and the link to register here.
