By Andy Barnett, CEO
Our Government Relations & Grants Manager, Cassidy Moore, and I recently attended Habitat on the Hill in Washington, DC. We joined staff, volunteers, and homeowners from across the country in hundreds of meetings with members of Congress. On a hectic day on the hill, the North Carolina delegation of Habitat affiliates was well received by staffers for NC Senators Tillis and Budd. We joined our friends from the Greensboro affiliate for productive meetings with 6th District Congresswoman Kathy Manning’s office and our Congressman Chuck Edwards. Regardless of party, our message about the power of home resonates.
Our experience reinforced Habit for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford’s charge to all the advocates in DC, “Our work is political, but it is not partisan.” Political because the work of affordable housing happens in the context of policies and funding allocations at all levels of government. It is not partisan because elected officials of all affiliations and their supporters can unite behind the vision that “everyone deserves a place to call home”. In fact, most current federal housing policies were enacted under divided government with support from both Republican Presidents and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.
Early voting for the primaries has started and election day is Tuesday, March 5. We have big choices to make this year. I encourage everyone to get involved in the process of choosing our elected decision makers. Exercise your right to vote and to advocate.
Habitat is non-partisan: we bring people together. We unite people of various religions, ethnicities, socio-economic classes, and political beliefs around the common goal of building a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Housing is an issue we can all get behind.
