The Metropolitan Housing Coalition, a non-profit that advocates for affordable housing and conducts research on how Metro Louisville can improve the lives of low-income citizens who struggle with housing and financial issues, is looking for a new executive director. Its current director, Jane Walsh, resigned last month and hopes to turn the job over to the new director at the /files/storyimages/of May. “I’ve just been kind of overwhelmed because of the mutual demands of home and work,” Walsh says of her resignation. “It’s hard because it was my dream job. I got it, I did it for three years, but this just isn’t the right time.”
The coalition has already begun the search for a replacement. The new director will likely focus his or her energy in areas Walsh spent less time addressing, she says. “What I am is a good administrator,” she says. “I spent most of my time trying to put some structure on an already incredibly solid coalition, so hopefully the next person can do some policy stuff.”
Walsh is leaving at a time when MHC is completing several initiatives. Its foreclosure working group recently completed research on the cause of increases in home foreclosures in Metro Louisville and in early June will release the results along with some initiatives that will help reduce the problem. The coalition’s annual meeting is scheduled for May 17, and James Carr, senior vice president for the Fannie Mae Foundation, will be the keynote speaker. Carr will talk about housing policy and research, but he will also discuss new ways to provide financial services to people who ordinarily take out payday loans with interest rates of more than 400 percent. “Instead of charging people to be poor,” says Walsh, “(we’re looking at) building private and public resources to serve their needs.”
Board members at MHC will begin interviews next week and hope to have someone in place soon, says Walsh. However, there are always opportunities available for people to get involved in creating better housing opportunities. To help or find out more, go to ://www.metropolitanhousing.org/ or call 584-6858.
