ABOUT THE HOUSING INNOVATION COUNCIL
The Housing Innovation Council is a group that meets quarterly to bring innovative housing ideas and a facilitated discussion through an online zoom meeting. The meetings also focus on advocacy efforts and updates on projects that support affordable housing, including updates provided by Housing North, your regional housing partnership. We welcome you to join this group by clicking here.
BACKGROUND ON THE GROUP
The initial members of this group came from the former Housing Solutions Network (HSN) which was coordinated by Networks Northwest from the 1990s to 2020. When Housing North was formed, Networks Northwest discontinued facilitating the HSN in 2021. Housing North started to coordinate a new regional housing group in 2021, using the HSN member list (“Practitioners Circle'') to ultimately decide on the focus and purpose of the group. In January 2021, Housing North sent a survey to about 50 members of this group. The survey results showed that respondents wanted to see the group focus on the following key areas:
Leveraging advocacy efforts
Information and education on housing initiatives; and
Increased collaboration and project support for affordable housing.
We used this feedback to decide on the name and focus on Housing Innovations with the goal of bringing an innovative housing project or idea for presentation and discussion. The meetings also focus on these three areas mentioned above and include updates provided on three focus areas of Housing North: Communications/Awareness, Policy, and Capacity. Anyone is welcome to join the group and it may include some in-person round table discussions facilitated by our Housing Ready Staff.