If you are poor in America, there has always been a housing crisis. Unaffordable, unsanitary, and often disconnected from jobs, schools, and transportation – these characteristics have plagued many people in America. This crisis has grown to engulf more and more people including the middle and, at times, upper middle class.

This situation has led to dramatic increases in housing insecurity, economic burdens, and continued homelessness.

For health, safety, and security, everyone needs an address.

And traditional development and design approaches are not working. A top-down approach that prioritizes market-rate single-family and apartment development leaves little room for creativity and flexibility to meet people’s unique housing needs and budgets.

Purchasing a single-family home has historically been the main driver of generational wealth but, with stagnant wages combined with high housing costs, most people are locked out of this path toward generational wealth and stability.

And finally, most housing is not well-designed or constructed, only meeting baseline energy performance, which in turn drives up monthly costs even more for residents.

BNIM’s address – An Initiative for Equitable Development aims to play a part in shifting this housing reality. We want to find and execute on innovative design, financing, and community-based involvement ideas that develop mixed-income, affordable housing, build wealth for all involved, while designing and constructing beautiful and sustainable buildings.

Our focus is to create solutions, build partnerships, and replicate models that address the current reality but also push for reimagination of what housing can be.

To have a shot at obtaining lofty, socially-minded goals and shifting the conversation, we cannot rely on traditional development and design organizational models.

We, along with other like-minded organizations with these goals, must take the lead. This means collaborating with our communities and neighbors to find the common needs and desired benefits, building interesting and diverse partnerships, creating new financial models and diversified funding sources, and executing on sustainable design and construction.

If you are interested in solving the many challenges that come along with housing in general, affordable housing specifically, and redefining the housing market, please reach out. We’d love to have a conversation and find some common ground, create a project, or push forward on a new idea.

BNIM's address team includes laura lesniewski, sam de jong, craig scranton and james baker.