Community Engagement

SCRCOG has hired a consultant to form a growing number of community members who understand healthy housing development and policies that reflect their municipality’s needs and interests. Community members should feel their concerns have been heard so that, in coming years, there can be wide agreement among residents on their municipality’s housing needs and possible areas for future housing creation.

For each participating municipality, our consultant, Ben Fink, is facilitating honest and productive community discussions, answering questions, addressing misinformation, and listening to the concerns of community members. Municipal leaders expressed a need for assistance with:

• Implementing the strategies and goals outlined in the municipal AHPs
• Educational forums for community members on general affordable housing concepts
• Educational forums for community members on discussing the purpose and contents of the AHPs
• Engaging community members in discussions about their thoughts on affordable housing (i.e. their goals, concerns, and perspectives about the housing needs of their municipality)

Ben Fink, Ph.D., works with communities across the country—from the rural coalfields of Kentucky and the Black Belt of Alabama to the urban centers of West Baltimore and North Milwaukee—to create the conditions for people of all kinds to share stories and make change. His work in theater, organizing, and economic development has been featured by Salon.com, the Brookings Institution, MIT, Harvard Law School, and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2020 Ben was recognized by Time Magazine as one of “27 People Bridging Divides Across America.”

For more information, please contact Stephanie Camp, Regional Planner, at [email protected]