By Joni Foster, RCAC Housing and Community director

“Housers” have been through a tough five years where it seems like everyone and everything is against affordable housing development. In February, we exhaled a collective sigh of relief and toast the first political victory in a long time. Many activists believe the Farm Bill was sorely lacking, but tucked in the folds of this bill was a small but potent provision that allows self-help housing and USDA Rural Development Section 502 mortgages to continue to be available for more than 900 rural communities around the country.

How was this victory won? Through your collective efforts and the efforts of the National Rural Housing Coalition – your public policy voice in Washington DC. If your organization is not a member of NRHC, you are riding on the coattails of a very important advocacy coalition made up of your colleagues who are working for legislation that supports the work you do every day. RCAC is a member and a strong financial supporter of NRHC because we know that without a voice in DC our efforts would suffer even harder times trying to get the attention of legislators and regulators of the programs that are important to us all.

Today we say congratulations to rural “housers” throughout the country. Join NRHC today if you are not already a member: http://ruralhousingcoalition.org/join-nrhc

Bottoms up!