What’s at stake?
DOGE has assigned one of the teams under its purview to the topic of NWA funding, according to the bulletin.
“While it is not clear what their goals and timeline are, it is the same team that closed the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and eliminated the U.S. Institute for Peace (USIP),” NHC said.
NWA is a congressionally chartered nonprofit organization, meaning that its funds are approved by Congress and it does not have any employees on the federal payroll.
“It is funded primarily by annual appropriations directly from Congress, in addition to some private grants and contributions,” NHC explained.
“In FY2023, NWA had $232.5 million available with all funding sources combined, of which $166 million was from core Congressional appropriations. This funding provides flexible, strategic, training and capital grants to 247 NWA network organizations.”
NeighborWorks provides grants and technical assistance to roughly 240 community development organizations across the U.S. Its network has a high performance threshold, according to David Dworkin, NHC’s president and CEO.
Investment efficiency
“The federal dollars they help distribute are leveraged at a rate of 71 to 1,” Dworkin said in an interview with HousingWire. “In an environment where we’re going to be expected to do more with less — both in terms of people and resources — NeighborWorks is an essential partner.”
The timeline and intent of DOGE’s scrutiny remains uncertain. But NHC does not want to take any chances in sounding the alarm, considering the speed at which other federal organizations have been dismantled at its behest.
“It’s important to keep in mind that dismantling USIP took less than 10 days, despite the fact that like NWA, its staff are not federal employees and its funding is directly from Congress,” the NHC alert explained.
“A DOGE team also approached another nonprofit that received federal funding but is not congressionally chartered and has an independent board of directors and told its leadership that it wanted to assign members of its team to work at all institutes or agencies that receive federal funds. The request was subsequently dropped.”
Dworkin said the urgency that NHC is using to inform its network comes from NWA’s essential role in affordable housing across the country.
“NeighborWorks America is an essential part of the affordable housing ecosystem and a key ally for Washington policymakers,” he said. “Their network is spread across the country, including in communities that often aren’t well represented in Washington — particularly rural areas and what we typically think of as red states that are facing a growing affordable housing crisis.”
‘Strategic’ opportunity
NWA’s work has led to the construction of “hundreds of thousands” of affordable homes, Dworkin said, adding that there is “no reason DOGE should be involved at all.” This is because NWA is not an executive branch organization, its staff is not part of the government and its funds are directly appropriated by Congress.
“There isn’t enough potential savings here to warrant the attention,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense that a DOGE team would waste a minute on NeighborWorks. If there’s a policy issue, it should be addressed through the federal appropriations process. Frankly, I believe the administration would be very strategic to expand its investment in NeighborWorks — not reduce it.”
This is because NeighborWorks represents “the ultimate public-private partnership,” Dworkin said. “It’s exactly the kind of approach you’d want if you aim to reduce the government’s footprint while expanding the availability of affordable housing.”
When asked if there’s a chance that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) could come to the organization’s defense, Dworkin said he was hopeful that the broader administration would see its value.
“I’m hopeful that HUD and others in the administration will see the value here,” he said. “The DOGE team can be very zealous and sometimes gets ahead of itself. This may be one of those times.”
Since there is such a distinct lack of affordable housing stock, Dworkin also believes “there’s an opportunity here to be strategic — using organizations like NeighborWorks to leverage federal investment.”
Doug Robinson, the head of media relations for NeighborWorks America, emailed a statement to HousingWire in which he said that the organization is “aligned with the administration’s housing goals.”
“Over the years it has been shown that our work has delivered affordable housing opportunities for America’s communities in all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico,” the statement read in part. “We want to continue partnering with the administration on its bold affordable housing goals.
“There is no organization — public or private — that has similar positive multiplier effects in support of affordable housing for the American people. We know that an intact NeighborWorks America serves the country in the best possible way.”