DHIC is excited to announce our participation as a sponsoring organization in the summer session of the Affordable Housing Bridge Program. This new initiative from the Housing Partnership Network and Project Destined aims to help diversify the affordable housing sector by creating a pipeline of young talent and emerging leaders. The summer session ran from June 26 – August 14 and included 40 total students, five of which were sponsored by DHIC.
This eight-week program is a virtual course for diverse junior and senior college students from 350+ colleges and universities across the country that focuses specifically on affordable housing.
It includes:
- Technical training
- Weekly speakers from the industry
- A one-day site visit to sponsoring organizations’ affordable housing communities
On July 27, we hosted six of these students on a tour of several DHIC communities, where they had the chance to have conversations with our staff as they take the next step on their journey to working in affordable housing.
As a sponsoring organization, we can also recruit for open positions or internship opportunities at DHIC from Project Destined’s database of diverse and motivated candidates who are interested in the work we do and have received early training in real estate and affordable housing.
In the last year, there have been 233 of 1,335 applicants in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina accepted to the program. This includes 79 students from North Carolina HBCUs.
Around 50% of students who have participated in the Affordable Housing Bridge Program have lived in affordable housing themselves. Students chosen to participate in the program receive a scholarship/travel stipend and one college credit.
DHIC President, Yolanda Winstead, says, “We’re grateful for the opportunity to be a sponsoring organization in the Affordable Housing Bridge Program this summer. By helping to educate these students on career paths in affordable housing and share with them how interesting, exciting, and impactful our work is, we can help ensure that our mission will continue on with the next generation.”