COLUMBUS HOUSING INITIATIVE INC
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
NeighborWorks® Columbus believes that: • All residents have the right to access to fit and affordable housing; • Elders have the right to age-in-place, with dignity, in a safe, healthy, affordable home; and, • That families have the right to raise their children in safe neighborhoods. Within its four core lines of business: housing development/property management, neighborhood revitalization, homeowner education/counseling, and lending, NeighborWorks® Columbus has developed various programs and services that fulfill its core beliefs and mission. NeighborWorks® Columbus advocates that quality of life in a community begins with safe, decent, and affordable housing as its foundation. Through housing production, NeighborWorks® Columbus helps stabilize and strengthen our neighborhoods and the community at large.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Real Estate Development
This program provides safe, fit and affordable housing for low to moderate income homebuyers and renters. This program works with local, federal and state programs to purchase, rehabilitate and sell/rent these homes.
Home Buyer Education and Counseling
This program provides home buyer education and counseling to primarily first time home buyers. This program provides financial literacy education, credit counseling, budgeting and various other topics that are geared toward building life long home owners.
Revolving Loan Fund
This fund provides for first and second mortgages, down payment assistance and small business loans.
Columbus Cottage Program
This program provides for the demolition of substandard housing for elderly low income citizens in Columbus, GA. Once the home is demolished, a new home is constructed and the elderly resident then can live the remainder of their days in a safe, energy efficient, new home.
Where we work
Accreditations
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund of the United States Department of the Treasury 2013
NeighborWorks America 2013
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - Housing Counseling Agency Certification 2012
Affiliations & memberships
NeighborWorks Organization Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation - Member 2005
Opportunity Finance Network 2012
External reviews

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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
NeighborWorks® Columbus is tasked with the mission to promote and provide access to fit and affordable housing to build assets for financial independence for all citizens of low to moderate income in Columbus and Phenix City. We accomplish this through homebuyer education and counseling, housing production, and mortgage and economic development lending.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
NeighborWorks® Columbus will respond to the housing needs of its communities and strategically position itself to adapt quickly to changing markets by increasing access to affordable housing in Columbus through the production of housing units.
NeighborWorks® Columbus will serve our most vulnerable residents' housing needs.
NeighborWorks® Columbus will position itself as the premier homeownership preparation agency in Georgia and Alabama.
NeighborWorks® Columbus will deploy its lending capital to promote homeownership.
NeighborWorks® Columbus will maintain financial strength and policy involvement to support the mission.
NeighborWorks® Columbus will identify funding to deploy for the revitalization of the targeted neighborhoods.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
NeighborWorks® Columbus is an AERIS rated Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). In addition, NeighborWorks® Columbus is a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency, a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) and a NeighborWorks America charter member. These all require a certain level of intense scrutiny and monitoring. With 19 years in the community, NeighborWorks® Columbus is led by our founding President/CEO with over 25 years experience in the housing/development field. A licensed lender, NeighborWorks® Columbus has a licensed mortgage loan officer on staff and plans are underway to hire a second.NeighborWorks® Columbus has a vigorous homebuyer education and counseling program that has counseled over 5,000 people and created over 1,400 new homeowners. NeighborWorks® Columbus also has an active real estate development program.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
One of NeighborWorks® Columbus' original goals was to become a community lender and receive CDFI status from the US Treasury. That goal was realized in 2004 and NeighborWorks® Columbus has received two major Financial Assistance awards to further develop the lending program. NeighborWorks® Columbus was able to take the lending program and partner with NeighborWorks America and Wells Fargo to produce $19,600,000 in affordable mortgages to low to moderate income families.
One goal NeighborWorks® Columbus is working toward is the development of an endowment to operate a senior housing program. As funding becomes harder and harder to find, NeighborWorks® Columbus is working to develop and grow an endowment that will allow us to demolish substandard housing of our elderly population and rebuild safe, fit, and energy efficient housing.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
COLUMBUS HOUSING INITIATIVE INC
Board of directorsas of 02/11/2022
Mrs Shannon Smallman
Belva Dorsey
Enrichment Services
Mitch Watkins
Synovus
Vince Allen
The Bridge
Cynthia Walker-Hester
Cols Area Habitat for Humanity
Mike Irvin
Integrated Financial Group
Tina Lamb
Aflac
Mary Mayrose
Phenix City Housing Authority
Carrie Strickland
Truth Springs
Robert Wilson
Attorney
Bonnie Anderson
Synovus
Randalette Williams
Solid Source Premier Realty
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/02/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.