COLUMBUS HOUSING INITIATIVE INC

aka NeighborWorks Columbus   |   Columbus, GA   |  www.nwcolumbus.org

Mission

To promote and provide access to fit and affordable housing and build assets for financial independence for all citizens of low to moderate income.

Ruling year info

2000

President/CEO

Mrs. Cathy Williams

Main address

PO Box 1620

Columbus, GA 31902-1620 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

58-2498678

NTEE code info

Housing Development, Construction, Management (L20)

Economic Development (S30)

Financial Institutions/Services (Non-Government Related) (W60)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

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

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

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.

Population(s) Served
Adults

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.

Population(s) Served
Adults

This fund provides for first and second mortgages, down payment assistance and small business loans.

Population(s) Served
Adults

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.

Population(s) Served
Seniors
Economically disadvantaged people

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

Videos

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

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.

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.

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.

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

COLUMBUS HOUSING INITIATIVE INC
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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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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COLUMBUS HOUSING INITIATIVE INC

Board of directors
as of 1/2/2021
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

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

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • 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

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 01/02/2021

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
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 01/02/2021

GuideStar 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

Data
  • 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.
Policies and processes
  • 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.