We'll feature a study that PD&R has completed of the housing counseling industry, which plays an important role in U.S. housing policy. The study examines all types of education and counseling services, including services for people seeking to purchase homes, existing homeowners, renters, and people experiencing homelessness. It also investigates challenges facing the industry and the best means of supporting quality housing education and counseling.

Alternative forms of homeownership are receiving greater attention during this time of housing market instability and affordability gaps faced by American families. To sustain and grow homeownership opportunities, researchers are evaluating new financing mechanisms that feature risk protection and help overcome the affordability challenges that new homeowners often encounter. Shared equity is one of the instruments being examined for what it can offer in terms of meeting affordable housing needs, mitigating risk factors, and sustaining affordable homeownership over time. ResearchWorks will discuss how shared equity works.

Each year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation presents the National Trust/HUD Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation. The 2008 winner, the Curley School, was recognized for reclaiming an historic public school in Ajo, Arizona. We'll take readers on a brief tour of the building's history, its various mixed uses, and the funding sources that helped make the renovation possible.