HAC would like to present its Annual Report for the year 2021.

HAC 2021 Annual Report

A Message from HAC President & CEO and Board Chair

For 50 years, the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) has worked with rural communities to build a better future. As we celebrate the first half-century of HAC, we are prompted to look back on the lessons of the last 50 years. But more importantly, we are inspired to look ahead. We envision a future in which everyone in rural America will have a safe, healthy, and affordable place to call home. Since our ambitions are mighty, the challenge before us in 2021 was to build the launchpad for that vision. 

In many ways, 2021 was our most impactful year yet. But, we didn’t just help build 820 homes, publish 11 new research products, and train 1,894 housing professionals. We did all that in ways that set up HAC and the communities we serve for long-term success. 

In December, we hosted the National Rural Housing Conference, welcoming over 550 rural housing experts and on-the-ground professionals from across the country. With speeches from members of the President’s Cabinet, Congressional leadership, and civil rights icons, and discussions with panels of industry leaders, the conference was a platform for innovative ideas about how to harness the innovation of rural America. Through more than 40 workshops, our attendees gained the knowledge and skills they need to create meaningful, lasting change in their communities.

We also deepened our relationships with the policymakers who oversee federal rural housing programs. These relationships resulted in the inclusion of new and expanded rural programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a variety of coalitions and working groups, HAC is bringing the rural housing industry together to advocate for the programs our communities need to succeed. As HAC expands our policy work, we’ll be guided by policy priorities we crafted in 2021—priorities for both 2022 and for the next 50 years.

While we are celebrating the work HAC has done since its founding in 1971, we are laying the foundation for our next fifty years of rural success. We are building support for our ambitious vision of rural America’s future through a new campaign: Vision 2071. Through the Vision 2071 campaign, we published stories that explore what local organizations need to address their communities’ housing challenges and what role a national intermediary like HAC can play in bringing us all together. Over the next three years, HAC will raise funding and capital to help all of us achieve the vision of a rural America where everyone has a safe, healthy, and affordable place to call home. 

Our work in 2021 was the launchpad for achieving that goal. Thank you for supporting the Housing Assistance Council’s work this year. We’re excited for what the next 50 have in store.