The Urban Land Institute is continuously exploring new approaches to equitable development in the region, and the organization's new endeavor offers faith-based institutions a way to support affordable housing. Ozarks at Large's Jack Travis has more on ULI's Faithful Foundations workshops.
Think of your local church. Maybe you attend a weekly service there, or you simply drive by on your way to work. Regardless of your relationship with the building, one thing is probably true. It sits on a sizable piece of property in a residential part of town.
In Benton and Washington counties, research from the Urban Land Institute has identified seven square miles of property owned by faith organizations, and almost half of that is vacant or used for parking. Candi Adams, director of signature programs at ULI Northwest Arkansas, says they're trying to help church leaders think differently about their property and how it could be used to further fulfill their mission. They're calling the program Faithful Foundations.
"So this program really identifies opportunities for development of affordable housing, and specifically working with faith organizations that already own land, many of them own underutilized land. We wanted to research and understand the potential of what that could mean in this region, but then also educate and provide the opportunity to connect faith organizations with the resources and networks they would need to pursue projects."
So think tiny homes on undeveloped parcels of land, apartments in the unused rec room, even initiatives that don't outright provide housing but still support those in need.
"We've actually worked with a number of churches that have already pursued projects like that. They're turning unused square footage in their churches into day rooms and showers, community showers that are open to the unhoused. We're seeing studio apartments, classrooms that are transitioned into studio apartments, but we also don't want to just limit it to a remodel. We can certainly provide resources and learning about new construction."
Think back to that seven square miles figure. That's a lot of untapped land that could be used for housing solutions. Adams also says that providing housing or services generally lines up with the church's mission. Examples of these collaborations have sprung up across the country, and nationally, the idea has a name: YIGBY.
"Have you ever heard of NIMBY? Not in my backyard. This is coined as YIGBY. Yes, in God's backyard. And there is legislation that is associated with those things in different parts of the country, but there are also a lot of successful examples of faith organizations that have turned underutilized land or underutilized square footage into affordable housing projects, and that's in various scales. Some of them are tiny homes, some of them are multifamily apartments, some of them are single-family homes."
Faithful Foundations is planting seeds and offering more information on how faith communities here and elsewhere in Arkansas have tackled these projects through a series of workshops. The series is free, but registration is required and a single sign-up covers all three sessions. The first takes place at the end of August, with Groundwork NWA. That discussion will revolve around the cost of living and how affordability or the lack of it plays out in people's lives.
"We'll talk a little bit about the cost of housing, how that impacts quality of life, and then we'll get to participate in a CHATS session, which is a really great conversational tool that they have developed to get people communicating about different housing concepts and ideas."
The second takes place on Sept. 14 with a conversation featuring Shawn Schwartzman of Potter's House. He'll discuss the nonprofit's multiuse, faith-led development in South Fayetteville, while explaining its history and how the work has changed over the years. You'll also hear from other leaders in affordable housing, like Jim Hall, a co-director leader at New Heights Church. Across town on the west side, that church leased its land off Wedington Drive for the Cobblestone Farm Community.
"If you're familiar with that neighborhood, New Heights Church was gifted land several years ago and decided they would rather put that to use for an affordable housing neighborhood than to build a church. And they have pursued an incredible project that now is a thriving neighborhood, with rentals available for people needing housing, families."
Faith leaders will also hear from folks who have gone through this process with the Urban Land Institute.
"So First Christian Church in Rogers was one of the organizations we were fortunate to work with last year. We led them through a curriculum series about real estate development and paired them with technical consultants to help visualize a concept that was missionally aligned on their land. So that session will actually be at First Christian Church, and we'll get a chance to kind of see their project in action and what they're hoping to pursue. And he'll talk a little bit about community partners and how important it is to engage with the surrounding neighborhood."
The third and final workshop will take place Sept. 28, featuring two leaders who have built affordable housing communities, including Solomon Burchfield and New Beginnings NWA.
"New Beginnings, of course, is a nonprofit organization that manages homeless village and a healing center for those who are unhoused in Fayetteville, and they are building capacity and raising funds now, building community partnerships to develop a little larger scale home, which he'll talk a little bit about, fundraising strategies and kind of building that capital stack for that development.
"And then we have Errin Stanger coming with Providence Park Homes in Mabelvale. This is a tiny home village that is being developed just outside of Little Rock. They are hoping to scale to 400 homes. It's modeled after the Community First! Village in East Austin, Mobile Loaves & Fishes. And she's just doing incredible work, but she'll talk about how critical the community partnerships are.
"We also will be joined by Dr. Michelle Morris at First United Methodist Church in Bentonville. First Methodist Church in Bentonville was also a part of our program last year. And they're in a critical location in downtown Bentonville. So discussions of affordable housing can be a little tricky in some neighborhoods. And she's going to talk about not only that kind of outward-facing capacity building within your organization, knowing where you are located, but also the internal capacity building of building consensus within your congregation. She is leading a sermon series now through her church as the lead pastor to talk about how decisions can be made involving everyone so that whatever decision they do pursue with that land is something that the church has had a voice in making that decision all along."
The sessions will all focus on practical advice from people who have been through it themselves. Adams says that tackling housing can seem intimidating, especially for church leaders with little to no background in the field.
"None of our presenters are real estate developers by background, and they have come into faith-led housing or nonprofit-led housing in a mission-driven capacity. And I think that's really critical to what we're also trying to share is that as industry professionals, we know that development is hard. Development of affordable housing is really hard. But with the right partners and networks and sources and community support, they're very possible."
After the workshop series, Adams says that ULI will keep working with organizations motivated to pursue a project. Groups that are project-ready can apply for a technical assistance program with a $3,000 fee, offsetting ULI's consulting costs. It's scheduled to begin in the spring of 2027, and participants will finish with a site survey, a pro forma and a preliminary plan for housing on their land.
Adams says that she hopes that Faithful Foundations will allow churches to continue a mission they've upheld for centuries, and even see it through in a different, yet effective manner.
"I mean, they were foundations in our neighborhoods. In most cases, they were the community. The church was the community for the longest time. And maybe they had intentions to build at one time or expand, or maybe it was deeded to them by a parishioner who passed or something like that. I mean, we've seen a lot of different cases of why they may own land.
"And I think what's really important to understand about what we're doing is we're certainly not encouraging anyone to develop that's not within their mission. We're just trying to present the opportunity that this is a really critical need in Northwest Arkansas to build affordable housing. And this is an opportunity for faith organizations and the community partners to work together to create a sustainable solution that could maintain long-term affordability, but also benefits the church in the sense that they're extending their mission and they're able to potentially have a revenue source off of the land that is currently only costing them money to maintain."
You can follow the Urban Land Institute on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, or visit their website at arkansas.uli.org. You can find all the information regarding Faithful Foundations in the programs section under the Get Involved tab. The first workshop kicks off Aug. 31. Just register by Aug. 30. Adams says to reach out with questions at candi.adams@uli.org.
As the region grows, housing solutions will have to be increasingly creative. But helping neighbors is familiar work for Northwest Arkansas faith communities.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
