Housing Leaders Praise the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy
Washington, DC – The following statements were issued by national housing leaders on the launch of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy:
“There is no substitute for a decent, safe, affordable home. This foundational belief has driven Ron Terwilliger’s decades-long personal and professional commitment to affordable housing. As a philanthropist, advocate, and advisor, Ron has always put people and communities first. He has spent his career working to ensure every American has access to a home they can afford in a neighborhood of their choice, and it is an honor to work alongside him to address the challenges we face as a nation. Housing affordability is an inherently bipartisan issue that impacts urban and rural communities of every size in every state, meaning now is the right time—and the Bipartisan Policy Center is the right place—to launch the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy. The center will amplify Ron’s work, bringing leaders together to dismantle barriers to affordability one by one. Enterprise looks forward to working closely with Dennis Shea and the entire BPC policy team to strengthen and expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, a shining example of a public-private partnership with bipartisan support that has created more than 3 million affordable homes nationwide.”
Priscilla Almodovar – President and CEO, Enterprise Community Partners
“On behalf of the Multifamily Housing industry, NMHC welcomes the creation of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy within BPC. Our nation’s affordability crisis has only deepened throughout the pandemic, and so the resources and focus of the new center come at a highly propitious time. We applaud Ron Terwilliger’s longstanding leadership in housing and his indelible imprint on Multifamily, and look forward to working with Ron and the center on attacking the country’s affordability challenges with creative and effective solutions.” Doug Bibby – President and CEO, National Multifamily Housing Council
“Having Ron Terwilliger and the Bipartisan Policy Center join forces is great news for the housing community. Ron’s dedication to ensuring that all Americans are stably and affordably housed and BPC’s successful track record of pushing for bipartisan housing solutions is a powerful combination that is guaranteed to get results. I want to commend Ron for his generous philanthropy and BPC for its continued leadership on housing policy.”
Ed Brady – President and CEO, Home Builders Institute; Past Chairman, National Association of Home Builders
“I’d like to commend Ron and the Bipartisan Policy Center for launching the new J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy. Both are committed to increasing access to affordable housing, and I am confident this new center will support the policies needed to address such a critically important issue.”
Bob Broeksmit – President and CEO, Mortgage Bankers Association
“Providing every family in America with a safe, affordable home is central to promoting health, racial justice, and economic opportunity. A problem as big as the nation’s affordable housing crisis calls for big solutions. That is why I am grateful for Ron Terwilliger and the Bipartisan Policy Center for their tireless efforts to bring about bold and broad-based solutions to combat homelessness and eviction.”
Matthew Desmond – Director, Eviction Lab at Princeton University
“NAR congratulates the Bipartisan Policy Center for launching the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy. This center is a crucible where party affiliations disappear and real and enduring housing policy solutions emerge. At the core of what we do as an association is the foundational belief that Americans from every walk of life deserve access to the American Dream. For too long, affordable housing opportunities have been out of reach for too many, and the pandemic has amplified the challenges. The lack of affordable housing supply is nothing short of a crisis that will take a once-in-a-generation and coordinated national response. NAR looks forward to collaborating with Ron and the Bipartisan Policy Center to ensure every American is afforded access to homeownership.”
Charlie Oppler – President, National Association of Realtors®
“When a person working a minimum wage job cannot afford a modest one-bedroom unit in an overwhelming majority of U.S. counties, it is beyond time for bold action and leadership. That is why the National Fair Housing Alliance applauds the launch of the much-needed J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, BPC’s first policy center focused on ensuring every family has safe, decent, and affordable housing. Addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis will help promote racial equity, economic, and educational opportunity, and advance fair housing goals.”
Lisa Rice – President and CEO, National Fair Housing Alliance
“The increasing shortage of safe, stable, and affordable homes is the cause of increasing homelessness, poor health, and many other costly and tragic social ills. It is a solvable problem, though, with solutions that both Ron Terwilliger and the Bipartisan Policy Center have shown can be supported on a bipartisan basis. The J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy is a much-needed step. We are grateful for that and look forward to helping in any way we can.”
Nan Roman – President and CEO, National Alliance to End Homelessness
“State housing finance agencies believe the most effective and enduring policies are made and sustained through bipartisan collaboration. We commend Ron Terwilliger and the Bipartisan Policy Center for their commitment to bringing both parties together to identify and advance solutions to our nation’s significant housing needs.”
Stockton Williams – Executive Director, National Council of State Housing Agencies
“The housing crisis, amplified and worsened by the ongoing pandemic, demands sustained investments in comprehensive and proven solutions. The crisis disproportionately harms people of color due to decades of systemic racism in housing and other systems; systemic reforms are needed to correct and improve this imbalance and injustice. NLIHC commends Ron Terwilliger for his continued leadership in the housing field, and appreciates the work that the Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy will do to continue building the bipartisan support needed to achieve these critical investments and reforms.”
Diane Yentel – President and CEO, National Low Income Housing Coalition