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Rashida Tyler serves as the Deputy Executive Director of the New York State Council of Churches and as the Project Manager for the Interfaith Affordable Housing Collaborative. She is a passionate advocate for social and economic justice, especially for women in low-income and disenfranchised communities. Rashida is the former Associate Executive Director of Community Outreach and Program Development for the YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County. Previously she served as Director of Research and Operational Programming for the Ulster County Attorney’s Office.
Rashida works with many community organizations and advocacy groups to help work toward meaningful change and community uplift. Rashida is the Co-Founder of the Real Kingston Tenants Union and Founder of the Ulster County Coalition for Housing Justice to empower tenants and advocate for housing justice in the City of Kingston and Ulster County. The organization continues to not only advocate for housing justice but directly assist tenants by holding legal workshops, a housing resource fair, housing forums and assisting tenants in locating housing, and applying for housing assistance. Rashida is the Founder of Black Women At Work, a group that seeks to provide mentorship and networking opportunities to African American women in the Mid-Hudson Valley. She also serves as a board member of Ulster County’s Industrial Development Agency. She is President of the AME Zion Church of Kingston’s Lay Council and the Pastor’s Steward.
Rashida earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and History from Marist College, an M.A. in Africana Studies from SUNY at Albany and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy. She is a 2016 Women in Government and Civil Society Fellow, a 2017 graduate of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale, a 2018 graduate of the New Leaders Council Fellowship, and a 2022 Hudson Valley Top Forty Under 40 Mover & Shaker Honoree.
Jason Labate is an attorney focusing on faith-based development, not-for-profit law, affordable housing and community development. He is a frequent presenter on faith based & non-profit real estate issues and is a co-author of Changing the Paradigm: Creating Scale & Keeping Local Expertise in Nonprofit Affordable Housing Development in the Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law. Jason has a JD from Brooklyn Law School and MPA from NYU and a BA from the University of Chicago.
Marc Greenberg (Governance, Outreach and Assessment, and Bullpen Committees): Marc Greenberg is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and housing. Since the Assembly’s establishment in 1985, Marc has been addressing homelessness through advocating public policy solutions and other strategies in partnership with an ever broadening network of faith communities, other advocates, housing and service providers, elected officials and those who have experienced homelessness.
Rev. Peter Cook serves as Executive Director of the New York State Council of Churches which represents 7,000 congregations across the state of New York. In his pastoral roles, he has been a strong advocate for the development of affordable housing. He currently serves as Vice-President of the Interfaith Affordable Housing Collaborative and is directing the Council’s Who is My Neighbor Community Development Initiative to help faith institutions use their property to better serve their town. The Council is also part of the Faith-Based Affordable Housing and Community Development Partnership recently funded by Trinity Church Wall Street. The Partnership helps congregations in New York use their property to build affordable housing and promote more just housing policies.
Jerrod Delaine is the Chief Executive Officer of The Delaine Companies, a native of South Florida with roots in the Miami Lakes and Miramar communities. He holds a Bachelor's Degree and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Architecture from Florida A & M University School of Architecture and Environmental Technology, as well as a Master of Science degree from New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate.
With over a decade of experience as a seasoned Real Estate Developer, Jerrod has honed a comprehensive skill set encompassing Design, Construction, Finance, Affordable Housing, and Asset Management.
During the initial five years of his career at Forum Architecture and Interior Design, Jerrod primarily focused on project managing affordable housing projects in the southeast region of the United States. As an academic, he serves as an adjunct professor at both NYU, his alma mater, and Pratt, where he educates Graduate and Undergraduate students on development, public-private partnerships, urban economics, and portfolio management.
Following eight years as the Director of Development at Carthage Real Estate Advisors, Jerrod established himself as a thought leader in urban housing policy. He is a founding member of The Delaine Companies, a value-based company that is dedicated to leveraging access to capital markets to enhance communities through real estate finance and development.
Bishop Kermitt L. Williams – a Brooklyn native who founded the “C.O.P.E.P.A.C.” (Community Orientations for Positive Encouragement for Parents of Addicted Children) in 1987. In September 1992, he organized the Agape Fellowship for All People and currently serves as Senior Pastor/Bishop. He became a credentialed substance abuse counselor (CASAC) in 1999. In 1994, he was consecrated General Overseer of Social Action of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. As a community activist, Bishop remains committed to community development and has served at the pleasure of the Brooklyn Borough President as a member of Community Planning Boards 16 (Brownsville) and 4(Bushwick). Additionally, he serves as the Executive Director/CEO of Kingdom Faith Developers, is a consultant for the National Head Start Association, and is a member of the National Association of Christian Counselors.
David Aviles, is the Executive Director of the United Clergy Task Force (UCFT). Throughout his career in real estate and finance, Bronx-born David Aviles has dedicated his time and resources to helping faith-based communities execute charitable drives, financial education and capacity building programs. To continue this work in more meaningful ways, David founded the UCTF in 2013. UCTF is currently developing projects in Puerto Rico and in the New York Metropolitan region. In Puerto Rico, David has been overseeing long-term social and economic recovery projects since the destruction of Hurricane Maria.
In addition to his work with the UCTF, David has been an active Board member for Bronx Clergy Task Force, (2005-Present); American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (2005-Present); Imagine Me Leadership Charter School, Former founding Board Member (2009-Present); Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing (IAHH) (2015-Present) and Bricks and Mortals (2018-Present).
Ted Houghton is the President of Gateway Housing, a nonprofit initiative to transform New York City’s response to homelessness by reinvesting in shelter to improve transitional programs, spur the development of permanent affordable housing, and strengthen community supports. Prior to Gateway, Ted served as Executive Deputy Commissioner of New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), and led the Supportive Housing Network of New York. He has worked for both the New York City Department of Homeless Services and the Coalition for the Homeless.
Frederick Jackson serves as Treasurer of the NYSCOC Executive Committee. He is member of the Finance Committee and the Social Justice Commission. Fred serves his local Episcopal church making use of his financial experience and has experience in Lay Church Management and Legislative advocacy. The “Who is my Neighbor?” program of the NYSCOC is of special interest to him in both the Capital Region and Manhattan.
Meta Brunzema is an architect and urban designer focusing on socially progressive, culturally rich and climate-neutral design. Working with public agencies, non-profit organizations and private clients, her designs foster resilience and re-ignite curiosity and meaningful engagement with the world. Her work includes large-scale re-zonings, waterfront developments, urban parks, promenades and green infrastructure - as well as public open spaces. Her architectural and adaptive re-use work focuses on the design of healthy and sustainable buildings and interiors. She is currently co-developing WE_GENERATE (beta), an interactive parametric real-estate feasibility analysis and visualization tool that democratizes community planning processes.
Rev. Dr. William S. Shillady has been a pastor of three churches in the New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. In 2008, he became the executive of the United Methodist City Society, a multi-faceted mission program agency of the United Methodist Church in the metro area. Their programs range from children and youth, social service agencies, addiction recovery services, affordable housing, and managing a cemetery. The agency covers from cradle to grave. Bill has held many offices and served on many boards. He is on the Mayor’s Faith leaders advisory council. He is a member of the Bricks and Mortals Board of Directors, an agency helping churches to utilize their properties in creative ways. He is the treasurer of the Council of Churches of the City of New York. He has been a pastor to the Clinton family since 2002.
The IAHC (the Collaborative) was established to promote the development of supportive and affordable housing on faith- based properties in New York City and across New York State through the provision of pre-development funds, technical assistance, advice, and the promotion of public policies that support this objective. The Collaborative seeks to ensure that congregations and faith -based organizations (FBOs) across the state will be equipped with the knowledge and capacity to make the most informed decisions about the use of their property.
History and Founding
In 2017, the Collaborative was established to help support “mission driven affordable housing development on Faith properties by helping to match faith based properties with technical assistance and other resources”. In 2018, the Collegiate Church Corporation provided a grant to establish the technical assistance pre-development recoverable grant fund and provided staff support through it's executive offices for the year. We also received funding from the Dergah Al Farah--a Muslim Sufi order. The Collaborative established it's Board of Conveners, and reached an agreement with the Fund for the City of New York to act as the Collaborative’s fiscal sponsor as we pursued independent fiscal status.
Outreach, education and promoting public policy
In the two years following the establishment of the Collaborative, the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing (IAHH) and the New York State Council of Churches (NYSCOC) engaged in multiple campaigns to promote public policy solutions to address the need for affordable housing in New York State and to educate congregations about the option of developing affordable housing on their property – with some significant public policy successes. NYSCOC, in partnership with Goldstein Hall, Attorneys at Law and others, offered a series of workshops entitled “Who is My Neighbor” to begin to familiarize congregations across New York State with the affordable housing development process. With NYSCOC taking the lead, the Collaborative began working with the New York Attorney General’s office and pre-development agencies out of New York City to provide pre-development funds from New York State to support the development of affordable housing on faith-based property.
The establishment of the Partnership for Faith-Based Affordable Housing and Community Development
In 2019, IAHC came together with IAHH, NYSCOC and Bricks and Mortals to form the Partnership for Faith-Based Affordable Housing and Community Development. The Partnership applied for and received a grant from Trinity Church Wall Street’s office on Homelessness and Housing beginning in 2020.
As of August of 2021, the IAHC pre-development fund totaled $106,000, with $80,000 specifically designated for New York City.
We need to gather information about your project to determine whether you are eligible to apply for a pre-development grant to cover a variety of development expenses incurred to determine the feasibility of your project and to assemble an RFP or RFQ. Before filling out a survey, please email us to set up a time for an initial conversation with our team.