United Way of the National Capital Area has awarded $50,000 in designated affordable housing funds through an Affordable Housing Initiative grant to the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers.

The grant enables the development of a Communications Action Network that will advocate for affordable housing throughout United Way NCA’s eight regions.

“This important, regionwide grant will increase collaboration, inform our communities and civic leaders, plus create a united voice in support of the rapidly growing need for affordable housing,” said United Way NCA President and CEO Bill Hanbury in a statement. “The call to act now and act together is compelling.”

Over the next two decades, according to George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis, more than 731,000 new housing units will be needed to house the region’s growing workforce.

“The challenges of providing housing that people can afford impact each local jurisdiction and thus our entire region,” said Heather Raspberry, executive director of HAND. The regional nonprofit organization is dedicated to building a professional community of housing providers in order to increase the supply of affordable housing in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C.-Richmond corridor. “It’s important that we communicate these realities effectively so we can help policymakers and housing providers better meet the need."

With the grant funds, HAND and its partners, the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development and Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance, will lead the development of a communications action network with a goal of implementing and coordinating a low-cost, high-impact affordable housing communications campaign developed by affordable housing leaders in the greater Washington region.

The group will engage communications professionals from the region’s business and nonprofit communities and state and local governments, and will compile and communicate research and data, new developments and programs, and best practices.