The CONVERGENCE Columbus House Party model shows how complex housing issues — from zoning constraints to affordability challenges — can be explored most meaningfully in trusted community settings. By shifting conversations from public forums into living rooms and backyards, these events create an accessible, human-centered approach to civic engagement. In this example, neighbors, families, practitioners, advocates, and local leaders came together in informal spaces to share personal experiences, consider tradeoffs, and the benefits of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) as a housing solution. These gatherings demonstrated the power of community-led dialogue to deepen understanding, build consensus, and strengthen collective ownership over local housing challenges.
Resource Category: Solutions in Action
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Accelerating ADU Development Through a 10-Week Sprint
In 2021, CONVERGENCE Columbus partnered with RISE Together Innovation Institute, Red 1 Realty, Healthy Homes, Huntington National Bank, and OMNI Title to lead the region’s first Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Sprint — an intensive 10-week collaborative effort designed to diagnose barriers, prototype solutions, and build momentum for ADU-friendly policy and practice across Franklin County. The sprint brought together builders, government leaders, lenders, real estate professionals, and community organizations to generate practical tools, deepen shared understanding, and outline a roadmap for expanding ADU production as part of Central Ohio’s broader housing strategy.
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Connecting Landowners and Emerging Developers
The CONVERGENCE Memphis Land Expo was an innovative, community-focused event designed to bridge a longstanding gap in the city’s housing system: abundant vacant land on one side, and emerging local developers lacking access and support on the other. By bringing landholders, lenders, public agencies, and small-scale developers together in a single, practical convening, the Land Expo created new pathways for affordable homeownership and neighborhood revitalization. Its collaborative approach transformed vacant lots — once a financial burden on public agencies — into opportunities for local developers to build, scale, and contribute to community growth.
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Advancing Homeownership Through Multi-Sector Summits
Since 2024, CONVERGENCE Philadelphia has convened local and regional housing leaders through the annual Homeownership Summit — a collaborative forum designed to break down silos and accelerate progress toward equitable homeownership. These summits bring together policymakers, lenders, developers, housing counselors, nonprofit leaders, and advocates to learn from new data, explore emerging solutions, and build partnerships that advance racial and economic equity in homeownership. With successful gatherings in 2024 and 2025, the summit has evolved from a local convening into a regional platform for thought leadership, cross-sector collaboration, and shared action.
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Untangling Homeownership Barriers in Philadelphia
CONVERGENCE Philadelphia organized a half-day educational convening to address the widespread challenge of tangled titles — a persistent and often invisible barrier to homeownership stability, generational wealth, and neighborhood preservation. Bringing together legal aid providers, financial counselors, lenders, and other housing professionals, the event aimed to clarify how tangled titles form, why they disproportionately affect families of color, and what coordinated strategies can prevent or resolve them. The session improved cross-sector understanding, strengthened referral networks, and laid the groundwork for systemic policy reforms. It offers a replicable model for other cities confronting similar challenges.