What We Do

The Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance (NVAHA) is the key regional leader in advancing housing opportunities within the Northern Virginia community. Through its advocacy, critical insights, community discussions, and resources, NVAHA has raised awareness around the strong need for equitable, sustainable and affordable housing in every corner of our region. By promoting innovative and forward-thinking housing solutions, NVAHA has informed public policy and decision-making discussions in a way to bring about substantive results for housing in our communities. NVAHA has become a recognized community asset and has truly made a world of difference for housing in our region.

The Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance embodies the best example of a successful collective impact model. The Alliance works together to advance policies and increase resources to support a greater mix of housing projects in Northern Virginia. The Alliance also develops groundbreaking solutions to meet new challenges, from a regional cross-sector approach to Eviction Prevention, to data and analysis explaining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. NVAHA also pursues long term, strategic alliances to establish the many benefits of housing and its nexus to transportation, health, and racial equity.

NVAHA is THE go-to resource for information about housing affordability in Northern Virginia. NVAHA will not only assist you in understanding the key developments in housing policy across multiple local jurisdictions, it also provides critical insights into state-level policies that impact local decision-making. The Executive Director, Michelle Krocker, is a trusted regional leader and her expertise has made NVAHA one of the few organizations that guides advocates and elected officials alike towards creating more equitable housing opportunities throughout the region. As someone who works for a regional planning organization, I count on NVAHA to identify the key housing developments in Northern Virginia that warrant my attention. Michelle, her staff, and Board members work tirelessly to provide efficient and timely information. I am grateful for NVAHA’s contributions to ensuring all Northern Virginia residents have a place to call home.

Virginia Housing values our partnership with the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance as the premiere regional advocacy and research organization promoting healthy, sustainable and equitable communities that meet the diverse housing needs of Northern Virginia residents. As a result of housing impacts resulting from the Amazon HQ2 location, Virginia Housing commissioned NVAHA to do a market analysis to identify and prioritize affordable rental properties at risk of being lost from the affordable stock and develop a series of recommendations for preservation. The result was the Northern Virginia Rental Housing Preservation Study, a report to assist the region’s leaders to identify conditions within a 20-minute drive of HQ2 and how best to allocate additional resources for affordable housing preservation. As always, Michelle Krocker and the researchers from LSA did a masterful job summarizing the local databases from Arlington, Alexandria and inner Fairfax County; developing a typology of affordable rental housing loss and risk criteria; and developing a preservation toolkit of local strategies and best practices. Virginia Housing relies on the outstanding communication, education and research offered by NVAHA to inform our own policies and programs. It has been extremely beneficial to have such a trusted regional partner who is aligned with our own goals to help Virginians attain quality affordable housing and to strengthen the housing delivery network.