A call to action

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While traveling we frequently encountered seemingly hard working areas that had both a need for affordable housing at all price points and at the same time a glut of vacant houses in disrepair that dragged down community property values. How can that be in the greatest country in the world? Shouldn't somebody be doing something about this? 

Unfortunately it wasn't until this situation struck close to us that we thought to treat this as another very difficult consulting challenge, remembering it is more important to seek solutions than to look for someone to blame. 

Local governments depend on a steady influx of property taxes to not only pay for the obvious essential services like police and fire, but also all the things that make living in that area worthwhile, like first class schools, libraries and community centers. 

It wasn't long ago that there was an article in a local newspaper which detailed how one government agency had foreclosed and sold at auction the same property three times, each time at a loss. Did that help the housing situation? Did that help government grow the tax base? Did that help home "values" in that area? 

In far too many places through bad luck, natural disasters or greed, once thriving communities now struggle to survive.  We believe working together we can help turn that around. 

We'll let others decide if home ownership is actually the embodiment of the American Dream, but no one should have to try and raise a family in substandard conditions. One of our favorite charities chose as this year's motto "Making Homes Out Of Houses". 

While we believe Making A Difference is more important than simply making money, we recognize that we are not a government agency that can operate indefinitely at a loss. We will invest in this just like a startup and then it will be expected to be a self-sustaining enterprise re-investing proceeds into other areas and projects.