2020 HomeKeeper Recap and 2021 Roadmap

Since 2011, HomeKeeper is proud to have helped people like you manage your homeownership and housing counseling programs more efficiently, and report on your impacts with ease.

 

Through the  years, we’ve remained committed to our core belief that better data begets brighter insights, smarter decisions and bigger impacts. And  we’ve also learned that better systems means better service, stronger stewardship and of course, happier staff.

2020 was a challenging year due to COVID-19, and every difficulty disproportionately affected Black communities and other communities of color. HomeKeeper sought to be a resource for our participating organizations, many who were first responders in secure and affordable housing. We amplified resources to make working remotely easier, gathered HomeKeeper users to share tips on hosting online events, and presented on tracking COVID-19 impacts.

The HomeKeeper team said goodbye to our Director of 10+ years, Tiffany Eng, whose work made an incalculable impact on housing with lasting affordability.

In April 2020, we welcomed our 2nd-ever Director, Tom Tosuksri, formerly a HomeKeeper superuser at CHN Housing Partners.

We are grateful for the opportunity to share 2020 accomplishments, lessons learned, and look to the future.

HomeKeeper Community

  • Our HomeKeeper community continues to expand. We welcomed 26 new organizations in 2020. This included 6 homeownership users, 6 housing counseling users, and 4 users of both feature sets. As of April 2020, we have a total of 117 participating organizations.
  • Multiple participating organizations continue to provide valuable examples of the power of using HomeKeeper to track your programs in Salesforce, including impact reporting, housing counseling activity, and evaluating progress as they strive for racial equity.

Product Development

  • HomeKeeper released Version 2.5 in Summer 2020, which included the ability to track custom demographics, and track impacts of disasters/emergency.
  • HomeKeeper continues to be available to users of Salesforce Classic and Lightning. However, we strongly recommend participating organizations migrate to Lightning using the Salesforce resources collected in our Support Forum.

The HomeKeeper National Data Hub

  • We continue to enroll programs providing housing with lasting affordability.
    In 2021,     the New York Times opinion Affordable Housing Forever cited the Lincoln Land Institute working paper published in partnership with Grounded Solutions Network based on shared equity homeownership program data aggregated in our HomeKeeper National Data Hub.

    • The paper is titled Tracking Growth and Evaluating Performance of Shared Equity Homeownership Programs During Housing Market Fluctuations
    • It is the largest and most comprehensive look at 58 shared equity programs, over 4,000 housing units, in 20 states over three decades.
  • Have you seen your data in a Social Impact dashboard? Eighty-six programs have contributed data to the HomeKeeper National Data Hub.
  • Are you a HomeKeeper Hub contributor? If so, we’ve continued to maintain and update your interactive Social Impact Report, which benchmarks your data against your peers. We also regularly update the Public Dashboard so anyone can view aggregate data

Support and Training

  • We’ve helped you build your HomeKeeper skills. Have you joined us on one of our webinars lately? We’ve hosted 18 this year, including our monthly New User Q&A and Office Hours and trainings on reporting for beginners or advanced users, Lightning users, and Habitat cohorts. We also hosted our first Training Institute Online version of HomeKeeper: Basics and Beyond.
  • Couldn’t attend? Access the recordings in our Support Forum.
  • You asked. We answered. You submitted 10% more tickets in 2020 than in 2019. We did our best to help you get the information or support you needed.

Other 2020 Highlights

2021 Roadmap

In 2021, participating organizations can expect continued support from HomeKeeper. In particular, we will be:

  • Assisting you and connecting you with your peers to ensure you are supported and your program is successful. We will continue with Q&As, webinars and email support, as detailed in our 2021 Training and Support Schedule. Remember, users can always contact us at Support@MyHomeKeeper.org, or sign into our Support Forum to log a ticket.
  • We will offer hands-on training and skill building opportunities at our Training Institute Online. We continue to explore other ways to offer training.
  • Releasing more HomeKeeper features. We will release a new version of HomeKeeper including updates to remain a HUD compliant CMS. We are also exploring ways to simplify the process of upgrading the HomeKeeper app for participating organizations.
  • Growing our membership. We expect to add at least 20 new members in 2021, and will continue to target high capacity Habitat for Humanity affiliates and explore possibilities with housing counseling intermediaries. Who do you know that might be able to benefit from HomeKeeper?

Thank you for your continued support as a HomeKeeper user. Without your participation, dedication and commitment, the HomeKeeper program would not be possible!   -Tom, Cheryl, Haley & Lindsey

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