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26 Oct, 2023

Our Big Idea for Housing

with Shawn Duncan, Jim Wehner, Marvin Nesbitt, & Cynthia McNeal
Season 3,
  Episode 1
Place Matters
Place Matters
Our Big Idea for Housing
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It is no secret that the United States is in the midst of a housing crisis. It is all but impossible to find quality housing that is affordable and located in healthy neighborhoods. This is not just a challenge for those living below the federal poverty line. Working adults from a wide array of ages and incomes are struggling to secure housing. But what if thinking about housing alone is not the solution to the nation’s housing crisis? At FCS, the big idea behind how we approach housing is a belief that the crisis we are facing is not actually a housing issue; it’s a neighborhood issue. Joining Shawn Duncan for this first episode is Jim Wehner, President of FCS; Marvin Nesbitt, Senior Director of Community Development at FCS; and Cynthia McNeal, Director of Mixed-Income Housing at FCS. Throughout this season, you’ll get to hear more about FCS’s approach to housing in the past, present, and future.

Show notes

Shawn Duncan, Director of The Lupton Center
Dr. Shawn Duncan is the Director of FCS’s Training and Consulting Division, The Lupton Center. Shawn comes to FCS from the nonprofit leadership sector with research and writing focused on pedagogies for social impact. In his previous careers he has focused on multi-sector coalition building for community impact, content and curriculum design, group facilitation, leadership development, and immigration reform advocacy. As the leader of The Lupton Center team, Shawn brings a visionary voice for innovation, a strategic mind for resource development, and the leadership acumen to support and equip the team for success. He loves being a part of a mission-driven team that finds joy in one another while doing such important work.

Marvin Nesbitt, Jr., Senior Director of Community Development at FCS
Marvin Nesbitt, Jr. has committed his entire career to facilitating positive outcomes and success for society’s most vulnerable and the communities in which they reside. Today, he serves as Senior Director of Community Development at Focused Community Strategies (FCS). At FCS, Marvin teams up with a group of talented directors to lead the organization’s Neighborhood Engagement, Affordable Housing, and Economic Vitality efforts. Prior to joining FCS, Marvin has worked as an independent consultant providing his skills in human services and community development to numerous nonprofit, and government agencies in the areas of planning, implementation and evaluation of service delivery systems, community engagement, and the development and writing of HUD Choice Neighborhood Grant People Strategies.

Jim Wehner, President of FCS
Jim Wehner is a skilled organizational leader with more than 15 years of experience in neighborhood development in under-resourced communities, with a strong focus on creating, financing, and executing affordable housing and neighborhood-based small businesses. He joined FCS in 2008 as the Executive Director of our Mixed-Income Housing arm, and moved to his current position in 2014. He holds a Master of Arts in Divinity and Ministry from Reformed Theological Seminary.

Cynthia McNeal, Director of Mixed-Income Housing at FCS
Cynthia McNeal is a proud army veteran with over 20 years of organizational leadership and team management experience in the military, corporate, and nonprofit sectors. She joined the FCS team in 2005, and previously served as the Facility Manager, Property Manager, and Operations Director before stepping into her current role.

Resources:

Special thanks to our podcast editor, Tim Rhodes, for making this episode possible. If you are interested in working with Tim, you can contact him via email at tim@whistlingblue.com, or through his website, whistlingblue.com. If you have questions, feedback, or wish to contact us, please email Bekah Klein at bekah@fcsministries.org.