Making Housing and Community Happen is a faith-based organization that focuses on affordable housing and homelessness issues. ¹ It is a fiscally-sponsored project of the Social Good Fund based in Pasadena, California. ²

The organization promotes the idea that God owns the land to encourage congregations to provide affordable housing to end homelessness. ³ The group says it equips church congregations and community leaders with tools to end homelessness and stabilize the cost of housing through education, advocacy, organizing and advising. ⁴

Background

Making Housing and Community Happen takes its logo of the “vine and fig tree” as reference to Micah 4:3-4 in the Bible which it quotes as saying, “He will arbitrate among the nations and dictate to strong nations far away. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall no longer fight each other, for all war will end. There will be universal peace, and all the military academies and training camps will be closed down.” The organization’s website refers to several other Bible passages. ⁵

Programs

In July 2023, Making Housing and Community Happen kicked off its Affordable Housing Tour Bus through California. The tour, which began at the Pasadena, California’s Diane and John Mullin Salvation Army Hope Center, included 56 participants. Out of those, 36 participants were mayors and city council members from 11 cities in the San Gabriel Valley: Arcadia, Alhambra, Baldwin Park. Claremont, Diamond Bar. Glendora, Monrovia, Pasadena, South El Monte, and West Covina. ⁶

MHCH also sponsors the Housing Justice Institute, which offers workshops, course work, and speaking engagements to connect church congregations with affordable housing developers, and promote what it calls biblical land use principles. ⁷

The Affordable/Supportive Housing Advocates program trains people to lobby for affordable housing policies. ⁸

The group’s North Fair Oaks Empowerment Initiative conducted surveys of residents in the Pasadena area to get answers on how to create safer streets and more affordable housing. ⁹

The group has a Congregational Land Committee that provides professional advisors for churches on how to provide affordable housing on their land, as well as collaborating with affordable housing development groups. ¹⁰

MHCH issues the “Affordable Housing Rockstar Awards” annually to its volunteers and supporters. ¹¹

Policy Advocacy

Making Housing and Community Happen sponsored a February 2024 forum on housing issues with candidates for the Pasadena City Council ahead of the city’s March 5 primary election that year. ¹²

Making Housing and Community Happen helped to craft Pasadena’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance in 2001, which produced 577 affordable units and put more than $26 million into the city’s affordable housing trust fund as of July 2020. ¹³

The group says its three-year advocacy program led to the passage of Senate Bill 4 in the California state legislature, which made 170,000 acres of religious land available for affordable housing statewide in California. ^{14 15}

The group successfully advocated for 100 affordable units for seniors, and 150 units for those experiencing homelessness since 2018, the website said in 2024. ¹⁶

The group also helped change Pasadena’s Tenant Protection Ordinance. ¹⁷

Leadership

Jill Shook is the co-founder and founding executive director of Making Housing and Community Happen. She was previously a campus minister with Missions Door, in San Jose, Fullerton and Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. She previously worked for Food for the Hungry International. Shook wrote and edited the book, Making Housing Happen: Faith Based Affordable Housing Models. ¹⁸

Shook earned an MA in biblical studies from Denver Seminary and a doctorate in transformational leadership for the global city at Bakke Graduate University in Seattle, Washington. Shook was a board member of the Pasadena Neighborhood Housing Services and the Golden Rule Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Shook also designed “Teaching like Jesus” workshops for pastors and teachers that she taught in Bolivia and Mexico. ¹⁹

Anthony Manousos is co-founder of Making Housing and Community Happen, and Shook’s husband.

He is a Quaker peace activist and a retired college professor. He is the chairman of the Affordable/Supportive Housing Advocates program and on the board of Friends Committee for National Legislation and Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace. ²⁰

Margaret Lee is a project manager and advisor for MHCH. Lee is an assistant professor of social work at Azusa Pacific University. Lee’s expertise includes anti-racism and faith-based social justice strategies. She previously worked in both local government and non-profit sectors. ²¹

Bert Newton is an organizer and outreach coordinator for MHCH. Newton was previously an associate pastor at Pasadena Mennonite Church for seven years. He was also formerly a housing specialist and case manager in a program for adults with severe mental illness who experience homelessness and incarceration. ²²

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2. “Current Projects.” Social Good Fund. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.socialgoodfund.org/fiscal-sponsorship/current-projects/
3. Newton, Bert. “Who Owns the Land?” Mennonite Church USA. September 9, 2021. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://www.mennoniteusa.org/menno-snapshots/who-owns-the-land/
4. ^[1] “Making Housing and Community Happen.” Idealist. Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/7a501afc9e26467d9d58d602f085716e-making-housing-and-community-happen-pasadena
5.  “Core Values.” Making Housing and Community Happen.” Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/corevalues
6. Manousos, Anthony. “San Gabriel Valley Leaders Learn Affordable Housing Benefits in Pasadena.” Pasadena Now. July 18, 2023. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://www.pasadenanow.com/main/guest-report-san-gabriel-valley-leaders-learn-affordable-housing-benefits-in-pasadena
7. “Core Values.” Making Housing and Community Happen.” Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/corevalues
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10. “Core Values.” Making Housing and Community Happen.” Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/corevalues
11.  “Awards.” Making Housing and Community Happen. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/awards
12. Orona, John. “Pasadena City Council candidates to attend homelessness and housing forum.” Pasadena Star-News. January 29, 2024. Accessed March 16, 2024. https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2024/01/29/pasadena-city-council-candidates-to-attend-homelessness-and-housing-forum/
13. Successes.” Making Housing and Community Happen.” Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/successes
14. “Please Support MHCH and Come to Our Annual Celebration on Sun. Nov. 19.” Accessed March 15, 2024. https://makinghousinghappen.net/2023/10/26/please-support-mhch-and-come-to-our-annual-celebration-on-sun-nov-19/
15. SB 4: An act to add and repeal Section 65913.16 of the Government Code, relating to housing.” California Legislative Info. Accessed March 16, 2024. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB4
16. “Successes.” Making Housing and Community Happen.” Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/successes
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18.  “Staff.” Making Housing and Community Happen.” Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/staff
19.  “About.” Make Housing and Community Happen. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://makinghousinghappen.net/about/
20. “Staff.” Making Housing and Community Happen.” Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/staff
21. “Staff.” Making Housing and Community Happen.” Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/staff
22. ^[1] “Staff.” Making Housing and Community Happen.” Accessed March 14, 2024. https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/staff