Please see below for our currently anticipated panels. This is subject to change, and there will likely be a couple additional panels added in the coming weeks.
Advocacy is central to ending homelessness and ensuring that housing is a human right. This session will provide an overview of the importance of advocacy in the housing and homeless space, providing tangible guidance on how attendees can participate in advocacy efforts at the federal, state and local level.
Despite the current environment, organizations can and must continue to structure and evaluate programs with an eye to supporting underserved communities. Learn what legal protections could allow your organization to continue to engage in conversations and planning that incorporate equity considerations.
Session will discuss how criminalization does not resolve the issues surrounding encampments and will instead highlight best practices for addressing encampments including tools designed to help prioritize encampments with the highest needs.
As the funding landscape continues to shift, one thing is clear, connecting households with housing interventions as early as possible needs to be a primary focus for all communities. This session will provide an overview of how different communities are working to enhance their homelessness prevention systems by using data and cross partner sharing platforms to develop more streamlined systems.
Session will discuss the successes and strategies implemented through the Statewide Bringing Veterans Home Initiative and how this sets the framework for moving other subpopulations from homelessness to housing. Session will also highlight the current status of the Statewide Plan to Address Family and Youth Homelessness including current strategies and goals.
Navigating the path from vision to viable deal requires more than a great idea — it demands preparation, credibility, and a solid strategy. This panel brings together seasoned investors, lenders, and successful developers to provide emerging real estate professionals with actionable insights on how to prepare before sitting down with capital partners.
Affordable housing development is complex, capital-intensive, and highly mission-driven — making investor and lender relationships essential. For emerging developers, securing financing requires more than a strong vision for social impact; it takes rigorous preparation, a solid understanding of capital stack expectations, and the ability to speak the language of funders.
Panelists will explore what affordable housing investors and lenders are really looking for in a pitch, how to structure your deal documents, the importance of personal and project-level financials, and how to build relationships that go beyond a single transaction. Together, they’ll unpack what lenders and equity investors look for when considering new developers and deals.
Whether you’re looking to raise equity, secure a construction loan, or fund your first acquisition, this discussion will help you avoid common pitfalls and present your project — and yourself — with confidence and clarity. From preparing your development plan to presenting your team, community engagement strategy, and project pipeline, this session will equip you with practical tools to walk into your first (or next) capital conversation with confidence.
Housing is Healthcare: Leveraging Cross-Sector Partnerships to Address the Opioid and Housing Crises
As counties and hospitals across New Jersey respond to the opioid crisis and rising healthcare costs, housing is becoming a central part of the solution. This panel looks at how local governments are using opioid settlement funds to support recovery-focused housing, and how hospitals are partnering with housing agencies to improve housing stability. Learn how policy, funding, and lived experience are shaping housing solutions that improve health and recovery outcomes. Speakers include local leaders, hospital partners, and a resident of a hospital-partnered supportive housing project.
Aligned with the conference theme of Driving Progress in Times in Uncertainty, our group of Panelists will discuss how various affordable housing funders are adapting to the new economic and political environment. We will discuss what the landscape currently looks like in light of what is happening this year, and what actionable things are being done to respond to these challenges.
Cuts to programs funding affordable housing development will make these programs even more competitive, exacerbating existing barriers to the participation of emerging developers. Under these circumstances, emerging developers may need to partner with more experienced developers to bring projects to fruition. Our panelists will share perspectives on what an equitable, mutually supportive joint venture partnership should look like.
During this time of uncertainty regarding the future of housing, the economy, the cost of development, lack of local, state and federal resources, etc; it’s important to have a plan for your development, and then have a plan b, plan c, plan d, and so on. Learn from team members on how to plan a development, seek input on potential uses of a site, discuss financing options and multiple timelines.
Session will discuss how communities in NJ are moving forward from strategic planning to implementation and getting creative with local dollars in the face of federal cuts. How are communities utilizing their County and Homeless Trust funds to still drive progress. Session will also provide an overview of the Funder’s Collaborative model and how they can impact the changes needed in a system.
Session will dive into the current status of the housing supports component of the Medicaid 1115 waiver. How are the agencies who applied for the infrastructure grant doing, how are the initial housing supports programs rolling out and how to more organizations join the roster of service providers eligible to provide this assistance.
This session will focus on how multi-system data analysis across housing, health, and human services can lead to better understanding and support for people experiencing homelessness. The conversation will explore how we can move from singular data efforts to more consistent, scalable approaches that modernize our infrastructure and keep people at the center.
Stop talking about lived experience and start centering it. Together, panelists will share how to move tokenism to true leadership ensuring people with lived experience are not just invited to the table but are setting agendas, leading charges, and helping to reshape policy, planning, and priorities in housing & homelessness systems.
Session spotlights what it takes to build trust & shift power. Learn how storytelling and global campaigns have transformed public understanding of homelessness and helped push equity to the forefront of conversations.
Homelessness and housing instability are deeply systemic issues that require comprehensive solutions. Movements in several jurisdictions across the globe have sought to address intersecting housing issues by establishing regulatory and legislative frameworks that affirm the human right to housing. Panelists will share their expertise and offer insight into how the right to housing perspective could shape housing advocacy in New Jersey.
Changes in New Jersey’s affordable housing finance space over the past year have created new opportunities for development. Join us to learn how developers of all experience levels can leverage existing, expanded, or new resources offered by state agencies to address the ongoing shortage of affordable housing in New Jersey