Kenneth D. Wade, CEO NeighborWorks® America

President Barack Obama’s inauguration was celebrated by hundreds of millions of people across America and throughout the world, but for those in housing and community development, this historic occasion has special meaning. For practitioners in this industry — many of whom understand the immeasurable potential of community organizing — it was encouraging to hear the new president signal a community approach to solving the dire challenges ahead.

He laid out these challenges in stark language, saying “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met.”

President Obama drew on his community organizing background to propel his campaign to victory, bringing individuals, groups and communities together around a common purpose. In his first address as president, he also made clear that in reviving a country in crisis, we are all in this together.

"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task. This is the price and the promise of citizenship," President Obama said.

Crowds celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama View video or read the text of President Obama's Inaugural Address.

For many in housing and community development, this ideal is embodied in the mission of improving and strengthening communities through affordable homeownership and volunteerism. Many are hopeful that President Obama would be uniquely responsive to these and other community needs, given his background in grassroots activism.

While his call for a more communitarian spirit in America is heartening, some of the policies laid out in his administration are encouraging as well for the work of housing and community developers. Through the new White House Office of Urban Policy, President Obama has pledged to fully fund the Community Development Block Grant program; strengthen Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs); and restore all Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs to their original purpose.

President Obama has also signaled that rural communities would not be overlooked. The latest version of his economic stimulus, for example, includes a hefty increase in the USDA RD Section 502 direct program. The 502 direct program is used to open opportunities for homeownership to lower income rural residents through direct loans to homeowners or by guaranteeing a loan made by a commercial lender.

Throughout his campaign, President Obama pledged to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, including support for efforts to improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes. This bodes well for green efforts in the affordable housing field.

And, most important, he has strongly supported a sweeping effort to address the foreclosure crisis so that responsible families can keep their homes — a front and center priority for the affordable housing field.

NeighborWorks America wishes President Obama success in accomplishing the inspirational, community-based vision he has cast for the country.