IRVINE, CA—Being able to show measurable gains in communities where affordable housing is developed is crucial to making a difference in people's lives as well as staying in business, Jamboree Housing Corp.'s VP of community impact George Searcy tells GlobeSt.com. Following his recent appointment to the position, we spoke with Searcy about what community impact really means and why it matters for the affordable-housing sector.

GlobeSt.com: What does community impact encompass, and why is it important for your firm?

Searcy: At Jamboree, the operations I'm responsible for historically would have been lumped under the heading of residence services. The reason Jamboree decided to create this position with that title is because my responsibilities here are much more integral to our commitment to transform communities with everything we do—not just affordable housing, but other assets like preschools, commercial spaces, health clinics, economic development, housing and social services. Jamboree has been partnering with collaborators, service organizations and cities for a while now, but we're formalizing that and articulating goals with those entities, going after them in a more-thoughtful, measurable and tangible way.

GlobeSt.com: How does this initiative improve communities?

Searcy: We've known for quite some time—based on research that's been done mostly in the US, but also in other countries—how communities do improve. We read every day in the paper about neighborhoods in decline struggling with crime, poverty, blight and poor school performance. What's not so common is insight that's been gained using evidence-based practices, mostly in the US, about how communities can actually change. We know, for example, that children perform better in school if their families move less often and they're housing stable, but we also know that poorer families move more often. If we can help them stay in one location, we know that is almost certain to create better academic results, which leads to better lives for children in the community. The same is true for drug-addicted and homeless people. All the evidence says that the best solution to end homelessness is to put people in a house. It sounds almost silly, but studies show that if can get people off the streets and into a permanent house, they do better and they will stay, especially if you surround them with the right kinds of support.

Jamboree is committed to using these evidence-based practices. My job is to help our organization to identify those best practices, deploy them and measure the results. The purpose is to create changing communities, and we only do that if we stay in business, but we are demonstrating our commitment on an ongoing basis with the facts. It's a high standard to which most people don't really aspire, but it's a growing trend in the US to be accountable for the outcome of what you do.

GlobeSt.com: Is Jamboree currently implementing its community-impact initiative in any communities? If so, which ones, and how is the initiative being received by communities?

Searcy: We've got a few communities rolling out preliminary initiatives, and it's being received very well. We're just putting our data systems and platforms in place to see what changes, what moves can we measure. Some time in 2016, we will begin to report out a data analysis of what is occurring in the neighborhoods in which we're working. There are some pilot projects in place, but the data will have to follow some time after activities begin.

GlobeSt.com: Are other affordable-housing developers in California sponsoring community-impact programs?

Searcy: I would say we're the only developer that's doing it at this scale that I know of, although there are a couple of others with similar models. These are mostly community-based organizations that grew up out of a particular area. Jamboree is obviously statewide and plans for us to do this on a grander scale. This is a growing trend in America, not just in affordable housing, but in non-profit work in general. If you can't demonstrate what you've achieved, that's not acceptable. You can't position yourself as a top-shelf operator without being able to demonstrate results. Some committed organizations in California understand this, but we're not all in the same boat—we're at different stages.

GlobeSt.com: How is this initiative being funded?

Searcy: We're transforming the funding we had for our traditional programs. Jamboree is committing to fund whatever the gaps are, and it will be funded internally.