Honoring Revolutionary Civil Rights Champion and Affordable Housing Advocate Reverend Arnold Townsend

 

As a revolutionary civil rights champion, Reverend Townsend never hesitated to stand for justice. His strength, wisdom, and courage did not just make a lasting impact on our city, but the nation. 

We, as the Mission Economic Development Agency, are devastated by the heartbreaking news of Reverend Arnold Townsend’s passing. Our organization was fortunate enough to develop a strong relationship with Reverend Townsend over the last eight years – we knew him to be a dedicated and proud father; steadfast veteran; staunch advocate; and a pillar of the Fillmore District community. The Reverend was an icon of the district who led with genuine love, and who created space for arts, music and other avenues of cultural expression. 

All who came into contact with the outstanding change-maker of a man he was, knew Reverend Townsend would shine when he was telling you a story, with a glimmer in his eye, absolute sincerity in his voice, and unconditional love pouring from his heart. 

During the Reverend’s impactful speech, shared at MEDA’s 49th annual iVIVA MED! Gala, he said, “We (he and MEDA) are more than just partners. We are friends.” He shared those remarks to amplify his belief that he saw MEDA as a true ally, and that allyship is a necessity for change in an increasingly racist America.

With his heart of gold and healing hugs, Reverend Townsend knew how to make friends with everyone who joined him in the fight for equity.

During the pandemic and after the civic unrest following George Floyd’s death, Reverend Townsend spoke with the MEDA staff (through Zoom), as we considered how we as an organization, and as individuals, could be stronger allies to our African American community.

The Reverend reminded us that the Mission District was able to push back redevelopment efforts because, at the time, neighborhood leaders learned from our Fillmore friends about how devastating the experience was for them in their lives and a neighborhood built of 100s of residents, small businesses and nonprofits – an experience that the Fillmore has not recovered from to this day.

Making connection through affordable housing 

   More recently, MEDA grew our relationship with the Reverend through collaboration with his Without Walls CDC (WOW CDC) organization.  Reverend Townsend and a group of advocate friends came together to create Without Walls CDC to fill the need for an African American-led affordable housing developer in the Fillmore District. A daunting task for any organization, but Reverend Townsend understood the need to create and preserve affordable housing units to stem the continued displacement of the African American community in the Fillmore. 

   MEDA shares Reverend Townsend’s vision of replacing the loss of families and elders who are rooted in San Francisco. We  began our affordable housing developer journey in 2014, and have since then been able to build up a portfolio and pipeline of about 3,000 permanently affordable housing units in San Francisco. We have seen so much change in our neighborhoods and we are committed to building capacity for emerging developers serving the BIPOC community. 

239 Clayton and Reverend Townsend’s connection to Fillmore Residents

      MEDA had the opportunity, and privilege, to partner with Reverend Townsend on the acquisition, rehabilitation and preservation of 239 Clayton St. through his work with Without Walls CDC. This property is located on the edge of the Fillmore district and is home to six seniors, of which five are African American. These long-time residents are San Franciscans who have dedicated their careers to educating children and supporting the public school system. 

     Reverend Townsend learned about MEDA’s failed initial attempt to purchase this building because the projected subsidy request exceeded SSP program guidelines. Reverend Townsend had an existing connection with some of the residents in the building and immediately devoted himself to saving their homes.  Reverend Townsend quickly got engaged as an advocate for the tenants of 239 Clayton, building a trusting relationship with the residents – which is a huge component necessary to achieve resident buy-in. Reverend Townsend was the type of person that collaborated to set expectations for all stakeholders; he was always open to support the work; and always ready to keep people accountable. During this years-long process, Reverend was a key accountability partner for residents, MEDA, and the City. In partnership with Reverend Townsend and the Without Walls CDC team, we were able to save six existing units, in addition to developing two additional dwelling units – thus adding 8 units of permanently affordable housing in the Fillmore District.

MEDA’s success in becoming an affordable housing developer is contingent upon having partners with the audacity to challenge the status quo, and collaborate with stakeholders to build systems that promote equitable neighborhood development. That is exactly the type of partner that Reverend Townsend was, and we quickly understood how invaluable his presence and influence was when it came to defending the place and people of the Fillmore District. He was truly a giant in his own right, and he knew how to move people physically, emotionally and spiritually. 

Reverend Townsend’s ability to affect policy

The Reverend was able to meaningfully make the case for the City to support this project and to reconsider setting universal cost expectations across San Francisco neighborhoods. The desirability by market rate investors/developers of properties in the Fillmore District really drove up costs for the project. Reverend Townsend also played a meaningful role in advocating for SFMOHCD to rethink their approach to their subsidy-per-unit guidelines, which made it difficult to purchase buildings in high-priced areas of the city. As a result of this experience, Reverend Townsend simultaneously advocated for the city to establish an equitable process which would allow flexibility in the per-unit subsidy guidelines to access more resources to offset costs for developing affordable housing in high priced neighborhoods like the Fillmore.

      We will keep the Reverend in our hearts and are committed to supporting Without Walls CDC in their emerging affordable housing developer journey. Our work together is aligned in the mission to preserve/produce more affordable housing in the Fillmore District. 

Find The San Francisco Chronicle’s Obituary on Reverend Townsend here.

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