Homes for All: A Housing Solutions Summit | Montgomery County, PA

Ensuring that everyone who lives, works, learns and invests in Montgomery County has equal opportunity to live in an affordable home and a thriving community 

Montgomery County’s Homes for All: A Housing Solutions Summit will be held on Monday, April 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Normandy Farms, 1401 Morris Rd, Blue Bell, PA 19422. This event is an opportunity to bring together thought leaders for critical conversations around the affordable housing crisis. The half-day conference will provide a space for collaboration and creating solutions around funding, housing, and other local needs. 

This nonpartisan, invite-only event will welcome local elected officials, municipal leaders, school boards; select developers; select corporate partners/Chambers of Commerce, advocacy groups, and other community leaders. 

Agenda

Our agenda for the day will include: 

8:30 a.m. – Check in and Networking  

9:00 a.m. – Welcome / Remarks from County Officials

9:15 a.m. – Keynote Presentation – Garry Gilliam, Founder and CEO of The Bridge, a ‘for-purpose’ real estate development company

10:00 a.m. – Breakout sessions #1 (More details below)

10:45 a.m. – Breakout sessions #2 (More details below)

11:45 a.m. – Lunch

12:15 p.m. – Guest Speaker – Peter Urscheler, Mayor of Phoenixville, PA

1:00 p.m. – Adjourn

Please note: Schedule subject to change

Breakout sessions

Each of our breakout sessions will be moderated by and feature panels of subject matter experts. The topics for these sessions will include: 

• National Best Practices on Ending Homelessness: Hear from a panel of experts on effective strategies that have reduced homelessness through cross-sector collaboration aligning city, county, and nonprofit efforts.  
• Roundtable on Partnering with Developers: Join developers who supply workforce housing, tax credit properties, and affordable supportive housing to learn about ways they can partner with municipalities to help build vibrant and thriving communities. 
• Shelter Saves Lives, Supportive Housing Solves Homelessness: Due to the rising cost of housing, more people are being pushed into housing insecurity or homelessness. Learn from experts on the range of housing and support needed to assist people experiencing homelessness, from lifesaving shelter partnerships to ensuring there are pathways to safe, stable, accessible, supportive, and affordable housing.  (ALG edit – looking to transition this panel to focus on housing and service providers, less about developers) 
• Zoning Practices and Regulatory Tools: The need to reduce barriers to building more affordable housing is crucial to addressing the crisis at hand. In this session, hear from experts on how to implement zoning reform in your community, and leave with the latest toolkit from PA DCED “Local Government Housing Affordability and Inclusionary Zoning Toolkit” 
• Communities Solving Homelessness: In 2023, Montgomery County brought together a multidisciplinary group of local leaders to create a Homelessness Task Force to address the county’s increasingly visible challenge to provide shelter for unhoused residents.  Several municipal participants from this task force will share updates on their pledges to create seasonal and/or permanent housing solutions for the county’s most vulnerable residents. 
• Legislative Solutions: Hear from advocacy groups on the state-level legislation addressing the housing affordability crisis throughout the state.