The National Affordable Housing Network

The Network develops projects and programs to transfer these lessons to non-profit housing organizations. The Network serves Habitat for Humanity International, with more than 1,000 affiliated organizations in rural and urban settings in the United States. Habitat's leadership is paving the way to develop quality help for low-cost housing producers.

Who Are These People?

Our Board of Directors

 

Meg Knox - Board Chair A nationally respected journalist, Knox has researched and written about a variety of low-income housing issues during her career, which has spanned numerous countries as a foreign correspondent to a number of national newspapers. A former editor and bureau chief for the Atlanta Constitution, Knox operated a news bureau from Africa providing coverage for the Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Atlanta Journal- Constitution, The San Francisco Examiner, National Public Radio, the BBC, and others. Assigned to cover Butte for the Smithsonian Magazine in the 1990s, she is now focused on New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina and the return of war veterans from Iraq.

Mike Robins Mike Robins has invested the last several years founding and building an international business as the Marketing Director of Seacast, Inc., an investment castings foundry that is one of the few in the world with the capacity to manufacture precision parts for use in the aerospace, computer, and several other industries. Seacast is also the parent company and manufacturer of the Juiceman Commercial Juicer and the Intercontinental Truck Body Company in Conrad, Montana.   A native of Butte, Montana, Robins travels extensively for his business and when in country he divides his time between Seattle and Marysville, Washington and Butte, Montana where Seacast plans to open a foundry in 2007.

Mark Staples Mark Staples has been a practicing lawyer in Montana for almost two decades. For six of those years he served as Deputy Pondera County Attorney in Conrad, Montana. In his real job, Mark Staples is also an accomplished songwriter and performer. He has released four albums and performed in numerous venues, including at the Grand Ole Opry. Staples now maintains a private practice in Helena, Montana, representing several trade associations. Raised in Butte, he volunteers to perform at sold-out benefit concerts for local charities and educationa organizations, featuring songs and stories about Butte and its people.

Barbara Ehrenreich Raised in Butte, Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of 13 books, including The New York Times best seller Nickel & Dimed, which exposed the dead end economic lives and poverty of people working at jobs that don't pay a living wage. Her most recent book is Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy. She is a noted columnist and commentator on many of the same issues that the National Affordable Housing Network works to address. Ehrenrich is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Harpers and The Progressive and she is a contributing writer to Time Magazine. A cancer survivor making the most of every day, she is constantly traveling, metting the public and doing outreach to communities suffering from issues explored in her books.

 

George Everett, Secretary One of the Network's founders, Everett has more than 20 years of non-profit management experience providing assistance to small businesses and individuals through marketing and public relations. Everett is currently the Executive Director of Mainstreet Uptown Butte, a non-profit association affiliated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation that combines historic preservation and small business advocacy aimed at rejuvenating Butte's historic central business district. Everett showcases many of Butte's small businesses as well as his extensive writing for magazines and newspapers on Butte through his portal site Butteamerica.com.

Robert J. Corbett, President Bob Corbett has gained a national reputation since the early 1980s when he developed a series of highly detailed houseplans that are credited with effectively transferring leading edge residential energy efficient technology specifically engineered for low-cost construction. After serving as the Senior Technical Specialist for the National Appropriate Technology Assistance Service for the U.S. Department of Energy, he co-founded the Network and has served as its Director of Research and Construction Manager for the self-help housing division. He has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity since 1991 and has served on numerous civic and community improvement committees and collaborations for his hometown of Butte for three decades.

Barbara Miller, Vice President/Treasurer A co-founder of the Network, Miller has developed a national collaboration of technical and social leaders to empower low-income and disabled persons through self-help housing using the Network's High performance energy standards, which she helped develop in more than a decade of award-winning field research. A volunteer with Habitat for Humanity since 1991, she serves as the local project director for the Southwest Montana affiliate in seven counties. As a founder of the Imagine Butte collaborative, she has a background in economic development, small business development and resource development. She is responsible for attracting nearly $8 million in recent investment resources for Butte's housing future including block grants and low-income mortgage loans for households in need. She has advocated for employment opportunity and small business opportunity for those needing untraditional work options.  Miller also serves on the staff as the Executive Director of the Network.

Rae Stephens Stephens has worked in retail sales and management for more than two decades. The owner of Madame Sidecar and other retail stores in the Monterrey, California coast area. Over her career she has a long history of working with artists, craftspeople and clothing producers and designers. She is dedicated to working with disabled artists and manufacturers in projects for Butte and Southwest Montana. Her goal is to see retail workplaces created that focus on locally made products and fine arts.

Nicole LoBese LoBese recently specialized in working with troubled youth as a mental health specialist dealing with anger management and youth mental health issues. A leader in the Mutual Self-Help Project in Butte, she recently completed buidling her own home. She has a strong interest in developing work opportunity for disabled and chronically ill persons.

Debbie Best Best is a highly regarded supportive living trainer for developmentally disabled adults. A Butte native, she expresses her creative side through writing stories for children featuring multi-cultural themses and education on avoiding the tragedy of drug and alcohol abuse. Her goal is to expand publishing opportunities for those in need, and to find ways to reach out to young persons fighting chronic or life-threatening disease with stories of hope and courage.

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