Department of Sociology & Anthropology

Name: Rollie Lobsinger

Year you graduated from Cornell: 1986

Other majors or minors: Psychology

Post Cornell Education: Masters of Social Work from the University of Iowa School of Social Work. This program specialized in Community Organization and non-profit management.

Job Title: Senior Vice President

Job description: The MidAmerica Housing Partnership "MAHP" is a Non-Profit that develops and maintains affordable housing for low income and working poor families. This position requires me to develop and monitor service deliver systems for everything from property maintenance for MAHP rental units to tenant education courses for our residents.

In this position I am also asked to articulate MAHP's mission to various audiences including neighborhood associations, non profits, for profits and state and local governments.

Fund raising and resources development are another large component of the position. It includes direct requests for funding, requests for donations of material or equipment and volunteer recruitment.

There are a number of other management responsibilities that are ongoing rather that project based including, budget development, direct staff supervision and program evaluation.

Most satisfying and rewarding aspects of your position: The actual production of homes and apartments! These investments will last for generations and serve people who we do not even know yet. In this way we help insure that there are safe homes for people to live and raise their children in no what the current economic conditions are. This is not to say that we have enough housing for every one or that we can serve every household, MAHP has created 540 units of housing in less than 9 years so I know the chances of finding a decent home at a reasonable cost are better in Cedar Rapids than they were 9 years ago.

What jobs or other positions have you held that prepared you for this position?

I had a paid internship at the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP) where I learned a lot about homelessness and housing development. This internship lead to the opportunity to be one of the first employees at MAHP and after many adventures it lead to my current job.

What are your occupational and/or educational goals? Currently my occupational goal is to see MAHP move into its new facility so it can take its first step in becoming a regional Developer/builder. MAHP needs a new facility because its previous location was damaged by a tornado in the spring of 1999. Since them MAHP has been in two temporary locations and has had to cut back on its activities.

The new building will provide a regional center that will serve as a meeting place where local governments, non profits, builders, home buyers and residents can meet to plan projects, give and receive training, and develop new ways of creating and maintaining the affordable housing supply.

If I ever finish with this, (whew) I hope to become more involved with housing policy on a state level. I would also like to take time and study the methods that MAHP uses and maybe write up a list of strategies and best practices for other non profit builders to use. "I have a lot to learn before then."

Email: Grendel@netins.net

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