DSHA DIRECTOR'S LETTER
Welcome to the Delaware State Housing Authority's (DSHA) website--your gateway to a host of information about affordable housing in Delaware.
Whether you are looking to rent, buy, develop or research cost-effective housing options and information, DSHA is here to assist you.
As a leader of Delaware's affordable housing industry, DSHA is committed to responding to the changing needs of families and individuals throughout the state. There is no doubt that here, and across the nation, the availability of affordable housing is a serious concern.
I am proud to be a part of a team dedicated to helping Delawareans achieve their goals.
With limited funding and increased responsibilities, DSHA looks forward to the challenges ahead, and to working in partnership with other affordable housing providers to achieve even greater efficiency and increased performance.
-- Sandy Johnson, Director, Delaware State Housing Authority
DSHA DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY
In January 2001, Governor Ruth Ann Minner appointed Sandy to the Cabinet position of Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority. As Director, she manages the nearly 600 million dollar assets of Delaware's housing finance agency, 125 million dollars in funds for public housing, voucher subsidy, community development and other grant programs. No stranger to the affordable housing arena, Sandy previously served in leadership positions in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors as the Director of Housing for New Castle County and as Executive Director at Interfaith Housing Delaware, the largest statewide nonprofit housing developer in Delaware. Major programs under her tenure are: the Live Near Your Work Program (employer-assisted housing), energy efficiency and Green Building strategies for single and multi-family homes, Community Land Trusts, and most recently the Intra-Agency Council on Homelessness as well as strategic plans for implementation of a Statewide E-Housing Intake /Wait List System and the State of Delaware's 2005 New Markets Tax Credit application. Sandy serves in various housing leadership roles--the Governor's Commission on Community-Based Alternatives for Individuals with Disabilities, Chairperson for the Governor's Affordable Housing Subcommittee for the Livable Delaware Advisory Council, National Conference of State Housing Associations, the Delaware Workforce Investment Board, the Delaware National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the National Housing Conference, and the Fannie Mae Housing & Community Development Advisory Board/ Fannie Mae Delaware Partnership Advisory Council, and Wilmington Friends School Board of Trustees. She is a co-founder and former chair of the East Side Charter School Board (the nation's first charter school sponsored by a housing authority), former member of the New Castle County Habitat for Humanity Board and the City of Wilmington Enterprise Community Board.
Sandy has a BA, M.A. and J.D. She is also an alumna of the Senior Executives in State and Local Government and Women in Leadership Programs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. She resides in Wilmington, Delaware with her son, Matthew.
