Part of a story series about AHC’s 50-Year History
Before AHC became a regional leader in affordable housing, it started the way most lasting change does — neighbor by neighbor, home by home.
In the early 1980s, Portia Clarke lived in a duplex in the Nauck Neighborhood, now known as Green Valley. She and her husband and their young child didn’t know it would be possible to buy their own home – until they heard about the Moderate-Income Homeownership Program (MIHOP) through AHC, then known as Arlington Housing Corporation.
“That was our first adventure into finding a home that we could purchase and own and stay in the neighborhood. So that’s what we did when we found out about the program and … we’ve been there ever since.”
– Portia Clarke, AHC homebuyer and Green Valley leader
In those early days, AHC’s focus was homeownership programs and home improvement, helping families like Portia’s become first-time homebuyers or maintain their aging properties.
A Vision for the Community
AHC co-founder and former president of the Green Valley Civic Association, Jennie Davis, knew the difficulties families faced purchasing a home. It was especially difficult for families of color, including for her family. She brought her concerns to the Arlington County Board and began working on the issue, which eventually led to the creation of AHC in 1975.
In 1980, Carlton Miller joined AHC as an Assistant Rehabilitation Specialist. The organization had just five staff members and worked closely with Arlington County on the homeownership and home improvement programs.
Those programs provided low-interest loans and grants for low- and moderate-income homeowners to buy homes, address repairs, and fix housing code violations.
“Early in my career, I assisted an elderly lady to get a grant to repair her roof, and [without] an organization like AHC … she had no other option. And from that point on, I was sold on AHC. We did a lot of good work in the community.”
– Carlton Miller, former AHC Vice President of Construction
AHC’s early homeownership and home improvement programs created opportunity and improved living conditions for many Arlington families.
“The programs worked really well. It was successful in getting rid of those blights,” Carlton said. “It was successful in providing first-time homebuyers with loans to purchase homes [and] made a lot of opportunity for people who without those programs wouldn’t have been able to purchase homes.”
For Carlton, the programs were about more than repairs. They were designed for homeowners who couldn’t access conventional lending, keeping families stable and communities intact.
“To me, housing is the foundation of everything,” Carlton said. “It’s also a way to gain wealth, and I think that helped out in the community. It made the community a lot stabler.”
Shifting to Multifamily
As property values rose, the focus on homeownership became harder to scale. AHC moved into multifamily rental development, acquiring and building apartment communities that could deliver more homes at a time.
Carlton credits AHC’s initial focus on homeownership in helping the organization form connections with the community, paving the way for a shift to multifamily. The shift helped AHC provide more housing – and reach more people.
“The change from the focus of single family more into multifamily made a greater impact on the community,” Carlton said. “Now we were focusing our time on building 50 to 100 apartments at one time, instead of just one house in the community.”
Over Carlton’s 42-year career at AHC, where he eventually became Vice President of Construction, he emphasized AHC’s dedication to high quality development.
“We took pride that if we built it, you couldn’t tell it was affordable housing,” Carlton said. “That’s from good leadership … if we’re going to do something, we’re going to do the best job we can.”
Becoming an Industry Leader
Over time, AHC grew into one of the region’s leading affordable housing developers.
“We became aggressive in purchasing properties and land to compete with the for-profit developers,” Carlton said. “We became very competitive, and … we were considered one of the leaders in the nonprofit world when it came to development.”
As AHC grew as a regional developer, its work continued to intersect with long-time residents and community leaders like Portia.
Portia followed in Jennie’s footsteps, becoming a leader in the Green Valley community and serving as the president of the Green Valley Civic Association for many years.
She has advocated for her community and seen AHC’s growth across Arlington and the region.
“It’s been a lot of growth, and we could still use some more,” Portia said. “I just think it’s been a welcome opportunity to have so many people be able to have housing because of the AHC properties.”
She has worked closely with AHC residents and staff in helping shape Green Valley.
“AHC has helped to bring residents that live in their properties the services that they need and the opportunities that they have to grow.”
– Portia, AHC homebuyer and Green Valley leader
50 Years Later
Carlton retired as one of AHC’s longest-tenured employees in 2022, serving 42 years with the organization. Seeing the organization hit its 50-year milestone, Carlton said he’s proud of AHC.
“I take a lot of pride in AHC because I felt that I had ownership in this nonprofit, and I still have ownership in it,” Carlton said. “It’s a part of my family.”
The early focus in homeownership served as a foundation for the organization and the community.
Portia still lives in the house she bought through AHC’s program. Her grandchildren have grown up in the same neighborhood she did, where she remains active in supporting her community.
“Now we have three kids and six grandkids, and most of whom are still in my house or have come back,” Portia said.
For AHC, stories like Portia’s reflect the organization’s earliest goals and it’s current mission — using housing as a tool for long-term stability, opportunity, and community connection.
Learn more about AHC’s five decades of impact and buy your ticket for our 50th anniversary event: ahcommunities.org/50years.
2230 North Fairfax Drive
Suite 100
Arlington, VA 22201
703-486-0626
1501 Saint Paul Street
Suite 130
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-685-0366
