Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) wants to hear from you!

Brian Stokes Mitchell Chairman of the Board

Dear Friends,

I am happy to be this week’s guest writer on The Actors Fund Blog, and am honored to share some exciting information with you. In my work as a performing artist, I have come to understand the importance of affordable housing for those of us in the creative field. I’ve been there, and I know how hard it can be to follow your dreams and passions while worrying about living costs.

As Chairman of The Actors Fund, I have been following with pleasure one of our new initiatives:  The Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation (AFHDC) and their mission of developing  affordable, supportive and senior housing for performing arts professionals. As you know, providing this wonderful service improves lives, creates jobs, and revitalizes communities, especially our community!

Did you know AFHDC is actively evaluating housing development opportunities in Newark, New York City and Pennsylvania via an online survey running through December 6? In addition, they are creating feasibility studies for a new residential mixed-use project in downtown Los Angeles. Exciting stuff!

So how can you help? Take the survey! I just did. It’s fast, easy and the results will help determine interest, need, design, amenities and more for these projects. To make these buildings a reality, our input is necessary! So go to www.ActorsFundHousingSurvey.org

Accommodating show people with secure and affordable living has been a part of The Actors Fund for more than 100 years, and now AFHDC is looking at how to prepare for the next 100!

Take the survey – be part of something big! And please help us spread the word!

Your friend,

Brian Stokes Mitchell

The Artists Health Insurance Resource Center (AHIRC) is coming to you!

Announcing AHIRC’s Every Artist Insured Tour 2010-2011

Dear Friends,

I’m happy to be the guest blogger this week for The Actors Fund. As National Director of Health Services for The Actors Fund, we’ve been working steadily since 1998 through The Fund’s Artists Health Insurance Resource Center   (AHIRC) with one goal in mind:  to have every artist in this country insured. With the passage of the health care reform bill, we are even more determined to realize this goal.

So we’re taking AHIRC on the road!  AHIRC’s “Every Artist Insured Tour 2010-11” will kick off on November 18 in Los Angeles, followed by a stop in Kansas City on November 20 and 22, and then whistle stops coming up in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Newark, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Dallas/Forth Worth.

In the coming months, our AHIRC team of health insurance experts, in partnership with local arts organizations, will reach out to all performing and visual arts and entertainment professionals. These informational workshops will help explain affordable health care options and coverage for everyone in entertainment. To set up a seminar for artists in your community, you can contact me at 917.281.5966, or email jbrown@actorsfund.org

Also, I wanted to share a good read with you.   This article, “Obamacare for Artists,” appeared in “The Chicago Reader.” I was recently in Chicago for a panel for health care reform that focused on artists who are un- or underinsured. The articles subtitle says it all – “What health care reform looks like for creative pros—and where to get help now.”  Click here and have a look.

So spread the word! You can visit www.ahirc.org/everyartistinsuredtour for the latest tour information and to register for a seminar in your area.

See you on the road,

Jim Brown

National Director of Health Services

The Actors Fund