STATEWIDE NEWS
OHCS To Announce Funding for 17 Projects in Spring CFC, June 5
State Distributes Neighborhood Stabilization Plan 1 Funds to Localities
Housing Need in Lane County Overwhelms Section 8 Website
3 Central OR Counties Launch First Homelessness Plans East of Cascades
FHDC Tour Exposes Dire Reality of Farmworker Living Conditions
State Legislature Begins Crafting the Final 2009-2010 budget
Bill Provides Opportunities for Residents of Manufactured Dwelling Parks
FEDERAL NEWS
New Law Gives Renters Protection During Foreclosure
Homeownership Losses Are Greatest Among People of Color, Report Finds
PORTLAND METRO NEWS
Support the Set Aside: City Council Needs to Hear From You
Mayor Seeks Public Input on Economic Development Strategy
FUNDING AND AWARD OPPORTUNITIES
HUD NSP Mapping Tool Available Online
HUD Implements Green Retrofit Program for Multifamily Housing
USDA Offers Section 533 Funds – Deadline July 10th
EVENT, TRAININGS AND RESOURCES
Umpqua CDC Hosts Seminar to Help People Facing Foreclosure May 28th
Hacienda CDC hosts the 11th Annual Latino Homebuyers Fair on June 7th
Come Celebrate the Opening of the Charleston June 9th
Benefit Supports Community Partners for Affordable Housing – June 16th
Farmworker Asset/Property Management Conference: June 25-26th
New Dates for Oregon ON Banquet & Fall Peer Network Meeting- Oct. 7th & 8th
Oregon ON Resident Services Opportunities Project Benefits YOU!
AWARDS
Community Partners for Affordable Housing Wins Vision Action Network Award
Hacienda CDC Wins Innovative Rural Development Project Showcase
Sisters Honored with Agency Excellence Award from Oregon Food Bank
OHCS To Announce Funding for 17 Projects in Spring CFC, June 5 - top
Seventeen multi-unit housing projects receiving “initial” approval in the spring Consolidated Funding Cycle round were revealed to sponsors this week. There were 38 applications. Of the 17 awarded, the nine projects with grants or loans over $100,000 will be presented for consideration to the State Housing Council at its June 5 meeting in Salem. For more information visit their website and scroll down to “Consolidated Funding Cycle (CFC) Project Lists, Spring 2009,” or click on this link to open an Excel file.
State Distributes Neighborhood Stabilization Plan 1 Funds to Localities - top
The Neighborhood Stabilization Plan 1, the federal program to fund the purchase of bank-owned foreclosed properties under last year’s Housing and Economic Recovery Act, is a step closer to implementation in Oregon.
Grant agreements totaling some $11.4 million have been sent to guaranteed sub-recipients in the entitlement areas of Oregon where foreclosure blight is greatest. See NSP Substantial Amendment by clicking here.
A request for proposals has been delivered to OHCS partners throughout the state where approximately $4 million in NSP1 funds will be spent to end foreclosure blight. OHCS is working with affected communities to apply for the competitive NSP2 money. It authorizes foreclosure blight relief under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
Housing Need in Lane County Overwhelms Section 8 Website - top
A sobering indicator of the need for affordable housing was highlighted when people applying for federally subsidized rental units in Lane County overwhelmed The Housing and Community Services Agency’s website within minutes.
Click here to read the whole story in the Register-Guard by Susan Palmer
3 Central OR Counties Launch First Homelessness Plans East of Cascades - top
Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties have banded together to create the first 10-year plan to end homelessness east of the Cascades. Representatives of Oregon Housing and Community Services attended the kickoff in Bend May 15th, along with city, county and federal policy planners and anti-poverty advocates.
The three Central Oregon counties, among the recession’s hardest-hit in Oregon, have seen unemployment go off the charts, driving mortgage foreclosures and rural homelessness.
Leaders there are putting their heads together with the intent of crafting a viable homelessness plan in one year, according to Cindy Pasko, community development director at the Partnership to End Poverty at Bend and a member of the Governor’s Ending Homelessness Advisory Council.
Cindy says the dramatic impact of the recession has changed the face of homelessness in Central Oregon that now includes many former middle-class families that have lost their homes. She reports the January 2009 count found more than 2,300 homeless persons in the three counties, including more than 900 children.
FHDC Tour Exposes Dire Reality of Farmworker Living Conditions - top
The following is from an excellent blog entry by Jaime Arredondo about farmworker housing conditions and the Nuevo Amanecer affordable housing complex. Jamie is the Communications Coordinator of the Farmworker Housing Development Corporation (FHDC).
“On an early Saturday morning, along with a group from Slow Food Portland, I drove down the familiar I-5 corridor to visit a large, local community that few Oregonians have ever considered. It is a community in which 7 languages are regularly spoken, and where residents hail from multiple countries. It is also a community that was built with sweat equity and has struggled over the years for support. And yet, for as complex and as little understood as this community is, we are dependent on its work. Nuevo Amanecer is a farmworker community and its residents are the people who harvest our food.
“We met up with the staff of the Farmworker Housing Development Corporation at their Cipriano Ferrel Education Center in Woodburn. Along with the FHDC team, we were joined by a number of their community organizers and property managers, as well as by Ramon Ramirez, President of PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste), who is also the FHDC founder and board Chair. Created in 1990 by a coalition of farmworker advocacy groups, FHDC began operations with the construction of 50 affordable housing units at Nuevo Amanecer. The participating organizations realized that in order to fully address worker rights, they needed to also confront housing injustices. As Ramirez explains it, ‘Health conditions are directly related to working and living conditions – this led us to housing.’
“Jerry Ambris, the Community Development Coordinator led us on a tour of the Nuevo Amanecer complex while explaining their current construction projects. Since the first phase of the development in 1992, FHDC has expanded their management to over 200 units in Marion and Polk Counties. In their current rehab projects and upcoming construction, FHDC has begun to embrace eco-friendly building materials, rainwater harvesting, community gardens, and culturally-sensitive construction. As an example, Ambris told our group how they’ve updated the units’ ventilation systems to accommodate the Latino residents’ dependence on boiled and steamed foods.
Click here to read more.
State Legislature Begins Crafting the Final 2009-2010 Budget - top
Monday, Sen. Margaret Carter (D-Portland) and Rep. Peter Buckley (D-Ashland), co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, released their proposed 2009-2011 budget. This budget will serve as the working document for the budget process.
The draft budget would reduce the Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) General Fund budget by 20 percent, and proposes offsetting those cuts with revenues generated by the Housing Opportunity Bill (HB 2436). The co-chairs’ budget replaces the Governor’s Recommended Budget and the Essential Budget Level as the working document for the remainder of the session.
The proposed budget eliminates all General Fund support for the Homeownership Assistance program ($842,468), to be offset by a projected $2.1 million for homeownership-related activities generated by HB 2436.
It also reduces Emergency Housing Assistance General Fund support by $1.6 million. Legislative Revenue projects that $1.5 million in Emergency Housing Assistance will come from HB 2436 fees in 2009-11.
The Co-Chairs also propose a reduction to the State Homelessness Assistance Program of $171,358, or approximately 6 percent of the program budget.
Bill Provides Opportunities for Residents of Manufactured Dwelling Parks - top
While many Oregonians are losing homes to the cratering economy, several Redmond residents are getting a chance to own theirs. Residents at Green Pastures, a 9-acre mobile dwelling park on the far west side of the city, recently formed a nonprofit cooperative to buy their park. The cooperative, serving those 55 and older, is the first of its kind in Central Oregon.
“This will allow them to remain in their homes,” said Rick Crager, deputy director of Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS). “By forming the co-op, park residents will preserve their neighborhood and prevent its sale to developers.” Cooperatives offer stability that home ownership should provide, Crager said.
The move to cooperatives is “an old option rediscovered,” said Peter Hainley, executive director of the Community and Shelter Assistance Corporation of Oregon. The agency is putting together purchase options for manufactured dwelling park residents to buy their land.
House Bill 2255A, which will hit the Senate floor next week, will cement the buy-in by defining homes in manufactured dwelling park cooperatives as real property. The bill, if passed, could pave the way for park residents to obtain the same financing options as conventional homebuyers and to take advantage of home loan products that will keep their homes affordable.
“Manufactured dwelling parks are an important source of unsubsidized affordable housing in Oregon,” said Pegge McGuire, administrator of OHCS’s Community Resources Division, which provides a host of services to manufactured dwelling park housing residents and owners. “There are presently over 1,200 parks throughout the state,” McGuire said. “Overwhelmingly, these parks house people who are elderly and/or low income, and families with children.”
McGuire testified before the Senate Consumer Protection and Public Affairs Committee on behalf of HB 2255A, which, she said, will help residents purchase manufactured dwelling parks.
“This bill provides opportunities for residents of manufactured dwelling parks,” Crager said. “These opportunities may ultimately improve the department’s ability to preserve this valuable housing resource.”
The Green Pastures cooperative is the second in Oregon, following Victor Manor in McMinnville. Both pave the way for additional park conversions, one answer to fitting mobile dwelling parks into the viable housing mix for cities throughout the state.
“No new parks are being developed,” Hainley said. “We need to make sure sufficient land is set aside for new parks. In reality, this is not happening.” Hainley said until public policy changes to better work with jurisdictions to develop new parks, cooperatives are a good move. “As a result of this, we’ve been getting a number of phone calls from brokers and owners about the program,” Hainley said of the new cooperative. “We anticipate doing three or four of these each year.”
Next week the OHCS budget should go into work session, which will provide greater certainty about the resources available to support the department’s affordable housing and anti-poverty programs.
For more information, contact Lisa Joyce, OHCS Legislative Relations Manager, at (503) 986-0951 or via email.
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FEDERAL NEWS
New Law Gives Renters Protection During Foreclosure - top
On May 20th, important protections for tenants living in foreclosed properties were signed into law by President Obama. The renter protection provisions took effect immediately and expire at the end of 2012.
S. 896 contains key renter protections, advocated for by NLIHC and other organizations:
• 90-day pre-eviction notice to tenants whose homes have gone into foreclosure.
• The rights of tenants to remain in their homes for the terms of their leases. (However, if the new owner will live in the home, leases can be terminated subject to the 90 day notice.)
• Tenants with Section 8 vouchers able to remain with both their lease and rental assistance payments intact, subject to the rights of the purchaser at foreclosure who wants to occupy the home after 90 days notice.
Currently, in most states, renters get little or no notice to vacate their homes upon their landlords’ foreclosures. The new federal law will not preempt state laws that provide a greater level of renter protections at foreclosure.
For more information, visit www.nlihc.org or contact the Outreach Team at (202) 662-1530 or via email.
Homeownership Losses Greatest Among People of Color, Report Finds - top
Bethany Sanchez, the Vice-President of Fair Lending at the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council forwarded this:
“This NY Times article articulates a situation that could have been prevented had the provisions of the CRA Modernization Bill of 2009 been implemented several years ago.” Click here to read the article.
“For more information on CRA and HR 1479, the CRA Modernization Act, click here.
“To do something positive about it, contact your Congresswoman or Congressman, and ask them to co-sponsor HR 1479!”
Support the Set Aside: City Council Needs to Hear From You - top
Action is needed to preserve the 30% TIF Set-aside for affordable housing in the Urban Renewal Areas. The City Council is currently considering relaxing the Set Aside for the Lents Urban Renewal District in order to fund a $42 million minor league baseball stadium. This stadium proposal is the first significant challenge for the Set Aside.
Please take action by emailing all five members of Portland City Council:
Commissioner Randy Leonard
Commissioner Dan Saltzman
Commissioner Amanda Fritz
Commissioner Nick Fish
Mayor Sam Adams
Talking Points:
• The Set Aside was intended to create opportunity in each of the Urban Renewal Areas; however, because of the rising property values these areas create, residents are at risk of being priced out of the their own neighborhoods.
• People who live in and around the Lents Urban Renewal Area are very vulnerable to urban renewal fueled displacement because of the many families, seniors and others with lower incomes who live there. Although they can afford to live in their neighborhood right now, with Light Rail and a stadium coming into the neighborhood, property values are going to skyrocket. Unless we invest in affordable housing now, Lents current residents are going to be displaced.
• PDC’s 2006 Lents Housing Study found that:
-More than 1,000 Lents homes are in poor condition.
-Almost half of Lents residents spend more than 30% of their income on housing.
-Fewer than 25% of Lents residents can afford market rate homes built in Lents.
• When housing competes with priorities like transportation, the environment and other public works, housing loses time and again. It is too hard for affordable housing to compete with other projects in Urban Renewal Areas because while well-funded developers, business interests, and others with a financial stake in Urban Renewal are able to stay at the table to assure that their top priorities are funded, ordinary families are not at the table when the deals are made. They’re busy working two jobs, going to the laundromat, and looking over their children’s homework.
• Portland is very fortunate to have a City Council that has so clearly and repeatedly championed the housing needs of lower income Portlander’s. If the City Council is serious about making Portland family friendly, creating affordable housing that will be home to Lents families is a must. Achieving 30% affordability in each district is a matter of fairness and equity.
Mayor Seeks Public Input on Econ. Development Strategy – Debut June 11 - top
Portland Mayor Sam Adams is seeking ideas, questions, and comments on Portland’s draft comprehensive economic development and job creation strategy. Intended to integrate with the emerging Portland Plan and other Plans, and to help get the local economy back on track and Portlanders working again, this strategy seeks to position Portland as one of the most sustainable economies in the world. Click here read the strategy or click here to view the presentation.
The public is also invited to the roll out of the strategy on June 11th at the annual regional economic summit in partnership with Greenlight Greater Portland, the Regional Business Plan, Regional Partners, and the Portland Development Commission. Click here to register.
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FUNDING AND AWARD OPPORTUNITIES
HUD NSP Mapping Tool Available Online - top
To support NSP, HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research has set up mapping capabilities on the HUD USER website so that grantees get additional information on their areas of greatest need. This NSP Mapping tool can be used to support either NSP funding round. For NSP2, this tool will help applicants determine geographic areas that are eligible to include as NSP2 target geography. Potential applicants can see a map with Census Tracts and the foreclosure related risk scores and other relevant data. The applicant may select Census Tracts they currently are targeting for NSP1 or propose to target for NSP2, then view the average scores for the selected area. The HUD USER site will indicate if the selected Census Tracts meet the minimum threshold for NSP2 program funding.
HUD Implements Green Retrofit Program for Multifamily Housing - top
Owners of properties with funding from Section 202 or 811, or with project-based Section 8 vouchers (including Section 515/8 properties with at least 20 units) can apply beginning June 15 for grants or loans to reduce utility consumption, benefit resident health, or benefit the environment. Details will be available soon at HUD.
USDA Offers Section 533 Funds – Deadline July 10 - top
Housing Preservation Grants are available for public agencies and nonprofits to repair owner-occupied and rental housing. The deadline is July 10. See the Federal Register, 5/11/09, or http://www.grants.gov. Contact a USDA RD state office.
EVENTS, TRAININGS AND RESOURCES
Umpqua CDC Hosts Seminar to Help People Facing Foreclosure –May 28th - top
Umpqua CDC http://www.umpquacdc.org/ is hosting an informational seminar to help homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments, or who are looking for answers on how to prevent becoming delinquent. This seminar will help homeowners navigate their way through the process of a foreflosure and the options available along the way. The seminar will be held Thursday May 28, 2009 from 5:30pm to 6:30 pm at Umpqua CDC; contact them for more information http://www.umpquacdc.org/
Hacienda CDC hosts the 11th Annual Latino Homebuyers Fair on June 7th - top
Hacienda CDC will host the 11th Annual Latino Homebuyers Fair on June 7, 2009 at the Oregon Zoo’s Cascade Crest Banquet Center at 4001 SW Canyon Road, Portland from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Hacienda has built a foundation of trust in the Latino community in its 17-year history which is critical – now more than ever – as families struggle with the current housing crisis.
This free family event has been specifically designed to provide reliable information and resources from a select group of trusted vendors to the Latino community. Important information will be given on buying a home, obtaining the right loan, building assets, and preventing foreclosure.
The 11th Annual Latino Homebuyers Fair will feature more than 30 exhibitors including lenders, real estate companies, non-profit housing agencies, as well as state, federal and international agencies.
This year’s fair is intended to respond to the current housing crisis affecting so many
Latino families and others by providing resources and creating options to better navigate the US housing system and keep their homes.
An updated report from the Pew Hispanic Center revealed that loan applications for home purchases by Hispanics fell 38.2% from 2006 to 2007 compared to a decrease of 34.4% for African-Americans, and 18.9% for Whites. At the same time 14.2% of overall home purchase loans were higher-priced (subprime) loans. Of these loans 27.6% where issued to Hispanics, 33.5% to African-Americans and 10.5% to Whites.
The Fair is designed to address these disparities as well as highlight new opportunities for first time homeowners such as a one-time credit of $8,000 when they file their 2009 tax returns and purchase a home before November 31st.
The goal of the Fair is to help close the minority homeownership gap and help Latino
homebuyer applicants to achieve their dream of homeownership. Several industry experts will be on hand at the event offering free home buying workshops.
The public is welcome to attend and there will be free zoo admission the day of the fair for all children 11 and under. Last year’s fair attracted over 1,000 people from the tri-
county region, the Willamette Valley and Salem.
The 11th Latino Homebuyers Fair is a collaborative effort coordinated by Hacienda CDC along with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the State of Oregon, City of Portland, Portland Development Commission, the Mexican Consulate in Portland and more than 30 public and private not-for-profit organizations committed to the Fair’s success.
Come Celebrate the Opening of The Charleston on June 9th - top
Please join Northwest Housing Alternatives and their community partners in celebrating the grand opening of The Charleston Apartments in Wilsonville.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
3:00 until 6:00pm (remarks at 4:00pm)
11609 SW Toulouse Street, Wilsonville
Light refreshments will be served
The Charleston features one-bedroom apartments with energy-efficient appliances and ample storage. The property includes a computer lab and community spaces for gatherings. The location at the heart of the Villebois community is convenient to public transit, shopping, services and recreation.
Northwest Housing Alternatives (NHA) works to provide a wide range of affordable housing options for people who earn modest incomes. NHA’s current portfolio includes 1,487 units of housing in 16 Oregon counties. These apartments and group homes provide stable homes for more than 2,300 Oregonians – seniors, families and people with special needs. Annie Ross House, NHA’s shelter program, helps meet the needs of families experiencing homelessness.
Working in concert with partners and community supporters, NHA has an active development program to meet the growing need for low-cost rental housing.
Benefit Supports Community Partners for Affordable Housing – June 16th - top
Join Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH) for Friends and Family Night on Tuesday, June 16, from 5 p.m. to close (1 a.m.) at McMenamins John Barleycorns (14610 SW Sequoia Parkway, Tigard).
50% of all net proceeds that night go directly to CPAH!
Simply bring your family and friends to John Barleycorns to enjoy a great meal and support a worthy cause – affordable housing and after school programs for kids.
Farmworker Housing & Property Management Conference: June 25-26th - top
Early Bird Discount Ends May 24th!
Community And Shelter Assistance Corp. (CASA of Oregon) http://www.casaoforegon.org/home, and the Office of Rural and Farmworker Housing (ORFH) http://www.orfh.org/ invite you to their 7th biennial conference for property managers, owners, asset managers, maintenance personnel and service providers who work directly and indirectly with the farmworker population. For more information click here.
This 7th biennial conference supports the efforts of numerous owners and managers of farmworker housing who are doing their part to address the housing needs of a unique and underserved population. Join other participants at this conference who are working to provide hard-working families with safe, quality, and affordable housing.
The conference is designed to be interactive, encouraging participants to ask questions, share advice and address the critical issues facing providers of housing for farmworkers.
Providers of farmworker housing face specific issues related to the targeted population that they serve. Providing and managing farmworker housing is a very specialized, though not widely recognized, practice – much like providing assisted living or housing for the homeless. Farmworker residents and their families have special needs that are not addressed at traditional property management conventions.
Guest Speakers Include:
• Erasmo Gamboa, University of Washington
• Moises Loza, Housing Assistance Council
• Mike Gempler, Washington Growers League
• Victor Merced, Oregon Housing & Community Services
• Janet Abbett, Washington Community, Trade & Economic Development
The Conference is June 25 and 26 at the Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond, Oregon. Register online at www.casaoforegon.org or email your registration to us by clicking here and mail your payment to: CASA of Oregon, Conference
212 E. 1st St., Newberg, OR 97132.
Hotel accommodations must be reserved directly with hotel. Special conference rates will be offered until May 24, 2009 or as space is available, so early reservations are recommended. Reservations: (800) 682-4786 or online at www.eagle-crest.com. Indicate “CASA of Oregon” for conference rates.
New Dates for Oregon ON Banquet & Fall Peer Network Meeting- Oct. 7-8th - top
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Oregon Opportunity Network’s annual banquet will be held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Members, supporters and friends will gather to celebrate the accomplishments of our members.
Keynote speaker will be announced soon! Tickets will go on sale in August. Details will be posted here as they become available. For more information, contact Karen.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Oregon ON’s semi-annual statewide Peer Network meeting will be held at the First United Methodist Church in Portland.
Agendas for each of the peer working groups will be made available on-line closer to the event.
For more information about the Peer Network Working and Best Practices Groups, go to the Oregon ON website or contact Terrie via email.
Oregon ON Resident Services Opportunities Project Benefits YOU! - top
Oregon ON’s Resident Services Opportunity Project (RSOP), a 2-year initiative that has a set project goal to develop a framework for a sustainable resident services delivery system, has made several substantial steps forward in establishing the benefits of the services and programs that Oregon ON members provide their residents, and towards making the case for dependable and sustainable funding to support them.
Oregon ON members are working to articulate the effectiveness of resident services strategies and are developing a framework for sustainable resident services to elected and government leaders and to funders. Oregon ON’s Resident Services Industry Support Coordinator facilitates regular RSOP groups, including the monthly Resident Services Working Group (RSWG) meetings, subcommittees and other focused activities associated with a workplan that will accomplish this initiative.
Oregon ON is currently working on a Resident Services Logic Model that will reflect consensus among coordinators around the activities and resident-level outcomes that are equivocally produced. The group has identified 3 core “services” that all Resident Services Coordinators (RSC’s) offer to residents (at different levels) across Oregon: service coordination, conflict resolution (eviction prevention), and community building activities. In addition, RSC’s implement “programs” based on target population – for example, youth, adult education, health and wellness, and workforce development programs, among others. Together our services and programs produce positive resident-level and property-level outcomes to create healthy residents, healthy projects, and healthy communities.
The resident services component of the new Oregon ON website is a great way to review additional information regarding resident services – the purpose of this piece of the website is three-fold: to educate viewers on industry definitions of our services and programs and related outcomes, to showcase specific services and programs across Oregon, and to provide a discussion forum for RSC’s on relevant issues. The resident services component of the website is currently under construction and will be available to the public in June.
Oregon ON is currently working with Portland State University Regional Research Institute to implement a resident services cost-analysis study around the services and programs that members provide to residents. The industry is pushing for some quantitative data around resident services and this opportunity provides us a solid option for obtaining this information. Drafting a compelling need for resident services and providing clarity around its costs per service and program type will assist Oregon ON members in the search for resident services funding and support. The results will be shared with the affordable housing industry upon completion.
All of Oregon ON members’ work is gearing up to the State of the Industry Forum in spring 2010. This forum is an opportunity to share Oregon ON members’ collective progress in the Resident Services Opportunity Project (RSOP). Sustainable funding is critical to maximizing the impact of our resident services and programs. All of us hold the collective interest of developing a sustainable resident services delivery system.
Please contact Oregon ON if you have any questions or comments and/or if you would like additional information on the Resident Services Working Group (RSWG). Contact: Kate Fulton, Resident Services Industry Support Coordinator, # 503-335-9884, or email.
Community Partners for Affordable Housing Wins VAN Award - top
Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH) is one of four winners this year of the Vision Action Network (VAN) Cameron Award for Outstanding Community Collaboration.
The Cameron Award is presented annually to individuals and organizations that embrace collaboration and epitomize a commitment to working across multiple sectors of the community. VAN is a private non-profit organization committed to the promotion and support of collaborative community-based problem solving in Washington County.
CPAH is a winner this year because of its outstanding dedication to very progressive building and remodeling practices that are environmentally friendly as well as supportive of the cultivation of community. CPAH partners closely across sectors to provide affordable housing to those individuals and families who have significant barriers and would otherwise not qualify for housing, and to ensure after households move in that they have access to appropriate clinical services and case management, crisis intervention and emergency assistance resources, life skills classes and parenting resources, and onsite community building activities and youth programs that heavily rely on volunteers and in-kind support. CPAH is committed to building a complete community in partnership, in which people of all ages, backgrounds and socio-economic status can afford to live together and have the services they need to thrive.
The winners will be honored at the VAN Annual Celebration at PCC Rock Creek Campus Tuesday June 2, 2009. The community is invited to attend; the event is free of charge but registration is required. To reserve a place at this event, please call the VAN office at 503-846-5792 or email them.
Hacienda CDC Wins Innovative Rural Development Project Showcase - top
Pietro Ferrari of Hacienda CDC Accepted the Award at the NDC Academy 2009 Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. In 2007 Hacienda CDC constructed Plaza Los Robles, a 24-unit residential housing community for low-income farmworkers and their families in Molalla, Oregon.
Plaza Los Robles provides dignified, continuous affordable rental housing for its residents and a place to learn, play and grow near their places of employment. Built to green standards, the residential community consists of six two-story buildings containing 8 two-bedroom units, 12 three-bedroom units and 4 four-bedroom units and a community learning center with a large meeting room, two public restrooms, manager’s office, a private office for case managers, four computer stations, and a laundry room. The community rooms are used for meetings, culturally-appropriate self-sufficiency classes, after-school programs for youth and fiestas. Exterior features include fully accessorized playgrounds, a half-court basketball court, and an extensive 2 acre wetlands park. While rents for these units are $590 for a two bedroom, $695 for a three bedroom, and $730 for a four bedroom, with the aid of USDA Rental Assistance, tenants pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent. Comparable market rents in 2009 for Clackamas County are $809, $1178, and $1,415 respectively.
Plaza Los Robles is unique among rural developments in that it offers on-site access to culturally-specific supportive services for families. Residents at Plaza Los Robles, like all of Hacienda CDC’s affordable housing communities, enjoy the full support of a vast array of culturally appropriate services supported by bilingual/bicultural staff. Programs include inter-generational education for children and adults, healthy lifestyle awareness classes and civic engagement opportunities.
Currently 24 families earning 30% to 50% of family median income call Plaza Los Robles their home. Eighteen youth in grades 1-8 participate in after school programs at the on-site community center, receiving academic support, personal development and parental involvement activities every day after school and five days a week during the critical summer months. Thirty-five parents participate in monthly parent meetings to discuss their child’s academic and personal progress and attend parenting classes through Northwest Family Center, attend healthy cooking and nutrition workshops in partnership with Oregon State University Extension, and receive sexual education in partnership with Cascade AIDS.
Plaza Comunitaria is Hacienda CDC’s adult education center providing opportunities for educational advancement, workforce development and skill-building. The community center at Plaza Los Robles has been accredited for adult education by the National Institute of Adult Education of the Mexican government. Residents also attend monthly “resident meetings” where they discuss issues related to community safety, event planning and leadership.
The National Development Council’s (NDC) biennial policy and training event, the NDC Academy 2009, gave community development practitioners from across the country the opportunity to submit their innovative community development projects for inclusion in NDC’s first-ever Project Showcases from the Field.
Plaza Los Robles and other selected projects were displayed at a Congressional Reception sponsored by Senator Charles Schumer and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney on Tuesday, May 12. Following visual and spoken presentations, Academy attendees cast their votes, selecting the top three honorees in each of four categories: rural development, job creation, affordable housing development and community development. Finalists were honored at the NDC Academy 2009 Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, May 13.
NDC’s Academy brings together community development practitioners from across the country to:
• Get up-to-the minute briefings from legislators, policy makers and program officials on Federal activities that address what they do every day in their community: job creation, community revitalization, affordable housing, and economic development
• Let their elected representatives and Federal program administrators hear from the frontlines of community development about what is working and what more is needed
• Hear from each other about successes, challenges and solutions
• Get NDC’s hallmark training in the full range of financing tools and development strategies and how to use them for every type of community development project
NDC is the oldest national non-profit economic and community development organization, with a 41-year history of increasing the flow of capital to underserved urban and rural communities through financing, training and technical assistance.
Sisters Honored with Agency Excellence Award from Oregon Food Bank - top
Sisters Of The Road has been named a 2009 Oregon Food Bank Agency Excellence Award winner in the category of Excellence in Client Services. The award comes with a $500 prize to support the 300-350 warm, nutritious meals served in the Cafe each day.
In an average month, the Oregon Food Bank (OFB) provides Sisters’ cafe with over 50% of the food they need to cook up hundreds of balanced meals each day. Sisters is thrilled that OFB recognizes the strength of Sisters’ philosophies of gentle personalism and nonviolence, exemplified in their motto: “Here there are no strangers, just friends we’ve never met!”
