Newsletter, December 1

Oregon ON News
Oregon ON Individual Membership Drive Begins
Help Oregon ON Win a CHASE Grant from Facebook

Capacity Matters – Part 8
The REACH Bedbug Taskforce – Providing Leadership, Encouraging Partnerships

Awards

Bank of America Awards REACH a Neighborhood Builders Award
CPAH is Multifamily Executive Merit Award Winner for Watershed

Member News and Events
Proud Ground 10^th Anniversary – Dec 1
Oregon ON Member Orgs Featured in Willamette Week Give!Guide
Transition News from NEDCO
ROSE Apartments is Kick-Off Site of New Healthy Homes Project
Habitat for Humanity and Walsh Celebrate 5 Years of Success
ROSE 2009 Annual Report
CASA Helps Complete Green Pastures Mobile Home Park Conversion
Villebois Rain Garden Apartments at Dammasch Site at 100% Occupancy
Housing Works Offers Rental Assistance to 50 Mainstream Applicants
ReStore Sells House Parts as Gifts to Build a Habitat for Humanity Home
Women Put a New Spin on Home-Making with New Home in Lents
CASA Helps Reconvene State Farmworker Housing Team

Portland Metro News
Con Plan Meeting on Housing Needs of Aging Populations – Dec 2
Resource Access Center Breaks Ground, to Include 130 Supportive Units
Portland Secures $5½M ARRA Funds for Energy Efficiency
City of Portland Releases the 2009 Resident Survey Results

Statewide News
Protecting Critical Services – Take Action to Support 66 and 67
OHCS Issues Request for Preservation Pre-Applications, Due Dec 15
Spread the Word About Healthy Kids Enrollment
Oregon Hunger Rate Surges – Food Stamps Fill Need
Housing Council Awards $70M Through CFC to Fund 444 Housing Units
Community Development Expert Appointed to Housing Council
HUD Approves Residual Receipts to Preserve State-Financed Section 8
Oregon IDA Program Celebrates Its 1000th Graduate
Security Breach at Oregon Housing and Community Services

Regional News
House Keys Not Handcuffs Action In San Francisco – Jan 19-20

Federal News
Help Push for NHTF Funding - Dec 1, 2
Senate Passes Vets Bill with Extra Homeless Funds, T-HUD Bill Progress
USDA Appropriations Completed
VA Announces Plan to End Veteran Homelessness
HUD Unveils Choice Neighborhoods Proposal
NACEDA Meets with Federal Reserve Governor, OMB, and USDA
HUD Takes Comments on FY10-FY15 Strategic Plan
Loan Modifications Ahead of Schedule, but Foreclosures Accelerate
NACEDA Requests Tenant Rights Language Remain in Legislation
Changes to Nonprofit IRS Filing Fees, Military Leave

Funding and Award Opportunities
New Due Dates and Tech Corrections to Section 202, 811 NOFAs
GTECH Funds Computer Labs for Disadvantaged Children
Open Meadows Funds Small Orgs, and Women-led Projects
Hitachi Work Grants Program Supports Low-Income Workers
HUD Grants to Preserve and Retrofit Properties for Energy Efficiency
HUD HOPE VI Main Street Program – Due Jan 20
Elderly, Disabled Supportive Housing Grants Extended – Dec 14, 17
PMI Funds Affordable Housing, Homeownership Projects
ACCION USA Microfinance Org Finances Entrepreneurs
New Funding Initiatives for Microenterprise Development Orgs

Events
State of Black Oregon Symposium 2009 – Dec 3
Cheap Art Party – Affordable Art for Affordable Housing, Dec 4
CLF Tickets to Laugh for Livability Feb 19, Holiday Art Sale Dec 4-6
Beloved Sisters Co-Founder Genny Nelson to Retire - Dec 12

Training and Conferences
Webinar on Preserving Affordability in NSP Program – Dec 1
REACH, MetLife Winners on Senior Housing Best Practices – Dec 9, 11
Enterprise Radon Resistant Construction Strategies – Dec 17
Webinar on Cause Marketing – Dec 3, Small Business Forum – Jan 12
NACEDA Annual Summit March 23 – 25, 2010

Reports
Bridges to Housing Releases Mid-Year Evaluation Report
Report Finds Vets Suffer Homelessness at Double the General Rate
Homeownership Subsidies Almost Four Times that of Rental Housing
Strong State Anti-Predatory Lending Laws Linked to Less Defaults

Resources
Top 10 Year-End Fundraising Strategies to Put You Over Goal
TechSoup Fundraising Software – Manage and Connect with Donors
New Interactive Website for Neighborhood Change Competitions
New Foreclosure Help, Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnership Websites
New HUD USER Website Design

Oregon ON News

Oregon ON Individual Membership Drive Begins –top

Those of you who receive our newsletter know that Oregon ON strives to keep you informed of the latest news in the affordable housing and community development industry. Today we are inviting individuals to donate $50 to Oregon ON to support the enewsletter and our great work to ensure that hardworking families, people with disabilities and seniors get the opportunity to build better lives.

It is through the strength of our powerful statewide network that this year, Oregon ON championed the passage of two historic bills that create over $34 million in permanent new resources for the creation and preservation of housing for low-income families.

By making a tax-deductible donation of at least $50, you, as an Individual Member, can open the door to opportunity for seniors, working families, and people with disabilities. Membership has other benefits, too:

* Connect and Network with a broad network of community development organizations and nonprofit housing developers throughout the state; our members have over 14,000 affordable housing units statewide.

* Stay informed through our bi-weekly electronic newsletter, newly redesigned website, and Public Forums.

* Support coordinated advocacy to create public awareness, resources, and political support for community development work.

* Receive policy e-alerts on local, state and federal issues of concern to members, as well as Action Alerts, events and Jobseeker postings.

* Receive discounts at our annual Banquet and other events.

* Be recognized on our website and publications, and at our annual Banquet.

Become an Individual Member today by joining Oregon ON at the $50 level or one of our higher levels; the greater your membership, the more great work we can do!

In tough economic times, it becomes more important than ever to share resources and information, pool our voices, and build partnerships that can help each other and the industry achieve the highest levels of success.

By joining Oregon ON, you will know that you have taken a great step to support affordable housing opportunities. It’s a win-win!

Please contact us at (503) 335-9884 or via email if you have any questions about becoming a member, or click on this link to become a member today. Thanks for your support!

Help Oregon ON Win a CHASE Grant Via Facebook –top

Earlier this month, CHASE launched a $5 million dollar Community Giving Campaign, Chase Community Giving: You Decide What Matters, using the Facebook platform. For the first time ever, Facebook users will be able to choose from more than 500,000 small and local charities to decide which community organizations they want to receive donations totaling millions of dollars from a corporate philanthropy fund.

Chase is enlisting Facebook users to vote for which small and local nonprofits will receive donations totaling $5 million. The eligible charity receiving the most votes will be awarded $1 million, the top five runners-up will receive $100,000 each and the 100 finalists, including the top winners, will be awarded $25,000 each. Additionally, a special Advisory Board will allocate a total of $1 million to the nominated charities of its choice.

You can log onto www.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving and vote for Oregon ON, but you need to put in Community Development Network of Multnomah County.

Check it out and pass the word on!

Capacity Matters – Part 8

The REACH Bedbug Taskforce – Providing Leadership, Encouraging Partnerships –top

Capturing the full impact of nonprofit community development organizations is often hard to measure. Arising from within their communities, they are connected to and in tune with community needs. When the capacity and expertise to quickly respond to need and opportunity is added, extraordinary things can happen. For the next 9 months, Oregon ON will be running a series of feature articles that highlight the many ways that community based nonprofit capacity strengthens and builds communities.

Martin Rebhahn is the Pest Control Coordinator at REACH, an Oregon ON Voting member in Portland that provides quality affordable housing and opportunities for individuals, families, and communities. He was interviewed about his experience with a new heat treatment, “structural pasteurization,” that is proving to be a promising new tool against bedbugs.

Oregon ON: How did you first hear about this new bedbug heat treatment?

Martin: I was working on a downtown property of ours that was being renovated, and I met this guy who is the maintenance supervisor at a nearby hotel. He said they’d been using Green Team Oregon, out of Eugene, and they do a heat treatment for bedbugs. So I set up an appointment with Green Team, talked about it with my supervisors, started using it at another one of our buildings. When I first contacted Green Team, this was their first experience doing apartments, which is a totally different experience than doing hotels. Apartments have a lot of heat-sensitive items and different variables to consider.

Oregon ON: How does it work?

Martin: They use fans, big heat circulation fans. They bring the temperature up slowly so the bugs don’t scurry. It takes 220 volt electricity, so they use the oven outlets. They heat up the room to 175 degrees – they call it a ‘cooking process’ – and they keep the room between 135-175 degrees for several hours. Then they do a cool-down process, because the tenant retakes occupancy within a couple of hours.

Oregon ON: Doesn’t it melt people’s stuff?

Martin: There’s a process the tenants have to go through. Certain items can’t be in the unit. We give them warning on a date prior, and we take certain items and store them, after inspecting each item for bugs to make sure we’re not transporting them back into the unit, where they’ll breed again. Things we have to remove include CDs, VHS tapes, vinyl records, candles, aerosol containers, medication – I could give you a list. Food can just go in the unit’s refrigerator. Computer monitors can stay, but towers have to come out, and keyboards too.

Oregon ON: So when you sort through their belongings, you can see the bugs with your naked eye?

Martin: That’s correct. You can see them when they’re adults. The biggest is a quarter-inch long, but they’re usually one eighth-inch long. The babies – the nymphs – are harder to see, because they’re transparent until they take in blood. The problem is, there is no pesticide that takes care of the eggs. You can spray all you want, but the eggs remain. There is what called a residual spray, where, in theory, the bugs come out and walk across it and die, but if they stay hiding behind the baseboard, you can’t get them. That’s why heat is so good, it gets behind everything.

Oregon ON: Have you done a lot of these?

Martin: We’ve done 14 heat treatments. I do the mandatory inspection the next day, and it’s been 100% effective so far. The day after the treatment, they are all gone – eggs, bedbugs, everything! What’s good about the heat remediation is that it’s going into the cracks and crevices, whereas chemical sprays don’t necessarily get into there. Green Team has monitors and probes to make sure box springs and couches get up to temperature.

Oregon ON: It sounds like it might also be more health- and environmentally-friendly than chemical spraying?

Martin: That’s correct, because it takes really heavy-duty pesticides to kill the things. [Heat treatment] is not absolutely environmentally friendly, because of all the electricity it uses, but it’s a lot better than spraying.

Oregon ON: How did you get to be a bedbug expert?

Martin: (laughs) By default! I was working to relocate people when renovating our building, and I discovered I couldn’t move anybody until we got rid of bedbugs.

Oregon ON: Is it effective to just treat one unit, or do whole buildings get infested, or how does that work?

Martin: When we find an infested unit, we inspect the adjacent units – above, below, to each side – and if there are no bedbugs, we don’t treat them. The whole key in winning this battle is finding them early. See, only 50% of people react to the bites. Not everybody has a reaction, so sometimes you don’t find the bedbugs. If they’re hiding under a sheet, and they come out at night and bite, about 50% of people never know because they don’t get big red swollen bites.

Oregon ON: Eww! Sometimes, do you just want to run home and jump in the shower?

Martin: (laughs) Yeah, psychologically I sometimes start itching when I walk into a unit.

Oregon ON: Are bedbugs a big problem in Portland?

Martin: Yes. This is an epidemic across not only Portland, but Oregon, and unfortunately, the world. The reason for the surge is they outlawed DDT and a lot of other powerful pesticides, and also there’s increased immigration and travel. There are certain pesticides bedbugs become resistant to, that don’t do anything to them; not all, but some. That creates more problems as well.

Oregon ON: How much does a heat treatment cost?

Martin: It may seem expensive, but so is trying to clean up a building that is infested and has gotten out of control. We believe that spending some in the beginning of the process will save us money down the line by avoiding a major infestation. When you take into consideration the cost of preparing a room for pesticides, laundry, the cost of treatments, vacancies, multiple treatments, possible migration of the bugs, and labor, then the comparison between heat treatment and spraying with pesticides is more in line.

Oregon ON: So it’s probably not something every agency could afford?

Martin: Correct. I come in and evaluate the unit’s level of infestation; if it’s ‘major’ or ‘extreme’ – if I can see 40-50 bedbugs, and those are just ones I can see – that is extreme, and I call for a heat treatment. Some units we’ve spayed five, six-seven times. At that point, we could have saved money if we just heat-treated to begin with. It’s $75 to get a unit sprayed each time, plus additional costs: we have to purchase resident bedcovers, to permanently encase the bed, and that’s $50-$100, or $150 for a king-size bed. Also, when we spray, the resident has to bag up all their clothes and we have to give them laundry money, or outsource to a company that charges $200-$300 to do the laundry. We have to do this kind of prep ourselves for residents that are mentally or physically incapable of doing it themselves. With heat treatment, there is a lot less prep.

Oregon ON: So do you plan to use it more and more in the future?

Martin: We are going to continue to use the Heat Treatment as part of our overall strategy against bed bugs. Our Integrated Pest Control program includes many different tools including resident education, early detection protocols, monitoring devices, non toxic treatment like cedar oil, pesticides, heat treatments, mattress covers among other things. You have to attack the bugs from many different directions to be successful. There is no silver bullet when it comes to bed bugs.

Oregon ON: And if different organizations started using it more, it could bring the cost down for all?

Martin: Correct. There are more companies in Portland who do it as well, and the more they are used, the more competition there will be, and it could bring the cost down for everyone. It’s basic economics. As the bed bug problem gets worse, and unfortunately it will, more people will offer heat treatment and prices will go down to where it will be more effective to start with it than with pesticides.

Oregon ON: Maybe I’m just a big geek, but the possibilities of this sound exciting to me.

Martin: It is exciting. Overall, it’s brought our number of bedbug cases down to manageable levels. Right now we have about five cases I know about, in an overall portfolio of around 1300 units. That’s down from over 30 cases back in June.

Oregon ON: Wow, you must be proud! You brought it down.

Martin: I brought it down. I got aggressive. But it wasn’t just me, we have great cooperation within our departments. Several months back, REACH set up a Bedbug Taskforce, where all the department management, the property mangers, asset managers and resident services managers, sat down and came up with solutions, and protocols, who is responsible for what. That kind of communication helps.

Oregon ON: It sounds like this is both a public health problem and a housing problem, and that it’s bigger than one nonprofit organization or group of organizations could attack on their own. Are you working with, or communicating with other agencies?

Martin: At the first meeting, we all got together – Central City Concern, Catholic Charities, Northwest Housing Alternatives, and the Housing Development Center etc., to discuss the problem. We are sharing information at meetings with the Multnomah County Health Department, and we sat in at a meeting with Central City Concern at their request.

Oregon ON: One reason I was excited about writing this article, is not only to highlight the great work REACH is doing, but because by researching and implementing this new technique, it seems to me that you are in a position to provide leadership and encourage partnerships that could end up helping everyone in the industry. Would you agree?

Martin: I think that’s true. And it makes sense: REACH is one of the larger nonprofits in town, so we have the financial capacity to do this, whereas some of smaller ones may not. Over time, we’re hoping that there will be more resources available to fight the problem, and that it will become more affordable.

Awards

Bank of America Awards REACH a Neighborhood Builders Award –top

REACH and the Bank of America have worked together over the last 20 years to create quality affordable housing and healthier communities in Portland.

This year, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation acknowledged REACH’s excellent work with a Neighborhood Builders award. This grant is part of the bank’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative (NEI), which provided more than $400,000 for Portland nonprofits to address critical social issues in 2009.

The REACH award includes $200,000 of unrestricted funding over the next two years to support our mission and our green initiatives. REACH gives a huge ‘thank you’ to Bank of America for their generous support!

CPAH is Multifamily Executive Award Merit Winner for Watershed –top

By: Chris Wood From: Multifamily Executive 2009

Multifamily Executive Awards, Green Merit

The Watershed at Hillsdale, Portland, Ore.

Credit: Sally Painter Photography

In a battered economy and a shell-shocked development climate, the winners of the 2009 MFE Awards take advantage of challenging opportunities with hard work and creative ideas that prove multifamily housing cannot only succeed on its own merits, but can be instrumental in breathing new life, vitality, and investment into communities across the country.

The Watershed, Merit Winner in the Affordable category: Low-income seniors and homeless veteran looking for housing in the Hillsdale Town Center area of southwest Portland have a new option: The Watershed at Hillsdale. The apartment project, situated on a former brownfield site, offers 51 units ranging from 615 square feet to 832 square feet in a pair of three- and four-story buildings connected by a bridge.

Tigard, Ore.-based Community Partners for Affordable Housing developed the project, which anchors the lower west end of the Town Center, with the help of an EPA Cleanup Grant. The developer is the first nonprofit recipient of such a grant in the state.

To read the whole story, click here.

Congrats CPAH!

Member News and Events

Proud Ground 10^th Anniversary Celebration – Dec 1 –top

Help families realize the dream of homeownership. Join the party on December 1 and give a gift today in honor of Proud Ground’s birthday!

When: Tuesday, December 1, 2009 5:30pm to 7:30pm (Short program at 6:15pm)

Where: Curious Comedy Theater at Vanport Square
5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

RSVP via email or 503-493-0293 x18

No Charge | Wine | Beer | Food

Top 10 Reasons to attend the Anniversary Celebration:

1. It’s also the birthday of Mr. Obba Babatundé.
2. You can come and still make the Blazers’ game. In fact, you can watch it next door!
3. We would love to have you join us to celebrate ten years of making homeownership affordable!
4. Free food. Free drink.
5. Did you ever know that you’re our hero? (It’s Bette Midler’s Birthday.)
6. They will share inspiring stories
7. Win diamonds! No, not really.
8. Bubbly. “Good times never seemed so good.”
9. It’s not the Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Association’s Sports Turf & Pest Management Seminar. Though if that’s your thing, that’s great.
10. Mini-pies. Mmmm.

In honor of Proud Ground’s ten year anniversary, they offer a challenge to friends & supporters:

Help Proud Ground raise $10,000 by December 31 — so they can end their 10th year with a bang! This level of support will help ensure Proud Ground ends their 10th year on solid ground, ready for the opportunities and challenges of 2010.

Even if you plan to attend the anniversary party, please take a moment right now to help them rise to the challenge. And if you join the party, well, you’ll have an opportunity to give again.

Oregon ON Member Orgs Featured in Willamette Week Give!Guide –top

Willamette Week’s 2009 Give!Guide is out and features some of our member organizations (links below). The online Give!Guide offers area nonprofits an excellent opportunity to minimize costs and maximize contributions.

Until Dec. 31, Willamette Week and its partners are offering all kinds of great incentives to encourage the generosity of folks in our region. Donors of $25 or more will receive all kinds of goodies, such as coupons and gift certificates to local businesses, and the rewards only get better the more you give.

To learn more, pick up a copy of the guide in this weeks’ WW or visit the Give! Guide website. Congratulations to our members, and thank you Willamette Week.

Please support our members!

REACH Community Development Please note that REACH has received a generous matching gift challenge from LMC Construction–they will match the first $1,000 in WW contributions received with a $1,000 gift.
Human Solutions
Habitat for Humanity/Metro East

Transition News from NEDCO –top

The following is a message from Molly Markarian, the President of NEDCO’s Board of Directors, and Sandy Halonen, their out-going Executive Director. Sandy’s retirement is effective immediately, and NEDCO is working with an Interim Director now while waiting for their new permanent director, Claire Carpenter-Seguin, to begin January 19.

Claire Carpenter-Seguin

NEDCO’s Executive Director Sandy Halonen has announced that she is retiring from her position at NEDCO.

Sandy has provided dynamic leadership for NEDCO since 1994, a period of remarkable growth and accomplishment. Sandy is looking forward to traveling with her husband, enjoying her garden, knitting, spinning, weaving, playing the piano, and being an even more active member of her community.

“I am in love with NEDCO, our mission, and our colleagues and partners,” says Sandy. “NEDCO has such an exciting past and a future so full of opportunity. But I have learned that I can love NEDCO, and still be ready for a new life and new adventures.”

NEDCO’s Board began its preparation for leadership transition this spring by developing a three-year business plan which will build upon the strong foundation of our accomplishments. Founded in 1979, NEDCO provided leadership in the redevelopment of the Whiteaker neighborhood, developed 135 affordable homes for low income homebuyers, including the award-winning Field of Dreams, and pioneered in home ownership education and counseling, helping over 2000 families achieve their dream of affordable home ownership.

NEDCO has just completed the renovation of a historic building which will house our offices as we become a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization in downtown Springfield. We’ll be building on our successful Springfield Farmers’ Market as we work to support the Springfield’s downtown revitalization. Springfield. Our home ownership education programs in Lane County are thriving and are building momentum in Marion County. We are also committed to putting our extensive understanding of the challenges of financing affordable home ownership to work through expansion of our Home Ownership Opportunity Fund.

We are proud of our accomplishments and excited by our new directions and opportunities. We also recognize that leadership transition is a challenging process. In June, the Board selected Bob Hazen, Director of TACS Executive Transition Service, the Northwest’s most experienced nonprofit executive transition consultant, to work with NEDCO throughout the leadership transition process.

We are very confident about the transition – NEDCO has a talented staff and a committed Board. We are in a strong financial position and have identified key strategies to continue our commitment to community economic development and ensure our sustainability.

We are also fortunate to have you and a strong community of supporters. We look forward to your help as we move forward with our executive director search. We welcome your questions and advice.

Rose Apartments is Kick-Off Site of New Healthy Homes Project –top

This fall, the REACH Community Development Rose Apartment building became the kick-off site of a new Healthy Homes project. A partnership between Multnomah County Environmental Health Services and REACH, this program aims to educate and empower residents and management about environmental health issues with the goal of creating more habitable, safe housing and healthier communities.

With close to10 residents participating in the first workshop, residents and REACH staff are excited about using leadership development tools and community participation to improve the health of Rose residents.

“Working with Multnomah County on this project,” says Resident Services Supervisor Debbie Lowder, “has been inspirational. Listening to the women speak their ideas with strength, passion and intelligence, and watching them come together as a community is the very essence of what the project is trying to achieve.”

REACH plans to expand this program to other buildings in the near future.

Habitat for Humanity and Walsh Celebrate 5 Years of Success –top

Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East is excited to announce the conclusion of a five-year partnership with Walsh Construction Co. that resulted in the sponsorship of nine homes for low-income families—including the first two LEED-certified Habitat for Humanity homes in Oregon. Walsh joined Habitat’s efforts in 2004 and has since become an invaluable resource for the organization’s housing efforts.

During their five-year commitment, Walsh has helped build the nine Habitat homes throughout Portland and Gresham. Their dedication has included securing donated building materials and trade services, educating Habitat construction staff on pouring foundations, and serving on the Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East Board of Directors.

In March 2009, Walsh’s experience with green building practices and dedication to sustainability helped take Habitat’s mission to a new level. Two Habitat homes completed on NE Webster Street received LEED for Homes Platinum certification—the first two Habitat for Humanity LEED-certified homes in the state.

Walsh is currently working on two Habitat homes in southeast Portland. The company has graciously sponsored these two homes with the intention of using them as models of low-income energy-efficient housing. Their efforts will take Habitat’s current Energy Star efficient building practice to a heightened Earth Advantage certification level.

Steve Messinetti, Executive Director of Habitat, can’t say enough about this company’s support: “Walsh’s commitment to Habitat has played a key role in taking our organization to the next level. Five years ago, we built an average of 10 homes each year. Now 20 families partner with us annually to build and buy energy-efficient and affordable homes. Dick Hutchison, a senior project manager with Walsh, participated in creating the current pivotal strategic plan that aims to help 30 families escape poverty annually.”

Walsh’s involvement has reinforced Habitat’s goal of providing affordable, healthy homes; proving that building environmentally responsible housing pays off long after construction is complete.

ROSE 2009 Annual Report –top

This year, ROSE Community Development, “building community and strengthening neighborhood economies that Revitalize Outer South East” published their first e-version Annual Report. Limited print versions will be made available, so please contact Vivian either through email or by phone: 503-788-8052 to reserve a copy. Click on any heading below to be directed to the full version of the Annual Report hosted on ROSE’s website.

Financial Health

ROSE, like many Oregonians, is struggling to survive the economic disaster brought on by a dysfunctional housing market. Sub-prime loans were touted as a way the average person could afford to buy the average house. Today there is no place in the United States where someone working full-time at minimum wage can afford a typical two-bedroom apartment.

“Don’t break out the bubbly at news that Oregon’s unemployment rate fell a half point to 11.5 percent in September,” wrote The Oregonian’s Richard Reed. “Put simply, the jobless rate fell — even though there were fewer jobs — because not as many people were seeking employment.” According to the latest figures, more than 210,000 Oregonian’s are unemployed; approximately 10,000 of them live in East Portland.

At a time when the need is the greatest it’s been in 70 years, ROSE and many other community organizations are cutting back. Our local operating support is down almost $90,000 from its peak five years ago. This is the critical funding that gives social sector organizations like ROSE the flexibility to meet urgent community needs like emergency food, eviction prevention and foreclosure relief. The entire payroll for the eleven-person ROSE staff is only $354,000. Funding cutbacks have drastically reduced our staffing level, particularly in our community building and child care programs.  Everyone at ROSE is dedicated to the proposition that stronger community connections count. The nation seems to have figured out that environmental sustainability matters. America needs social sustainability, too.

Child Care Improvement Project

During a year when many businesses were scaling back, ROSE was able to provide an economic opportunity to our network of child care providers. Click here to read more.

Community Building

Five years ago, ROSE and a handful of partners got together to act on a simple idea – more homeownership would make Lents a better neighborhood. Today more than 50 organizations have joined the Lents Homeownership Initiative (LHI) and are working together toward that goal. Read more about the evolution of LHI into the East Portland Enhancement Project (EP2)! Between 2006 – 2009 LHI partners accounted for one out of every four home sales • Reported crime in Lents decreased by 1/3 between 2005 – 2008

Residents Assets

At the core of ROSE’s work is the belief that our residents bring talents, skills, knowledge, strengths and abilities that they build on to enhance their quality of life. Our goal is to support the growth and needs of all our residents. Click here to read more about our resident’s busy year!

Affordable Housing Development

This year ROSE completed the first of four affordable homes in Lents Neighborhood. All will be sold to moderate-income first-time homebuyers. Portland Youth Builders, a neighborhood-based nonprofit organization acted as general contractor. PYB students learn construction skills as they complete their high school education. PYB student Ryan Hanke spoke at the grand opening for a new home on SE Schiller Street. “I used to get into a lot of trouble out in this neighborhood,” he said, “so it’s great to actually be a part of that community now.” Read more about the Lents Land Trust homes.

With funding from the Portland Development Commission and Shorebank Pacific, ROSE acquired a 17-unit apartment building at SE 76th and Steele renamed Jim and Salle’s Place after long-time ROSE board member Jim Barrett and his late wife, Salle. Learn more about Jim and Salle’s Place.

Community Connections Count

In April ROSE was asked to join a team working to build a neighborhood park on the Marysville School grounds. The Marysville Adisory Committee worked for five years and raised more than a million dollars, but needed help negotiating complex development, government and school district processes.   Comprehensive community development has always been central to our mission and ROSE was honored to join the Marysville team. With a bunch of hard work and determination, construction began in July. In October more than 400 school children and guests joyfully celebrated the opening of the Marysville School Park. Three weeks later joy turned to shock and sadness when a fire devastated half of the school building. Thanks to the heroic efforts of Principal Lana Penley and her staff, no one was harmed. A new school should rise from the ashes of the old.

The common thread between the park and the fire is the remarkable community response. Both generated an outpouring of generosity and caring. Thank you.

Our work is made possible through the generosity of our donors. To join in our mission, please donate. ROSE’s consolidated financial statements are available here.

CASA Helps Complete Green Pastures Mobile Home Park Conversion –top

CASA of Oregon is pleased to announce that on October 15, 2009, residents of the Green Pastures Mobile Home Park, located in Redmond, OR, completed the purchase of their community. Utilizing financing, technical assistance and training from CASA of Oregon, the Northwest Cooperative Development Center and the Community Development Law Center, residents organized and formed the Green Pastures Senior Cooperative in order to convert their manufactured home park into a resident-owned community. Local area organizations Partnership to End Poverty and Housing Works were also instrumental in making the conversion possible.

Proceeds from the sale of the Green Pastures Mobile Home Park, which was held by the Alice P. Teater Trust, will go to the Trust’s beneficiaries, the Redmond Humane Society and the Humane Society of Central Oregon. According to Peter Hainley, Executive Director of CASA of Oregon, “The need to preserve affordable housing options in Oregon is critical. This is a win-win for both the members of the Cooperative, as well as the two non-profit beneficiaries of the Alice Teater Trust. It was Alice Teater’s wish that Green Pastures remain a manufactured home park and not be redeveloped for another purpose. This conversion to resident ownership will ensure that her wish is fulfilled.”

Resident ownership occurs when owners of manufactured homes form a membership association to purchase their community when it becomes available for sale. Without resident ownership, homeowners risk eviction when a community is sold to a new owner who may convert the land to other uses, or impose higher land rents over which the homeowners have no control. In Oregon, once a community is purchased by residents under the non-profit cooperative model, it must remain a manufactured home park, and can only be sold in the future to a similar non-profit entity.

The conversion of the Green Pastures Mobile Home Park into a resident-owned community is the second of its kind in Oregon using the newly-established non-profit cooperative model. The Green Pastures Senior Cooperative received financing and support from the Network for Oregon Affordable Housing (NOAH), Oregon Housing and Community Services and CASA of Oregon.

In 2006 and in 2008, CASA of Oregon was awarded grants under the Corporation for Enterprise Development’s I’M HOME program, with match funding from Oregon Housing and Community Services, to develop a replicable model for resident ownership of manufactured home communities in Oregon. In May 2008, CASA became one of nine Certified Technical Assistance Providers (CTAPs) under the national ROC USA network. As a member of the ROC USA Network, CASA delivers pre- and post-purchase technical assistance and support in securing financing to help manufactured homeowners in Oregon buy their communities and secure their economic futures through resident ownership.

Villebois Rain Garden Apartments at Dammasch Site at 100% Occupancy –top

The Rain Garden Apartments, a 29-unit permanent affordable supportive housing complex in the Villebois master planned community in Wilsonville, is proud to announce they are at 100% occupancy. Officials of Catholic Charities in Oregon, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, Clackamas County Community Health and the State of Oregon Department of Human Services celebrated the opening of Rain Garden Apartments on August 14, located at 29197 SW Orleans Ave., on the site of the former Dammasch State Hospital.

“We are delighted to present the Villebois community with Rain Garden, a safe and supportive housing option for adults struggling with symptoms of mental illness,” said Dennis Keenan, executive director of Catholic Charities. “With Rain Garden, all residents are afforded the flexibility of independent living quarters, and the freedom to engage in a family-style environment.”

Cascadia’s housing division originated the development of Rain Garden in 2006, in partnership with the State of Oregon Department of Human Services and Clackamas County Community Health. In 2008, Catholic Charities agreed to take over the project’s development and ownership.

“Rain Garden is a testament to the spirit of collaboration and concern for our citizen’s most vulnerable,” said Cascadia Board Chair, Rick Cagen, and administrator of Shriners Hospital. “Thanks to the support of Catholic Charities and the Department of Human Services and Clackamas County Community Health, Cascadia is able to provide services to the residents of Rain Garden, many of whom would have likely not otherwise had the same access to care and shelter.”

Catholic Charities operates Rain Garden, and has hired Cascade Management of Wilsonville as the property management agent. Cascadia provides medical and support services to Rain Garden residents. Services include, but are not limited to, 24-hour staff assistance, medication management, skills training, and on-site case management. Most residents have co-occurring issues such as physical, developmental, and/or cognitive impairment, or substance abuse. Guided by values of privacy, tolerance, support and permanence, Rain Garden program staff will help people progress in their recovery within the most natural of settings in the community.

“While on-site assistance and medical support are available around the clock, our intent with Rain Garden is to help residents achieve a greater level of independence in a safe environment,” said Cagen. “Many of these residents will have experienced extended hospital stays in the past. Rain Garden offers a far more uplifting alternative to this type of care.”

“Providing housing opportunities in a community in which each individual has a key to their front door is not only cost effective but provides the dignity that goes with being self-sufficient and living in one’s own home. Rain Garden provides this opportunity, ” said Richard Harris, Oregon Department of Human Services assistant director for Addictions and Mental Health.

“Rain Garden, like other projects in Villebois, is the result of great collaboration and commitment to people with behavioral health problems,” said Cindy Becker, director of the Clackamas County Department of Human Services, “We will continue to work with the tenants, neighbors, and the larger Wilsonville community to develop opportunities for integration, socialization, and participation for all of the residents.”

Rain Garden is a two-story 12,498 square foot complex designed by William Wilson Architects, and built by R&H Construction, both of Portland. Some of the building’s green features include a solar panel water heater, eco-flooring, and low-flow toilets and showerheads. The spacious and inviting entry and community spaces provide areas for communal events, training and socializing.

Housing Works Offers Rental Assistance to 50 Mainstream Applicants –top

With the continuing unprecedented need for housing assistance in Central Oregon, Housing Works (located in Redmond, Oregon) will begin processing the first fifty Mainstream Voucher applicants from the current waiting list. Mainstream Vouchers are targeted at income eligible, non-elderly disabled households.

Pre-applications were taken on a first come, first serve basis the week of August of 3^rd through the 7^th, 2009. In order to qualify for assistance, applicants will need to attend an orientation on December 2^nd, provide the required documentation, and lease a rental unit within 60 days of the voucher issuance.

Housing Works manages a federal contract with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide rental assistance to income-qualified households in the region. It annually assists up to 1,080 low-income families and individuals who earn 50% or less of the Area Median Income. The monthly rental assistance for each household is paid directly to landlords and makes up the difference between what the family can afford to pay and the fair market rent. This program distributes more than $6 million annually into the private rental market in the region with over 400 local landlords participating in the program.

Housing Works staff is in the process of notifying the fifty households. For more information on the rental assistance program, call Housing Works at 923-1018.

ReStore Sells House Parts as Gifts to Build a Habitat for Humanity Home –top

Despite the economic times, there is that inevitable person in our lives—a family member, friend, co-worker—who seemingly has everything. And instead of the generic box of candy, bottle of wine, or even a Snuggie, Habitat for Humanity suggests giving a gift that can make a real difference in the life of a local family for as little as $10.

How often do you get the chance to give someone a toilet for Christmas? Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores (located in Portland and Clark County) are selling Gifts that Build this holiday season. You can purchase an honorary house part for someone special (Parts range from a $10 box of nails to a $50 toilet to $1,000 for lumber.) Your gift recipient will receive a holiday card, a Habitat ornament and the satisfaction of knowing that because of them, a local family will have a home for the holidays.

The ReStore already saves 1,300 tons of building materials from landfills every year by reselling donated new and used materials to the public. The sales benefit local Habitat for Humanity affiliates. Gifts that Build are sold in both locations until the end of December. Stores are open Tuesday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

About the Habitat for Humanity ReStore: The Portland Metro and Clark County ReStores have been a vital part of the re-use industry in the Portland/Vancouver Metro area since 2001. The materials sold represent over 1,300 tons of usable materials kept out of the landfill each year. All the materials are donated, and would be discarded if not for the ReStore. The two ReStores have raised over $750,000 for the three Habitat affiliates in the Portland/Vancouver metro area. The ReStore proudly supports our local communities, both through affordable housing and by easing demand on our natural resources. The ReStore also leads the way in reclaiming new salvage materials. While much attention has focused on reclaiming used building materials during deconstruction, it might be a surprise to learn that many of the building materials disposed of in landfills are new materials. One can find new salvage materials in the stores for a fraction of their retail prices.

Locations:

Clark County Habitat ReStore
5000 E 4th Plain Blvd
Vancouver, WA 98661
360-213-1313

Portland Metro ReStore
66 SE Morrison St
Portland, OR 97214
503-283-6247

Learn more by contacting Maria Eby, Communications Manager, at 503-287-9529 x17 or via email, and check out the Habitat website: www.habitatportlandmetro.org, and the ReStore website: www.pdxrestore.org

Women Put a New Spin on Home-Making with New Home in Lents –top

On November 21, women from all walks of life put a new spin on the term “home-making” as they gathered to raise the walls on a single family, two-story home in the Lents neighborhood – their sixth home!

The women, part of Humanity Portland/Metro East’s Women Build effort, were joined onsite by the future homeowners, Maria and Lazaro Rival-Lopez and their three daughters and two sons: Claudia, 19, Eunice, 10, Abraham, 15, Ismerei, 8, Damaris, 3.

Lazaro and Maria both work full-time; Lazaro works at a bakery and Maria is a package handler. Lazaro and Maria were so excited when they learned that they were accepted into the Habitat for Humanity program. Their previous address had peeling paint, inadequate heat and unsafe electrical issues. The children tested positive for lead, and their son has asthma that was aggravated by the carpeting.

Women Build is honored to build a healthy, affordable home in partnership with the Rival-Lopez family! Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program engages women of every race, age and skill level to raise funds, plan, and build all aspects of a healthy and affordable home with an eligible family. Through participating in the project, women have the opportunity to gain skills and confidence by working with an all-women team of crew leaders, volunteers and tradeswomen in a supportive and empowering building environment.

Learn more by contacting Sarah Armstrong at (734) 717.1890 or via email, and see their website: www.habitatportlandmetro.org

CASA Helps Reconvene State Farmworker Housing Team –top

In 2000, a state Legislative Task Force released a report evaluating housing for Oregon’s farmworkers and making a series of recommendations for improving the quality of housing. In 2001, the Legislature designatedOregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) as the lead state agency for farmworker housing information and created a Farmworker Housing Facilitation Team.

After a period of inactivity, OHCS has reconvened the Farmworker Housing Facilitation Team. A large and engaged group met in OHCS’ Salem office to identify strategies for moving forward. Attendees included the new Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, the state Occupational Safety and Health Division, the state Department of Agriculture, and nonprofits and grower representatives.

The revitalization of the team is due is large part to Peter Hainley of Community and Shelter Assistance Corp of Oregon (Oregon ON member CASA of Oregon), a tireless advocate for the cause of farmworker housing.

Together they developed an ambitious list of future actions, reflecting the ongoing need to finance and develop quality affordable housing for this important part of OHCS’ workforce.

Portland Metro News

Con Plan Meeting on Housing Needs of Aging Populations – Dec 2 –top

You’re invited to a public hearing addressing Housing Needs of Aging Populations as part of the process of developing the 2010-2015 Consolidated Plan.

Where: Mittleman Jewish Community Center—6651 SW Capitol Hwy
Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009Time: 1:00-3:00pm
Trimet: Bus Lines 1,5,44, or 45 (www.trimet.org)

If you can’t attend this hearing, there are four other convenient ways to comment:

Write a letter: Pat Mobley, Housing & Community Development Commission Chair, 421 SW 6^th Avenue, Suite 1100, Portland, OR 97204

Send an e-mail: bryan.swisshelm@ci.portland.or.us

Leave a voicemail message: 503-823-2396, 503-823-6868 TTY

Comment Online: www.portlandonline.com/phb/conplan

Please pass this message on to others who may be interested in participating.
Questions? Please visit the Consolidated Plan website: www.portlandonline.com/phb/conplan for more information on this hearing.

Resource Access Center Breaks Ground, to Include 130 Supportive Units –top

There was a project kickoff and groundbreaking event for the Resource Access Center (RAC) on November. The new project is located at the corner of NW Broadway and NW Hoyt Street, next to Union Station and the Greyhound Bus Depot.

“This groundbreaking marks the culmination of a tremendous amount of work by many dedicated partners,” said Commissioner Nick Fish. “It serves as the first step in the pathway to opening a new one-stop facility to serve our most vulnerable citizens. The RAC is a cornerstone of Portland and Multnomah County’s ambitious and innovative 10-year plan to end homelessness.”

The Resource Access Center development will be three separate facilities in one building:

A Day Center for people who are homeless will provide housing, employment, and treatment counseling; hot showers; storage; and voicemail boxes to help with job and housing searches.

A Men’s Shelter will provide temporary housing for up to 90 homeless men.

Permanent affordable housing will provide 130 units of housing and supportive services for formerly homeless.

“Throughout the design and construction process, this project will employ 125 local workers at a time when our economy needs it most,” said Fish. “This is a LEED-platinum project, embracing the sustainability standards Portland is known for.”

This project represents a partnership involving the City of Portland, Portland Development Commission, Housing Authority of Portland, Multnomah County, and Transition Projects, Inc. For more information on the project and to view architectural renderings, visit: http://www.hapdx.org/resourceaccesscenter/.

Portland Secures $5½M ARRA Funds for Energy Efficiency –top

The City of Portland has received approval for $5.6 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for energy efficiency and conservation programs. The money is part of the City of Portland’s formula grant funding, and comes from the United States Department of Energy under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. The City’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) will administer the EECBG funds. The award represents Portland’s allocation from the first-ever funding for the federal EECBG program, which was signed into law two years ago but funded for the first time through ARRA.

“With these federal energy block grant funds, Portland aims to balance funding between much-needed capital improvement projects and programs that encourage behavior change and transform markets for clean energy,” said Portland Mayor Sam Adams. “These energy efficiency and renewable energy capital projects will create jobs today while yielding lifetime energy savings and carbon reductions. These projects represent a major step forward in implementing Portland’s new Climate Action Plan.”

The $5.6 million grant will be allocated toward the following projects:

Clean Energy Works Portland

$1.1 million will provide the initial capital for a revolving loan fund to pay for residential energy efficiency retrofits.

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects on City Facilities

$2.8 million will go towards improving the efficiency of facilities owned by the City of Portland, including efficient lighting upgrades at Hillside, Montavilla, and Fulton community centers, window replacements at Peninsula Park community center, a new micro-hydroelectric generator at the Portland Water Bureau’s Vernon Water Tower, and the city-wide replacement of standard traffic and pedestrian crosswalk signals with high efficiency LEDs.

Behavior Change Programs

$1.4 million will help fund some of the City’s most successful community-oriented sustainability programs, including Portland Bureau of Transportation’s SmartTrips and Safer Routes to Schools, and the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability’s BEST Business Center.

The remaining funds will be allocated to technical analysis of potential district energy systems. For more information, contact: Andria Jacob, 503-823-7616 or ajacob@ci.portland.or.us.

City of Portland releases the 2009 Resident Survey Results –top

The following was published by the City of Portland Office of the City Auditor:

This report presents the results of our 19th annual community survey. We asked Portlanders to provide us with their perceptions of the quality of a variety of City services, and thousands of residents responded. In addition to citywide data, we also show data broken down by each of Portland’s seven neighborhood coalitions, and in many cases, we graph the changes in survey responses over the past five years.

Most Portlanders we surveyed love their city and enjoy the livability of their neighborhoods. However, many remain concerned about traffi c congestion and are seeing less economic development in the community. Nearly two-thirds of Portland residents rate the overall job of City government positively. Yet, despite City eff orts to enhance community connectedness and involvement, most residents we surveyed have never participated in community projects. Big differences continue to highlight East Portland’s perspectives on City services, with many key survey questions showing lower approval from East Portlanders than from those living in other areas of Portland.

You can download a PDF of the report here.

Statewide News

Protecting Critical Services – Take Action to Support 66 and 67 –top

This information is provided by Vote YES for Oregon

This recession has hit Oregon communities hard. A recent report shows that many more Oregon families are struggling just to put food on their table, and the numbers for 2009 are expected to be even worse.

As the December holidays approach, it’s important to remember that this economic crisis is affecting families in every corner of the state. How we emerge from this recession is a test of who we are as Oregonians. Will we choose to protect vulnerable families, or will we choose to protect a $10 corporate tax that hasn’t changed since the 1930s?

This January, Measures 66 and 67 protect the critical services that struggling families need now more than ever.

(Note: The deadline for registering to vote in the January 26 Special Election on Measures 66 and 67 is January 5. Anyone can check their voter registration status here.)

From Bend to Medford to Eugene to Portland, Oregonians getting involved in this campaign by attending campaign kickoffs, knocking on doors, or signing up to volunteer. But we can’t do it without your help.

Here are four simple ways you can help:

1. December 5: Day of Action: The corporate lobbyists opposed to Measures 66 and 67 will spend millions of dollars in misleading ads over the next two months. That means your voice will be critical in giving voters the truth about these measures and protecting critical services. Join us December 5 as we knock on doors and call voters to make sure they know what’s at stake in January.

When: Saturday, December 5, 10am – 2pm and 1pm – 5pm
Where: Vote Yes For Oregon HQ
411 NE 19th Ave
Portland, OR 97232

There are meeting places also in Clackamas, Lane, Marion, and Washington Counties. Visit www.VoteYesForOregon.org for more details and to sign up.

RSVP: Call Vote Yes For Oregon at 503-234-0444 to sign up.

2. Send a Yes on 66 and 67 Holiday Card: A quick and easy way to tell your friends and family about Measures 66 and 67: Holiday inserts you can download, print, and insert right into your holiday cards. Click here to download all four cards: http://voteyesfororegon.org/2009/11/send-a-yes-on-66-and-67-holiday-card.html.

3. Become a Volunteer: If you’re looking for a way to help that fits with your busy schedule, sign up with a phone call or email to the coalition office to find an opportunity that will work for you. There are countless ways you can get involved between now and January—let us know how we can help you help Oregon! Visit http://voteyesfororegon.org/volunteer.html to become a volunteer.

4. Sign the Pledge: If you haven’t already, now’s the time to sign the Vote YES Pledge. This will let the campaign know you’ve made up your mind to vote yes, so they can focus on the people who still need to be persuaded: http://www.voteyesfororegon.org/getinvolved.html

OHCS Issues Request for Preservation Pre-Applications, Due Dec 15 –top

From OHCS: During the last legislative session, OHCS and its partners worked hard to obtain funding for preserving the state’s federally subsidized affordable housing stock. We succeeded in obtaining $16.3 million in lottery-backed bonds for the effort.

What’s at stake: Thirty years ago, the federal government made a significant investment in creating affordable housing options. Today, those projects are reaching the end of their contracted period of affordability. Thousands of units are at risk.

The preservation campaign will protect our investment, providing a safe and affordable place for low-income Oregonians to call home for decades to come.

Our strategy: During the session, we committed to a preservation target of 1,598 units during the 2009-11 biennium. As announced, OHCS plans to dedicate a significant share of the 2010 Consolidated Funding Cycle to preservation. We have committed $5 million in lottery-backed bonds to this process. Similarly, the department has targeted $1.6 million in new Housing Opportunity Bill revenue to the CFC for preservation.

November 10, OHCS issued a request for applications for up to $11.3 million in lottery-backed bonds paired with bond financing with the goal of preserving 680 units.

A statewide strategy: The request for applications provides an equal opportunity for individuals and organizations to access these new resources.

The benefits: By preserving the 1,598 units, Oregonians will reap six kinds of economic benefits:

These funds are highly leveraged at about 15 to 1; the $16.3 million lottery-backed bonds will leverage over $246.1 million in total investments.
Preservation eliminates the need to construct replacement units for an estimated savings of $319.6 million.
Construction spending on rehabilitation of these units generates an economic multiplier effect, estimated at $33.7 million.
Preserving these units will generate a substantial economic return for the next 20 years as Oregon retains federal subsidies worth about $115.1 million.
The acquisition and rehabilitation of these units creates jobs. OHCS estimates that the preservation of these units will create 2,100 jobs.
Preservation prevents homelessness for those persons already housed in these units, most of whom would have no affordable housing alternatives. It also prevents increased service costs for displaced residents experiencing homelessness.

Spread the Word About Healthy Kids Enrollment –top

The newly created Healthy Kids program is enrolling Oregon low-income children eligible for free or low-cost health insurance coverage. Please help spread the word about Healthy Kids!

Learn more about the program at the Healthy Kids website. Help distribute the Healthy Kids outreach materials.

Nationally, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has called on states and communities to increase their efforts at enrolling uninsured children. About 5 million children who are currently eligible for coverage under Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program are not yet covered.

Oregon Hunger Rate Surges – Food Stamps Fill Need –top

from the Oregon Center for Public Policy

New data from the United States Department of Agriculture showing a surge in Oregon’s hunger rate remind us of the importance of the expansion of food stamp benefits in the federal recovery package.

The share of Oregon households experiencing hunger increased to 6.6 percent (one in 15 Oregon households) in 2006-2008, up from 3.9 percent in 2003-05. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Oregon and Mississippi had the largest percentage point increases in their rates of very low food security.

Read Oregon Hunger Rate Surges; Food Stamps Fill Need: Statement by OCPP analyst Joy Margheim on food insecurity data. Click here for a PDF copy.

Housing Council Awards $70M Through CFC to Fund 444 Housing Units –top

On November 6, the State Housing Council met and approved a number of projects that came through the Consolidated Funding Cycle.

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) reports that nearly $70.5 million in combined grants, loans and tax credits to contractors throughout the state (including Oregon ON members Northwest Housing Alternatives and Umpqua Community Development Corporation) will help fund 444 units of affordable housing, providing hundreds of lower-income Oregonians a place to call home.

“Many of the projects approved will provide affordable housing for a great number of Oregonians with high needs, including people with developmental and/or physical disabilities, and very low-income individuals and families,” said Victor Merced, director of OHCS, the state agency that oversees the distribution of these funds. “We hope this latest round of funding will assist them in reaching their goals and living as independently as possible,” Merced added.

Thirteen housing developments serving lower-income households throughout Oregon will receive funding from the department’s fall 2009 Consolidated Funding Cycle (CFC), generating as much as $775.5 million in economic activity throughout the state.

The latest round of funding includes:

• Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC) encourages new construction and rehabilitation of rental housing for low-income families  $3,716,630 in annual tax credits.

• Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit Program (OAHTC) lowers the cost of financing by up to 4 percent and reduces tenant rents by an amount equal to the savings that result from the low interest rate  $21,190,378 in reduced-interest-rate loans.

• HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program that supports affordable housing options for people at less than 50 and 60 percent of their area’s median income  $4,991,442.

• Housing Trust Fund: Receipt of trust fund grants obligates projects to provide 25 years of affordable housing  $1,557,603.

• Low-Income Weatherization Program (LIWP) increases energy efficiency by bringing old units up to or above code and enabling new construction to be built to standards greater than code when energy savings justify the additional investment  $565,230.

OHCS also approved reservation of state and federal funds, and tax credit allocations to the following communities:

• Aloha (CSI MRDD Group Home)  Community Services, Inc., received $100,000 in Housing Trust Fund and $13,348 in LIWP funds to acquire and rehabilitate a four-bedroom group home serving adults with developmental disabilities who currently live in nursing homes throughout the state. Federal law mandates they be offered community-based living. Total project costs: $482,544.

• Beaverton (Spruce Place)  Sequoia Mental Health Services received $100,000 in Housing Trust Fund and $28,018 in LIWP funds to construct 15 units of affordable housing for very low-income persons with severe chronic mental illness. Total project costs: $3,195,222.

• Bend (Quimby Apartments)  Northwest Housing Alternatives received $100,000 in Housing Trust Fund, $1.2 million in HOME, $441,050 in LIHTC, $1.7 million in OAHTC, and $33,000 LIWP funds to acquire and rehabilitate 52 units of affordable housing for seniors and persons with disabilities. Total project costs: $6,063,356.

• Eugene (29th Place)  ShelterCare received $100,000 in Housing Trust Fund, $332,367 in LIHTC, and $950,000 in OAHTC funds to acquire and rehabilitate 35 units of affordable housing for persons with serious and persistent mental illness. All units benefit from project-based rental assistance. Total project costs: $4,455,153.

• Grants Pass (The Cedars)  Options for Southern Oregon received $100,000 in Housing Trust Fund and $437,250 in HOME funds to construct 12 units of affordable housing for low-income adults with chronic mental illness. Services will include case management, life skills instruction and community integration assistance. Total project costs: $2,067,863.

• La Grande (Aspen Park)  New Day Enterprises received $100,000 in Housing Trust Fund and $247,653 in HOME funds to complete new construction of a five-bedroom group home serving adults with developmental disabilities. Total project costs: $546,586.

• Medford (Grand Apartments)  Housing Authority of Jackson County received $200,000 in Housing Trust Fund and $600,000 in HOME funds to rehabilitate 26 units of affordable housing for seniors and persons with disabilities. Services provided include 24-hour transportation. Total project costs: $1,726,196.

• Milwaukie (Seneca Terrace)  Northwest Housing Alternatives received $100,000 in Housing Trust Fund, $333,213 in LIHTC, $1.5 million in OAHTC, and $32,000 in LIWP funds to acquire and rehabilitate 32 units of affordable housing in duplex and triplex buildings for low-income families. All units have Section 8 project-based assistance. Total project costs: $5,020,208.

• Portland (Chaucer Court)  Union Labor Retirement Association received $100,000 in Housing Trust Fund, $870,000 in LIHTC, $5.2 million in OAHTC, and $251,864 in LIWP funds to acquire and rehabilitate 84 units of affordable housing for seniors or persons with disabilities. Also received $550,000 in OHCS gap financing. Total project costs: $16,142,206.

• Portland (Uptown Towers)  Guardian Affordable Housing Development received $100,000 in Housing Trust Fund, $870,000 in LIHTC, $8.06 million in OAHTC, and $207,000 in LIWP funds to acquire and rehabilitate 72 units of affordable housing for persons with low incomes and challenges from lack of resources. Various services include Meals on Wheels and health counseling. Also received $218,228 in OHCS gap financing. Total project costs: $15,859,561.

• Roseburg (Neu Place)  Umpqua Community Development Corporation received $157,603 in Housing Trust Fund, $1.3 million in HOME, and $163,000 in OAHTC funds to construct a 12-unit complex for tenants with developmental and/or physical disabilities who can live unassisted. Total project costs: $2,256,350.

• Roseburg (Trillium Terrace)  United Community Action Network received $200,000 in Housing Trust Fund, $1.16 million in HOME, and $50,000 in OAHTC funds to construct 8 units of affordable housing for families with at least one member who is psychiatrically disabled. Two units are for homeless families. Total project costs: $1,661,392.

• The Dalles (Sunrise Estates)  Guardian Affordable Housing Development received $100,000 in Housing Trust Fund, $870,000 in LIWP, and $3.5 million in OAHTC funds to construct 34 units and rehabilitate 60 units (94 total) of affordable housing for low-income families and individuals. Total project costs: $11,055,601.

The Oregon State Housing Council also approved four $40,000 Seed Money Advance (SMAL) loans for predevelopment expenses associated with the acquisition and rehabilitation of four Section 8 Preservation projects:

• Beaverton (Crestview Court) – 48 units of housing for extremely low-income residents at risk of losing the project-based Section 8 rental subsidy in March 2010.

• Klamath Falls (High Valley Estates) – 37 units of housing for extremely low-income residents at risk of losing the project-based Section 8 rental subsidy in May 2010.

• Prineville (Grasshopper Village) – 22 units of housing for extremely low-income residents at risk of losing the project-based Section 8 rental subsidy in March 2010. The complex serves seniors and people with disabilities.

• Salem (Viking Village) – 87 units of housing for extremely low-income families and individuals. The current Section 8 HAP contract is on annual renewals.

In other action, the Housing Council approved the following:

• Redmond (High Desert Commons) – $375,000 predevelopment loan to TimberRiver Development, Inc. for costs related to the construction of 28 family units.

• Northeast Portland (Shaver Green) – $127,545 in additional Housing PLUS funds. Housing PLUS (Permanent Living Utilizing Services) provides capital funding and small operating dollars to house people experiencing homelessness and provided needed services to residents. Fourteen of the 85 units are permanent supportive housing, and eight units receive project-based rental assistance from the Housing Authority of Portland. The project was completed last June, and was fully leased within two months. With this most recent award, the developer, Armstrong Stafford, LLC, has received a total of $322,545 in Housing PLUS funds.

Community Development Expert Appointed to Housing Council –top

Last week Nancy McLaughlin attended her first meeting of the Oregon Housing Council as an official member. Nancy’s broad experiences in affordable housing policy and finance promise to enrich the council’s debates and decisions.

The Housing Council consists of seven members appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. The term of office of each member is four years. Their charge is: “to develop policies to aid in stimulating and increasing the supply of housing for persons and families of lower income.” The Council plays a significant role advising Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) and financing affordable housing development.

In late October, members of the Housing Council met to set some goals for the next two years, focusing on how it could increase housing and services to meet the needs of people across the state. OHCS will share the council’s priorities and action plan soon.

Nancy is a Community Development Consultant, working in affordable housing and community development business planning, lending underwriting, risk management strategies, products, strategic alliances, marketing and management. Clients include nonprofit lending organizations and affordable housing development corporations.

Nancy served as the Managing Director of National Lending and Housing Programs for the Low Income Investment Fund, a national community development financial institution that invests capital in housing, childcare, education, and other community-building initiatives. Her impressive résumé includes a stint as Executive Director of the California Housing Consortium and Senior Vice President and National Affordable Housing Project Executive for Bank of America.

She also has extensive experience in government, where she served as Chief of Housing Policy Development for the California Department of Housing and Community Development and held several positions within the California State Legislature. In addition, she has served on many local, state and national boards and commissions.

HUD Approves Use of Residual Receipts to Preserve State-Financed Section 8 –top

In late October, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved the use of up to $585,000 in residual receipts to help finance the preservation of Stewart Terrace, an Oregon Housing and Community Development (OHCS) project in Sherwood. The approval allows residual receipts to fund rehabilitation costs.

Residual receipts are the dollars remaining after a project meets its obligations to funders, pays the costs of operations, and sets aside required replacement reserves.

If this policy were to apply to all OHCS-funded Section 8 projects, it would mean that an additional $9 million would be available to finance preservation, primarily in the Portland metropolitan area.

This would be particularly good news for rural Oregon, because it would allow OHCS resources to go further to address the impending loss of thousands of federally subsidized units across the state.

In addition, Congressman Barney Frank, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have introduced similar federal legislation. OHCS continues to work with them to ensure that any successful legislation gives OHCS maximum flexibility to use residual receipts to preserve all Section 8 projects in collaboration with its nonprofit and for-profit partners.

Oregon IDA Program Celebrates Its 1000th Graduate –top

Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) help low income Oregonians build greater financial security by matching monthly savings toward the purchase of an asset. In addition to offering incentives, the Oregon IDA program supports participants in building new skills and habits as well as consumer savvy by requiring them to take financial education along with asset-specific classes like “Home Buying 101.”

Cheryl Lohrmann is one of many successfully Oregon IDA program graduates. In 2005 Cheryl took the Home Buying 101 class at the Portland Housing Center and learned about the steps she needed to take to purchase a home. She also took a Financial Fitness course, met with a home ownership counselor, enrolled in the IDA program, and began putting money in a savings account. After three years of saving, Cheryl moved into her new home this fall! Cheryl’s story – and the stories of 1,000 plus graduates just like her – demonstratives the effectiveness of Oregon’s IDA program. Read more about Cheryl and the IDA program on the Neighborhood Partnerships’ blog.

You can support the Oregon Individual Development Account Initiative and get a 75% Oregon tax credit! Make a donation to Neighborhood, and Partnerships. 75% of whatever you give will come back to you as a state tax credit. The more you donate, the smaller your tax bill. Plus, over 95% of your donation will go directly toward helping low-income Oregonians start new businesses, advance their educations, purchase first homes, and be part of Oregon’s economic recovery. Take a closer look for yourself at the IDA website, and be sure to pass the good news on to your friends.

Security Breach at Oregon Housing and Community Services –top

A message from Victor Merced at OHCS:

Over Thanksgiving weekend, several media outlets reported on an information security breach at Oregon Housing and Community Services. I would like to share the circumstances surrounding this incident and our efforts to mitigate any potential effects.

Last month, during a reorganization of our office, a small number of OHCS compliance documents were placed in an unsecured recycling barrel rather than in a locked barrel for shredding. These documents contained individuals’ personal and private information, such as their names, addresses and Social Security numbers.

OHCS takes this matter very seriously. The people we serve – hardworking families, seniors, and people with disabilities – deserve every protection possible. Protecting the identities of the persons we serve is paramount to our goal of helping them become self-sufficient and achieve prosperity.

We have contacted the individuals whose information was at risk, informed them of the circumstances, and of options for protecting themselves from the consequences of identity theft.   To prevent such a breach from recurring and to protect the identities of the individuals whose records were at risk during this incident, OHCS is:

Training employees about protocols for protecting personally identifying information, regardless of tenure with the department.

Shredding all discarded papers, rather than placing them in unsecured barrels.

Notifying the three largest credit reporting agencies of the breach.

Contracting with an agency to monitor continually the credit scores of the individuals affected.

OHCS remains committed to protecting the privacy of the people we serve. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Lisa Joyce at 503.986.0951 or lisa.joyce@hcs.state.or.us.

Regional News

House Keys Not Handcuffs Action In San Francisco – Jan 19-20 –top

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. – Barack Obama

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Oregon ON ally Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP)’s mission is to build a movement that is based in the experience of people with experience with homelessness to exposes the root causes of homelessness; challenge unjust housing and economic development policies; and fight the criminalization of poverty.

On January 20, 2010 WRAP will be gathering at the San Francisco Federal Builidng to demand the following from the Obama Administration:

ON HOUSING

• Immediately restore the Federal Government’s affordable housing funding to comparable 1978 levels. (In 1978, the budget was over $83 billion – in 2009 it is a meager $38.5 billion.)

• Restore USDA new unit construction levels in rural communities to the 31,000 annually averaged between 1976 and 1985.

• Enact a moratorium on the demolition, conversion or destruction of ANY publicly funded units until federal law guarantees one for one replacement at existing affordability rates.

• Ensure adequate funding for operations of public housing to prevent unit loss, high vacancy rates, and substandard living conditions.

ON CIVIL RIGHTS

• Stop “nuisance crimes” or “quality of life crimes.” These programs criminalize and remove homeless, poor, people of color, and disabled members of our communities.

• Call for DOJ to respond to LA community request for investigation of discriminatory police enforcement under the Safer Cities Initiative that targets homeless, poor, people of color and disabled community residents.

• Ensure that the more than 914,000 homeless children in our public schools are able to stay at their “home school” are fully integrated with their housed peers, and are provided the support they need to learn and thrive.

• Stop any and all questions regarding a person’s immigration status when they are requesting housing, healthcare, emergency shelter or services.

Read more and sign the petition and/or join us in S.F.: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5474/t/3276/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=571

Federal News

Help Push for NHTF Funding - Dec 1, 2 –top

The National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) campaign sent letters to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on November 20, calling on them to assure that at least $1 billion is made available to capitalize the NHTF before the end of the year. The letters cite data on the number of jobs that will be created with a $1 billion investment in rental housing production and rehab. To read the letters, go to www.nhtf.org

At this point, Congressional leaders are considering several legislative vehicles to move the NHTF funding. The campaign is urging Congress to act before they complete this year’s business.

To bring home this message, advocates are urged to call all members of their Congressional delegation on the designated call-in days of December 1 and 2. A call-to-action was issued on Thursday, November 19, to alert advocates to the planned call-in days. Here is the alert:

December 1 and 2 Call-In to Congress to fund the National Housing Trust Fund - Let’s Get Money into the National Housing Trust Fund Before Congress Adjourns for the Holidays

Join other housing advocates around the country and call your US Representative and both of your US Senators on December 1 or 2.  Tell them you want at least $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund before Congress adjourns in December. Urge them to support moving a bill through the House or Senate that contains money for the National Housing Trust Fund.  Our goal is to create an early-December blizzard of phone calls from every corner of the country during these two days to demonstrate strong support for start-up funds dedicated to the National Housing Trust Fund.

877-210-5351 is the toll free number for the congressional switchboard. Ask to be connected to the housing staffer for your representative’s and senators’ offices.

Please pass this message on to others.  Questions? Contact the NLIHC Outreach Team at (202) 662-1530 or at outreach@nlihc.org

In related news, at a meeting with NLIHC Board members and state coalition partners on November 17, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan reported that the regulations governing how funds from the NHTF will be divided among the states are in review by Congress and are expected to be published in the Federal Register right after the Thanksgiving break.

As soon as the regulations are made public, NLIHC will produce an estimate of how much each state will receive with a $1 billion allocation.

Senate Passes Vets Bill with Extra Homeless Funds, T-HUD Bill Progress –top

As further evidence of Congress’s growing focus on homeless veterans, the Senate passed its FY10 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriation Act, H.R. 3082, on November 17 with an amendment providing additional funding housing for homeless veterans.

Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) offered an amendment to the bill on November 6 to provide $50 million to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program that would redevelop vacant VA properties as housing for homeless veterans. Senator Johnson is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction-Veterans Affairs.

Senator Johnson anticipates the $50 million would allow for renovation of up to 50 vacant properties on VA medical campuses, which would then provide multi-unit housing opportunities for veterans. Services would be offered via local nonprofit agencies.

The Senate passed the amendment by a vote of 98-1 and the VA appropriations bill passed by a vote of 100-0. The House did not have a similar provision in its version of the bill, which it passed in July. This provision will be discussed in conference between the House and Senate.

During the week of November 16, the Senate also requested a conference date for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (T-HUD) appropriations bill, H.R. 3288. House and Senate have each passed T-HUD bills; the House reported out its bill in July and the Senate finished its in September (see Memo, 9/18). As the bill was not conferenced by the October 1 start of FY10, Congress has passed Continuing Resolutions (CR) to keep agencies funded. The most recent CR provides funding through December 18 (see Memo, 10/30).

USDA Appropriations Completed –top

President Obama signed the bill October 21. Funding levels are posted at http://www.ruralhome.org; the law’s text is at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app10.html.

VA Announces Plan to End Veteran Homelessness –top

At the VA’s National Summit on Ending Homeless Among Veterans the week of November 2, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the creation of a five-year plan to end veteran homelessness. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said that both he and President Obama are committed to ending homelessness among veteran households, as “those who have served our nation…should never find themselves living on the streets, living with out care and with out hope.”

Secretary Shinseki describes the plan, the entirety of which has not yet been made available, as containing both homelessness prevention resources as well as resources for veterans who are already homeless. The VA will focus on discharge planning, direct service provision, connections to community based services, education, employment, health care and housing. The plan provides the opportunity for veterans to earn a college degree fully funded, assists disabled and other small business owners, provides increased mental health resources and offers transitional and permanent housing for veterans.

Of the $3.2 billion the VA will set aside for implementing the plan, $2.7 billion will be for medical services, and $500 million will be for homeless programs.

Link to the VA press release on the plan: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1807

HUD Unveils Choice Neighborhoods Proposal –top

HUD formally circulated its Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) proposal on November 6, and held a stakeholders’ meeting on its plan on November 10. CNI, as envisioned by the Administration, would be the next iteration of HOPE VI and would broaden the scope of the program to include a focus on neighborhoods.

According to HUD materials, CNI will “provide competitive grants to assist in the transformation, rehabilitation and preservation of HUD public and assisted housing.” HUD’s proposal seeks $250 million in FY10 for grants that HUD would award competitively to local governments, public housing agencies, community development corporations, assisted housing owners, and other for-profit and nonprofit entities. The current HOPE VI program provides grants to housing agencies to revitalize severely distressed public housing.

“We all see Choice Neighborhoods as a celebration of HOPE VI,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said on November 10. “We want to expand these successes to other types of housing,”

The Senate’s FY10 HUD appropriations bill includes $250 million for CNI, as HUD requested in March. The House HUD appropriations bill does not including funding for CNI, but would fund HOPE VI. The House and Senate bills are now in conference to iron out their differences, including whether to include CNI in the final FY10 HUD appropriations bill. (Absent an enacted FY10 bill, HUD programs are operating under a continuing resolution that runs through December 18; see Memo, 10/30).

“Whatever happens in appropriations,” Secretary Donovan said, “we want to have a full authorizing conversation” on this proposal. NLIHC opposes including CNI in the appropriations bill, believing instead that the House and Senate authorizing committees should shepherd such major legislation toward enactment.

The proposal released November 6 is consistent with what NLIHC earlier understood to be in the proposal (see Memo, 10/2); it is described here in greater detail.

Purposes and Eligibility

The purposes of CNI, as laid out in HUD’s proposal, are:

· to transform neighborhoods of extreme poverty into mixed-income neighborhoods of long-term viability by revitalizing severely distressed housing, improving access to economic opportunities, and investing and leveraging investments in well-functioning services, educational opportunities, public assets, public transportation, and improved access to jobs;

· to grow communities and metropolitan areas by concentrating and coordinating federal funding for public transportation, education, housing, energy, supportive services, and environmental programs and initiatives; and

· to support positive outcomes for families, including improvements in educational achievements and economic self-sufficiency.

In order to be eligible for CNI, a neighborhood would have to have a concentration of extreme poverty, defined as a place where a high percentage of a neighborhood’s residents are estimated to be in poverty or have extremely low incomes and be experiencing distress because of high crime rates, high rates of vacant, abandoned, or substandard homes, or high rates of failing or poorly performing public schools. In addition, the neighborhood would have to have severely distressed public or assisted housing, and a potential for long-term viability once key problems are addressed.

HUD Secretary Donovan explained that the current CNI proposal does not include a hard definition of “distressed,” noting that definitions in the proposal were intentionally left vague to allow for local flexibility for measures of distress. “Distressed can look different in different communities,” he said.

NLIHC would like to see more specificity in these definitions, to ensure that properties and communities most in need are funded, and will urge HUD to improve its CNI proposal in order to require an engineer or architect’s certification of severe distress. One of the lessons to be learned from HOPE VI is that land values and gentrification goals alone drove some communities’ decisions to pursue HOPE VI redevelopment, not whether the public housing redeveloped was indeed severely distressed.

Secretary Donovan said that if HUD were to use Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) scores of below 80 to identify distressed assisted housing, and Census tracts where more than 40% of residents live in poverty as “high poverty” communities to identify eligible CNI neighborhoods, then 325,000 public and assisted housing units, out of a total of about 2.5 million nationwide, would be eligible for CNI. HUD’s REAC assesses the physical and financial health of HUD’s public and assisted housing stock.

Secretary Donovan worked to allay housing authorities’ concerns that, if CNI replaces HOPE VI, housing authorities will lose access to funds that have been exclusively set aside for public housing redevelopment. He noted that of the eligible neighborhoods, those in which there is a high concentration of poverty and a high concentration of distressed public and/or assisted housing, there are three times as many public housing units than assisted housing units. And, where there are assisted housing units in these eligible neighborhoods, Secretary Donovan said, in half of them there are also public housing units.

Required Activities

Under HUD’s proposal, CNI would authorize certain required and eligible activities to be carried out by CNI grantees. Required activities include:

the transformation of housing through rehabilitation, preservation, and demolition and replacement of severely distressed housing that incorporates energy efficient principles, and activities that promote economic self-sufficiency;
activities that demonstrate that each resident who wishes to return to the revitalized on-site housing or replacement housing outside of the neighborhood can return and must be provided a preference in the new housing;
replacement housing;
fair housing activities;
service coordination, support services, mobility counseling and housing search assistance for residents displaced as a result of revitalization of severely distressed projects;
resident involvement in planning and implementation of the transformation plan;
tracking of residents relocated during redevelopment throughout the life of the grant or until full occupancy of the replacement housing, whichever is longer; and
links to local educational efforts.

NLIHC will urge HUD to provide significantly more specificity relating to resident involvement in planning and implementation of CNI required activities. NLIHC will also urge HUD to include mechanisms for non-public and assisted housing residents to participate in such consultations. Building on lessons learned from resident displacement and neighborhood upheaval in HOPE VI, NLIHC will also want to ensure that residents are provided with adequate relocation assistance over the long term.

Another critical aspect of redevelopment is the right of residents to return to revitalized housing. Since none of the revitalized housing in CNI would have to be built on site, residents would have no right to return to their neighborhoods. A resident who was lease-compliant before and during redevelopment, the required activities say, must receive preference for a replacement unit before any such units are made available to any other eligible households, or the resident may choose a Housing Choice Voucher instead. The proposal does not provide details on how residents will be offered the opportunity to make such a choice and whether they will be able to change their minds.

Instead, many activities related to relocation are included in a long list of eligible activities. Activities designated as eligible under CNI include relocation assistance, Housing Choice Vouchers, and supportive services for families that are displaced, including mobility and relocation counseling over multiple years, reasonable moving costs and security deposits. NLIHC expects these to be required activities, rather than only eligible activities, under CNI.

The proposal makes clear that the Uniform Relocation and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act would apply to all CNI relocation activities. Furthermore, the demolition, relocation, replacement, and reoccupancy of housing under CNI must be carried out in a manner that affirmatively furthers fair housing. Grantees must adopt affirmative marketing procedures and require affirmative marketing activities of project owners and managers. Units must meet federal accessibility requirements and, according to HUD officials at the November 10 briefing, would have be meet universal design standards, which incorporate barrier-free and accessible principles into the design, as well.

The replacement housing can be rebuilt on the original project site or within the metropolitan area up to 25 miles from the original project site. Any off-site replacement housing must offer access to economic opportunities and be accessible to social, recreational, educational, commercial, and health facilities and services that are comparable to a benchmark that the bill leaves undefined. Any off-site housing rebuilt outside of the immediate neighborhood must not be located in areas of minority concentration or extreme poverty. Replacement housing can be in the form of public housing, other types of project-based assistance, or project-based vouchers. The bill does not require or incentivize phased redevelopment, which many think would better ameliorate the negative impacts of housing redevelopment on residents.

“There is no one-size-fits-all policy,” regarding one-for-one replacement of the revitalized housing, Secretary Donovan said. “In a world where we’ve lost extremely low income housing, we need a standard that protects and preserves extremely low income housing,” he said. One hundred percent of the hard units would be replaced, Secretary Donovan said, “in a large majority of cases.”

Secretary Donovan added that there are communities in which vouchers can be a tool to help families, and that there are some cases in which vouchers are an acceptable replacement for hard units. In the proposal, tenant-based housing choice vouchers can be used to replace up to half of the public housing or other assisted housing that are demolished or disposed of under the transformation plan. Using vouchers as replacement for the loss of hard units can occur only in cases which:

the grantee can demonstrate that a minimum of 80% of vouchers issued over the last 24 months to comparable families were successfully leased within 120 days of issuance;
existing voucher holders are widely dispersed geographically among the available private rental stock, including in areas of low poverty; and
the grantee provides a market analysis demonstrating that there is a relatively high vacancy rate within the market area with rent and utility costs not exceeding the applicable payment standard, which dictates the value of the voucher.

NLIHC is currently analyzing the potential universe of units that could be lost by such a waiver from one-for-one replacement. One of NLIHC’s top priorities for the CNI proposal is that it not result in a net loss of homes affordable to extremely low income people.

Award Criteria

The proposal would direct the HUD Secretary to establish criteria for the award of CNI grants. These criteria would have to include 16 factors described in the proposal. The proposal does not weight or rank them. These selection criteria include:

the ability of the applicant’s plan to further CNI’s purposes;
inclusive local planning;
coordination of multiple funding sources;
data sufficient to demonstrate need, potential benefits and the neighborhood’s potential for long-term viability;
incorporation of green building and energy-efficient design principles;
availability of public transportation and other services;
support for displaced residents, including assistance in obtaining housing in areas with low concentrations of poverty and minority populations;
sufficient housing to accommodate displaced residents;
assessment of, and plan to address, special needs for ongoing supportive services;
the ability to leverage funds; and
replacement of units already demolished or disposed of pre-CNI.

Up to 10% of CNI funds can be used for planning grants and up to 5% can be used for technical assistance and program evaluation efforts.

The proposal includes a mechanism for HUD to withdraw CNI funding from a grantee if it does not proceed, within a “reasonable time frame,” in implementing the transformation plan or do not otherwise comply with its grant agreement.

An annual report must be submitted to Congress by HUD on the number, type and cost of affordable housing units revitalized under CNI and the amount and type of financial assistance provided through CNI, and on “the impact of grants made under this Act on the original residents, the target neighborhoods, and the larger communities within which they are located.”

Link to HUD’s CNI at http://www.nlihc.org/doc/HUD-CNI-bill.pdf

Link to a “Quick Facts” on CNI from HUD at http://www.nlihc.org/doc/CNI-Quick-Facts.pdf

NACEDA Meets with Federal Reserve Governor, OMB, and USDA –top

On November 5, NACEDA leaders held a series of meetings with senior administration officials, including Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke, Office of Management and Budget Director Michelle Enger, and U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Victor Vasquez.

The meetings focused on CDCs’ NSP and stabilization efforts; CRA responsibility; operational support for CHDOs, CDCs, and CEDs; and community development in rural America. NACEDA attendees included Bernie Mazyck (NACEDA Vice Chair and SCACDC E.D.); Board members Brigette Rasberry (NCCDCA) and Rick Sauer (PACDC); industry leaders Sally Scott (President, Maryland ABCD Network); and NACEDA staff members Jane DeMarines, Rachel Audi, and Sarah McKinley.

Following up the meeting with U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary Victor Vasquez, the agency has shared with NACEDA a list of State Directors to coordinate with CDCs on community development activities locally. NACEDA strongly encourages CDCs to capitalize on the wealth of resources and funding opportunities with USDA and its state and local offices. NACEDA also commends USDA for working to create a Regional Development program as well as to reinstate its former Community Affairs Office. Access USDA’s list of Directors: (Farm Service Agency) (Rural Development)

In related news, on November 10, NACEDA President Diane Sterner and Executive Director Jane DeMarines sent a letter to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, urging him to work aggressively with PJs to understand the sustainable value of CHDOs and to strengthen regulations for operational funding.

HUD Takes Comments on FY10-FY15 Strategic Plan –top

HUD will continue to take comments on its draft FY10-FY15 strategic plan, which would revise the agency’s mission and vision statements and create new goals and sub-goals for its work. Since November 10, HUD has held eight regional feedback sessions on its draft, which HUD is expected to submit to the Office of Management and Budget for review on December 21.

HUD’s draft new mission statement is to “Invest in quality, affordable homes and build strong, safe, healthy communities for all.” HUD’s five proposed goals are: repair the nation’s economy and housing market, promote affordable rental housing, utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life, build inclusive and sustainable communities of opportunity, and transform the way HUD does business.

NLIHC staff participated in the Washington, DC, feedback session. NLIHC encouraged HUD to adopt a goal of ending homelessness, and encouraged HUD to explicitly focus on addressing the housing needs of extremely low income households.

HUD is inviting comments on the draft HUD plan now via email; comments are probably most useful if received by November 30, when HUD says it will begin rewriting its draft document based on feedback. Link to the draft plan at http://www.nlihc.org/doc/Strategic-Planning-Regional.pdf

Also, HUD says it is pleased to announce another channel that will allow external stakeholders and partners an opportunity to contribute real-time feedback to improve our Department. Stakeholders can submit ideas through an interactive website called HUD Ideas In Action. This site is not just a repository for ideas. Once an idea has been posted, anyone can vote and comment on the suggestions and the best ideas will be displayed at the top of the list. HUD Ideas In Action will be reviewed daily and the ideas that receive the most votes and comments will be assessed for possible implementation.

Loan Modifications Ahead of Schedule, but Foreclosures Accelerate –top

The Treasury Department and HUD have announced that more than 500,000 trial loan modifications are in progress, almost one month a head of schedule, under the Making Home Affordable program.

However, the pace of foreclosures seems to have accelerated as more homeowners fall behind on payments. According to the Washington Post, the number of homeowners that have been pulled into foreclosure increased by 5% during the third quarter. RealtyTrac, which compiles data on more than 90 percent of U.S households, says more than 925,000 borrowers have received a foreclosure filling between July and September.

The goal of 500,000 trial loan modifications by November 1 initially set in July has pushed servicers to ramp up program implementation and sustain a faster pace of modifications; trial modifications are now being issued at a faster rate than new homeowners are becoming eligible. Most of the foreclosure problems remain centered in hard-hit states such as Arizona and Nevada. (HUD press release)

To help address these calamities, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) has introduced the Preserving Homes and Communities Act, S. 1731, which would provide $6.4 billion for loans, credits, or advances for owner-occupants who are experiencing financial hardship and have the ability to make future mortgage payments. The bill also requires that lenders provide individuals defaulting on loans with information that qualifies them for federal assistance before beginning or continuing foreclosure process, and the legislation prohibits certain fees relating to a foreclosure. Similar legislation has been introduced in the House by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), and elements of these bills are being considered for passage before the end of this year.

NACEDA Requests Tenant Rights Language Remain in Legislation –top

NACEDA has signed onto a letter with other national organizations asking Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) to keep in his draft Housing Preservation and Tenant Protection Act language that would give affordable housing tenants the right to purchase their rented property when its owner removes the property from the affordable housing program.

The letter also asks to keep in the bill language that would give affordable housing tenants the same third-party beneficiary rights as in Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Contracts, Mark-to-Market Restructuring Commitments, and Rehab Escrow Deposit Agreements. Currently this draft legislation does not include these provisions. NACEDA thanks the National Low-Income Housing Coalition for driving this effort.

Changes to Nonprofit IRS Filing Fees, Military Leave –top

The Community Development Law Center reports that the IRS is raising its filing fees for applications for tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) from $750 to $850 for applications postmarked January 3, 2010 or later. The $300 filing fee for smaller organizations will increase to $400.

Another federal change that applies to nonprofits, is that if you employ staff that have military personnel on active duty in a foreign country, the ‘qualifying exigency’ leave provision of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) will apply. Up to now only certain service members qualified. The FMLA will allow up to six months off for families of service personnel. There is no date set yet for when this new provision becomes effective as regulations are currently being written to implement the changes.

Funding and Award Opportunities

New Due Dates and Tech Corrections to Section 202, 811 NOFAs –top

The technical corrections to the NOFAs were posted in the Federal Register November 12, 2009. The Section 202 and Section 811 deadline dates for FY2009 have been extended. The applications for Section 202 are due on December 14^th and the Section 811 applications are now due on December 17^th. The technical corrections will be provided on www.Grants.gov as well.

Applicants who have submitted their applications prior to this publication can choose to resubmit an updated application that reflects the corrections and clarifications. The last application received by Grants.gov by the December 14, 2009 or December 17, 2009 deadline, as appropriate, and in accordance with HUD’s FY2009 Grace Period Policy will be the application that is reviewed and rated. Accordingly, the Phase II Environmental Assessment is being moved to January 14, 2010 (202) and January 19, 2010 (811).

Subsequent to publication, it was determined that several sections of the NOFA required revision to correct particulars such as email addresses, tables and exhibits. Also, additional clarification in reference to Energy Star and Green Development was found to be necessary. Because of the integral nature of these corrections, the deadline for application submission has been extended. This notice is intended to disseminate this information to the entire applicant pool as rapidly as possible, to facilitate applicants’ recognition and utilization of these changes to the NOFA.

GTECH Funds Computer Labs for Disadvantaged Children –top

GTECH is an international lottery/gaming company. Their After-School Advantage Program provides state-of-the-art computer labs to organizations in inner-city communities. They support after-school programs targeting disadvantaged youth and at-risk children aged 5-15.

Awards include up to $15,000 worth of computers, online technology and computer software. More than 90 After School Advantage computer centers already are operating successfully since 1999, more than 20,000 children between the ages of 5-18 have gained access to computers.

GTECH After School Advantage sites must meet the following criteria:

Must be a non-profit 501(C)(3) community agency or public school.
Must be located within a jurisdiction in which GTECH is the online lottery services vendor (The GTECH After School Advantage Program is being implemented in 18 states including Oregon and Washington)
Must have an existing after-school program in need of a computer lab.
Must serve disadvantaged youth aged five to 15, of diverse backgrounds.
Must have staffing and monetary support systems in place to sustain the lab.

If your agency fits the criteria listed above, you may submit a proposal to:

GTECH After School Advantage, Community Relations
10 Memorial Blvd., Providence, RI 02903.

Proposals are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. Check this link for their proposal guidelines: http://www.gtech.com/about_gtech/proposal_guidelines.asp Info: Elena Lupinacci, 401/392-7705, elena.lupinacci@gtech.com.

Open Meadows Funds Small Orgs, Women-led Projects –top

The Open Meadows Foundation is a grant-making organization which funds projects that are led by and benefit women and girls. It offers grants up to $2,000 to projects that are: designed and implemented by women and girls; reflect the diversity of the community served by the project in both its leadership and organization; promote building community power and encourage racial, social, economic and environmental justice.

Groups that have had limited financial access or have encountered obstacles in their search for funding also are eligible. Small and start-up organizations strongly are encouraged to apply. Organizational budgets should not exceed $150,000.

Proposals must be postmarked before, and received by, February 15, 2010. They do not accept proposals via email, fax, or fed-ex.

To learn more and to download application materials, go to www.openmeadows.org; P.O. Box 150-607, Van Brunt Station, Brooklyn, NY 11215-607, 718-885-0969

Hitachi Work Grants Program Supports Low-Income Workers –top

International electronics giant Hitachi is offering community development funding through its Business & Work Program, which seeks to address economic issues by building an authentic integration of business actions and societal wellbeing, and by supporting low-income workers.

The foundation has distributed about $25 million to nonprofit groups since 1985. Grants normally range between $15,000-$250,000.

Local projects should serve high poverty areas or communities as evidenced by poverty rates or other indicators of need.

While full proposals may only be submitted at the Foundation’s invitation, nonprofit organizations that meet the eligibility requirements can share initial information through an online inquiry system. The link to the inquiry system is found at the bottom of the following web page: http://www.hitachifoundation.org/grants/guidelines/index.html

HUD Grants to Preserve and Retrofit Properties for Energy Efficiency –top

The Assisted Housing Stability and Energy and Green Retrofit grants program through HUD’s Office of Affordable Housing Preservation provides funding for affordable housing owners to maintain, preserve and retrofit properties to ensure energy efficiency and safety (Funding Opportunity number HUD-RA-01).

Those eligible include: Owners of properties receiving project-based assistance pursuant to section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, section 811 of the Cranston- Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, or Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 as amended.

Grants and loans will be made available through HUD’s Office of Affordable Housing Preservation (OAHP) for eligible property owners to make energy and green retrofit investments in the property, to ensure the maintenance and preservation of the property, the continued operation and maintenance of energy efficiency technologies, and the timely expenditure of funds. For more information, click here.

HUD HOPE VI Main Street Program – Due Jan 20 –top

This program offers funds to rejuvenate small communities or historic business districts through a variety of redevelopment strategies. Funding opportunity number FR-5300-N-24. Applications due January 20. More information at www.grants.gov.

Elderly, Disabled Supportive Housing Grants Extended – Dec 14, 17 –top

The deadline for Supportive Housing for the Elderly Grant applications have been extended to December 14. The Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Grant deadline has been extended to December 17. These grants provide funding for initiatives to develop housing, implement green technology and provide rental assistance, as well as other programs for supportive housing. Funding opportunity numbers and links: FR-5300-N-19 and FR-5300-N-21.

PMI Funds Affordable Housing, Homeownership Projects –top

The PMI Foundation fosters projects for sustainable homeownership and affordable housing, as well as those that improve quality of life in these underserved neighborhoods. The foundation makes grants to nonprofits to further these goals. Eligibility:

Organizations requesting grants must be nonprofit organizations that have been granted a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt and public charity status by the Internal Revenue Service.
Requests must target disadvantaged, poor and distressed populations.
Requests must either focus on increasing affordable housing opportunities or directly contribute to the quality of life in under-served communities.

They are no longer accepting unsolicited grant requests for 2009, but for 2010 grants, applicants are requested to submit a short summary of their grant request and other documentation listed on their webpage: www.pmifoundation.org

ACCION USA Microfinance Org Finances Entrepreneurs –top

ACCION USA is a microfinance organization that provides small business loans and financing to small business owners and entrepreneurs who do not qualify for loans from traditional lending institutions. These affordable loans help borrowers build credit and start or grow a small business. Find more information at: www.accionusa.org

New Funding Initiatives for Microenterprise Development Orgs –top

There are three new capacity building initiatives, funded by the SBA, to help microenterprise development organizations increase sustainability and achieve new levels of growth. Participation is free, but space is limited to leaders that have a strong vision to take their organizations to the next level and requires a strong collaborative effort from your organization.

Academy for Green Microenterprise Development

http://www.georgiagreenloans.org/news/?p=157

Microenterprise Leadership Development Consortium

http://www.womensinitiative.org/newsroom/Microentrprise_Leadership_Development_Consortium.htm?f=/c/a/2009/10/12/MNVV1A308G.DTL#ixzz0TjbWk7Kc

MicroBuilders Capacity Building Program (please contact Jason Friedman at Friedman Associates, (w) 319-341-3556; (c) 319-321-5884, or via email.)

Events

State of Black Oregon Symposium 2009 – Dec 3 –top

The Urban League of Portland‘s State of Black Oregon was published in 2009 for the first time in 17 years. It confirmed that social and economic disparities and systemic disadvantage still exist for African Americans and other people of color. Now it is time to act.

The State of Black Oregon Symposium: A Call for Action and Accountability, will be held Thursday, December 3, and will help to facilitate new and stronger partnerships between organizations seeking concrete policy outcomes, and focus on specific solutions for eliminating disparities in education, employment, health, criminal justice, and child and youth welfare. Join the Urban League as we shape a bold policy agenda, and build a network of leaders and service providers committed to advocating for equity.

Mayor Adams, Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen and Oregon state legislators Senator Chip Shields and Representative Lew Frederick will focus on specific solutions for addressing the stark disparities highlighted in the report that exist for African Americans in Oregon in the city, county and state. A panel of experts, who contributed research and analysis to the report, will also outline strategies for change in public policy aimed at eliminating disparities in education, employment, health, criminal justice and child and youth welfare.

Other speakers include:

Sheila Holden, North/Northeast Economic Development Alliance;
Dr. Karen Gibson, Associate Professor, Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University;
Joyce Braden Harris, Co-chair, African American Alliance;
Dr. Robert Thompson, Oregon State University, Department of Ethnic Studies and David Rogers, Director, Partnership for Safety and Justice;
Tricia Tillman, Administrator, Oregon Office of Multicultural Health;
Angela Cause, Diversity Manager, Oregon Department of Human Services;
Former Senator Avel Gordly, Associate Professor, Department of Black Studies, Portland State University;
and Peggy Ross, Governor’s Office, Director of Affirmative Action.

The Symposium will be held on December 3, 2009, at Portland State University, Smith Memorial Hall, 1825 SW Broadway, Portland OR 97201 from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm.

The State of Black Oregon Symposium is part of the Urban League of Portland’s work to develop a bold action plan that calls for implementation of proven, effective policies and tools to eliminate the state’s gaps between African Americans and the majority population in income, wealth, health, social progress and educational attainment. It’s sponsored by The Urban League of Portland, Portland State University, PSU Black Studies Department, PSU Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, US Bank, Featherlite Inc, Urban Bridges, and Comcast Inclusion Team.

The full findings in the State of Black Oregon can be found at www.ulpdx.org.

Cheap Art Party – Affordable Art for Affordable Housing, Dec 4 –top

Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) is hosting the 5^th Annual Cheap Art Party: Affordable art for affordable housing at P:ear Gallery on 338 NW 6^th Ave. This is a benefit event to supports CAT’s ongoing efforts to educate and empower tenants to promote affordable, stable and safe rental homes. The event will celebrate recent affordable housing victories in Oregon. The benefit will feature locally made art on sale for less than $25, local musicians, acrobats, and a silent auction.

Come one, come all for good times, great art and a chance to do some holiday shopping. The Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) does not want you to have to choose between art and housing this holiday season!

What: A benefit event for CAT where you can purchase locally made art for under $25. There will also be a silent auction for more expensive art.

When: Friday, December 4^th. Come from 7:30-10:30pm to get the best stuff! Sliding scale for admission $10-$30.

Where: P:EAR Gallery at 338 NW 6^th Ave. P:EAR is fully wheelchair accessible.What else: There will be music, acrobats, food and a cash bar serving wine and beer. Performances: Pie for Breakfast, Kazüm, Annah Sidiqe

Together let’s support and empower of Oregon’s renters. All proceeds benefit CAT. (P.S. – Support renters’ rights in Oregon now through December 31st, and make your gift even more rewarding through Willamette Week’s Give!Guide: www.wweek.com/giveguide.)

The Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) is Oregon’s only grassroots, statewide, tenant-controlled, tenant-membership organization. Their mission is to educate and empower tenants to promote affordable, stable and safe rental homes.

CLF Tickets to Laugh for Livability Feb 19, Holiday Art Sale Dec 4-6 –top

As you shop for loved ones this holiday season and plan your year-end giving, don’t forget Coalition for a Livable Future in your plans.

Make a tax-deductible donation to CLF today to support healthier communities in 2010.
Give your friends and family the best holiday gift of all—a CLF gift membership that empowers us all to build a better Portland-Vancouver region.
Stuff that stocking with tickets to an evening of laughter at the LAUGH for Livability show on February 19th.
Purchase original art and support CLF and the self-sufficiency of women in Zimbabwe at the ZAP Holiday Art Sale, Dec. 4-6.

Thank you from the CLF Team!

Beloved Sisters Co-Founder Genny Nelson to Retire - Dec 12 –top

Thirty years after helping to found Sisters Of The Road, co-founder Genny Nelson is retiring. Genny’s steadfast dedication to nonviolence and gentle personalism has shaped Sisters’ philosophy and everyday operations, and meaningfully affected the thousands of people who visit Sisters each year.

Genny has won numerous awards, including the 2005 National Caring Award. Genny has also been a personal friend and mentor to thousands, including public leaders, school children and Sisters’ staff, volunteers & customers. Genny leaves a legacy at Sisters and in the community of loving compassion, community organizing and the absolute necessity of building authentic relationships. Genny has often said, “Sisters is profoundly about love.”

In lieu of flowers, Genny asks that people make a contribution to Sisters Of The Road, the organization she helped found and develop and the community she continues to love.

Please join us Saturday, December 12th from 3 to 6 pm in the Cafe to give thanks for and celebrate the vision and work of Genny Nelson at Sisters and in our whole community.

Training and Conferences

Webinar on Preserving Affordability in NSP Program – Dec 1 –top

NCB Capital Impact and NeighborWorks America will host a December 1 webinar to explore how Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds can be used to preserve long-term homeownership affordability, by incorporating tools such as deed restrictions, community land trusts, shared application loans and lease-to-purchase programs into NSP plans. With such mechanisms, assisted homeowners agree to pass affordability onto future homebuyers.

Congress has appropriated almost $6 billion in NSP funds since 2008. The funds are to help stabilize communities that have been impacted by the foreclosure crisis. Many jurisdictions’ NSP plans have focused on the redevelopment of vacant homes for homeownership.

The webinar will be held from 10:30 am to12:30 pm ET. To register, or for more information on shared equity homeownership opportunities, go to: http://www.homesthatlast.org/preserving-affordable-homeownership-in-the-nsp-program

REACH, MetLife Winners on Senior Housing Best Practices – Dec 9, 11 –top

Part I – Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Part II – Friday, December 11, 2009

60 minutes beginning 2:00 pm ET / 11:00am PT, both days

Description

The 2009 MetLife Foundation Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing focused on the best in senior housing. The winning properties highlight innovative, ongoing efforts toward sustainable and service enriched senior housing. Leadership of the four winners will each describe best practice elements of their properties.

Part 1 – December 9th, 2:00pm EST:

REACH Community Development, Portland OR – New construction, green, Low Income Housing Tax Credit property, a remediated brownfield and transit-oriented development (“TOD”) for 100% seniors. Hear about REACH’s comprehensive and collaborative planning process for green and residential features, supporting a highly independent senior residential profile.

Under One Roof, Norwalk CT – Adaptive re-use of a 19th century school building for seniors with an intergenerational childcare program on-site. Learn about Under One Roof’s innovative approach to deep aging-in-place services for seniors, including assisted living through Medicaid waiver funding, with excellent tracking of aging-in-place resident outcomes. Register for the December 9th session

Part 2 – December 11th, 2:00pm EST

Lytton Gardens Senior Communities, Palo Alto CA – Green retrofit of a 1970’s HUD 202 property, 100% seniors with aging-in-place features supporting a broad age range. Learn from Lytton Garden’s creative approach to in-place green rehab and retrofit, centered on resident involvement, and their processes for excellent tracking of green cost savings

Mercy Housing California, San Francisco CA – New construction, green, Low Income Housing Tax Credit property, a remediated brownfield transit-oriented development (“TOD”) and mixed use property (onsite public library) for a seniors population. Hear how Mercy Housing California planned for and manages a well-coordinated array of senior and supportive services and operating subsidies, including an onsite adult day health center. Register for the December 11th session

Learning objectives

Learn about best practices in green planning and design for both new construction and retrofitted senior properties
Hear about maximizing senior services resources, both directly provided and via partnerships, including Medicaid waiver funding
Learn the benefits of co-locating complimentary services such as adult day health, assisted living services, and intergenerational programming including onsite child care centers

Who should participate?

All organizations interested in learning about best practices in independent senior living and green sustainable development

Presenters:

Patricia Magnuson, Enterprise Community Partners
(December 9th) Dee Walsh, REACH Community Development
(December 9th) Mary R. Windt, Under One Roof
(December 11th) Gery Yearout, Lytton Gardens Senior Communities
(December 11th) Jane Graf, Mercy Housing California

Enterprise Radon Resistant Construction Strategies – Dec 17 –top

Thursday, December 17, 2009
90 minutes beginning 2:00 PM ET/ 11:00 am PT

Description

Radon is the top cause of lung cancer among non-smokers in the country, leading to approximately 21,000 deaths each year. Incorporating radon testing and mitigation into the design and construction of affordable housing are important elements of providing healthy living environments for residents. Fortunately, a home foundation designed and built with radon-resistant features will go a long way to ensuring low radon levels in the building.

Enterprise Green Communities and the National Center for Healthy Housing have partnered to offer this educational session on radon resistant construction strategies, with a particular focus on multifamily structures. The session will review the importance of radon mitigation and focus on strategies for radon resistant construction in affordable housing through case study examples.

For more information on radon resistant construction in low-rise multifamily housing, visit NCHH’s website and download a fact sheet on the topic: http://www.nchh.org/Training/Green-and-Healthy-Housing/Green-Capacity-Building.aspx

Expected Outcome

Participants will understand possible design solutions for radon mitigation in affordable housing projects.

Who should attend?

Affordable housing developers interested in learning more about how to design radon mitigation systems for their projects.
Anyone interested in learning more about the resources available on residential radon mitigation.

Presented by:

Ellen Tohn, Tohn Environmental Consulting
Terry Brennan & Mike Clarkin, Camroden Associates, Inc.
Billy Weber, University of Minnesota Center for Sustainable Building Research
Lou Witt, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Webinar on Cause Marketing – Dec 3, Small Business Forum – Jan 12 –top

Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Webinar: What is Cause Marketing
Thursday, December 03, 2009

Beyond the edges of corporate social responsibility is a place where goodness and business and the interplay between the two merge, creating space for interesting new opportunities – opportunities where everyone can win. Join Perry Gruber, CEO and co-founder of NedWater and Mark Grimes, co-founder of Ned, NedSpace, and NedWater as they share stories that go beyond corporate social responsibility and into cause and social marketing: its business value, what it looks like and why these two guys think business, consumers and the economy are going to be forever changed by this evolving social phenomena. Click here to register for this OEN Webinar.

Oregon Small Business Forum
January 12, 2010, 8am – 12pm in Portland, OR

Attend a forum for those who serve small business in Oregon. This free event is hosted by OAME (Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs) and includes SBA, SSA, IRS, state, county, city and many other small business organizations. This forum’s speaker will focus on how to get government contracts and RFP advice. To RSVP, call 503-326-5240 or email kaydel.marshall@irs.gov.

NACEDA Annual Summit March 23 – 25, 2010 –top

Mark your calendars and make plans to attend NACEDA’s 2010 Summit, which will be held March 23-25 at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Washington, DC. We are pleased to return to the hotel where we hosted our Summit last year.

Our program this year will feature a joint lobbying day with National NeighborWorks Association on Capitol Hill on March 23, and the two-day NACEDA conference in the DoubleTree Hotel on March 24 and 25. We hope to have Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke as a keynote speaker, as well as other senior Obama Administration leaders. Possible session topics include:

Fed. Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (Invited)
Developing green communities
Transit-Oriented Development
Funding community development in today’s economy
Interactive panel on the future of community development
and much more..

Hotel Information:

DoubleTree Hotel
1515 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
Tel: 1-202-232-7000

The rate for single and double rooms will be $209. Rooms are available March 22 – 24. Make your reservations now! Deadline to make reservations is February 22.

Reports

Bridges to Housing Releases Mid-Year Evaluation Report –top

Bridges to Housing is a four county effort to improve the lives of homeless families with multiple needs. An October report, prepared by Portland State University’s Regional Research Institute, focuses on families who have been in housing for eighteen months, as well as the employment experiences of Bridges to Housing families.

This evaluation report looks in depth at employment – exploring whether clients are engaged in employment, training or educational activities; progress clients are making towards self-sufficiency; and barriers towards progress such as mental illness and poor employment histories. It also examines the impact of the current economic downturn on Bridges to Housing families and their employment possibilities.

This report demonstrates the great work Bridges partners are doing to help families stabilize. 92% of families remained in the program for at least six months, while 74% remained at least twelve months. 47% remain in the program for 18 months or longer. This figure includes both positive and negative exits from the program.

Report Finds Vets Suffer Homelessness at Double the General Rate –top

Approximately 131,230 veterans were homeless at a point in time in 2008, a new report found. This means that for every 10,000 veterans, 58 are homeless, a rate that is more than double that of the general population.

The report was compiled from data from the Department of Veteran Affairs’ (VA) Community Homeless Assessment, Local Education and Networking Group (CHALENG) by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH). It is an update to one released by NAEH in 2007 using previous CHALENG data.

The VA also reported that the number of veterans served by the VA’s Health Care for Homeless Veterans program increased by 9% between 2007 and 2008, a result of veterans returning from the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The data also show an increased need for services for homeless female veterans.

Because of the growing number of veterans coming home from overseas conflicts and because of the new increase in homeless female veterans, NAEH recommends that new policies be enacted to better care for homeless veterans. The Obama Administration recently vowed to end homelessness among veterans in five years, which requires the adoption of a comprehensive approach. Specific policy solutions recommended in the report include creating a homeless prevention and rapid re-housing program within the VA; continuing to expand the HUD-VA Supportive Hosing program (HUD-VASH); ensuring an adequate supply of affordable housing for veterans with low incomes; and enhancing and bringing to scale existing VA homelessness programs.

One of the reports’ findings is that middle-aged veterans are most likely to be homeless:

Age of all veterans and those who are homeless, 2008

Age All Veterans Homeless Veterans

18-34 8% 6%

35-54 26% 61%

55-64 25% 29%

65 and older 40% 5%

The report, Vital Mission: Ending Homelessness Among Veterans, including state-by-state analysis, is available at: http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/2572

Homeownership Subsidies Almost Four Times that of Rental Housing –top

A Congressional Budget Office Overview of Federal Support for Housing calculates that ownership support was $230 billion, while aid for rental property and tenants was $60 billion.

Visit http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10525.

Strong State Anti-Predatory Lending Laws Linked with Less Defaults –top

“State Anti-Predatory Lending Laws: Impacts and Federal Preemption,” published by the University of North Carolina’s Center for Community Capital, is available at http://www.ccc.unc.edu/news.php.

In related news, on October 22 the House Financial Services Committee approved H.R. 3126, a bill to establish a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, aiming to protect Americans from abusive financial products and services such as predatory mortgages. Visit http://thomas.loc.gov for a copy of the bill or http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/pressCFPA_102209.shtml for a summary.

Resources

Top 10 Year-End Fundraising Strategies to Put You Over Goal –top

This article is reprinted from CD Publications’ ‘Private Grants Alert Online.’

It is mid-November and the fall fundraising rush is here again. Most organizations are by now knee-deep in their year-end fundraising campaign. To help make this December a big end-of-the-year campaign, PGA talked with fundraising experts on ways to tune-up your efforts.

The year-end fundraising outlook is looking more positive, says Gail Perry, a North Carolina-based grants consultant. Donors who were reluctant to give earlier this year seem to be feeling more generous right now, Perry says. “This year your year-end campaign needs to be the best ever,” Perry said.

Top 10 Fundraising Strategies:

Identify the 10-15 major donors who have yet to give in 2009. Go see them personally, find out what is on their minds, and ask them for another commitment this year. This could be the one single thing that catapults your fundraising for the year.
Identify up to 100 donors and make face-to-face calls on them to ask them for their year-end gifts. If you can’t do 50 personal visits, then do 40, or 30, she says. Enlist your volunteers to help. But you must include personal one-on-one “asks” in your year-end fundraising strategy if you want to zoom past your goal.
Don’t let reluctant volunteers hold you back. Some volunteers are saying, “Let’s just ease off the personal visit because of the recession.” Here’s what you say back: “When is it ever a great time to ask for money? There’s too much at stake. We have to ask now.”
Warm up your donors before the ask. Send your donors an e-mail saying, “I want you to be the first to know that we will launch our year-end campaign next week. Our goal is X. The theme is Y. The deadline is Dec. 31.”
Don’t forget to add to your prospect list. Include your suppliers and vendors, your volunteers, past board members, capital campaign donors, and even your clients themselves.
Use a visual and emotional hook in your appeal letter. Use a visual metaphor such as a lunch box (food for the hungry) or a diploma (for scholarships).
Don’t begin your letter with “For 20 years the xxx organization has lovingly served xxxx people in our community.” (Yawn!) Instead start like this: “Little Johnny Smith woke up Monday morning, hungry again.” Makes you want to keep reading, doesn’t it?
Make your appeal letter attractive and easy to read. Use white space. Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Action verbs. Pictures. Boldface headings. Wide margins. Make it readable by someone who is just skimming. Use the pronoun “you” liberally.
Make your solicitation–the ask–obvious and easy to find. Place it in the very front of the third or fourth paragraph. And in the first few words of a sentence.
By all means, don’t bury it at the end of a paragraph deep at the end of a sentence. Otherwise, most readers will totally miss your “ask” because they only skim the first part of any paragraph. And, of course, always ask for a specific amount. Follow up the appeal letter with a phone call. A call can double your response. If you only send out one appeal letter, you can expect your return to be only about 15%. Keep communicating with non-responders until Dec. 31.

As a bonus tip, Perry notes that you should keep working right through the end of the year. “Plan one or two e-mail follow-ups the very last two days of December,” she says. “Studies show that 40% of online donors make their gifts in December, and that 40-60% of those donations are made Dec. 30 and 31.”

For those last-minute donors, you want to have a snappy and up-to-date website that will accommodate them. Plus, don’t forget to keep the site current. Studies show that donors–even those who give by writing a check and sending it in the mail–will most often check out your web site to research you before they give, Perry says.

Info: Perry is the author of Fired Up Fundraising: Turn Board Passion into Action and founder of Gail Perry Associates, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based consulting and training firm, www.gailperry.com or 919/821-3050, fax: 919/821-3012

Techsoup Fundraising Software – Manage and Connect with Donors –top

Through TechSoup, you can access the tools that nonprofits rely on to efficiently identify support sources, track donor information, and reach out to potential donors. Check out their software offerings, Learning Center articles and guides to help you choose the right fundraising tools for your organization. Donor software available includes:

BlackBaud Now with Matchfinder
GrantStation
NOZA
eTapestry
GiftWorks
Telosa Exceed! Basic

Questions? Please contact TechSoup’s Customer Service Department at customerservice@techsoup.org or 1-800-659-3579, extension 700. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time (11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time) and Friday 8 a.m. to noon Pacific time (11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time). Or visit them online here.

New Interactive Website for Neighborhood Change Competitions –top

NACEDA and Root Change have created a Ning website for the competitions, which are designed to target open-source, innovative, and workable solutions to the challenges of managing neighborhood change. NACEDA encourages participation from everyone committed to guiding equitable development in their communities. Visit the site at: http://neighborhoodchange.ning.com/ or contact NACEDA’s Director of Special Projects via email.

New Foreclosure Help, Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnership Websites –top

The Department of Consumer & Business Services in partnership with the Department of Justice and Oregon Housing & Community Services, launched a new web site intended for consumers, industry and interested parties with foreclosure prevention information and resources. The web site www.foreclosurehelp.oregon.gov is periodically updated and includes federal and state foreclosure prevention laws and announcements. For questions or additional information please contact the undersigned or Lisa Morawski at lisa.m.morawski@state.or.us.

In related news, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships recently launched a website to help organizations partner with government to improve services. Visit www.whitehouse.gov/partnerships for more information.

New HUD USER Website Design –top

The Office of Policy Development and Research and HUD USER are very excited to announce the launch of a new HUD USER website. The site features many new tools and a layout that will make it more useful in doing research, keeping abreast of the latest findings and innovations, and providing input as to how HUD User can best be of service. It will be easier to locate the information and resources with enhanced features such as:

Intuitive site navigation capabilities;
The ability to “look inside” our reports prior to downloading or ordering;
A forum section that encourages the sharing of information and ideas on research;
A presence on both Facebook and Twitter; and
Interactive maps.

Please explore their new design, and share your ideas, comments, and suggestions via email.

Oregon Opportunity Network

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