Oregon’s Affordable Housing and Community Development Digest

Oregon ON News
Oregon On Banquet – Save the Date – Oct 11
Welcome Kay Sohl
Thank You Members CAPECO, PCRI, Cascade Management

Member Events
Youth Rock–Literally–to Support Habitat Youth Build – July 10
Help Shape the First PHB Strategic Plan – by July 13
JOIN Events – Golf Tournament in August, Salvador Molly – July 19
Salem-Keizer CDC Community Theatre Night Fundraiser – July 27
Lowes Free Classes Honor Habitat Women Build – July 20–Aug 24
Comparison of Building Code to ADA Accessibility – August 3
Human Solutions Celebrates Arbor Glen Apts Re-opening – Aug 3
Get Your Paint and Repair-a-thon On! – Volunteers Needed – August 7
PeaceRoots Grows Nonviolence, Econ Human Rights -Sept 18

Member News
Congrats to Five Member Achieving Excellence Participants
New OMEN VISTA Team – Chock Full of Oregon On Members
Bridge Meadows Celebrates Groundbreaking
Sisters Of The Road Joins 10,000 Activists at US Social Forum
Juneberry Lane, Verde Village – Low Income Housing Goes Sustainable
Portland Housing Center Launches Online Homebuyer Education
Enterprise Annual Report – A Good Life is Affordable

Portland Metro News
Auditor Releases Report on City’s Local Stimulus Initiative
MHAC Grant for Homeowner Retention Project in N-NE Portland
Block 49 in the Oregonian
Beaverton Senior Housing Development Takes Shape

Regional and Rural News
Rural Cooperative Development Grants Program – Aug 9
HAC Testifies at Rural Development Forum on Self Help Housing
Rural Housing Awards – Nominations Due by Sept 11
USDA Spending Bills Approved by House Subcoms

Statewide News
2,400 Seniors Cut from Project Independence Aug 1
Oregon Wins $1 Million for Weatherization Workforce Training

Federal News
NACEDA Announces New Executive Director
Decision on $1-065 Billion for NHTF Delayed Again
Two Sustainable Communities Planning Grant NOFAs Out
$1B Proposed for Round 3 of NSP as part of Financial Reform
House T-HUD Subcommittee Marks Up FY11 Bill
Shady Housing Lenders Get FHA Approval Yanked
National Plan to End Homelessness Released

Funding and Award Opportunities
Focus on Cooperative Solutions for Rural Seniors – Aug 6
Purpose Prize Honors Social Innovators Over 60 – March 2011
Recovery Act Webinar Series
Social Change Grants for Oregon Grassroots Organizations

Training and Conferences
Multifamily Weatherization – Working with Local Providers – July 27
Strategies For Neighborhood Stabilization – July 28

Reports
Gay and Transgender Youth Disproportionately Homeless
Fed Reimbursement of Nonprofits Indirect Costs Inconsistent
Tenants in Foreclosed Homes Still Being Forced Out

Resources
Appliance Rebate Program Expands
Additions Posted to PETRA Watch
New York City Tenants Organize Against Predatory Equity

One Fun Thing
Shipping Containers and the Great Media Chicken Shunning

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Oregon ON News

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Oregon On Banquet – Save the Date – Oct 11 -top

It’s time to celebrate the hard work and achievements of the community development and affordable housing industry!

Please join us on Columbus Day, Monday, October 11, for the annual Oregon Opportunity Network Banquet. We are very pleased to welcome US Senator Jeff Merkley (pictured left) as our keynote speaker!

To register or learn more, click here. To learn about Sponsorship opportunities, click here, email Orion, or call her at 503-335-9884.

We look forward to seeing you at the Banquet!

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Welcome Kay Sohl -top

Thank you to Kay Sohl, principal of Kay Sohl Consulting, for becoming a new Individual Member of Oregon ON!

She launched Kay Sohl Consulting in August, 2008, after 30 years leading TACS (Technical Assistance for Community Services), the Northwest’s most comprehensive nonprofit capacity building resource. She says, “My new life as a consultant and trainer for nonprofits across the country and a former executive director is wonderful!”

Her expertise includes:

• organizational assessment and capacity building strategies
• financial management
• tax exempt status and IRS compliance issues
• board development
• strategic planning
• collaborations, mergers, and spin-offs
• feasibility studies and business plan development
• evaluation and accountability strategies
• nonprofit sustainability strategies

To learn more, click here. Welcome Kay!

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Thank You Members CAPECO, PCRI, Cascade Management -top

Thank you to CAPECO (The Community Action Program of East Central Oregon), Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives (PCRI) and Cascade Management, Inc. for renewing their Oregon ON memberships!

CAPECO was incorporated in October 1987 and serves Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties.

CAPECO envisions the success of every youth, adult and senior to eliminate poverty and promote independence through education, employment, and the sharing of resources that move individuals from surviving to thriving.

Their mission is “Assisting people to become independent, healthy and safe”. CAPECO envisions the success of every youth, adult and senior to eliminate poverty and promote independence through education, employment and the sharing of resources that move individuals from surviving to thriving.

PCRI (Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community development organization providing affordable rental housing to low-income families in north and northeast Portland. For the past 13 years, PCRI’s vision has been to provide affordable housing and associated services that achieve family stability, self-sufficiency and wealth creation.

Recently PCRI, as part of the Minority Homeownership Assistance Collaborative (MHAC), has received a $120,000 grant from the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB).  The grant enables our collaborative (which also includes the African American Alliance for Homeownership (AAAH), Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) and Hacienda CDC) to help North and Northeast Portland homeowners who are at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure.  It also helps us assist these homeowners with necessary maintenance and legal issues. Click here to learn more!

Cascade Management, Inc. specializes in providing innovative and custom-tailored real estate management services to those in the multifamily housing industry. Cascade’s innovation has been derived from an extensive experience as affordable housing specialists. Their intensive “hands-on” approach has set industry standards for performance. They believe that a successful property is one where the owner’s vision, the property’s unique affordability requirements and the residents’ satisfaction are seamlessly integrated.

With over 30 years of property management experience and a portfolio of over 5,500 units located throughout the Pacific Northwest, learn more about their work by taking a look at their Company Profile and Property Portfolio.

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Member Events

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Youth Rock – Literally – to Support Habitat Build – July 10 -top

Six young bands are selected to play Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East‘s Battle of the Bands to support Youth United Build. The youngest band member—5 years old!

What: Six bands ranging from ages 5-25 will battle onstage. Hosted by Gustav from 94/7.
When: 1-4 p.m. Saturday July 10
Where: Mt. Tabor Theater, 4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

Cost: $10 at the door or order online at  www.habitatportlandmetro.org

Why: This event will benefit Youth United Build. Youth United Build is a Habitat home being funded and built by youth. They are in the process of raising $60,000 and have already crossed the halfway mark. The home is expected to be complete at the end of the year.

From July 2 press release: Sparrow. Boys Without Toys. Miles Lost Fighting. The Last Department. Half Way There. Bottle Rockets. You may never have heard of these young bands, but I assure you they will be entertaining. One of these bands dresses like pirates. Another is four musical brothers—the youngest being 5. Time will tell if they are the next Jacksons. They hail from Salem, Astoria, Newport and Portland. And most of them are in high school. They are serious about music and supporting good causes.

These bright young musicians are teaming up with Habitat for Humanity and 94/7’s Gustav in a Battle of the Bands July 10 at the Mt. Tabor Theater in southeast Portland. Tickets are $10 and all proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity’s Youth United Build—a Habitat house funded and built by young people.

Youth United Build has already raised over $30,000 and is building their home in Lents Landing in southeast Portland. They have partnered with the Haji-Mohamed family, a family of five that currently lives in deplorable conditions that include mold and infestation. The home will be finished at the end of the year and the Mohammed family will purchase the home with a 0% interest mortgage. They are currently working their 500 sweat equity hours.

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Help Shape the First PHB Strategic Plan – by July 13 -top

Since the The Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) was created in July 2009, Commissioner Nick Fish and the team at PHB have worked to combine the best from PHB’s predecessor organizations to form a dynamic new agency to meet the housing needs of Portland. For the first time, a single bureau is charged with creating and implementing a comprehensive housing policy and investment strategy for the City of Portland.

In a time of increased need and declining resources, PHB needs a bold strategy for resource investment. (Click here for more on why PHB is investing in a strategic planning process and about PHB’s approach to planning.)

After a competitive search, PHB has retained RNR Consulting, a Cleveland-based minority-owned business with a satellite office in Kirkland, Washington, to develop a three-year Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan will help PHB prioritize spending, address the full spectrum of needs in our region, ensure equitable distribution of resources and services, and form an effective, efficient bureau.

RNR will use the public input PHB has gathered through a variety of community outreach events over the past year, and now, PHB invites you to share your priorities and ideas in a short survey developed with RNR.

Take the survey between now and July 13! It should take about 5 minutes to complete. If you find that you have comments or ideas not captured by the survey, please share your thoughts with Tiffany Laude at RNR or Andy Miller, PHB’s Manager for Strategic Planning.

RNR may reach out to a random subset of survey respondents to schedule a follow-up interview by phone or in person. If you would like to volunteer to be interviewed, please indicate this in your survey response or send an email to Tiffany Laude. Your responses will remain confidential. Any comments used would not be attributed to a specific person.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

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JOIN Events – Golf Tournament in August, Salvador Molly – July 19 -top

Eat drink and be merry in support of JOIN! Bring your friends and family to Salvador Molly’s on July 19 from 5pm to close–and 30% of the evening’s proceeds will go to JOIN and directly benefit homeless individuals in our community! You don’t have to RSVP, just show up and enjoy the night. Salvador Molly’s is located at 1523 SW Sunset Blvd, just off of Capitol Highway. Their delicious ‘pirate cooking’ sails international waters, with dishes from Ethiopia, Hawaii, Thailand, New Orleans and Jamaica, all mingling their unique flavors and culinary history on the same menu.The West Coast Bank ‘TICKETS Fore CHARITY’ program is a fundraising opportunity for Portland Area non-profits. Organizations participate by selling tickets to the 2010 Safeway Classic, keeping 100% of the money raised from
their sales. Click here to see the schedule of events and ticket purchasing options.

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Salem-Keizer CDC Community Theatre Night Fundraiser – July 27 -top

Please join Salem-Keizer Community Development Corporation Board members, staff and friends for their second annual gala community fundraiser at Salem’s renowned Pentacle Theatre – on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 @ 5:30pm.–  A catered social hour and silent auction will be followed by the featured play, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

The Pentacle Theatre is located at 324 52^nd Avenue NW, Salem.

This fundraiser helps support our “Families First” program that provides personal assistance to our residents and neighbors through after-school and summer programs for children, community gardens, emergency dental service vans, annual health fairs and occasional translation services.  We assist our resident families in becoming engaged in their community.

There are still a few tickets left at the price of $25 each!  If interested contact 503-856-7077 x605, via email, or visit www.salemkeizercdc.org.

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Lowes Free Classes Honor Habitat Women Build- July 20-Aug24 -top

Lowe’s is a national sponsor of Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East‘s Women Build program. Two local Lowe’s stores – Delta Park and Wood Village – are excited to get involved by hosting training classes for women. Women are invited to attend any or all of the classes to learn new skills or brush up on old ones!

Each class is about an hour long and is free to attend - though a donation to Habitat’s Women Build would be appreciated! Space is limited, so sign up today on our online volunteer calendar.

For a complete list of class topics and to sign up, please visit our website.

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Comparison of Building Code to ADA Accessibility – Aug 3 -top

Community Development Law Center‘s 2010 Summer clerks are putting the finishing touches on a workbook to compare the Oregon Building Code(s) to the ADA accessibility standards  - in partnership with Fair Housing Council of Oregon. HOLD THE DATE for our August 3rd  1:30  – 3 PM PST Webinar and materials. Contact 503-471-1173 for more information.

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Human Solutions Celebrates Arbor Glen Apts Re-opening – Aug 3 -top

Human Solutions, Inc. will hold a Re-Opening Celebration for the Arbor Glen Apartments on 8/3/10 from 4 to 9pm. The Arbor Glen Apartments are located at 2609 SE 145^th Ave—just off Division Street in Portland.

The property has undergone major renovation for the past year—with the final phases of the reconstruction on these 97 units to be completed this month.

The Re-Opening Celebration will begin at 4:00pm and will include music with a DJ, a BBQ, and games for the kids.  Because this celebration is being held in conjunction with National Night Out, there will also be visits from officers of the Portland Police Department, including the K9 unit, as well as local fire fighters.

Congratulations Human Solutions!

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Get Your Paint and Repair On! – Volunteers Needed – Aug 7 -top

The sun is shining and volunteers are coming out of the woodwork. Every year, REACH Community Development, Inc.organizes 300 volunteers come out to paint and repair almost 20 homes. This year will be no exception. The event will be held on Saturday, August 7th in Northeast Portland, various locations.

Currently, we are recruiting:

- Leaders: Crew Leaders make sure everybody on site is safe, hydrated, happy, and has something to do. Project Leaders are skilled tradespeople who make sure the job is done right.

- Registrars: Sign-in volunteers at the beginning of the day at each work site. Make sure volunteers have nametags. Communicate with staff to ensure there are an appropriate number of volunteers at each work site.

- Kick-Off Site: Provide basic information on event. Consult maps and lists to make sure disoriented volunteers find their way to their worksite.

- Skilled Tradespeople: Carpenters, plumbers, and electricians still needed!

We also need help before and after the event if you are unavailable on August 7th.

To volunteer, email Loren Guerriero or call 503-231-0682 x166!

July 17 Tablers Needed: REACH is also looking for tablers to represent REACH’s Community Builders Program, which provides free home repairs to seniors and people with disabilities, at the East Portland Expo Fair. The fair will be held on Saturday and Sunday July 17th & 18th, at Ed Benedict Park (SE Powell & 100th). Three-hour-long shifts are available between 1-7pm. Responsibilities include providing information about the program to potential service recipients, and being an all-around friendly person. Training, materials, and snacks will be provided.

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PeaceRoots Grows Nonviolence, Econ Human Rights -Sept 18 -top

Join Sisters Of The Road and friends Saturday, September 18, 2010 to honor and celebrate the many individuals, organizations and communities that work ceaselessly for Nonviolence and Economic Human Rights.

At the event, a very special award will be presented to a person who has shown an extraordinary commitment to growing peace. Named after and inspired by Sisters’ visionary Co-Founder, Genny Nelson, the first annual Genevieve Nelson Nonviolence and Economic Human Rights Award will be presented to Genny Nelson herself.

PeaceRoots Registration. The event runs 6:30 to 8:30pm with a reception following, and will be held at the Eliot Center at the First Unitarian Church of Portland. For information about sponsoring this event, please click here.

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Member News

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Congrats to Five Member Achieving Excellence Participants!-top

Oregon ON is proud to announce that out of 49 participants chosen from around the country for the fifth class of the NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence in Community Development program, 10% are from Oregon – and all five Oregon participants are Oregon ON members!

Congratulations to Hacienda CDC’s Pietro Ferrari, Farmworker HDC’s Roberto Jimenez, Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services‘ Jim Moorefield, CASA of Oregon’s Lisa Rogers, and Portland Housing Center’s Felicia Tripp! Click here: Achieving Excellence V–Class roster (2) to see the full roster of the incoming class.

Achieving Excellence is a performance-driven organizational investment program for seasoned executive directors and senior staff in community development. Through NeighborWorks America’s collaboration with Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and program architect Douglas K. Smith, organizational performance and learning expert and author of Make Success Measurable!, participants are privileged to take part in a performance program unlike any other — one that assists participants in taking their skills and knowledge to a level you may not have thought possible.

At the beginning of this intensive program, participants select a specific and significant challenge facing their organization — a challenge whose solutions can dramatically change not only how the organization operates, but also provide the impetus for change in the overall field of community development.

Click here to learn more.

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New OMEN VISTA Team – Chock Full of Oregon On Members -top

The Oregon Microenterprise Network (OMEN) is pleased to announce its ninth year sponsoring the Oregon Asset Building Corps AmeriCorps*VISTA team.

This year’s housing organizations are Salem-Keizer CDC, Proud Ground, Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Innovative Housing, Inc., and Hacienda CDC. Other organizations that will be hosting VISTA members are Adelante Mujeres; Bienestar; the Economic Opportunity Initiative; Financial Beginnings; Food Roots; Microenterprise Resources, Initiatives, and Training (MERIT); the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO); and the Portland State University Business Outreach Program.

As part of a partnership between OMEN and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the Oregon Asset Building Corps (OABC) is comprised of 14 AmeriCorps*VISTA members who work to develop the capacity of the OMEN affiliate host site organization at which they are placed. OABC host organizations work specifically with low-income populations in both rural and urban economically distressed areas in affordable housing, financial literacy, and microenterprise development.  OABC VISTAs have worked on projects such as starting a homebuyer’s education class or creating resources for entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses. The most important aspect of these projects is that they increase the capacity of the host organization in a way that is sustainable for years beyond the VISTA term of service.

Contact Erica Cutler via email if your organization is interested in hosting an AmeriCorps VISTA through OMEN in 2011-2012.

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Bridge Meadows Celebrates Groundbreaking -top

Oregon ON members and partners Walsh Construction, City of Portland, OHCS, Meyer Memorial Trust, Carleton Hart Architecture, and others celebrated the groundbreaking of Bridge Meadows Tuesday, June 15, at 4221 N Willis Boulevard in Portland.

Formerly known as Portland Hope Meadows, Bridge Meadows is a unique property that will serve families who adopt foster children. Modeled after an exemplary program in a thriving, interactive neighborhood, Generations of Hope/Hope Meadows in rural Chicago, Illinois is highly successful and respected, boasting an impressive 90% adoption rate over 14 years. Here, children find not just loving adoptive homes, but surrogate grandparents, mentors, playmates, and an entire community poised to nurture and educate them, fostering something they thought abandoned them long ago: a sense of hope.

This unique intergenerational neighborhood will include:.

• Homes
• Apartments for Elders
• An Intergenerational Center ( The heart of the community)
• Gardens
• Play Area
• Courtyard
• Located  in the Portsmouth neighborhood near parks, community  centers, transportation and schools.

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Sisters Of The Road Joins 10,000 Activists at US Social Forum -top

from Monica Beemer, July E-Voice:

TwoBears (a Sisters Of The Road Board Member) and I went to Detroit to the US Social Forum (USSF) last week to represent Sisters, WRAP, The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC) and to work with the Poverty Working Group at the Forum. Between 10,000 and 15,000 people from all types of justice, human and planet rights groups around the world were at the USSF.

We went early to help get ready for the Poverty Summit People’s Movement Assembly (PMA) which took place early in the week.  300 people participated in the Poverty Summit PMA, listened to people from 6 different states talk about their struggles and then worked in small groups to create this resolution:  http://pma2010.org/node/217

Two highlights of the resolution are . . . Click here to read the rest of the story.

Thank you, Sisters, for representing our communities at this important national event!

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Juneberry Lane, Verde Village – Housing Goes Sustainable-top

A story highlighting the great work of Clackamas Community Land Trust (Juneberry Lane) and Rogue Valley Community Development Corporation (Verde Village) from “Low Income Housing Goes Sustainable” in Oregon Business, July 2010

The downturn has stalled many housing sectors, but one area that’s thriving thanks to local and federal funding is sustainable low-income housing projects.

Two green low-income projects in the state are taking the additional step of getting a community certificate from Earth Advantage, which requires community education and that each house have a low environmental impact.

Click here to read the full story. Click here to read about Rogue Valley CDC’s work on the Verde Village website.

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Portland Housing Center Launches Online Homebuyer Education -top

The Portland Housing Center is pleased to announce a new resource for first time homebuyers in the Portland  metro area. In partnership with the three other NeighborWorks America  affiliates in Oregon, Portland Housing  Center now offers online homebuyer education in addition to in-person homebuyer workshops. The launch of the online course is integral in helping Portland Housing Center fulfill its mission of providing access to homeownership through quality education.

The online curriculum, eHome America, was developed by Community Ventures Corporation, a fellow NeighborWorks America affiliate organization, and is based on the Realizing the American Dream curriculum currently offered by Portland Housing Center. The online course is designed to better meet the needs of individuals, particularly those in remote locations, with mobility challenges, or who have scheduling and/or child care needs that do not permit attending a HUD-certified homebuyer education course in person.

Highlights of eHome America course offered through Portland Housing Center:

• Approved form of 8-hour homebuyer education for USDA Rural Housing loans
• Interactive format uses a combination of videos, text and quizzes to provide a rich learning experience
• Available in English and Spanish
• Stop-start enabled, allowing the buyer to complete the course at their own pace
• Enrollees are required to complete a minimum one hour of 1:1 counseling with a Portland Housing Center HUD-certified HomeBuying Specialist to be eligible for a certificate of completion

Portland Housing Center is excited for this opportunity to increase access and remove barriers to education for first-time homebuyers in the Portland Metropolitan area. To learn more about ehome America, visit our website or contact Michelle Puggarana.

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Enterprise Annual Report – A Good Life is Affordable -top

from Enterprise Community Partners: The title of our 2009 annual report − A Good Life is Affordable − captures our shared goals to ensure that every family has the chance to build a secure foundation from which dreams can take flight.

That Enterprise successfully helped thousands of people open doors to an affordable home in stronger, greener communities last year speaks to the heart of our mission. It also shows what’s possible when experience, stability and steady growth drive your mission.

Amid a challenging environment, Enterprise invested more than $475 million to create or preserve 12,600 homes nationwide in 2009. We also strengthened our operations and expanded our reach. An audacious course in these times? Perhaps. But our bold approach brought critical solutions, financial capital and policy leadership to communities facing unprecedented obstacles.

With the continued support of partners like you − community development leaders, committed donors and thoughtful investors − Enterprise already has made steady strides in 2010. And that’s good news for our bottom line, which lives in the stories of people and communities that you’ll find in our 2009 annual report. We thank you for making them possible, and we hope you enjoy them.

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Portland Metro News

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Auditor Releases Report on City’s Local Stimulus Initiative -top

City Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade released a report June 29 on the local stimulus initiative, which concentrates on already planned projects the City of Portland put on a fast-track to help the local economy.

The report finds that City staff have “moved quickly to improve and expand existing programs” and recommends continuing efforts to calculate job creation and the speed of contracting and permitting. The report notes some of the results of the initiative to date:

You can read the complete report, Portland Job Creation and Stimulus: Construction spending is up, while actual job creation remains unknown, including Mayor Adams’ response here.

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MHAC Grant for Homeowner Retention Project in N-NE Portland-top

MHAC is a broad coalition of communities of color groups serving North and Northeast Portland, including Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives (PCRI) staff members Charles Funches and Deborah Turner.

from Portland Housing Bureau: Focusing on helping homeowners in North and Northeast Portland who are at-risk for losing their homes to foreclosure, maintenance and legal issues, the Minority Homeownership Assistance Collaborative (MHAC) has received a $120,000 grant from the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) to ensure homeowners can keep their homes.

Leaders of the North and Northeast Portland community have witnessed and reported to PHB an ongoing trend of long-standing, low-income homeowners experiencing foreclosure, lost equity and displacement from the community due to a variety of factors that include legal complications like cloudy title and probate issues, preventable foreclosures related to property taxes and Medicaid recovery, predatory lending, and unaffordable home maintenance.

read more

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Block 49 in the Oregonian -top

“Portland leaves empty promises instead of affordable housing in South Waterfront” by Ryan Frank, The Oregonian, June 9

In the heart of the South Waterfront district, a gravel-covered lot is littered with a rusty lawn chair, a dusty 40-ounce Budweiser bottle and broken promises.

Nearby, a tram car glides up the hill. The streetcar whirs past a new park. Thirty stories of luxury condos jut skyward. The only thing missing is what was supposed to be on the lot: an apartment building for the poor.

Seven years ago, Portland city leaders pledged that South Waterfront would include 430 apartments or condos for low-income residents. But the city has failed to deliver a single one.

South Waterfront remains a neighborhood exclusively for the affluent despite more than $125 million in taxpayer support.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

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Beaverton Senior Housing Development Takes Shape -top

By Ed Johnson, The Beaverton Valley Times, Jun 10, 2010

The much talked about senior housing and health care development in Beaverton got a price tag this week: $20.2 million.

Much of the money needed for the proposed partnership between the city of Beaverton and Providence Health & Services would come from federal Housing and Urban Development funds, as well as low-income housing credits.

The project, which is planned to be four-stories tall and include 79 housing units and 12,000 square feet for a senior-care clinic, would be built on land owned by the city of Beaverton just south of Southwest Farmington Road and west of Southwest Main Street, on the intersection of Southwest First Avenue and Angel Street.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

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Regional and Rural News

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Rural Cooperative Development Grants Program – Aug 9-top

USDA grants for establishing and operating centers for cooperative development for the primary purpose of improving the economic condition of rural areas through the development of new cooperatives and improving operations of existing cooperatives. Expected number of awards: 30. Estimated total program funding: $7,400,000. Award ceiling: $225,000. Deadline August 9, 2010. Click here to learn more.

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HAC Testifies at Rural Development Forum on Self Help Housing-top

Rural Development held public forums to solicit feedback on the current method of delivering the self-help program with a focus on the Technical and Management Assistance contracts under Section 523. Ten forums were held between February and June across the country. Written comments can be submitted until July 15. Visit http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/Admin/2010SelfHelpForums.htm. Contact Debra S. Arnold, RD, 202-720-1366, debra.arnold@wdc.usda.gov. Housing Assistance Council (HAC)’s testimony can be viewed at http://www.ruralhome.org.

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Rural Housing Awards – Nominations Due by Sept 11 -top

At the National Rural Housing Conference in December, Housing Assistance Council (HAC) will present three rural housing awards; the Cochran/Collings Award for national rural housing service, the Skip Jason Community Service Award, and the Henry B. Gonzalez Award for local or tribal elected officials. The national service award is named after Clay Cochran and Arthur M. Collings. Dr. Cochran was a mentor and pioneer in the rural housing movement whose work dates back to the 1930s and 1940s.

Collings, who passed away in March 2010, combined feistiness, humor, and an extensive knowledge of rural housing programs while working for USDA and HAC. The Community Service Award is named after Robert “Skip” Jason, a long-time housing activist with considerable community experience. The Elected Official Award is named for Henry B. Gonzalez, who served in Congress from 1961 to 1998 and chaired the House Banking Committee.

Nominations are due September 15. For information, visit http://www.ruralhome.org or contact Lilla Sutton, HAC, 202-842-8600.

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USDA Spending Bills Approved by House Subcoms -top

Congressional appropriators on June 30 and July 1 began the first steps toward an FY 2011 budget for HUD and USDA rural housing programs. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture passed a bill on June 30, but full details are not yet known on the rural housing programs. Rural Housing Service loans and grants are funded at $1.322 billion, $101.8 million below the 2010 level but $71.9 million above the President’s 2011 budget request. Rural housing programs will most likely stay at 2010 levels.

The Transportation-HUD Subcommittee, meeting July 1, rejected HUD’s proposals to cut or eliminate HOME, Indian housing, Sec. 202, Sec. 811, SHOP, and the Rural Innovation Fund. Those programs continue at 2010 levels. But the panel also declined to fund several new ideas proposed in the President’s budget, including Transforming Rental Assistance, Catalytic Investments, and Capacity Building. See the table below for HUD details.

Information on both bills, including lists of earmarks, is available at http://appropriations.house.gov. Complete details will be available after the full House Appropriations Committee considers the bills. Details, as available, will be posted at http://www.ruralhome.org.

HUD Program (dollars in millions)	FY 2010 Approp.	President’s FY 2011 Budget Proposal	FY 2011 House THUD Subcomm. Bill
Cmty. Devel. Block Grants Sustainable Commun. Initiative Rural Innovation Fund a Catalytic Investment Grants b	$4,450 (150) (25) -	4,380.1 (150) 0 (150)	4,352.1 (150) (25) 0
HOME	1,825	1,650	1,825
Tenant-Based Rental Asstnce.	16,339	17,310	17,225
Project-Based Rental Asstnce.	8,551.5	9,382.3	9,382.3
Transforming Rental Asstnce. c	-	350	0
Vets. Affairs Spptve Hsg. Vouchers	75	0	75
Public Hsg. Capital Fund	2,500	2,044	2,500
Public Hsg. Operating Fund	4,775	4,829	4,829
Public Hsg. Revtlztn. (HOPE VI)	135	0	200
Choice Neighbrhd. Initiative d	65	250	0
Native Amer. Hsg. Block Grant	700	580	700
Homeless Assistance Grants	1,865	2,055	2,055
Hsg. Opps. for Persons w/ AIDS	335	340	350
202 Hsg. for Elderly	825	273	825
811 Hsg. for Disabled	300	90	300
Fair Housing	72	>61	72
Rural Hsg. & Econ. Dev. (RHED) e	0	0	0
Healthy Homes & Lead Haz. Contrl.	140	140	140
Self-Help Homeownshp. (SHOP)	27	0	27
Brownfields Redevelopment	17.5	0	17.5
Housing Counseling	87.5	88	88

a. New program replacing Rural Housing & Economic Development.
b. New program for economic development and gap financing for community revitalization.
c. New program for rental preservation, efficiency and resident choice.
d. Demonstration initially proposed in FY 2010 budget to replace HOPE VI.
e. Replaced by Rural Innovation Fund.

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Statewide News

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2,400 Seniors Cut from Project Independence Aug 1 -top

from the Public News Service-OR, July 02, 2010

Budget Cuts Hit OR Seniors Where They Live

Gov. Kulongoski’s mandatory nine-percent budget cuts to state services and agencies are hitting home, literally, for seniors and people with disabilities. At least 2,400 who receive in-home care as part of Oregon Project Independence – designed to allow people to remain in their homes instead of nursing facilities – are receiving letters saying the services will no longer be available, starting August 1. Another 1,200 to 1,500 on Medicaid will have personal services cut, such as help with bathing and dressing, according to Rick Bennett, director of government relations for AARP Oregon.

“We’re still hopeful that there’s a better way. But right now, the state has no alternative but to start sending out these notices to people, to let them know that these services are going to be eliminated. And, these are just the first of a number of notices that will be going out.”

Bennett says another round of service cuts is already scheduled for October 1, and he says the cuts affect not only those who rely on the services, but also the jobs of the home care workers.

“Just when we’re trying to create jobs and lower our unemployment rate, there will be more people unemployed. That means less money going into our communities; and, because these programs receive federal matching dollars, we’re going to lose out on the federal dollars that would also be coming in and generating economic activity.”

He notes there is a chance some federal funding will come through, but it’s not a sure thing, and would not be sufficient to restore the services to everyone who needs them.

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories.

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Oregon Wins $1 Million for Weatherization Workforce Training -top

Oregon will get $1 million in stimulus funds to train workers to weatherize homes, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Friday June 4.

The state’s goal is to make 5,000 homes more energy efficient. About 1,200 have been weatherized so far. With $38.5 million already allocated from federal stimulus grants for weatherization, there aren’t enough workers to meet the demand. The state will need 500 new workers to meet its goal, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said.

Click here to read more.

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Federal News

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NACEDA Announces New Executive Director-top

from Diane Sterner, Chair, NACEDA Board of Directors:

We are delighted to announce that Sam Yoon has accepted the position of executive director of NACEDA (National Alliance of Community
Economic Development Associations). Sam has substantial experience in community organizing, affordable housing development, and politics, which will serve him well in this new role. He recently served on the Boston City Council for four years as an at-large member, focusing on housing, youth development, and open government.

Prior to serving on the Boston City Council, Sam spent ten years working with community-based non-profits in the Boston area as a housing development director, finance project manager, and community organizer. He graduated from Princeton University with a degree in philosophy and earned his master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School, concentrating on urban development and policy.

Sam believes that NACEDA has enormous potential to grow into a powerful vehicle — and voice — for community economic development. He is convinced that the optimism in Washington, combined with the unprecedented challenges facing our communities, underscore the need for a strong alliance of CED leaders and advocates. Once his transition to DC is complete he is eager to begin moving forward with a vision for NACEDA and a strategic plan for growth.

Sam will be relocating his family from Boston to the DC area over the summer. His wife is a fundraising consultant to non-profits. They have two children, 8 and 5 years old. Please join me in welcoming Sam.

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Decision on $1-065 Billion for NHTF Delayed Again -top

The U.S. Senate ended the June work period and left for the July 4^th recess without acting on H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 (the extender bill). However, two elements of the bill, extension of unemployment benefits and the homebuyer tax credit, were decoupled from the larger bill and brought up separately.

Both the Senate and the House passed the extension of the tax credit, but the Senate once again failed to get enough votes to preempt a filibuster of the bill extending unemployment benefits. The final cloture vote before recess lost 59-37. Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Republicans, joined Democrats to get to 59 votes. But the death of Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) this week meant there was one less Democratic vote, and one short of the necessary 60 votes for cloture. Benefits will expire for 2 million unemployed workers before Congress returns.

The Senate could take up a version of H.R. 4213, which includes a number of extensions of business-related tax credits as well as the funds for the NHTF and three important provisions related to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program after the July 4^th recess.  All these provisions are paid for by closing several tax loopholes that benefit certain business interests. Some pro-business groups have indicated they are less interested in the “extenders” passing if they come at the cost of increased taxes.

The NHTF campaign has urged House and Senate leaders to attach the NHTF to whatever legislative vehicle is sure to pass.

Advocates should stress to their Senators while they are in home districts over the recess that you want action on the NHTF as soon as the Senate reconvenes.

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Two Sustainable Communities Planning Grant NOFAs Out -top

HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC) recently issued two Notices of Fund Availability (NOFAs), one for $98 million in Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants, and another for $40 million in local Community Planning Challenge Grants.

The $98 million Regional Planning Grant Program (see Memo, 3/19) will support metropolitan and multijurisdictional planning that integrate housing, land use, economic and workforce development, transportation, and infrastructure investments. Another $2 million is set aside for capacity support grants. The Challenge Planning Grants will focus on individual jurisdictions and localized planning, and are designed to target housing, economic development, and land use planning strategies that will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of a related, planned transportation project.

For Regional Planning Grants, two categories of grants will be available. The first will support preparation of Regional Plans for Sustainable Development (RPSD) that address housing, economic development, transportation, energy, water, and environmental quality in an integrated fashion where such plans do not already exist or where they exist but need to be significantly revised or enhanced. The second type will support efforts in areas where RPSDs exist so that detailed execution plans can be prepared or limited predevelopment planning activities can take place in support of catalytic projects.

The amount a jurisdiction receives for a Regional Planning Grant will be based on population, with up to $5 million available for large metro regions, $2 million for medium-sized regions, and $1 million for small regions, rural communities, and small towns. At least $25 million is set aside for the latter group.

The Challenge Planning Grant NOFA was issued jointly with the Department of Transportation (DOT), enabling jurisdictions to submit proposals solely for a Challenge grant, or for a Challenge grant and a DOT TIGER II Planning grant through a single application assessed collaboratively by HUD and DOT (see Memo, 4/30). Up to $35 million in TIGER II Planning Grants will fund planning, preparation, or design of surface transportation capital investments, such as public transportation, highways and bridges, passenger and freight rail, and ports, that are eligible under the $600 million TIGER II Discretionary Grant program.

The agencies explained that they decided to issue the NOFA jointly in order to better align transportation, housing, economic development, and land use planning and to improve linkages between DOT and HUD programs.  “This partnership demonstrates President Obama’s commitment to changing the way the federal government operates by breaking down silos and making smarter investments,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a news release.

Examples of planning activities that could be funded with a mix of a HUD Challenge Planning Grant and a DOT TIGER II grant include:

• Preparing or amending local codes and ordinances that promote the preservation or development of accessible, permanently affordable housing near transportation through the adoption of inclusionary zoning ordinances;
• Planning for particular transportation corridor or regional transportation system in order to  promote mixed-use, transit-oriented development with a component that preserves or creates affordable housing for extremely low, very low, and low income households; and
• Revising local zoning codes and other land use laws in order to overcome the effects of impediments to fair housing choice.

Notably, both NOFAs emphasize affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH). Challenge grant applications must include a discussion about how the proposed plan will do so, and HUD will award more points to applications with specific activities and outcomes addressing AFFH. Applications for Regional Planning Grants must develop a regional analysis of impediments to fair housing choice that links transportation, employment, and housing resources in order to promote fair and affordable housing in areas with high opportunities for employment, education, and services.

Government entities must submit applications for either planning grant by August 23. Click here to see both NOFAs, along with fact sheets and frequently asked questions.

From the Oregon Housing Blog, posted June 30:

HUD continues to add stuff to the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant NOFA web page.

Regional Planning Grant web page here has adds for FAQ’s, side by side comparisons with Community Challenge Grant and TIGER II NOFA, a July 1 Tiger II webinar, and a link to data necessary to complete the rating form that is part of the Regional Planning Grant NOFA.

Rating form data as of early Wednesday AM is only partially complete, so also keep looking for revisions to form data web page here for posting of additional data necessary to complete the rating form. (Posting of a revised rating form seems also likely at some point, as links within current form are broken).

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$1B Proposed for Round 3 of NSP as part of Financial Reform -top

Taking a further step toward enacting a wide-ranging bill that would reform the way financial institutions are regulated and provide significant protections for consumers, the House passed the conference report for the Dodd-Frank Act (H.R. 4172) on June 30 by a vote of 237-192.

The final conference report for the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 4173) included $1 billion for a third round of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP3), as well as a long-awaited vacant property legislative improvement so that vacant properties can count toward the low-income set aside in NSP.  In addition, the conference report included $1 billion for a provision that would provide low-interest loans to unemployed homeowners to pay their mortgage to avoid foreclosure during temporary unemployment.

The House of Representatives approved the conference report on June 30, 2010, but the Senate will not take up the bill until after the Independence Day recess.

Now that the final report language has been made public, advocates have more details on the housing-related provisions included in the report (see Memo, 6/25). Of particular interest to housing advocates, the bill would extend the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA), provide additional funds for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), establish a new program to help out-of-work homeowners, provide for a grant program to support the provision of legal services in connection with foreclosures, and require the HUD Secretary to develop a program to refinance troubled multifamily mortgages.

More broadly, the bill would reform the way financial institutions are regulated; establish a consumer protection agency to ensure consumers get accurate information about mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products; eliminate predatory lending practices; and make other significant reforms designed to prevent another financial crisis.

Section 1484 of the act would extend the sunset date for PTFA from its current date of December 31, 2012, to December 31, 2014. It also clarifies that any lease or tenancy created prior to the change of title as a result of foreclosure is protected by PTFA.

A third round of funding for NSP of $1 billion is to be allocated to state and local governments consistent with the formula used to allocate the first round of NSP funds, with a $5 million state minimum. States and localities would be required to “create preferences for the development of affordable rental housing” with these funds. The bill would also amend the NSP program to make it easier to use vacant properties to house lower income families.  By statue, 25% of NSP funds must be used to house families whose incomes do not exceed 50% of area median.

Section 1496 of the Dodd-Frank Act creates a new program that would provide $1 billion for bridge loans to qualified unemployed homeowners with reasonable prospects for reemployment to help cover mortgage payments until they are reemployed. The program would become effective October 1, 2010.

Under Section 1498, the HUD Secretary is required to establish a program for making grants to provide foreclosure legal assistance to low and moderate-income homeowners and tenants in matters related to homeownership preservation, home foreclosure prevention, and tenancy associated with home foreclosure.

Section 1481 would require the HUD Secretary to develop a program to provide sustainable financing for multifamily properties facing foreclosure. This financing would have to be an amount sufficient to protect tenants and successfully operate the property based on its current rent structure.

The Senate will consider the conference report after the July 4 recess. As was true in the House, the Senate must vote the conference report up or down without amendment, and 60 votes are needed to bring the report before the Senate.

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House T-HUD Subcommittee Marks Up FY11 Bill -top

Moving ahead without a completed budget agreement, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (T-HUD) approved its FY11 appropriations bill on July 1. The T-HUD Subcommittee bill would provide $46.579 billion in discretionary funds for HUD, over $1 billion more than the President’s request (see Memo, 2/5). The bill passed the Subcommittee by a voice vote.

Subcommittee Chairman John Olver (D-MA) said at the  mark up that the bill “maintains sufficient funding levels for HUD’s affordable housing programs and keeps millions of low income Americans in their homes.“ The Chairman added that he recognizes that “the demand for housing assistance continues to outweigh the resources available,” and notes that the Committee chose to strengthen HUD’s existing programs rather than “embarking on new initiatives” proposed by the Administration.

Overall, the Committee proposes improvements to the President’s budget by increasing the public housing capital fund, maintaining funding for programs the Administration proposes to cut, and providing support for programs serving vulnerable populations with special needs.

HUD’s major new proposal, now known as the Preservation, Enhancement and Transformation of Rental Assistance (PETRA) initiative, would not receive funding in the Subcommittee’s bill. The Administration had requested $350 million for PETRA in FY11. HUD’s newly proposed Catalytic Investments Competition Grants, which would be released in tandem with HUD’s proposed Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI) grants, would also not receive any funding. While the FY10 HUD spending bill did fund CNI at $65 million, the House Subcommittee, as it did for FY10, is not recommending any CNI funds.

The tenant-based rental assistance program renewals would be funded at $17.2 billion, $85 million below the President’s request. The President’s request is considered sufficient to fund existing rental assistance vouchers. Subcommittee staff say their proposed figure would fully fund all existing rental vouchers and that the reduction represents a partial decrease to the 1% of funds that are allocated from each of HUD’s line items to HUD’s Transformation Initiative (see Memo, 5/22/09). NLIHC asserts that the rental assistance program should be increased to serve the significant unmet needs of extremely low income families who are homeless or have worst-case housing needs, and is advocating for an increase of 250,000 vouchers for FY11 and a doubling of the voucher program by FY20.

The Subcommittee funded three types of vouchers for special populations: people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, and veterans. The House included $75 million for Veterans Affairs Supported Housing (VASH) program vouchers, which were not included in the President’s budget request.

In a joint hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs (VA) and T-HUD appropriations subcommittees hearing held in May, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan testified that part of the reason the Administration did not request continued FY11 funding for the VASH program was due to administrative difficulties that the VA and HUD were having in ramping up staffing for the program and allocating vouchers to veterans (see Memo, 5/21). The Secretary said that the VA and HUD have since addressed those difficulties and the agencies are confident in the program’s ability to effectively use additional funding.

A new program, the Housing and Services for Homeless Persons Demonstration, is funded in the Subcommittee bill at $85 million, the amount requested by the Administration. The demonstration would provide funds to public housing authorities to house families and individuals who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness. Public housing agencies would partner with the Department of Education, as well as with state agencies providing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and behavioral health services (see Memo 2/5).

The House Subcommittee would also fully fund mainstream vouchers for people with disabilities at $114 million, the same as the President’s request. The Administration separated the rental assistance from the Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities program in its FY11 request, transferring the funds in full to the Tenant Based Rental Assistance line item as mainstream vouchers. The House Subcommittee bill would provide these requested funds within the tenant-based line item.

The House bill also funds the Section 811 program at the FY10 level of $300 million, effectively providing an increase of $114 million to the program with the additional funds within the tenant-based line item. The President’s budget request would fully fund the Section 811 tenant-based vouchers, but would cut the production side of the Section 811 program by $96 million.

The Administration also proposed cutting the production portion of the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program, and the Subcommittee’s bill would include funding for the program at the FY10 level of $825 million.

The Housing Opportunity for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program would be funded at $350 million, a $15 million increase over FY10 levels and above the President’s request of $340 million.

Homeless Assistance Grants would be funded at the level requested by the Administration, $2.06 billion, which is a significant increase over FY10 levels. Under the newly reauthorized HEARTH Act, the program could receive up to $2.4 billion, the amount that NLIHC is advocating for Congress to appropriate. The Interagency Council on Homelessness’s (ICH) new plan to end homelessness, Opening Doors, would require significant housing and service resources from HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants and from other mainstream housing programs such as tenant-based rental assistance (see Memo, 6/25). NLIHC will continue to advocate for increased funding to implement the ICH plan.

The House bill would fund project based-rental assistance at the President’s requested level of $9.4 billion, an increase over FY10 levels.

For public housing, the House bill would fund the operating fund only at the level requested by the Administration, $4.8 billion, which is thought by advocates to be too little to cover expenses in FY11. NLIHC is advocating for $5.08 billion. The House bill would provide $2.5 billion for the capital fund, the FY10 enacted level, which is higher than the amount requested by the President, $2.04 billion. The Subcommittee bill would continue to fund the Resident Opportunity and Supported Services (ROSS) program at the FY10 level of $50 million instead of eliminating funding as in the President’s request.

The House Subcommittee chose to fund the HOPE VI program at $200 million for FY11 and not fund the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) program, as noted above. CNI was proposed by the Administration as a replacement for the HOPE VI program. For FY10, Congress instead funded the HOPE VI program at $135 million and fund a small CNI demonstration program. The Subcommittee bill would not continue this demonstration nor make the funding for CNI permanent, but would instead increase funding for HOPE VI over the FY10 levels. The President’s FY11 request included $250 million for CNI and no funding for HOPE VI.

The House would cut the Community Development Fund (CDF), which includes the Community Development Block Grant program, from the FY10 level of $4.45 billion to $4.35 billion, a lower amount than was requested in the President’s FY11 budget.  Funding is not provided for the Rural Innovation Fund or the Sustainable Communities Initiative in FY11.

A number of programs would continue to be funded at the FY10 levels despite the President’s request for lower funding for FY11.  The HOME program would be funded at the FY10 level of $1.825 billion, instead of the President’s requested amount of $1.65 billion; fair housing programs would continue to be funded at the FY10 levels of $72 million, over $10 million more than the President’s request; and the Native American Housing Block Grants would be funded at $700 million, a $120 million increase over the Administration’s request.

Both the House Subcommittee bill and the President’s proposal would increase the Housing Counseling Assistance program slightly to $88 million. The Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control program would be level-funded for the third year at $140 million dollars, consistent with the President’s request.

HUD proposes an increase of $39 million to its Office of Policy Development and Research in the FY11 budget request, but the House bill would provide an increase of only $2 million for a total of $50 million for FY11.

Representative Tom Latham (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, offered the mark up’s only amendment and one that would have affected HUD programs. He proposed reducing the Subcommittee’s proposed amounts for nine transportation and housing programs back to the lower levels proposed in the President’s budget. HUD programs included in the amendment were the public housing capital fund, the Native American Housing Block Grant, the Brownfields program, and the HOME program. The amendment was not adopted. The Committee is expected to post the final version of the mark up shortly at its website.

NLIHC’s updated budget chart is at: http://www.nlihc.org/doc/FY11-Budget-Chart-HUD-Programs7-6-2010.pdf

View the House Appropriations T-HUD Subcommittee summary chart, the Chairman’s opening remarks, and the list of HUD earmarks by clicking here.

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Shady Housing Lenders Get FHA Approval Yanked -top

A day after President Obama signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act to “crack down” on those who “seek to take advantage” of homeowners and homebuyers, HUD’s Mortgagee Review Board announced actions against more than 120 lenders for violating FHA requirements, from failure to conduct sufficient quality control, to failure to continue to meet FHA recertification requirements, to falsifying loan documents.

As a result, 102 lenders had their FHA approval withdrawn, five agreed to make indemnification payments totaling more than $500,000, and 24 were assessed fines or administrative costs totaling more than $1.2 million. “American homebuyers, said HUD Secretary Donovan, deserve to know “that when they deal with an FHA-approved lender, they’re dealing with a lender they can trust.” For more

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National Plan to End Homelessness Released -top

Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness was presented to the President and Congress by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness on June 22. The plan serves as a roadmap for the council’s 19 federal agencies to work with state and local partners in the public and private sectors to end veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015 and end homelessness among families and youth by 2020. View the full report at www.usich.gov and the press release on the HUD website.

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Funding and Award Opportunities

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Focus on Cooperative Solutions for Rural Seniors – Aug 6 -top

The Mutual Service Cooperative Fund is accepting grant applications for cooperative development initiatives that will enhance the quality of life of seniors living in rural America. The Fund seeks project proposals that will contribute to the development of systemic approaches to successful cooperative models, provide technical assistance to aid in the development of co-op ventures, and provide a better understanding of lessons learned from co-ops. Deadline: August 6, 2010.

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Purpose Prize Honors Social Innovators Over 60 – March 2011 -top

Encore Careers will award five $100,000 prizes to people over 60 making extraordinary contributions in their “encore careers” — those that combine personal meaning and social impact with continued work in the second half of life. Nominees must currently be working in a leadership capacity in an organization or institution to address a major social problem. The nomination deadline is March 10, 2011. Click here to learn more.

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Recovery Act Webinar Series -top

View the Grants.gov three-part Recovery Act Webinar Series on finding and applying for Recovery Act Money – click here.

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Social Change Grants for Oregon Grassroots Organizations -top

McKenzie River Gathering Foundation: General Fund
The McKenzie River Gathering Foundation funds Oregon-based grassroots organizations that organize people to work for progressive social change. The Foundation champions groups that challenge the vast social, economic, and political inequities that exist in society. The Foundation’s General Fund provides grants ranging from $1,000 to $20,000  to organizations with annual budgets of less than $500,000 that are led by and/or accountable to the people who are most directly affected by issues of social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. The upcoming application deadline for the General Fund is September 3, 2010. (Groups that have not been funded previously by the Foundation must talk to the Program Director before applying.) Visit the Foundation’s website to review the applicant eligibility information.

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Training and Conferences

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Multifamily Weatherization – Working with Local Providers – July 27 -top

Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 2:00 – 3:30 PM (Eastern)

The U.S. Department of Energy has made $5 billion available for energy efficiency improvements – enough to weatherize 650,000 housing units – through the ARRA Weatherization Assistance Program. Property owners can qualify for up to $6,500 per unit for eligible properties. Funds are only available through March 2012. How can you take advantage of this program to improve your affordable housing properties?

Enterprise, the National Housing Trust and local weatherization providers who are serving multifamily rentals will help you learn how to find a provider in your area and apply for services, and will share multifamily weatherization project successes. You’ll also learn about the latest developments of the HUD-DOE Weatherization Assistance Program interagency partnership and promising state agency strategies for increasing multifamily weatherization.

Register

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Strategies For Neighborhood Stabilization – July 28 -top

Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 2:00 – 3:30 PM (Eastern)

Join us to learn about the strategies, successes and challenges of implementing comprehensive neighborhood stabilization efforts. This event is the second in a four-part series on comprehensive neighborhood stabilization presented by Enterprise’s Foreclosure Responsive Initiative.

The July 28 session will feature panelists from:

• Baltimore’s Belair-Edison Neighborhoods, Inc.
• Chicago’s Mercy Housing
• Cleveland’s Neighborhood Progress, Inc.

Please join us for this critical Live Online Event sponsored by E*TRADE Savings Bank!

Register

If you have any questions or would like to removed from this mailing list, please send an e-mail.

Please forward this email to all others on your staff who might be interested.

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Reports

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Gay and Transgender Youth Disproportionately Homeless -top

Gay and transgender youth are disproportionately homeless compared to youth in general, a June report released by the Center for American Progress finds. Further, once homeless, these youth face increased instances of physical and sexual exploitation.

The report synthesizes current research on homeless youth while highlighting research on those who are transgender or gay. In addition, the report provides personal accounts from transgender and gay youth who have experienced homelessness.

While gay and transgender youth, those between the ages of 12 and 24, make up only 7% of the U.S. youth population, research estimates that they comprise as much as 39% of all homeless youth. For example, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that gay and transgender youth are 20% of the homeless youth population nationwide.

Gay and transgender homeless youth are predominantly members of racial minority groups. This report cites results from a New York survey of gay and transgender homeless youth in which 44% of the gay youth were black and 26% Hispanic. Of the transgender youth, 62% were black and 20% Hispanic.

The report also finds that homeless shelters, often a last resort or refuge, are failing to offer safety and protection for these youth, citing evidence that gay and transgender homeless youth are facing high rates of harassment, violence, and discrimination in out-of-home facilities and homeless shelters. As a result, many of these homeless youth end up on the streets, engaging in criminal activity such as “survival sex,” robbery, and selling drugs to survive. Many times this activity results in incarceration.

Looking at the causes for the rising number of gay and transgender homeless youth, the report points to research that finds that between 2003 and 2005 the average age of self-identification was 13.4 years or age – the lowest average in age since 1970. While family conflict is found to be a major cause of gay and transgender youth homelessness, the report concludes that this trend in self-identification is likely responsible for the increasing numbers in youth homelessness and suggests that these numbers will continue to rise.

The authors suggest that the country’s safety nets do not currently offer adequate support and protections for this extremely vulnerable population. Research suggests that federally funded programs that target homeless youth are severely underfunded and serve only a small proportion of the population. Specifically, the authors call for greater federal support for homeless youth housing assistance while expanding the housing options for gay and transgender homeless youth.

The 2010 report, On the Streets: The Federal Response to Gay and Transgender Homeless Youth, is available by clicking here.

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Fed Reimbursement of Nonprofits Indirect Costs Inconsistent -top

Based on a sample of nonprofits receiving funds from HHS or Emergency Shelter Grants or HOPWA funds from HUD, GAO research found indirect costs were treated inconsistently. Nonprofit Sector: Treatment and Reimbursement of Indirect Costs Vary Among Grants, and Depend Significantly on Federal, State, and Local Government Practices is free at http://www.gao.gov or in print at cost from GAO, 1-866-801-7077.

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Tenants in Foreclosed Homes Still Being Forced Out -top

Staying Home: The Rights of Renters Living in Foreclosed Properties explains the 2009 Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act and problems with its implementation, as well as summarizing developments in state laws protecting tenants living in foreclosed properties. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty report is free at http://www.nlchp.org.

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Resources

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Appliance Rebate Program Expands -top

Oregon Housing and Community Services is expanding the State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program (SEEARP) to include additional appliances. Beginning in January of this year, the program offered rebates to qualifying homeowners for replacement of low-efficiency furnaces and heat pumps with ENERGY STAR appliances. The program has now been expanded to include rebates for qualified ENERGY STAR hot water heaters, refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines.

The rebate program’s funding comes from the U.S. Department of Energy, which provides ARRA funds for states to provide rebates for acceptable appliances to qualified homeowners. In Oregon, qualified homeowners are those whose annual household income is 60 percent or less of the statewide median.

Available rebates will be distributed on a “first come, first served basis.” Interested Oregonians can contact OHCS to learn about the program and apply for a rebate voucher.

After purchase and installation of eligible ENERGY STAR appliances, qualified households may redeem vouchers for 70 percent of the purchase price. Appliances must be installed by a licensed contractor, and old appliances must be recycled in order to receive rebate funds.

In emergency or no-heat situations, homeowners may qualify for additional assistance through their local Community Action Agency. For more information, click here, call 1-800-453-5511 or contact via email.

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Additions Posted to PETRA Watch -top

NLIHC has added an article from the July 2 newsletter of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities and a new two-pager from the National Alliance of HUD Tenants to their PETRA Watch site.

In addition, HUD updated the Frequently Asked Questions section of its existing Transforming Rental Assistance site on July 1. It can be accessed via NLIHC’s PETRA Watch site.

Have something you think should be included? Please email documents or links.

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New York City Tenants Organize Against Predatory Equity -top

Last week’s NLIHC Memo featured the work of New York’s Tenants & Neighbors, an NLIHC partner, in creating the Predatory Equity Working Group to fight predatory equity, which threatens the preservation of affordable homes when investor-purchasers seek to turn a quick profit on buildings (see Memo, 6/25). The Working Group is pursuing policy solutions at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as working with tenants to organize around the issue.

This week’s Memo describes several specific organizing strategies used by coalitions of tenants in buildings owned by the same predatory equity landlord. Many of these types of strategies are expected to be included in an organizing toolkit being compiled by the Working Group that is designed to help tenants facing predatory equity prevent or counter typical actions taken by landlords, including inordinate rent hikes, declines in building maintenance and services, and harassment of tenants.

Tenants in five buildings containing 4,000 units in different parts of the city, but owned by the same predatory equity investor, formed the Putnam Coalition to fight a tactic often used by predatory equity landlords called submetering. It is common for tenants to receive utilities directly from their landlord, with the cost included in their rent. But as energy costs rise, many predatory equity landlords transfer those costs to tenants by purchasing energy for the building and re-selling it to tenants individually. This enables the owner to put off making a building energy efficient while forcing soaring utility costs on to low income tenants.

In the Putnam Coalition buildings, many tenants in energy-inefficient apartments started getting monthly electric bills ranging from $200 to $1,000. Working with Tenants & Neighbors and the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, tenants convinced the New York State Public Service Commission to put on hold plans to submeter four of the buildings. As a result, in order to gain approval for submetering, the Public Service Commission demanded, among other things, that owners demonstrate that state-approved energy efficiency programs have been or will be implemented.

A predatory equity coalition called Harlem Tenants Against Tahl Propp organized a successful campaign to prevent a predatory equity firm known for aggressive tenant harassment from buying a city-owned vacant lot for $1. In a related campaign, Harlem Tenants covered some of the firm’s 3,000 Harlem apartments with bright yellow signs that read “Don’t Rent Here” to dissuade more affluent potential renters from abetting the predatory equity owner. Now, because surveying revealed that some of the firm’s apartments were illegally deregulated (taken off rent regulation), organizers and leaders are going door to door in some of their properties to learn whether more have been illegally deregulated. Organizers will help those tenants take action to have their apartments placed back under rent stabilization, as well as help other tenants counter future deregulation.

Tenants & Neighbors has also been doing outreach to tenants in buildings that are owned by predatory equity investors who received tax abatements from the city for the renovation of their properties. Recently, the tenants at Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village, home to 25,000 people, sued their predatory equity owner, arguing that the owner should not be able to deregulate apartments while receiving these tax abatements. In October 2009, tenants won a major victory in the struggle against predatory equity when the New York State Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the tenants, finding that more than one-third of the 11,000 rent regulated units that had been deregulated while the owner was receiving tax abatements from the city had been illegally deregulated.

This decision, known as the Roberts Decision, has implications beyond these “Stuy Town” homes. An estimated 80,000 to 200,000 apartments in the city could be affected. Tenants & Neighbors is reaching out to tenants in predatory equity buildings with these tax abatements, door knocking and holding workshops about the implications of the Roberts decision. Organizers are helping tenants determine if their apartments have been illegally deregulated, and if so are helping them organize to get them re-regulated.

A tenant whose apartment Tenants & Neighbors is helping re-regulate wrote to the groups to describe their impact: “We had pretty much talked ourselves out of doing anything before you knocked on our door because we didn’t understand the law or what to do about it. If we are able to re-stabilize our apartment, it will totally change our lives.”

As a result of Tenant & Neighbors’ initial outreach efforts at predatory equity buildings with tax abatements, organizers are also encountering rent-stabilized tenants whose apartments have not yet been de-regulated but who are facing deteriorating conditions and/or harassment by landlords seeking to push them out. This presents a unique opportunity to bring market rate and rent-regulated tenants together in a joint organizing effort, Tenants & Neighbors has found. Organizers intend to help these tenants, who recognize the need to work together, form a strong, united tenant association that knows their rights and how to defend them.

For more information: Emily Goldstein, Subsidized Housing Organizer, Tenants & Neighbors, via email.

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One Fun Thing

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Shipping Containers and the Great Media Chicken Shunning -top

from State of Vancouver [Canada]: Francis Bula on City Life and Politics:  “A new idea for affordable housing: shipping containers.”