The Affordable
Housing Bulletin
July 21, 2006
In Delaware
* Day for Housing, May 9, 2007
* DHC Community Forums
*
Sussex Habitat Seeks Coordinator/Manager
* DSHA Highlights
Downpayment Assistance
Elsewhere
* Preservation Victories
in Rhode Island
*
NLIHC Call
To Oppose 'Moving To Work' Expansion
* CBPP Report on
Moving to Work Demonstration
*
The Minimum Wage
*
Equity eMagazine
* New Issue of Shelterforce
Magazine
*
A Picture of the
Voucher Homeownership Program
*
Shadow Report on
Homelessness and Human Rights
Day for Housing, May 9, 2007
Please mark
your calendars! Next spring’s 3rd Annual Day for Housing will
take place on Wednesday, May 9, 2007.
DHC Community Forums
We are planning for the future and want you to be part of it!
DHC is
gathering input from members, supporters, the housing industry, non-profit
sector, and general community as part of a strategic planning process.
We will be
reporting back on this process and our plans at the DHC Annual Meeting on
November 30, 2006.
We hope you
can join us at one of the open forums to share your thoughts about
affordable housing needs and solutions for Delaware.
Please RSVP
to
dhc@housingforall.org or 3/2/678-2286 x. 101.
For more
information and directions, go to:
http://www.housingforall.org/forums.htm
-
Tuesday, September 5, 2006 ~ 11:00 AM to
1:30 PM ~ Acorn Acres, 100 Charles Way, Georgetown
-
Thursday, September 20, 2006 ~ 8:30 AM to
10:00 AM ~ Community Services Building ~ Room 105, 100 West Tenth
Street, Wilmington
Sussex
Habitat Seeks Coordinator/Manager
As Sussex County
Habitat for Humanity continues to grow to address the need for simple,
decent and affordable housing in Sussex County and now seek a full-time
Volunteer Coordinator / Office Manager. The candidate must be good at
working with people of all backgrounds, and have excellent communication,
organization and management skills. Proficiency in Microsoft Office and
general computer skills are a must. Experience with Habitat or volunteer
management a plus. Please send your resume and salary requirements to
admin@sussexcountyhabitat.org
or SCHFH, PO Box 100, Nassau, DE 19969, Attn: Kevin Gilmore by July 26,
2006. No phone calls please. [Kevin Gilmore, Executive Director, Sussex
County Habitat for Humanity]
DSHA Highlights Downpayment
Assistance
$100,000 in downpayment assistance is available to first-time homebuyers in
Kent and Sussex Counties through the American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI).
This is a second mortgage loan that converts to a GRANT after five years,
provided the buyer does not sell or refinance the home.
(a)
Maximum downpayment assistance is the greater of 6% of the sales contract or
$10,000. (b) Homebuyer must be the owner-occupant of the home. (c) Homebuyer
must participate in a housing counseling program approved by DSHA. (d)
Purchase price may not exceed $223,787 in Kent County or $247,000 in Sussex
County. (e) Maximum family income limits are 80% of the median income for
each county, per HUD guidelines - For a family of two, the maximum is
$36,300 in Kent County or $35,300 in Sussex County. For a family of four,
the maximum is: $45,350 in Kent County or $44,100 in Sussex County.
For
more information, or to apply for ADDI downpayment assistance in Kent or
Sussex County, please contact one of these housing counseling agencies:
·
INTERFAITH
HOUSING DELAWARE, INC. Milford: Carlton Bowers 302)424-4650
·
FIRST STATE
COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY, INC. Dover: (302)674-1355 or Georgetown:
(302)856-7761
·
NCALL RESEARCH,
INC. Dover: 302) 678-9400 or Georgetown: (302)856-1370
[Loretta Parkhill,
Loretta@dsha.state.de.us ]
Preservation Victories in
Rhode Island
Legislation making
it harder to convert federally subsidized rental developments to market-rate
complexes passed the Rhode Island Legislature. Owners of such complexes
operate under HUD contracts requiring the units to be rented to subsidized
housing recipients for 20-year terms. Under federal law, owners who plan to
exit the program must provide tenants with one-year termination notices. The
Rhode Island Legislature just amended the state's Two Year Notice Law, which
requires that both the tenants and the state receive two years' advance
notice of an impending exit from the program. Under the amendment, owners
must now also "offer to sell their properties to the tenant association,
Rhode Island Housing, the local housing authority, and the municipality
before going to the open market," the article said. Housing advocates lauded
the change, saying it would help preserve housing affordable to low-income
residents.
This month,
the state’s housing finance agency filed suit to stop the opt out of a
200-unit Section 8 complex in Providence due to the owner's failure to give
tenants and the agency two years notice of the opt out. The suit was filed
just before the legislation mentioned above became law. Between the new law
and the agency's law suit, advocates are hopeful that the owner will choose
to renew the project based contracts, at least for the time being.
If Little Rhode Island can have these kinds of victories for tenant
security, there's reason for hope for Little Delaware!
[Steven Fischbach,
Community Lawyer, Rhode Island Legal Services,
steve.fischbach@gmail.com ]
NLIHC Call
To Oppose 'Moving To Work' Expansion
The Moving to Work (MTW) program is a public housing demonstration project
that currently allows a small number of public housing authorities (PHAs),
including the Delaware State Housing Authority, wide latitude in relaxing
requirements related to income targeting and the amount of rent paid by
residents. Legislation introduced in the Senate last week would
substantially expand the unproven MTW program and could have potentially
devastating consequences for people living under the jurisdiction of PHAs.
Action:
Urge your Senators Biden to oppose S. 3508, “The Moving to Work Charter
Program Act” and ask Senator Carper seriously to reconsider his
sponsorship of it. Please send a letter to each of your Senators’
offices and then follow up with a phone call urging them each to oppose
this legislation.
Background
S. 3508, “The Moving to Work Charter Program Act,” introduced on June 14,
2006 by Senators John Sununu (R-NH) and Thomas Carper (D-DE), seeks
to expand the unproven Moving to Work (MTW) demonstration program.
Moving to Work is a public housing demonstration program that began in
1996. Approximately 25 of the 30 public housing agencies (PHAs) selected by
HUD to participate in MTW still have active demonstration programs.
HUD’s
January 2004 evaluation of MTW found that the demonstration was not designed
as a rigorous research demonstration with clearly defined changes to be
evaluated or a set of controls for the comparison of outcomes. The
demonstration provides no basis for expansion, especially not one as large
as that proposed by S. 3508—the bill suggests an increase to 250 from the
current 30 PHAs involved in program.
MTW
is essentially a block grant that gives PHAs broad flexibilities to:
-
Divorce rents from incomes, leaving open the likelihood that rents would
be raised far above what residents with extremely low incomes can
afford.
-
Shift scarce housing resources away from residents with the lowest
incomes, who have the greatest housing needs.
-
Impose time limits on housing assistance as well as steep minimum rents
and work requirements.
The
flexibilities provided in MTW allow public housing agencies to disregard
their statutory requirements in order to cope with continued funding cuts.
This is not an acceptable reason to take such a huge risk in the lives of
millions of people of very modest means.
For more information
Questions? Call Elisa Ortiz at 202-662-1530 x222. Please report the results
of your calls to elisa@nlihc.org .
CBPP Report on
Moving to Work Demonstration
A new report by the Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities summarizes recent findings of major problems
with the Moving to Work (MTW) demonstration program. The CBPP report,
“Inspector General Reports on HUD’s Moving to Work Demonstration Raise
Serious Questions,” by Will Fischer and Barbara Sard, can be accessed at:
http://www.cbpp.org/7-13-06hous.htm or
http://www.cbpp.org/7-13-06hous.pdf
A
series of reports by HUD’s Inspector General have found serious flaws in the
implementation of the Moving to Work (MTW) housing demonstration, including
ineffective oversight by HUD and poor use of funds by some local housing
agencies. These findings, considered together with other risks posed by
MTW, suggest that sharply expanding MTW’s size and scope — as some members
of Congress are seeking to do — would be unwise. Instead, MTW could be
improved by strengthening accountability while maintaining the demonstration
at roughly its current size. The report includes a set of recommendations
for improvement.
The Minimum Wage
The Center for Economic and Policy Research has just released a report on
the minimum wage: The Rise and Fall of the Minimum Wage (1946-2006)- The
Federal Minimum Wage Is at Its Lowest Point in 50 Years
http://www.cepr.net/pressreleases/2006_06_19_graph.htm Congress has not
raised the minimum wage in a decade. As of December 2006, this will be the
longest time Congress has ever gone without raising the minimum wage. An
increase in the minimum wage is pending in Congress.
[Coalition on Human Needs,
chn@mail.democracyinaction.org, 6/20/06]
Equity eMagazine
The World Insititue on Disability (WID) announces its Summer 2006 EQUITY
e-newsletter, available at:
http://www.wid.org/equity
World Institute on Disability (WID) is a non-profit public policy center
dedicated to the promotion of independence and full inclusion in society of
people with disabilities. WID's Access to Assets (ATA) program provides
training and technical assistance to asset building and disability
organizations seeking to improve the inclusion of people with disabilities
in poverty reduction programs. In addition, ATA provides information and
referral services to individuals with disabilities and conducts federal and
state policy analysis on related issues.
Among the features in the Summer EQUITY are:
-
An article on
Accessible Financial Literacy
-
Feature Article:
New Century Workers with Disabilities: Why Financial Education Matters
for Americans with Disabilities - Johnette Hartnett, National Disability
Institute & University of Iowa, provides information on groundbreaking
new research underway helping individuals with disabilities gain access
to financial education and asset building opportunities. Dr. Hartnett
asserts that access to financial knowledge, services and products is
essential for individuals with disabilities to build true economic
security in the new century.
-
WID'S Access to
Assets Project partners with CFED for the 2006 Assets Learning
Conference - Join the World Institute on Disability and CFED
(Corporation For Enterprise Development) this September at the largest
conference ever convened and learn how low-income people can build
assets.
-
Program of the
Month: This is Mine! A Financial Literacy Curriculum Developed by and
for People with Cognitive Disabilities - Emily Fuerste, co-founder of No
Place Like Home Communities (NPLHC), illustrates how the exceptional
THIS IS MINE! financial literacy curriculum was developed in partnership
with people with cognitive disabilities and focuses on both economic and
emotional equity.
EQUITY is a publication of World Institute on Disability's Access to Assets
Program and is supported by the Asset Accumulation and Tax Policy Project, a
partnership of The Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center at the
University of Iowa College of Law, in collaboration with Southern New
Hampshire University School of Community Economic Development, the National
Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, the World Institute on
Disability, and the National Cooperative Bank Development Corporation.
WID has a new, toll-free Technical Assistance Hotline: 1-866-723-1201. If
you have questions about asset building strategies or serving people with
disabilities, please contact: Megan O'Neil, WID, Access to Assets Project
Coordinator,
megan@wid.org
New Issue of Shelterforce
Magazine
The latest issue of Shelterforce Magazine features several articles on how
low-income residents and community groups can play a role in crafting their
city’s annual budget and write long-term plans for their neighborhoods. In
some places local governments have encouraged residents to get involved with
budgeting and planning; in others residents have had to demand influence. In
either case, a commitment to organizing is crucial to build residents’
strength, as is a willingness to collaborate among a neighborhood’s many
organizations.
Articles include:
·
Budgeting for
Democracy - Citizen engagement is changing the way one city develops its
budget.
·
Let the People
Decide - Two Canadian cities are trying different approaches to
participatory budgeting.
·
Following the
Money Trail - For 18 years, Neighborhood Capital Budget Group has supported
Chicago’s grassroots community groups in understanding where and how their
public dollars are spent.
·
Planning Beyond
the Project - Neighborhood planning, while complex, strengthens communities
and brings support for projects.
·
Building Trust
- After 9/11, when economic forces threatened Chinatown’s survival,
collaborative planning built consensus on where to go next.
·
Managing the
Message - The right choice of words, stories and images can have a
remarkable effect on how the public views affordable housing.
·
The Politics of
Poverty - Can fighting poverty win elections? John Edwards thinks so.
·
Say NO to Wal-Bank
- Why is it a bad idea for Wal-Mart to become a bank? Ask all the small
businesses driven under by the cutthroat behemoth.
·
The Second
Storm - Hurricane Katrina was just the first setback for many tenants who
are now fighting landlords’ efforts to throw them out.
·
Jane Jacobs’
Radical Legacy - Jane Jacobs is remembered for her far-reaching influence on
communities.
[David Holtzman, Associate Editor, Shelterforce Magazine,
www.nhi.org ]
A Picture of the
Voucher Homeownership Program
A new two-volume report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s
Office of Policy Development and Research, Voucher Homeownership Study,
provides a national snapshot of the Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership
program and its many successes. This is one of HUD’s most important
initiatives, in that the program’s homeownership option allows public
housing authorities (PHAs) to provide voucher assistance to low-income,
first-time homebuyers.
The
vouchers can be used for monthly homeownership expenses, rather than for
monthly rental payments. Since the first voucher homeownership programs
began in 1999, the number of public housing agencies implementing the
program has grown exponentially – from 12 pilot sites to over 450 today. In
like manner, the number of homeowners has increased from less than 100
households at the outset to 5,000 households as of June 7, 2006. Combined
with the Family Self Sufficiency and Moving to Work programs (not analyzed
in this study), HUD has helped 8,000 families achieve homeownership as of
June 7, 2006.
This
report is essential reading for PHAs and others interested in increasing
homeownership among low-income and minority households. The characteristics
and outcomes of voucher homeownership programs are described through
in-depth case study assessments of 10 selected sites operating particularly
active or note-worthy programs. A survey was also conducted of more than 200
PHAs that have reported at least one VHO purchase. Topics covered in Volume
1 of this report include program planning and design, financing
homeownership, characteristics of VHO purchasers and their neighborhoods,
characteristics of housing markets in VHO communities, and the relationship
between program & market factors and the rate of home purchases. Volume 2
presents case studies.
The
report is available as a free download online at
http://www.huduser.org/publications/homeown/
voucherhomeown.html Although limited copies will be available in print
for a nominal charge by calling 1-800-245-2691, HUD encourages downloading
the Voucher Homeownership Study free of charge on the Policy Development and
Research website, www.HUDUSER.org .
Interested readers may also wish to obtain copies of the Voucher
Homeownership Program Assessment, Volumes 1 and 2, available at
http://www.huduser.org/publications/
hsgfin/msd_vol1_vol2.html.
[HUD USER News, 6/28/06]
Shadow Report on
Homelessness and Human Rights
The National Law
Center on Homelessness and Poverty has submitted a Shadow Report,
Homelessness and the United States Compliance with the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to the United Nations Human Rights
Committee in Geneva. The Shadow Report process allows Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGO's) to evaluate U.S. efforts to conform with provisions of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a human
rights treaty ratified by the U.S. in 1992.
http://www.nlchp.org/FA_HUMANRIGHTS/
Shadowreport.pdf
[The NPACH Report, 7/12/06,
info@npach.org ]