HAC News Formats. pdf

March 1, 2018
Vol. 47, No. 5

Opportunity Zone deadlines nearing • Grants available for TA to purchasers of maturing mortgage 515 properties • CDFI Funds offered, including for CDFIs serving Native American communities • Small grants available to connect arts and community development • HUD seeks tribal input on revising Section 184 regs • Members named to new congressional committee on budget and appropriations process • Planning underway for Housing Week of Action • CFPB requests input on feedback • USDA launches opioid resources page • Review of Kerner report data shows some improvements, some declines for African Americans over 50 years • New center seeks to connect homelessness research to practice • Materials from HAC’s budget webinar posted online • RD approves a third national online homeownership education provider • HAC to host American Indian Housing Symposium: Brainstorming New Strategies for Systemic Housing Challenges, Rapid City, SD, May 2-3

HAC News Formats. pdf

March 1, 2018
Vol. 47, No. 5

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 2018 HAC RURAL HOUSING CONFERENCE!
The conference will be held December 4-7 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. The HAC News will announce when conference registration opens and when the hotel room block is available for reservations.

Opportunity Zone deadlines nearing.
Many states have set early March deadlines for public input as they prepare to meet their March 21 deadline to designate high-poverty census tracts as Opportunity Zones where new Opportunity Funds will make community investments, possibly including housing. Links to some states’ sites have been posted by Novogradac & Co., while others seem to have no information online. HAC encourages rural communities to support selection of rural Opportunity Zones. Search for online information about your state’s public comment process, or contact the state office of community development or economic development. Information is available from the CDFI Fund (including a list and map of eligible census tracts), Enterprise Community Partners (including a map of eligible tracts), and Economic Innovation Group. For more information, contact Leslie Strauss, HAC, 202-842-8600.

Grants available for TA to purchasers of maturing mortgage 515 properties.
Applications are due March 29 for a new USDA RD program offering grants of up to $250,000 for nonprofits or PHAs to provide technical assistance to purchasers of Section 515 properties whose mortgages are maturing. Contact RD state directors for more information and to develop lists of targeted local areas in each state.

CDFI Funds offered, including for CDFIs serving Native American communities.
The CDFI Program makes Financial Assistance awards to certified CDFIs and Technical Assistance grants to certified, certifiable, and emerging CDFIs to build their organizational capacity. The Native American CDFI Program offers the same to CDFIs serving Native communities. Applications are due April 4. For more information, submit a request through the CDFI Fund’s AMIS site or contact the CDFI Fund Help Desk, 202-653-0421.

Small grants available to connect arts and community development.
Small and mid-sized organizations can apply by April 12 for the National Endowment for the Art’s Challenge America grants. The grants are $10,000 and support projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations, either for professional arts programming or for projects that emphasize the potential of the arts in community development. For more information, contact NEA, 202-682-5700.

HUD seeks tribal input on revising Section 184 regs.
HUD plans to revise its regulations for the Section 184 Indian Housing Loan Guarantee Program. It invites tribal members and leaders, tribal housing entities, and lenders to provide feedback to 184consultation@hud.gov until a proposed rule is published in the Federal Register (anticipated to be by September 30), when a public comment period will begin. HUD will also hold a listening session at the NAIHC Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, March 5-7, and others will be scheduled this spring.

Members named to new congressional committee on budget and appropriations process.
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 – the federal budget deal adopted in February – created a new Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform. House and Senate leaders have now named the committee’s 16 members, four from each party in each house of Congress. Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) is the chair and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) is the co-chair. The committee must hold its first meeting by March 11 and must hold at least five public meetings or hearings. Its report is due by November 30.

Planning underway for Housing Week of Action.
Our Homes, Our Voices is planned for May 1-8. The National Low Income Housing Coalition is working with partners nationwide to schedule activities and publicity. Resources are available online.

CFPB requests input on feedback.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau requests comments and information by May 29 to help it assess its public and non-public “external engagements,” where stakeholders provide feedback on CFPB’s work. Currently these include field hearings, town halls, roundtables, and meetings of the Advisory Board and Councils. For more information, contact Zixta Martinez, CFPB, 202-435-9745.

USDA launches opioid resources page.
The site is intended to offer resources, information, and best practices to help rural communities respond to and manage the opioid crisis.

Review of Kerner report data shows some improvements, some declines for African Americans over 50 years.
The Economic Policy Institute compared current data to information gathered by the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission) in 1968. “50 Years After the Kerner Commission” reports improvements in African-American education levels, wages, incomes, wealth, and health, but blacks still lag whites in all these indicators. African-American homeownership and unemployment rates have changed little, while incarceration rates have almost tripled.

New center seeks to connect homelessness research to practice.
The Center for Evidence-based Solutions to Homelessness launched in December with a mission to empower communities to plan and implement services for people experiencing homelessness on the basis of the strongest available evidence. Among its early releases, a report titled Where Do Homeless People Come From? shows that substantial portions of people in shelters previously lived in suburban and rural areas as well as in cities.

Materials from HAC’s budget webinar posted online.
A recording of the webinar, as well as the presentation and related resources, are available on HAC’s site.

RD approves a third national online homeownership education provider.
Utah State University Extension is now approved to provide education for homebuyers using the Section 502 direct loan program. It joins eHome America and Framework as nationally recognized providers.

HAC to host American Indian Housing Symposium: Brainstorming New Strategies for Systemic Housing Challenges, Rapid City, SD, May 2-3.
Presented by the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation and Fannie Mae, this symposium will explore data trends, innovative projects, funding opportunities, and strategies for addressing systemic housing challenges for tribes across the country. For more information, contact Shonterria Charleston, HAC, 404-892-4824.