HAC’s full length research reports provide detailed information and analysis on a wide array of social, economic, and housing issues that impact affordable housing needs and provision in rural America.

From Service to Shelter: Housing Veterans in Rural America ReportHousing Assistance Council

From Service to Shelter: Housing Veterans in Rural America

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No veteran who has risked his or her life to protect our homes should return to find that they are not able have their own. For their sacrifice, it is imperative that we ensure our veterans have access to safe, affordable, and secure housing. This can be particularly challenging in rural America due to vast geographies, limited resources, and less social service infrastructure. The overall demographic picture of veterans will undergo major shifts in the coming years. As two wars overseas wind down, more veterans will be coming home. Returning to all corners of our nation, they will have housing needs to be addressed. The demographic changes associated with the baby boom generation and the overall graying of America will also shape veterans housing needs. The aging veteran population will have its own unique challenges. Ensuring that their housing needs are met is the least we can do to thank them for their service to this country.

Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 USDA Rural Housing Program Obligations Year End Report

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In Fiscal Year 2013, USDA’s Rural Development (RD) Agency obligated approximately $23.4 billion in loans, grants, and loan guarantees which were used to build, purchase, repair, or support 177,387 units of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families in rural areas.

The Housing Assistance Council tabulated data using the USDA Finance Office obligation reports (USDA/Rural Development report code 205c, d and e) and data from the USDA Single Family Housing and Multifamily Housing Divisions in the National Office. The comprehensive report includes tables and maps showing obligation data by program. In addition, data are compiled for each State’s program activity. The report also includes data by fiscal year for each of the programs since program inception.

This document is available by its individual chapters or as one large compiled document. The compilation document is formatted to print as double sided pages for printers that are able to print on both sides of the paper. Each chapter starts with a divider page which is intentionally blank to maintain consistency throughout the document.

2014, 151 pages

Contents

Introduction/Table of Contents

I. Summary of USDA Rural Housing Obligations
II. Single Family Housing Program Obligations
III. Multi-Family Housing Program Obligations
IV. Other Program Obligations
V. Rural Housing Program Historical Activity
VI. State Obligation Tables
VII. About the Data

All Files are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Questions about the data on this page? Contact Michael Feinberg, michael@ruralhome.org 202-842-8600

If you are having trouble connecting downloading any files on this page, contact Dan Stern, dan@ruralhome.org 202-842-8600.

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Housing in the Lower Mississippi Delta Cover

Housing in the Lower Mississippi Delta

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The Mississippi River cuts through the rich alluvial plains and swamps of the deep south. The Lower Mississippi Delta has distinct economies, cultures, and even languages, which set it apart from much of mainstream America. With the legacies of a fading agricultural economy and the race based system which drove it, the region still endures a systemic and long-term economic depression which stifles the quality of life for many of its inhabitants.

Updated September 2013

Housing Conditions for Rural Farmworkers

Housing Conditions for Rural Farmworkers

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More than 1 million people work harvesting fields, farms, and orchards in the United States. Farmworkers, who are often ethnic minorities or immigrants, earn low wages and experience working conditions that hinder their ability to access affordable and quality housing. Farmworker housing conditions are further exacerbated by legal, cultural, and geographic circumstances that often keep this population outside of the mainstream and contribute to their economic marginalization.

Updated September 2013

Housing in Central Appalachia Cover

Housing in Central Appalachia

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This Rural Research Report details the housing, economic and social characteristics of Central Appalachia.

The Appalachians’ plentiful natural resources, including coal, natural gas, and timber, played a key role in the growth of the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries and continue to be vital to the nation’s economic well-being. The region’s distinctive culture and rich heritage have also left their mark on the American experience both culturally and economically. Despite its cultural distinction, the Appalachian region is more commonly known for its economic challenges. High poverty rates, poor housing, and limited economic opportunities have persisted for generations.

Updated September 2013

Housing in the Border Colonias CoverTest

Housing in the Border Colonias

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Updated September 2013The border region between the United States and Mexico is dotted with thousands of rural communities characterized by extreme poverty and severely substandard living conditions. These communities, commonly called colonias, are overwhelmingly inhabited by individuals and families of Mexican heritage. Poor housing conditions are common in the colonias with an old, deteriorating housing stock, combined with newer units that do not meet building codes.

Accounting & Financial Operations for Nonprofits in Rural Housing

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Accounting & Financial Operations for Nonprofits in Rural Housing
Print copy: $4.00
Provides an overview of critical accounting and financial areas for which nonprofits are responsible.
2nd ed. 2004, 42 pages, ISBN 1-58064-050-8

Housing on Native American Lands Cover

Housing on Native American Lands

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Over 500 Native American tribes reside in disparate locations across the United States, and Native American lands can be found in all regions of the United States. While geographically diverse, these communities are the product of a common set of historical and political actions. Persistent poverty and inadequate housing conditions are often prevalent on many Native American Lands.

Conducting Homeless Counts on Native American Lands - CoverHAC

Conducting Homeless Counts on Native American Lands – A Toolkit

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Executive Summary

Homelessness in rural areas can be difficult to address. Small spread-out populations make homeless counts difficult to accurately conduct in rural communities. However, these counts are often critical to effectively ensure that rural communities receive the support necessary to assist homeless persons in securing safe, permanent housing. This difficulty is further compounded in rural communities on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Hawaiian Home Land (AIANHH) lands. Issues surrounding tribal mistrust of the federal government, a lack of understanding of tribal sovereignty and diversity among Indian nations by outside entities, cultural competencies, and legal complexities associated with tribal lands create additional challenges to conducting an accurate count. Furthermore, situations of people in need on Native American lands often do not fit federal definitions of homelessness, which increases the difficulty in accessing funding. As a result, homelessness is often under or inaccurately counted and populations remain grossly underserved.

To address the aforementioned concerns, AIANHH communities need to be able to conduct accurate homeless counts internally. This flexible toolkit highlights steps, tools, and methods that can be used to complete an accurate homeless count on AIANHH lands. The toolkit is based upon past research as well as interviews with key stakeholders in the field. The toolkit is organized around four critical steps:

  1. Outreach and engagement on AIANHH lands
  2. Survey planning and implementation
  3. Partnering with researchers and intermediary organizations
  4. Funding the project

Two case studies are included to provide in-depth pictures of how two tribal communities, the Fond du Lac band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Minnesota and the Turtle Mountain band of Chippewa in North Dakota, approached a housing and homeless needs assessment on their reservations.

Outstanding CRA Institutions Map

CRA in Rural America

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The Housing Assistance Council’s three-part series on CRA in Rural America

The Community Reinvestment Act and Mortgage Lending in Rural Communities

 

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The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), adopted in 1977, requires federally-insured depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of their entire communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Assessments of CRA’s scope and effectiveness are typically conducted at a market-specific level, and those markets analyzed are almost exclusively metropolitan or urban in nature. Very little is known about the implementation of CRA in the rural context.

Making CRA Work in Rural America: Finding “Outstanding” Financial Institutions

Outstanding financial institutions according to CRADownload the Report

The overwhelming majority of financial intuitions earned Satisfactory CRA ratings on their most recent CRA examinations. Regulators awarded Outstanding ratings to only 9 percent of lenders. Consistently Outstanding-rated lenders are important because they serve as examples of institutions that continually exceed CRA requirements in serving all portions of their service area. While making up a majority of all FDIC-insured depository institutions, little is known about rural lenders in general and even less about how they fulfill their CRA obligations.

This report looked more closely at the lenders who consistently received Outstanding ratings on their last three examinations. The data show that this is an uncommon occurrence, only 4 percent of lenders are consistently outstanding, and these banks most often large asset, urban headquartered institutions. While the inclusion of distressed and underserved census tracts in lender service areas was associated with being consistently rated outstanding, the analysis found no association with being headquartered in rural areas. Additional research of these lenders is needed to better understand how they are able to successfully serve all communities.

Making CRA Work in Rural America: Partnerships and Opportunities for Rural Community Reinvestment

Partnerships and Opportunities for rural communitiesDownload the Report

The case studies in this report explore a preschool expansion in Maine, construction of rental housing for farmworkers in Colorado, construction of low- and moderate income housing in Minnesota, and the donation of a bank branch to a local credit union in Mississippi.

The participants in the case studies identified the following key elements to the success of their projects and making the CRA work for rural areas:

  • Strong relationships between the lenders and the involved organizations,
  • Lender expertise in community lending, and
  • Understanding of alternative funding streams by all involved parties.

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50 Years for Rural America

Over 50 years HAC has worked in every U.S. state and the territories. Learn more about what our work means for rural communities.

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