December 22, 2017
HAC’s 2017 Southern California Wildfires Disaster Guide provides resources for emergency preparedness and disaster recovery.
2017 Southern California Wildfires Disaster Guide Supplement
On Friday, October 20, 2017, the Housing Assistance Council joined The Home Depot Foundation and the National League of Cities to support Purple Heart Homes in their 1st Annual Veterans Aging Summit. Held at the University of North Carolina, the summit convened nonprofit practitioners, Veterans’ service organizations, researchers, educators, public policy makers, community leaders, government representatives, and other interested stakeholders to collaborate on identifying and meeting the needs of aging Veterans and their caregivers.
HAC’s Shonterria Charleston, Karen Boyce (The Veteran’s Place) and Retha Patton (Eastern Eight CDC) discuss housing rural veterans.
HAC coordinated the Aging Veterans and Housing Panel, which featured two of its Home Depot Foundation-funded grantee organizations, The Veteran’s Place (Karen Boyce) and Eastern Eight Community Development Corporation (Retha Patton). Moderated by HAC’s Shonterria Charleston, the panel focused on housing (single and multifamily) and service provisions to aging veterans and provided context to rural challenges, best practices and opportunities for successful projects.
Funding support provided by The Home Depot Foundation
HAC’s Joe Belden speaking at the Aging Veterans Summit.
Nineteen rural-focused housing and community development-focused practitioners including AmeriCorps volunteers, rural housing developers, West Virginia University faculty, and regional grant makers were among those trekking to Thomas and Davis, West Virginia on October 3 and 4 for a “Creative Placemaking” Peer Exchange sponsored by HAC and bcWORKSHOP. Creative placemaking leverages locally-rooted arts to build community and local economies.
HAC’s Stephen Sugg (right) discussed the pros and cons of infill housing in rural communities with participants.
Woodlands Development Corporation—a long-time HAC partner and a national leader in linking arts and stronger rural communities—hosted the exchange. Local artists/businesspersons, elected officials, and civic leaders were among those sharing their experiences. The communities of Thomas and Davis, West Virginia have become nationally known for a strong arts scene anchored by local galleries and The Purple Fiddle, a a music venue known for showcasing homegrown talent along with high-profile artists. Woodlands helps to ensure that all income levels are part of the communities’ recent growth and uptick in housing prices.
Local artists shared their story of how financing and business coaching from Woodlands Community Builders helped to create a vibrant visual and performance art scene that anchors Thomas’ economy.
The peer exchange was the culmination of a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant that supported HAC and bcWORKSHOP taking on two local pilot Creative Placemaking programs while disseminating lessons learned to HAC’s national network. The buildingcommunityWORKSHOP is a Texas based nonprofit community design center seeking to improve the livability and viability of communities through the practice of thoughtful design and making.
WHAT is CREATIVE PLACEMAKING:
The National Endowment for the Arts calls Creative Placemaking is an evolving field of practice that intentionally leverages the power of the arts, culture and creativity to serve a community’s interest while driving a broader agenda for change, growth and transformation in a way that also builds character and quality of place.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is making housing vouchers available to displaced families in Texas impacted by Hurricane Harvey. If your nonprofit or for-profit has vacant REO or inventory properties that might be available on a temporary or permanent basis, and have questions about the FEMA voucher program, please contact either of the FEMA representatives below:
This announcement outlines relief measures loan holders and loan servicers should implement to assist USDA Rural Development Section 502 Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) borrowers affected by Hurricane Harvey. Homeowners impacted by the hurricane may be eligible for temporary relief and the determination of eligibility may require a property inspection. Due to the magnitude and aftermath of the hurricane, loan servicers must inspect properties that secure SFHGLP loans to ascertain the extent of damage and the occupancy status, particularly if contact has not yet been made with the borrower.
Loan servicers seeking to assist SFHGLP borrowers may pursue any of the relief options referenced in the following USDA guidance. Complete details outlining “Assistance in Natural Disasters” is located in Chapter 18, Section 4, 7 CFR 3555.307 of the SFHGLP Handbook. An electronic version of the Handbook can be found at: https://www.rd.usda.gov/files/hb-1-3555.pdf.
For questions, please contact the USDA Rural Development Customer Service Center by calling (866) 550-5887 or the National Office at (202) 720-1452. Homeowners with 502 guarantee loans should contact their bank.
HUD released the its Worst Case Housing Needs 2017 Report to Congress. The report provides national data and analysis of the critical problems facing very low-income renting families. Households with worst case needs are defined as very low-income renters who do not receive government housing assistance and who paid more than one-half of their income for rent, lived in severely inadequate conditions, or both.
Power Point Presentation | Webinar Recording
The Trump Administration’s budget for fiscal year 2018 will be released on May 23. Join rural housing experts to learn what the budget proposes for USDA and HUD affordable housing programs. Speakers will also explain the next steps in the budget process.
Update, May 18, 2017: A notice in the May 18 Federal Register invites interested parties to submit comments at www.regulations.gov on the proposed reorganization. The deadline is June 14.
Several members of Congress quizzed Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue about a proposed reorganization plan that would eliminate the position of Under Secretary for Rural Development (RD). The Secretary appeared before the House Agriculture Committee on May 17 to discuss the state of the rural economy, and the hearing covered the wide spectrum of subjects under USDA’s jurisdiction.
Committee members who expressed concerns about the possible demotion of RD issues noted that they viewed the reorganization proposal in light of the request in the Administration’s preliminary budget to eliminate some water/wastewater and business programs. Perdue assured them repeatedly that RD’s program administrators would have more access to him than if the Under Secretary position remained in place. He said they would report to an Assistant Secretary who would be approved by the Senate (as the Under Secretary is), and they would also have direct “walk-in”; access to the Secretary himself. He asserted that he believes rural development is extremely important and therefore wants to be more directly involved in it.
In one of his answers, Perdue tried to summarize RD’s areas of responsibility, citing business, economic development, and utilities. He did not mention housing.
Some Committee members pointed out that USDA did not request public comment on the proposal until after it had submitted the plan to Congress for a 30-day review period. Perdue said he was not familiar with the notice requirements and could not explain why the actions were taken in this order.
USDA has proposed to “realign” its Rural Development mission area so the Rural Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and Rural Utilities Service administrators report directly to the Secretary of Agriculture.
This suggestion is offered in a report to Congress released on May 11, 2017. As the document’s title – Report on the Proposed 2017 Reorganization of the Department of Agriculture to Establish an Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs – indicates, it focuses on changing USDA’s trade functions; it also emphasizes changes related to farm production. In a brief paragraph, the report says USDA:
intends to realign the Rural Development agencies to report directly to the Secretary. . . . This reorganization recognizes and promotes the importance of rural development by placing it under the direct oversight of the Secretary. Placing rural development under the direct supervision of the Secretary will ensure the Secretary is also able to leverage USDA’s expertise with rural communities and new Administrative initiatives to focus on infrastructure investments in rural America.
The idea raises numerous questions that have not yet been answered. Will this change lower RD’s profile in the department because it will not have a representative at the Under Secretary level? What priority will RD receive among all the other things the Secretary’s staff must address? Will it become easier to cut RD or its programs if they can be viewed as projects in the Secretary’s office and therefore optional? How does this fit with the Administration’s budget proposals to reduce RD funding?
A budget table in the report shows Rural Development under a Deputy Secretary. The department currently has one Deputy Secretary, and presumably the budget refers to the current position, not a new one. The relationship between RD and the Deputy is not reflected in the revised organizational chart, however. It shows RD connected directly to the Secretary of Agriculture, while all the Under Secretaries connect to the Deputy Secretary, and administrative offices connect to both the Deputy Secretary and the Secretary.
The budget table seems to indicate the amount of resources – staff years and funding – allocated to RD would not change under the new organizational scheme. It shows 4,487 staff years and $3,078 million for RD in the current setup, and 4,847 staff years and $3,078 million under the new arrangement. Since the funding level does not change, the switch from 4,487 to 4,847 staff years appears to be a typo.
The proposal’s focus is on creation of a new Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs (TFAA) and a new Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation (FPC). A report in Politico Pro (subscription required) points out that by law USDA is limited to seven Under Secretaries. The reorganization would eliminate the current Under Secretary of Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services (FFAS), reassigning the FFAS agencies to the two new positions. But it must eliminate another Under Secretary to remain at the limit of seven.
The 2014 Farm Bill required creation of the new TFAA Under Secretary. The RD Under Secretary position was also required by a statute – although the 1994 law that reorganized USDA says “the Secretary is authorized to establish” such an Under Secretary and “If the Secretary establishes the position . . . ,” language that could be read as discretionary rather than mandatory.
Excerpted from The National Rural Assembly’s blog.
The following are responses and recommendations from members of the National Rural Assembly community about the Trump administration’s recent Executive Order forming a new Rural Task Force. These comments represent the diversity of rural people and places, across ages, sectors, geographies and issue areas.
“…I encourage Secretary Perdue and members of the task force to address a wide variety of rural economic and community topics as well as agriculture. Housing, health care, broadband, economic development, and many other concerns are different in rural America than in cities. I also strongly recommend that the task force actively seek direct input from all rural Americans.” – Moises Loza, Executive Director, Housing Assistance Council
Read the complete post at: https://ruralassembly.org/blog/new-rural-task-force.