Federal News

HUD Announces $174M For First Year of National Housing Trust Fund

HUD Secretary Julián Castro announced that nearly $174 million will soon be made available through first-ever allocations of the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) stating, “the NHTF is the first new affordable housing production program in almost a generation, and it’s the first to focus almost exclusively on extremely low income families.” The Fund is capitalized through contributions by government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and will be administered by HUD. The agency expects to make individual allocations to states later this spring and anticipates these funds can be drawn upon as early as this summer.

House and Senate Appropriators Move Forward On 2017 Spending Bills

The Senate Appropriations Committee is moving toward releasing allocations for all 12 subcommitees—including the Transportation, Housing, Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Subcommittee—paving a way for 12 weeks of amendments, debate and voting on the legislation. House Appropriators are holding subcommittee hearings to lay the groundwork for eventual spending bills despite a move by conservatives to block any budget bill that adheres to last year's budget compromise.

Senator Cantwell Proposes 50% Increase in Low Income Tax Credits

Sen. Cantwell announced that she will introduce legislation to expand and reform the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) at an event with the A.C.T.I.O.N. Coalition and Washington mayors. Her proposal calls for a 50 percent increase in the number of tax credits allocated each year in order to finance the creation or preservation of an additional 400,000 affordable rental units over the next ten years. It also calls for reforms to better target the lowest income populations with LIHTC projects. The Senator's proposal is detailed in her report, Addressing the Challenges of Affordable Housing & Homelessness: The Housing Tax Credit.

NACEDA News

NACEDA Summit Will Feature Symposium On Community Development & Social Determinants of Health

NACEDA Summit 2016 will be held August 29-31 in Cleveland, Ohio. This year's summit includes a one-day symposium—Community Development & the Social Determinants of Health—sponsored by New Venture Fund with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Sponsorships will be available to CDC associations and their healthcare partners who attend the symposium together. The summit features sessions on fundraising for associations, creative placemaking, and policy. Registration will open this month. For information about sponsoring the summit or symposium, contact Frank Woodruff at [email protected]

NACEDA Caucuses Convene on East and West Coasts

Fifteen NACEDA members from California, Washington, Arizona and Oregon convened in Oakland, CA for a robust discussion of the tensions and opportunities that arise from framing community economic development as an industry or as a movement. They also discussed how west coast mayors and cities are following up on their declarations of a Homeless State of Emergency. In Trenton, NJ, eight NACEDA members from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Washington, DC convened to discuss how CDCs are interacting with their fair housing counterparts on the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule. Elizabeth Falcon of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development in Washington, DC presented a case study on their Housing for All Campaign as part of a discussion on dedicated sources of funding. The Housing for All Campaign just received NLIHC's 2016 Organizing Award.

Member News

NJ Commits $10M To Lead Abatement After Major #LeadFreeKids Campaign

The Christie Administration committed to using $10 million in funds collected through the state’s realty transfer fee for lead abatement programs after a major #LeadFreeKids campaign led by the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, New Jersey Citizen Action, and the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey. Advocates are concerned that the funds are coming from the state's Affordable Housing Tax Fund rather than the the proceeds of a 50 cent per gallon user fee on paint sold in New Jersey. Since 2004, over $53 million earmarked for the Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund, as required by law, was diverted to the state's general treasury to balance the budget. Advocates will press for the 2017 budget to spend these funds for their intended purpose.

Housing Action IL Awards Grants To Help Housing Counseling Agencies Improve Productivity

Housing Action Illinois awarded 12 housing counseling agencies $37,500, thanks to grant program sponsored by Citi. Funds will be used to improve productivity and serve more Illinois families. The 12 agencies will assist approximately 2,000 low- and moderate-income residents in buying homes, finding rentals, accessing housing subsidies, avoiding foreclosures, preventing homelessness. These funds are especially timely because state funds for housing counseling are not available due to a budget impasse.

Partner News

Correlation Between Affordable Housing, Medical Costs, and Health Outcomes Examined In New Reports

Health in Housing, a report from the Center for Outcomes Research and Education and Enterprise Community Partners, found changes in health care experiences when Medicaid-covered residents moved into one of 145 different affordable housing properties in Portland, Oregon. Over the following year, these residents used more primary care by 20 percent, had fewer emergency department visits by 18 percent, and accumulated lower medical expenditures by 12 percent.

Housing as a Health Care Investment, a report by Children's HealthWatch and the National Housing Conference, shows how public investment in housing—including housing for homeless families and rental assistance for food-insecure families—improves the health outcomes of vulnerable infants and young children and lowers health care spending.

JPMorgan Chase Announces PRO Neighborhoods Grant Program

JPMorgan Chase announced a five year, $125 million initiative to identify and support custom solutions for the unique challenges facing disadvantaged neighborhoods in the U.S. focusing on partnerships with CDFI's, providing capital for affordable homes, and finding new data,PRO Neighborhoods is an expansion of their $100 million initiative to promote economic recovery in Detroit. The RFP is open through until May 16.

Funding Opportunities

Go to our website for current grant opportunities. The're updated throughout the month.