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Director's Message November 6, 2009 To: Employees and Partners of Oregon Housing and Community Services From:
Victor Merced
NSP makes homeownership possible for one of our own Robin and her adult daughter Jessica had long wanted a place of their own. This fall, their dream became reality. In January 2007, Jessica had a coronary event. Deprived of oxygen for 17 minutes, Jessica experienced brain damage and the death of much of her heart muscle. As a result, she copes with short-term memory loss and persistent fatigue. The Buchholz’s two-story apartment was not an ideal home for a person with Jessica’s limited strength and endurance. Their new home is a 1960s one-story house – a much better setting for Jessica. Robin is relieved to have a house that will work for the family long term: “It allows me to prolong Jessica’s life.” Robin and Jessica bought their home with the help of the City of Salem’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. NSP encourages the purchase and redevelopment of foreclosed properties to prevent abandonment and blight in affected communities. “The NSP program paid so much money for my down payment, closing costs, and repairs to the house, that my mortgage is affordable,” said Robin. “After I make my mortgage payment, I will have enough left over to keep up with repairs and yard work.” Congratulations, Robin and Jessica. May you have many happy and healthy years in your home. Note: OHCS recently posted the guidelines for the state-run NSP program. This program will provide $2 million in loans to buy foreclosed properties in areas outside those served by city and county subgrantees.
Weatherization activities swing into gear The program will reduce utility bills for low-income clients, reduce the carbon footprint of energy inefficient homes and create jobs. The process of establishing new prevailing wage classifications for weatherization work delayed program implementation. With appropriate prevailing wages now established, our partners have begun the important work of weatherizing the homes of low-income families across the state. As of Sept. 30, OHCS partners weatherized 60 units of housing with the new ARRA resources. We expect this number to approach 2,000 by this time next year.
In brief Thanks to our partners: OHCS recently released its proposed strategies for allocating the revenues generated by the Housing Opportunity Bill. It was good to see advocates, developers, builders and investors in alignment on how to spend the new resources. Housing Council take action: Today, the Oregon Housing Council will consider more than $30 million in applications for grants, loans and tax credits for the development of 435 units of affordable housing. Consolidated Funding Cycle changes: As Bob Gillespie recently announced, OHCS will hold just one round of the CFC in 2010 with 50 percent of the funding targeted to preservation of housing with expiring federal subsidies. Application materials will be available on the OHCS website on Feb. 19, 2010. There’s still time: Register now for the Oregon Forum on Ending Homelessness. Join people from across Oregon who are developing and implementing local plans. Rep. Peter Buckley, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, will serve as keynote speaker. The best possible thing in baseball is winning the World Series. The second best thing is losing the World Series.
Victor Merced, Director –30–
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