Area non-profits receive $170,000 in Housing Grants

Austin, Texas (May 19, 2006) – Today, community leaders join the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, Enterprise Community Partners, Washington Mutual and PeopleFund to announce grant awards of $170,000 to seven local non-profits. The funds will be used to create more affordable housing for homeless, disabled and low income persons.

The collaborative effort grew from response from area Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDO) requesting more funding to build capacity within their current structures. On March 15, 2006, the Austin Housing Finance Corporation and Enterprise issued a coordinated Notice of Funding Availability to notify local non-profit housing providers of the Capacity Building Program.

Once received, applications for funding were reviewed by an independent review committee with representatives from the Austin CHDO Roundtable, Wells Fargo Bank, Washington Mutual, the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, Enterprise, Texas Association of Community Development Corporations and PeopleFund. Final funding decisions were made by the Austin Housing Finance Corporation and Enterprise Community Partners based on recommendations from the review committee.

The nonprofit housing organizations receiving grant awards through the Affordable Housing Capacity Building program include:

• Neighborhood Housing Services of Austin will use the funds for predevelopment activities associated with a 60 unit single family housing development and for organizational development.

• Foundation Communities will use the grant funding for the predevelopment costs associated with the acquisition and rehabilitation of an existing building into a 100 unit supportive housing community for low income adults.

• Community Partnership for the Homeless will use funding to support board development and strategic planning as part of its effort to increase its level of housing production.
• Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation will use the funds for predevelopment costs and staffing in connection with development of 75 units of affordable housing.

• Austin Habitat for Humanity will use the funding to improve its data management systems. These improvements will result in increased funding and more efficient use of volunteers and community resources in producing 100 new homes by 2010.

• Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation will use the funding for staffing and predevelopment costs associated with acquisition of property and development of new housing in the Chestnut neighborhood.

• Blackland Community Development Corporation will use the grant funding to strengthen its operations and support the rehabilitation of four units and to undertake future projects in the Blackland neighborhood.

Funding for the grants include $125,000 from the Austin Housing Finance Corporation and $45,000 from Enterprise Community Partners. Grants announced today range from $10,000 to $40,000.

By collaborating on the awards announced today, Austin Housing Finance Corporation, Enterprise Community Partners, Washington Mutual and PeopleFund are working to have a greater impact on the production of affordable housing.

"We at Enterprise are pleased to have this opportunity to align our resources with our local partners to address the gap in affordable housing available to low-income families in Austin,” said Rosalyn McGinty, Deputy Director of Operations for the Western Region of Enterprise. “We hope that this type of collaboration will serve as a catalyst for encouraging other organizations to participate."

In Austin, we are fortunate to have a dedicated group of non-profits committed to housing issues,” said Paul Hilgers, Director of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation. “This program is just one way that the City of Austin can support non-profits and help them increase their production capacity.”

With the support of a Washington Mutual grant, PeopleFund is coordinating the Affordable Housing Capacity Building Program, organizing Training Workshops for the nonprofits, supervising a nonprofit Needs Assessment survey by UT graduate students, and providing Technical Assistance.

"At Washington Mutual, we put a high value on supporting the development of the communities we serve, and we applaud the efforts of PeopleFund to position its partners for success," said Vern Stockton, president of community and external affairs for Washington Mutual. "We are pleased to provide PeopleFund with funding to help maximize its impact in building strong, healthy communities in Texas."

The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Please call 974-3100 (voice) or 974-3102 (TDD) for assistance. This project is made possible by funding from HUD through the City of Austin.

CONTACT: Jackie Mayo, AHFC, 974-3121 (voice), 802-7108 (pager)