Vancouver plans to award $1.2 million in Affordable Housing Funds to two projects focused on homelessness prevention, something that the council had delayed until this year.
The council received a primer on the proposed projects in a Monday evening workshop. If approved, the two projects would provide rental assistance for 33 households and funding for housing assistance and case management for another 240 households. Funding would come from the $6 million in revenue collected in 2017 as a result of Proposition 1, approved by voters in November 2016, to create a funding source for affordable housing projects and preventing homelessness.
Last year, the council had focused its efforts on providing affordable housing projects, and in October, the council approved its first round of Proposition 1 funding, devoting $4 million to help seven different affordable housing projects move forward. Those seven projects will add 207 new units, 80 or which are reserved for low-income residents.
While those housing projects got started, allocating funding for homeless prevention took a little longer.
Peggy Sheehan, Vancouver’s community development program manager, said the city issued a Request for Qualifications last year and received eight different applications seeking a total of nearly $3 million. Sheehan said they formed a committee with four representatives from the community to evaluate the proposals before ultimately deciding to fund just two of the projects.
Vancouver Housing Authority seeks $250,000 to provide rental assistance for 33 families referred from Vancouver Public Schools, and the Council for the Homeless seeks $1,210,000 for the Homeless Prevention and Housing Consortium. The Consortium is made up of several community groups and is organized by the Council for the Homeless to provide housing assistance and case management.
“Council for the Homeless is the main point of access for people that are homeless or about to be evicted,” Sheehan said. “They’re looking for a way to expand their capacity. This fund is perfect for that.”
As proposed, the consortium would serve 240 households with move-in costs, 12 months of rental assistance and possibly a utility subsidy. The homeless prevention fund for 2017 isn’t large enough, however, to fully accommodate their request. Sheehan said they propose granting $960,000 out of the 2017 budget while promising to give an additional $250,000 when funding from 2018 is allocated.
The council will review the recommended projects for approval March 12.
Looking forward
Even though the city is still handing out grants from 2017, the fund’s coffers are already refilling as Proposition 1 provides $6 million a year in tax revenue from 2017 to 2023. With the allocation process set to start all over again, Sheehan said they have some changes in mind, including looking at providing more funding per affordable housing unit and decreasing how long a developer may have to keep units at affordable prices.
“We’ve had some feedback that (funding) $50,000 per unit and 20-year affordability targets are very difficult for private developers to use, so we’re going to be looking at that,” she said.
Attracting private developers to build affordable housing is something both the city and council are interested in. Only the seven organizations that ultimately received funding applied in 2017. Making the opportunity more attractive to private developers could increase the number of applicants.
Sheehan added they’re also looking at an outreach plan to work with more community partners. Part of that plan includes issuing a Request for Qualifications for more creative projects.
“People have approached us with new projects we haven’t done before,” she said.
To help manage the fund, the city is in the midst of hiring a new staff member, Sheehan added.
The next round of funding allocation is tentatively planned for this summer.
