Vancouver, Clark County OK plans for distributing federal grant money

The largest grants went to Second Step Housing to purchase existing market-rate rental units and convert them to affordable rental units ($305,000), Share’s ASPIRE program for rental assistance ($303,500), and Proud Ground for down-payment assistance for low-income homeowners ($300,000).

Vancouver has an estimated $1.6 million available from Community Development Block Grant funding and $698,291 through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program. On Monday, the Vancouver City Council approved this year’s plan to support projects such as homeless outreach and business facade improvements along Fourth Plain Boulevard.

The council also approved the city’s 2019-2023 Consolidated Housing and Community Development Plan. The document looks at community needs, resources and goals, which include bolstering affordable housing opportunities, reducing poverty through public services, increasing economic opportunity by supporting small businesses, and creating and preserving facilities that serve the public.

“The goals that we had the last five years and the goals we had for this five years are very similar partly because our population hasn’t changed very much and our issues haven’t changed very much,” Peggy Sheehan, the city’s community and economic development programs manager, told the city council.

There is some overlap between what the city and county decided to fund this year. Both put money toward replacing the elevator at Share House, the men’s homeless shelter in downtown Vancouver. They both support rental assistance, down-payment assistance programs for low-income homeowners, small-business assistance through the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber and helping Evergreen Habitat for Humanity build more homes.

However, they diverged when it came to Vancouver Affordable Housing’s proposal to build a 50-bed homeless shelter.

The city’s largest amount of federal CDBG dollars, $250,000, went toward acquiring and rehabilitating a space to house couples and single women and men. The shelter would be managed by homeless service provider Share.

Vancouver Affordable Housing, one of the nonprofit arms of Vancouver Housing Authority, also applied for federal grant money through the county and local Homeless Crisis Response System money, but neither was approved because the county determined the project would not be viable for at least the next couple of years. The project also isn’t close to having the money it needs.

“Because of that, they’re just not a feasible project yet,” Rebecca Royce of Community Services, said at Tuesday’s meeting of the Community Action Advisory Board, which makes funding recommendations for the Homeless Crisis Response System.

Saeed Hajarizadeh, deputy director of the housing authority and executive director of Vancouver Affordable Housing, acknowledged at the advisory board meeting that it’s hard to justify setting aside money to be used at some indeterminate point in the future for a shelter when the money could be put toward another use immediately.

Torres told The Columbian that Vancouver Affordable Housing sought operating dollars, but they don’t have a shelter to operate and aren’t close to opening, he said.

Creating additional shelter space is a goal outlined in the county’s Homeless Action Plan. The county has not opened a new shelter in some time. Recent efforts to create more homeless shelter space have been driven by faith-based communities. The city at one point discussed converting a Hazel Dell wedding venue into a 60-bed homeless shelter, an idea that was quickly quashed.

In an interview with The Columbian, Hajarizadeh said there are no shelters for couples. He took on the idea of opening a shelter after taking part in a street camping task force that Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle formed in 2018. The group traveled to Tacoma and San Diego to tour various emergency shelter models.

“We’re certainly going to keep working on the issue,” Hajarizadeh said. “We’re not giving up yet.”