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| CDN Wants your Feedback! Participate in Online Survey this Week The Community Development Network is currently undergoing strategic planning for the next three years, and we would love your feedback. We are conducting an online survey until Friday January 7 at 6:00 pm. Tell us what we do well, what we need to improve and opportunities you see for CDN to make a difference in our community. You will find the survey by clicking on this link http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?A=58725843E56657 Thank you for your input. Housing Alliance February 1 Lobby Day to Focus on Increased Opportunity With a legislative agenda aimed at increasing opportunity for Oregon families, people with disabilities and seniors, the newly formed Statewide Alliance is poised to begin the 2005 Legislative session in Salem. The Housing Alliance wants the Legislature to expand a renters' tax credit that would give relief to hard working Oregonians whose salaries are being outpaced by housing expenses. The Housing Alliance is also pushing legislation to increase Oregon's Housing Trust Fund, expand the affordable housing tax credit to spur needed housing development, and allow local jurisdictions to require developers to include affordable housing as a part of new private development. The Housing Alliance has contracted with lobbyist Mark Nelson, to spearhead its efforts in the State Capital. On February 1, the Housing Alliance will convene housing supporters from around the state to meet with their senators and representatives to stress the importance housing plays in accessing opportunity in Oregon. The Housing Alliance include the Neighborhood Partnership Fund, Community Development Network, the City of Portland, Association of Oregon Housing Authorities, Association of Oregon Community Development Organizations, Community Alliance of Tenants, League of Oregon Cities, the Oregon Food Bank, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Multnomah County, 1000 Friends of Oregon, Oregon Action and several other local governments and nonprofit agencies. The goal of the Housing Alliance is to win adequate funding for affordable housing. “We know that housing gives people an opportunity to build better lives. The goal of the Housing Alliance is to open that opportunity for all Oregonians,” said Janet Byrd, interim director of the Neighborhood Partnership Fund. On October 6th Housing Alliance members convened a Legislative Agenda Caucus to finalize a consensus legislative agenda for the 2005 session. The overall Housing Alliance platform calls for substantially increasing funding for housing development and support programs, with a long-term goal of $50 million per biennium in funding. The specific policy proposals in the Housing Alliance 2005 Legislative agenda are: 1) Increase Grants from the Housing Trust Fund by $5 million - Target Development serving very low income households: Currently, the housing trust fund receives between $5 and $6 million a year from the public from a dedicated source. We should add an additional $5 million for immediate granting for development. Twenty percent of the Trust Fund immediate development grants should target very low income populations. 2) Expand low-income renters' tax credit: Expand Oregon's Elderly Rental Assistance (ERA) Program to include more low-income households. Currently the program is open to taxpayers 58 years of age or older with a household income less than $10,000 and gross rent in excess of 20 percent of their household income. 3) Renew the Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit: The Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit is a program which provides tax credits to lenders in return for rent reductions in new affordable housing units. There is a need to increase the yearly cap on the amount of tax credits from $6 million to $8.2 million. 4) Repeal ORS 197.309, which prohibits local jurisdictions from requiring affordable housing (described as "inclusionary zoning" or "inclusionary housing") as a condition of development approval: This statute removes a "tool" from the affordable housing toolbox that has been successful in other states and cities, but has never been used in Oregon. It prohibits a city, county, or metropolitan jurisdiction from requiring that a certain number or percentage of residential units be affordable as a condition of approving development of any kind. While the statute does provide for a narrow exception, it is not practically available to many jurisdictions. In addition, The Housing Alliance supports the following legislative proposals sponsored by other organizations: 1) Maintain the Oregon Health Plan 2) Renew tax exemption authorizing legislation for single family housing in 'distressed areas' 3) Extend legislative authorization for the New Multiple Unit Housing tax exemption program and the Transit Supportive Residential and Mixed Use tax exemption programs. 4) Resolve insurance availability issues: Prohibit insurance companies from denying insurance coverage to housing because it has government subsidy in its financing, and, require insurance companies to provide objective reasons for dropping, denying or charging higher premiums for housing that is supported under government programs for people with lower income. -- Association of Oregon Community Development Organizations lead sponsor To find out more about the Housing Alliance, contact Janet Byrd at jbyrd@tnpf.org OCPP Debunks Deceptive Rhetoric of “New Budget Coalition” by Charles Sheketoff Our new legislature will have its hands full struggling with Oregon's budget and tax policies. Meanwhile, opponents of quality public services will be in full attack mode, using deceptive and misleading rhetoric to make their case. Here are some of the initiatives we can expect to see. Who Needs the Senate? A group of Libertarians and Republicans have formed the "New Budget Coalition" in a thinly veiled attempt to cut the Senate out of the action. Under a call for "budget discipline," they will urge the House to adopt a "one-page budget" in the belief that this would not only bind House budget decisions, but Senate budget decisions as well. In other words, they want to prevent the Senate from disagreeing with the House. The desire of a group of people who often claim to be Constitutionalists to turn our bicameral (House and Senate) legislature into a unicameral body by fiat is startling. A cynic would say they developed the plan this past summer when it seemed probable that the Senate would turn from a bipartisan 15-15 split to Democratic control and the House would likely stay Republican. Darn that pesky Constitution, allowing people whose positions we don't like to participate in the budget process! Others might say they just want to infuriate the Senate by having the House claim veto power over the budget. Rather than imposing budget discipline, the one-page budget would add fuel to the partisanship fire that expands legislative sessions far beyond the limits of any ordinary person's stamina. The Joint Committee on Ways and Means might as well dissolve itself under the New Budget Coalition's scheme. The last time the House tried to go it alone, we witnessed a long legislative session. Use Kids as a Smokescreen, Even if it Harms Them These New Budget Coalition folks also say they want to prioritize funding for K-12 education and public safety, giving these areas the first general fund dollars. Pitting K-12 and public safety against the rest of the budget will harm children in the short- and long-term. Children directly benefit from child welfare services addressing the endemic problem of child abuse and neglect. Children are major beneficiaries of Medicaid, the State Child Health Insurance Program, cash assistance for families with dependent children, and subsidies for child care. Children also benefit when higher education is more affordable, when parks and other public spaces have better access and facilities, when polluters don't pollute the air they breathe or the water they drink and play in, when state forests are properly managed, when community colleges are accessible and offer a wide range of courses, when food supplies are certified healthy, when it's harder for tobacco companies to hook children on their deadly products, and when consumer protection laws are vigorously enforced. The rhetoric of "fund children first" oversimplifies the issues by ignoring the full range of factors that contribute to child well-being, and leads to under-funding a wide range of human services programs. We Like Spending Tax Dollars Just Fine - as Long as it Goes to People in Suits Oregon's budget debate is also being distorted by radicals pushing an arbitrary spending limit and ignoring tax expenditures. These radicals often speak as if we don't have a spending limit, when in fact Oregon has had a spending limit since 1979 (and strengthened it in 2001). Oregon already does "spend within our means." Oregon's current limit ties spending to the rise and fall of Oregonians' personal income, not some arbitrary rate of growth. Curiously, these advocates have little interest in restricting the spending of tax dollars on profitable companies and the power elite through tax expenditures. For instance, spending limit proponents think it's fine that taxpayers are subsidizing the home purchases of wealthy Oregonians with up to $1 million of mortgage debt, and ignore the fact that this subsidy grows without limit each biennium. Here at the OCPP, we think getting families off the streets, out of shelters and cars, and into homes is a better priority than subsidizing someone who can afford a $900,000 mortgage. Likewise, some proponents of spending limits think Oregon taxpayers should pay Intel and others $5 when those companies invest $100 in research and development. Is the $5 an incentive, or does it merely pay companies like Intel to do what they would do anyway to maintain or expand market share? The so-called free-market proponents don't really want the market to be free from government assistance. They just want government assistance to benefit big companies and wealthy investors before helping children and working families. The budget is about choices, and the debates in Salem in 2005 will make that perfectly clear. Charles Sheketoff is the executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy, which uses research and analysis to advance policies and practices that improve the economic and social opportunities of low- and moderate-income Oregonians, the majority of Oregonians. He can be reached at csheketoff@ocpp.org, at P.O. Box 7, Silverton, OR 97381, or by phone at 503-873-1201. Associated Press Report: U.S. Rentals Unaffordable to Poor HCDC Hearing of Community Needs for 2005-2010 Consolidated Plan Jan 5 The Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC) is holding a public hearing on Wednesday, January 5 for the 2005-2010 Consolidated Plan and FY 2005-06 Action Plans for Portland, Gresham and Multnomah County. The primary focus of this hearing is to gather information about our community's need for affordable rental housing, and the support services needed to help tenants succeed in housing. However, testimony will be accepted on any housing or community economic development issue. The Consolidated Plan and Action Plan will guide how Portland, Gresham, and Multnomah County will spend scarce resources on low- and moderate-income housing, community development, economic opportunity, programs serving the homeless, and programs serving people with special needs. The first step is to identify the community's needs. The second step is to develop strategies to address those needs with available funds. Drafts of the plans will be available for review in April 2005. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development requires all jurisdictions that receive HUD funding to submit a Consolidated Plan every five years, as well as an annual Action Plan. The January 5 hearing will be held in the Multnomah Building in the first floor Board Room from 5:00 pm to 7:25 pm. The Multnomah Building is located on the corner of SE Hawthorne and Grand. The Multnomah Building is wheelchair accessible. If you need an accommodation to participate in this meeting, or require an interpreter, please call 823-2392 or 823-6868 (TDD) at least 24 hours in advance. Testimony is limited to three minutes per person. People are encouraged to address these questions: What is the extent of the need? What are we doing well, and what needs improvement? If new resources were made available, what would you (or your organization) do? THREE ADDITIONAL WAYS TO COMMENT If you are unable to attend the January 5 Public Hearing, here are three additional ways to submit comments on the 5 year Consolidated Plan and the 2004-2005 Action Plan for the City of Portland, City of Gresham, and Multnomah County (1) WRITING A LETTER TO: Janet Byrd and Roserria Roberts, co-chairs Housing and Community Development Commission 421 SW Sixth Avenue, Suite 1100 Portland, Oregon 97204 (2) SENDING AN E-MAIL TO: A. Ruth Benson Housing and Community Development Commission Staff rbenson@ci.portland.or.us (Reference your E-mail: “Public Comments on Consolidated Plan and Action Plan”) (3) LEAVING A VOICE-MAIL MESSAGE at (503) 823-2392 East Portland Churches Present Benefit Concert for Family Shelter on Jan 9 Gethsemane Lutheran Church will host an Epiphany Concert to benefit Human Solutions' Daybreak Shelter Network on Sunday, January 9th at 3:00 p.m. Gethsemane Lutheran Church is located at 11560 SE Market Street in Portland. The Concert will feature anthems and carols of the Advent and Christmas season sung by choirs from Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Parkrose United Methodist Church, Parkrose Community United Church of Christ, Portland Unity Church, and St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The afternoon will conclude with a combined choir rendition of Handel's “Hallelujah Chorus.” The Concert is free to the public and refreshments and childcare will be available. A good will offering will be accepted at intermission. Proceeds will benefit Daybreak Shelter Network, a shelter and housing placement program for homeless families. Daybreak Shelter Network is a collaborative program between congregations of various spiritual traditions and Human Solutions, Inc. Human Solutions is a non-profit, social service agency serving east Portland and east Multnomah County. The agency helps low-income families move from dependency to self-sufficiency by providing transitional and permanent affordable housing and a broad range of social services, including case management, life-skill classes, and energy assistance. Daybreak Shelter Network, a family shelter program, is just one of the many programs offered by Human Solutions. The agency serves more than 25,000 people each year. Portland's BHCD Accepting RFC's for Economic Opportunity Program by Feb 1 NPF Presents “Leadership for Organizational Transformation” Training Feb 17-18 U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Highlights Central City Concern (From United States Interagency Council on Homelessness E-Newsletter, 12/22/2004) Even as we take time this week to remember through National Homeless Persons Memorial Day homeless people who have died, we can also celebrate the lives that are being saved as a direct result of an unprecedented constellation of political will to end chronic homelessness. In Washington, DC, in state houses, and in communities across the nation, strategic planning, innovative solutions, and new resources are being brought to bear to save the lives of people who have been living for far too long on the streets and in shelters. This story focuses on 15 of those lives. In October 2003, Central City Concern in Portland, Oregon, was awarded one of eleven Chronic Homelessness grants under an historic collaboration among the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs to provide communities with coordinated housing and supportive services resources targeted to ending the homelessness of men and women with disabilities who had been living long term on the streets or in shelters. On Monday of this week, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano traveled to Portland where he met with 15 of the 53 men and women whose homelessness has been ended through this investment of resources. When fully implemented, the federal resources awarded to this project will provide permanent supportive housing for 73 persons at any one time. Director Mangano was joined by staff of Central City Concern and representatives of all three collaborating federal agencies - HUD Oregon Field Office Director Tom Cusack, Oregon/Idaho HUD CPD Director Doug Carlson; Larry Brennan of the Portland VA Medical Center; and HHS Region X Executive Officer Bobbie Mowery. "This was a great opportunity for members of the collaborative including VA, HHS, and HUD to be able see together, on the ground, the progress being made here in Portland. [Those fomerly homeless individuals] let us know what it meant to finally have a warm, safe place to call home," said Director Cusack. What these 15 men and women described to the federal visitors were stories of lives transformed by the availability of housing. All had been homeless - living mostly on the streets- for at least three years. Some had been homeless as long as 10 years. The rugged winters of Oregon had taken a physical toll on them. For many, accepting the housing opportunity had not come easily. There was a great deal of distrust, skepticism. Was this just going to be another short stay in a shelter? Now as they find themselves stably housed in their own apartments for the first time in years, there's genuine desire - and belief that it's possible to "get their lives back on track". For many that includes mental health and/or substance abuse treatment. Some have already begun expressing interest in finding a job. While each had taken a different path into homelessness, all agreed the common path out of homelessness - and out of hopelessness - for them was housing. For Central City Concern and its community partners - the Multnomah Department of Human Services and the Portland Housing Authority (sic) - the $5 million multi-year commitment of federal resources through the Collaborative Initiative has helped them strengthen the linkages among community organizations creating a more streamlined and integrated system of outreach, primary and mental health care, and substance abuse treatment linked to housing. This collaboration has created accountability to each other and more measurable results. It has also served as a catalyst for interesting members of the Portland downtown business community in the effort to end chronic homelessness in the community. By concentrating outreach efforts in the Burnside area, which had the heaviest concentration of persons living on the streets, the project has achieved a visible change noticed by the business community. |
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