The Housing Alliance invites all supporters of affordable housing to join us in Salem on Tuesday February 6 for what promises to be the biggest Housing Lobby Day in Oregon history. 

With support for the Housing Alliance Housing Opportunity Agenda growing in the legislature, Housing Lobby Day will be the ideal time to demonstrate the broad community support for real housing solutions.  Folks from around the state will converge on Salem on February 6 for meetings with individual legislators, an address from some of our legislative Champions and a rally on the Capitol steps.

Let’s do our part in Portland! We are hoping from at least one constituent of every Portland

Michael Anderson at CDN will be coordinating setting up legislative appointments and preparing teams for visits for the Portland electeds. The Housing Alliance is also coordinating transportation from Portland.

If you plan to attend Lobby Day (and you really should), please rsvp to Michael via email (mike@cdnportland.org) or at (503) 335-9884.  Please tell Michael who your senator and representative are (go to http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/ to find your legislators) or leave him your address so he can match you with your senator and representative.

Please also let Michael know if you need transportation or if you would be willing to participate in carpool caravan. 

Finally, SPREAD THE WORD!  We want as many people as possible in Salem on Feb 6 and you can help.  Click here to download a flyer for Housing Lobby Day to hang in your lobby or reception area.  Also, please forward this announcement to other interested parties.

Questions?  Contact Michael at (503) 335-9884 or via email.

The Housing Alliance brings together advocates, local governments, housing authorities, community development corporations, environmentalists, service providers, business interests and all others dedicated to increasing the resources available to meet our housing needs to support a common statewide legislative and policy agenda. To find out more about the Housing Alliance, go to: http://www.oregonhousingalliance.org/

PDC Workshop on Income Guidelines for Affordable Housing Set-Aside Jan 24

The Portland Development Commission (PDC) will sponsor a public workshop on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. to discuss the establishment of income guidelines for the affordable housing set-aside in urban renewal areas (URAs). The information will be used by PDC staff in developing their final report for the PDC Commission and ultimately Portland City Council. The workshop will be held at the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs (OAME) located at 4134 N. Vancouver Avenue.

PDC released a preliminary proposal for the income guidelines in the first week of January.

To see PDC proposal, click here (income guideline recommendations can be found starting on page 5).

Affordable Housing NOW! and several other community and housing groups are asking PDC and the Portland City Council to adopt income guidelines that would commit 50% of the set aside resources towards housing people at the lowest incomes (below 30%MFI) and 15-20% for home ownership programs serving working families being priced out of Portland (below 80% MFI).  To see the full AHN-HCDC Community Recommendations, click here.

CDN Permanent Supportive Housing Report Highlights Need for Resources, Provides Best Practices Tool Kit

The Community Development Network’s Permanent Supportive Housing Project (PSH) is wrapping up a fifteen month effort to lay the groundwork for successful implementation of PSH in Portland. The PSH Project’s final report, PowerPoint presentation, and web-based PSH Toolkit are now available online at http://www.portlandonline.com/bhcd/index.cfm?c=43436.

Permanent Supportive Housing is an intensive combination of housing and services which has proven to help individuals experiencing chronic homelessness get off the streets, yielding significant long-term cost savings. Portland’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness calls for 1,600 units of PSH for chronically homeless single adults and 600 units of PSH for homeless families with special needs by 2015.

The City has asked Portland’s affordable housing developers to partner with the City to achieve these goals.  In response, the CDN convened a diverse group of stakeholders to analyze what it will take to successfully implement PSH in Portland.  The PSH Project brought together representatives from BHCD, PDC, HAP, the County, CDN members, and service providers to:

·         Analyze the resources and systems changes needed in order to achieve the PSH goals in the 10 Year Plan

·         Research models and best practices for successful and sustainable PSH projects

·         Convene workgroups to identify the barriers to successfully implementing PSH in Portland and problem-solve to address these barriers; and

·         Develop a PSH toolkit for practitioners to support the development and operation of successful PSH projects.

What Will It Take to Achieve the PSH Goals in the 10 Year Plan?

Our research indicates that we are at a critical juncture in the 10 Year Plan’s implementation. While good progress has been made over the first two years of implementation, it has largely been through pilot projects, one time resources, and by cobbling together partnerships and resources on a project-by-project basis.  To take this implementation to scale, we will need:

• Investment and leveraging of resources: It will take approximately $335 million over ten years to meet the capital, operating, and service costs for 2,200 units of PSH.  This includes reprogramming and realignment of existing resources to support the PSH model as well as leveraging of new resources. Sufficient resources for capital, rent subsidies, and services must be made available concurrently, in the appropriate ratios. 
• Systems change: Important work has been done over the past two years to begin building better coordination among different agencies and systems to break down some of the barriers to PSH. We need to institutionalize these efforts through systems changes that include:

·  A coordinated funding system for PSH with streamlined access to resources for capital, operations, and services

·  Creation of a comprehensive inter-agency housing development process that meets the unique needs of PSH

·  Aligning the human services system with the PSH model so that every PSH unit is matched with appropriate services

• Persistent political champions: If we are going to achieve the goals in the 10 Year Plan, the support for PSH that has been shown by the leadership at the City and County will need to penetrate into every sector and level of government.

Models and Tools for Effective Implementation of PSH

The work products from the PSH Project’s workgroups, as well as the results of our research on PSH models and best practices, are available on a newly developed PSH Toolkit, housed on BHCD’s website at http://www.portlandonline.com/bhcd/index.cfm?c=43436.

The PSH Toolkit provides a comprehensive resource for Portland housing developers and service providers. It includes Portland-specific guidelines and tools as well as links to relevant national resources from the Corporation for Supportive Housing and other partners.

Key Portland-specific materials available in the Toolkit include:

What is PSH?

·         Overview of Portland’s PSH initiative

·         Portland-specific definitions of key terms

Project Planning:

·         Analysis of different models of PSH project configuration

·         Guidelines for PSH unit numbers and ratios

·         Tools for developing a staffing model for PSH projects

·         Considerations when selecting a target population

·         How is PSH for families different than PSH for single adults?

·         PSH design guidelines

Financing:

·         Overview of PSH financing

·         General guidelines for estimating PSH capital, operating, and service costs

·         Comparison of PSH operating budgets vs. standard affordable housing

·         Links to local and national financing sources (under development)

Development Process:

·         Overview of PSH Production and Operations Team

·         Information on the PSH certification process

·         Boilerplate Regulatory Agreements for PSH Projects

·         How to access operating subsidies and service partners for PSH projects (under development)

Housing-Services Partnerships:

·         Overview of roles and responsibilities of PSH partners

·         Analysis of different models for connecting tenants to housing units and services

·         Barriers to effective PSH partnerships and potential tools

·         Guidelines for PSH partnership agreements and Memoranda of Understanding

Operations:

·         Analysis of different models for fulfilling program functions for PSH operations

·         PSH Tenant Screening and Evictions Toolkit

·         Worksheet for allocating staffing responsibilities between owner, property management, asset management, resident services, and social service staff

·         Information on the Risk Mitigation Pool

·         Asset management for PSH projects (under development)

For more information on the PSH Project, contact Kris Smock via email.

To Dream the Impossible Dream: France Endorses Housing as a Legal Right

PARIS -- Having a decent home should be a legal right like healthcare and education, the French government said yesterday, after a lobby group forced the issue of homelessness to the top of the agenda.

The plight of the homeless has become a campaign issue ahead of this year's presidential election after a group calling itself "The Children of Don Quixote" set up tents in Paris to draw attention to people sleeping outside.

The issue has dominated the news and forced politicians from all main parties to promise more help for those without a roof over their heads.

"It will be possible to implement the legal right to housing from the end of 2008 for people in the most difficult situations, notably the homeless but also poor workers and isolated women with children," Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin of France told a news conference.

The right would be extended to other people, such as those in inadequate public housing, in 2012, Villepin said.

A draft law, which would enable those without decent housing to seek legal redress, should be passed by parliament before the end of February, a source close to Villepin said.

About 86,500 people are homeless in France, according to official figures from 2001.

Aid groups say more than 3 million people have serious housing problems -- living on the street, in shabby hotels, caravans, or in flats without bathrooms or heating.

"The Children of Don Quixote" initiated the current debate when it set up dozens of red tents along Paris's

Canal Saint Martin last month, calling on Parisians to sleep out in the cold in solidarity.

The government has already promised more money and longer opening hours for shelters, but the Don Quixote group has said that is not enough, calling on authorities to open shelters 24 hours a day throughout the year and to build more public housing.

"All this is heading in the right direction," Don Quixote's president, Jean-Baptiste Legrand, said after the government's announcement yesterday.

"We have won part of the battle, but everything will depend on how quickly these measures are implemented," he said, adding that the tents it had set up would be moved if the measures were implemented quickly.

Highlighting the intensity of the debate, President Jacques Chirac referred to the issue in his New Year's address, saying the right to housing had to become a reality.

The two main candidates for the presidential vote have also entered the fray.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative candidate, has vowed that no homeless person would have to sleep outside within two years of his taking office.

The Socialists' Segolene Royal has called for a "vast plan to fight against economic insecurity".

Surveys indicate Sarkozy and Royal equally matched ahead of the two-round election in April and May.

Villepin also received a report yesterday from Xavier Emmanuelli, founder of the Samu Social support group for the homeless, on a law enshrining the right to housing.

Writing "this fundamental reform into law . . . will put the right to housing on one level with the right to medical care or education," Emmanuelli told Liberation daily, saying that implementing such a law would take years. 

By Kerstin Gehmlich, Reuters  

New Year’s Day Minimum Wage Boost Helps Workers Without Hurting Economy

The 30-cent per hour cost-of-living adjustment to Oregon’s minimum wage set to take effect on New Year’s Day will help low-wage working families keep up with the cost of living without dampening job growth, according to a new analysis by OCPP. The minimum wage will increase to $7.80 on January 1st under the state’s annual automatic adjustment.

Oregon has added jobs more rapidly than 39 other states since the voter-approved minimum wage increase first took effect in January 2003.

“The annual cost-of-living adjustment in the state minimum wage is good for Oregon and good for Oregon’s low-wage, working families,” said Michael Leachman, policy analyst at OCPP. “Oregon’s job growth has outpaced most other states since the minimum wage was first increased four years ago."

Jan NPF Trainings: Financial Management Roles, Coaching Skills for Managers

Board & Staff Roles in Financial Management January 18

Nonprofit affordable housing and community economic development is a tough business. Successful organizations must develop Board and management capacity to evaluate financial choices and understand the financial consequences of activity in housing development, asset and property management, resident services, economic development projects, and fund raising activity. 

This new full day workshop is designed for Board members, Executive Directors, and Financial Managers of community development corporations. We’ll look at State of Oregon and IRS requirements and expectations for Board oversight and the information and skills Board members will need to have to provide effective leadership for their CDC. We’ll also examine key staff functions and the ways CDCs assign responsibility for monitoring financial performance and achieving financial outcomes. We’ll also explore financial decision-making as it applies to executive directors, fiscal managers, housing developers, asset managers, fundraisers, and program managers.

Workshop topics will include:

·       IRS and State of Oregon expectations of CDC board members

·       Financial information boards need for effective oversight and decision-making

·       How to evaluate the financial health of your CDC

·       Executive director, fiscal manager, housing developer, and asset manager roles in financial management

·       Financial management challenges in LIHTC projects, single asset entities, and home ownership programs

Board member participation is critical!  Board members will receive free lunch, a primer on financial statement review that can be used for ‘training lessons’, and other fabulous prizes!

Presenters:

Leon Laptook has been in the affordable housing field for 25 years, as a manager and director of public and non-profit agencies serving the low-income community. He has expertise in housing development, land use, and providing training and technical assistance to CHDOs and community-based organizations. He has managed the federal housing and redevelopment programs for the City of Corvallis and prior to co-founding the CDLC was the Deputy Director for a large community action agency in the Portland area.

Kay Sohl, Co-founder & Executive Director of TACS is a public accountant with degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and Reed College in Portland.  She has also done additional study at Antioch College and Portland State University.  Kay has been with TACS from the beginning and has provided vision and essential leadership in the development of consulting and training for non-profits. Today she is recognized widely for her ability to communicate technical and financial information to diverse, non-technical, or non-fiscally trained groups.  Kay's professional expertise encompasses financial management, strategic planning, organizational development, and board and fund development. She has successfully consulted with the boards and managers of over 3,000 non-profit organizations throughout the Northwest.

Class size is limited so register early!

Logistics 

Class Date & Time:  Thursday, January 18, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Location:  Kateri Park Community Room, 3640 SE 28^th Ave, Portland

Meals: For those electing to pay the meal fee, morning coffee, pastries & fruit and a buffet lunch will be provided.  Please be sure to check the meals option box on the registration form and include payment with your registration.

Cost:  Free for the workshop.  Coffee/tea service, continental breakfast, and lunch option is $20

Registration Deadline:  January 9

Cancellation Policy: If you are unable to attend a session that you have registered for, please contact NPF as soon as possible.  Refunds, minus a $10 processing fee, will be given for cancellations occurring five business days prior to the day of the training.  After that date, no refunds will be made.

Coaching Skills for Managers January 30-31, 2007

Managers are asked to provide mentoring and feedback in order to increase productivity and efficiency.  Increasingly, staff and colleagues are asking for coaching as well.  While this course will not make you a certified coach, it will provide you with some basic skills and concepts you can use to bring out the best in your staff and colleagues.

In this course you will learn the differences between coaching, mentoring and feedback, as well as the basic coaching skills that will allow you be a more effective manager and leader.  You will also have a chance to practice the following skills in class:

• Making powerful requests

• Understanding the difference between a health promise and a criminal promise

• Moving someone from resentment and resignation to acceptance and ambition

• Providing non-verbal coaching

• Creating a work culture of learning

• Bringing a mood of lightness

In a time when the world we work and live in are increasingly complex, having the distinctions that coaching offers allows us to work together more effectively and powerfully.

Presenter:

Raj Chawla is well versed in introducing new conversations to organizations that create new possibilities for action.  He brings over 15 years of experience in organizational and executive coaching, organizational development, training, and diversity management to his work.  Mr. Chawla specializes in providing coaching to executives and organizations on organizational transformation, diversity management, coalition building, collaboration, high performance strategies, and strategic planning.  Mr. Chawla is a principal of the OCL Group – a consulting group that specializes in organizational coaching.  He works with numerous clients in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, including NeighborWorks America, The World Bank Group, US AID, NASA, the Virginia Beach Police Department, and the law firm of Hunton and Williams. He also serves as adjunct faculty at George Mason University and the Federal Executive Institute. Mr. Chawla holds a Masters in International Affairs from The American University in Washington, DC and a BA in Economics from Emory University in Atlanta.  He is certified as an Ontological coach through the Newfield Network, as an organizational coach through the Newfield Network and George Mason University, and is qualified in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Class size is limited so register early!

Logistics 

Class Date & Time:  Tuesday and Wednesday, January 30-31, 2007, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Location:  The Century Hotel in Tualatin, Century room

Directions:  http://www.thecenturyhotel.com/location.htm

Meals:  Continental breakfast and buffet lunch

Cost:  $175

Registration Deadline:  January 16

Cancellation Policy: If you are unable to attend a session that you have registered for, please contact NPF as soon as possible.  Refunds, minus a $10 processing fee, will be given for cancellations occurring five business days prior to the day of the training.  After that date, no refunds will be made.

To get a registration form contact:

N. Ann Warnock

Neighborhood Partnership Fund 

1020 SW Taylor, Suite 680

Portland OR 97205

Fax: (503) 226-3027

Phone: (503) 226-3001 ext. 100

On any given night, over 3,500 people face homelessness in our community.

You can help. 

Get involved with Project Homeless Connect.

Tuesday, January 23, Portland Memorial Coliseum

What is Project Homeless Connect?

The mission of Portland Project Homeless Connect (PPHC) is to provide an opportunity for the community to aid the homeless with much needed services and support.   In 2006, hundreds of volunteers spent two entire days personally helping homeless people and families. These volunteers— business leaders, political leaders, stay-at-home parents, formerly homeless people —joined together for one day to do something extraordinary. They looked homeless people in the eye, asked them their name, listened to their stories, and asked how they could help. Portland Project Homeless Connect taps into the energy and commitment of individuals to help find creative solutions to end homelessness and provide homeless clients with individual attention and connect them to medical, dental, legal, addiction, and housing-counseling services provided by volunteer professionals.

How does Project Homeless Connect work?

Social service agencies throughout Multnomah County reach out to those living without housing to invite them to participate in the event.  On event day at Memorial Coliseum, individuals will receive access to critical services, including medical/dental care and follow-up appointments, employment counseling, legal advice, assistance applying for benefits    housing/shelter information and more.

You can help.  Volunteer.

Join us for an inspiring day of volunteering where you will have the opportunity to reach out and connect with homeless individuals in our community and insure they receive much needed services.  You will provide client support and assistance, childcare, food preparation and serving, activities and other critical services.  No special skills required to volunteer.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Volunteer Shifts Available

8:00am -12:30pm (morning shift)

12:00pm - 4:30pm (afternoon shift)

8:00am – 4:30pm (all day shift)

Sign up today by visiting www.portlandhomelessconnect.com

Need more information or help signing up, contact Becky via email or via phone 503.413.8906.

Enterprise Live Online Event Green Rehab: Single- and Multifamily Jan 24

How can you apply the Green Communities Criteria to rehab projects?  This is one of the most difficult questions in the field of Green affordable housing.  It is a challenge to work with existing housing and turn it into high performance single- or multifamily housing, and it is truly rewarding to actually achieve it.  With so much housing stock in our cities that is in need of moderate and substantial rehab, it is an opportunity and a strategy that we cannot overlook. 

Log on to learn in an Enterprise Live Online Event ‘Green Rehab: Single- and Multifamily’ on Wednesday, January 24, 2007
11:00 am-12:30 pm.

This event will explore the approaches to design and construction that lead to successfully rehabilitated Green homes--both single- and multifamily.  Leading experts in the field, Jim LaRue and Nathan Yost, will share their knowledge and experience to demonstrate that Green rehab is achievable and should not be overlooked. 

Please join us for this highly informative Live Online Event.

Click here for more information about this event, how to join and archived events:

www.enterprisecommunity.org/training%5Fand%5Fevents/webinars/

Please forward this email to all others on your staff who might be interested

If you have any questions, please contact Kathleen Rzemien at 410.772.2463 or via email.

Mold in Buildings: Assessment, Prevention and Resolution Jan 24

Oregon State University Extension Service presents Mold in Buildings: Assessment, Prevention and Resolution on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 from 8:30 am – 12:30 pm at

Portland Community College Event Center, Building 9, Rock Creek Campus

17705 NW Springville Rd., Portland

Why do we care ?  Health effects of mold.

Allergy and asthma responses to exposure to damp and moldy environments.

What is known and not known about the health effects and risks of mold exposure.

Harriet Amman, PhD. Washington Dept. of Health, Senior Toxicologist, 12 years,

Institute of Medicine, National Academies of Science Committee on Damp Indoor Spaces and Health

Moisture and Mold in Homes And other Buildings

What mold is, why and where it grows, how to inspect for mold growth conditions, what can be done practically, economically to remedy or prevent mold and moisture problems. Litigation risks, issues.

George Tsongas. PhD., PE. Private consulting Engineer and

Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering Portland State University

Moisture Resistant Construction Practices

Keeping water out of building envelope, vented rain screen wall, flashing details, window/door sealing, water-managed foundations, drainage, spot-vs.-whole house ventilation, ASHRAE standards.

Mike O’Brien, Green Building Specialist, City of Portland, Office of Sustainable Development

For those who work with single family and multi-family housing, schools, and buildings and are concerned about mold-related issues (contractors, inspectors, appraisers, realtors, maintenance personnel, building managers, HVAC, home owners and building occupants).

Registration: $30.00     Certificate of Attendance for 3 hours of Continuing Education

Please pre-register to reserve your space

Additional information, registration details and map, see: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/fcd/mold or contact OSU Extension Service, 503-725-2101

Oregon State University Extension Service offers educational programs, activities, and materials without discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital status, disability, or disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran status. Oregon State University Extension Service is an Equal Opportunity Employer. OSU Extension will provide reasonable accommodation to persons with physical or mental disabilities. Contact Jeanne Brandt at 503-725-2107 to request accommodation.

Save the Date: Kim Klein Comes to Oregon Feb 1

TACS is brining Kim Klein, creator of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal and author of America's best-selling series of books on grassroots fundraising, to Portland on February 1, 2007 to conduct her workshop Building Board Fundraising Power.  Kim will energize and inspire you to get your board raising money now! To find out more, go to: http://www.tacs.org/training/event.asp?evID=495