CDN 10^th Anniversary was celebrated with laughter, memories of a decade’s accomplishments and an eye towards building a better future. 400 CDC staff and board members, elected officials, representatives from state and local government, members of the lending and legal communities, as well as other industry partners enjoyed an evening of recounting achievements in community development, both past and present.

The highlight of the evening was CDN multi-media presentation “The Affordable Housing Factor.”  Spoofing the network news magazine format, the presentation featured live ‘News Anchors’ Representative Earl Blumenauer and Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH) Executive Director Sheila Greenlaw-Fink interacting with a video program with interviews with key figures in Portland the community development family.  "The Affordable Housing Factor" both recounted serious accomplishments of CDN, as well as poking fun at its own staff and industry partners.

In addition to the celebration of CDN’s 10^th Year Anniversary, the evening also highlighted the outstanding contributors in the community development field for 2005.  Will White, Director of Portland’s Bureau of Housing and Community Development and former Director of the Housing Development Center (HDC), was honored with the Gretchen Miller Kafoury Award for lifetime achievement. Since moving to Portland, White has distinguished himself in his commitment to community development, particularly with his legacy at HDC where he helped shape industry policy and practices to best serve the needs of Portland communities.

A full list of award recipients is as follows:

The Washington Mutual Award for Property and Asset Management Best Practices: Northwest Housing Alternatives. The Washington Mutual Award for "Property and Asset Management Best Practices" is awarded annually to a CDN member organization for outstanding and innovative achievements in the field. This award honors the CDC that, during the last two years, has shown particular merit in the field of property and asset management, for example, working through a troubled acquisition-rehab project, developing new tracking systems or other innovations.

Gilman Award: Janet Byrd and Michael Anderson for the Housing Alliance. The Gilman Award, presented to a community development organization to honor a special event or program occurring within the past two years that highlights extraordinary innovation and positive impact.

The Golden Hammer Award: Central City Concern for their project 8 NW 8^th.  The Golden Hammer is presented in honor of a housing project, completed within the past two years, that best demonstrates the ideals of affordability, quality of design, livability, community revitalization or service integration.

The People’s Program Award: Human Solutions Inc. for Greentree Court. The People’s Program Award is presented in honor of an outstanding program that effectively addresses the needs of low income families or individuals through stabilizing housing, providing employment or skills training, increasing income or assets, supporting innovative solutions to family or neighborhood problems, offering homeownership opportunities, developing programs for children and youth, reaching un- or under- served populations, or implementing creative solutions to other community needs.

Industry Partner Award: The City Club of Portland. Each year the CDN Board of Directors presents an Industry Partner Award to an organization that is an invaluable partner in strengthening nonprofit community development organizations or helping provide a collective voice for healthy, diverse communities.

Gretchen Miller Kafoury Award: Will White, Portland Bureau of Housing and Community Development. The Gretchen Miller Kafoury Award is a "Lifetime Achievement" award for outstanding long-term work in the field of community development.

2005 Star Players

Rose Mary Ojeda, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, Inc

Jim Chapman, Caritas Housing Initiatives/Catholic Charities

Barb Sander, Central City Concern

Andrew Ayers, Community Development Network

Terese Cook, Community Partners for Affordable Housing

Margaret (Peg) Paulbach, Downtown Community Housing Inc.

Tanya Wolfersperger, Hacienda CDC

Petra Nomina, Housing Development Center

Dorene Warner, Human Solutions, inc.

Angie Henry, Innovative Housing Inc.

Raymond Maier, Northwest Housing Alternatives

Bryant Edwards, Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Inc.

Richard Hutchinson, Portland Habitat for Humanity

Raina Beavers, Portland Housing Center

Debbie Lowder, REACH CDI

Enesa Springer, ROSE CDC

Tyesha McCool, Sabin CDC

For more information about the awards and award history, click here.

The Community Development Network would like to thank all of the Banquet Sponsors, particularly our Rooftop Sponsor Washington Mutual, our Development Sponsors Enterprise Foundation/ESIC, Gales Creek Insurance, Homestead Capital and the Portland Development Commission, and our Network Sponsors Bateman Seidel Miner Blomgren Chellis & Gram, PC, Cascade Management, Holland & Knight, Income Property Management, NW Natural, Seabold Construction, Walsh Construction Co, and William Wilson Architects.  To see a full list of the 2005 Banquet Sponsors, click here.

A special thanks also goes out to the volunteers who committed their time and energy to the Awards Banquet Planning Committee: Kate Kealy, Tanya Wolfersperger, Dorene Warner, Kevin Kraus, Robin Schlotzki, Karen Walker and Andrew Ayers, the man behind the Affordable Housing Factor. Without all of your hardwork, the banquet would not been nearly as successful.  CDN greatly appreciates your help.

PCRI Celebrates Grand Opening, Presents Smith Community Award to Kate Allen

Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Inc. (PCRI) will celebrate the grand opening of its new offices located at 6329 NE Martin Luther King Blvd. in Portland on Wednesday, October 12, 2005 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.   Festivities will include a catered lunch, the presentation of the annual Barbara B. Smith Community Award, as well as a short program highlighting PCRI’s achievements over the past year.

PCRI is a non-profit affordable housing provider that has been serving the community for more than 14 years.  The organization’s vision is to provide affordable housing and associated services that achieve family stability and self-sufficiency.  In the past year, PCRI entered into a transaction that will double the size of its portfolio of affordable housing units in Portland and empower low to very low income residents. 

The Barbara B. Smith award is presented annually to professionals in the community who have used their position to advance PCRI’s mission. This year’s recipient is Kate Allen, Director of the Enterprise Foundation in Portland for her support of PCRI’s acquisition of the Albina Community Development Corporation’s portfolio and the Urban League Plaza.

“Without the Enterprise Foundation’s technical assistance and financial support, PCRI would not have been able to take on this project to preserve over 340 vital affordable housing units in Portland,” said Maxine Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of PCRI.   

Renovations for PCRI’s new offices, located at 6329 NE Martin Luther King Boulevard, began in December 2004.  According to Phil Damiano, PCRI board president, “The location of the new facility and its enhanced space will help us to better serve our rapidly growing portfolio of properties and the many residents who call them home.”

For more information about PCRI, please visit their website at www.pcrihome.org, or call Dominic Chandler at 503.288.2923 ext. 116 to RSVP for the grand opening event.

Network for Oregon Affordable Housing Receives $1.398 Million Award

The Network for Oregon Affordable Housing (NOAH) has received an award of almost $1.4 million from the federal Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI).  The award was part of over $32 million nationally and is the first of its kind for NOAH. 

According to Bill Van Vliet, NOAH Executive Director, “the funds will be used to increase our capital base and lending capacity, and to provide more flexible loan rates and terms to developers of affordable housing in Oregon.  NOAH will focus these funds on specifically designated areas, including severely distressed rural areas.”

Created by Congress in 1994, the CDFI Fund uses federal resources to invest in and build capacity of private, for- and non-profit financial institutions with a primary mission of community development.  These institutions, such as NOAH, are able to respond to gaps in the local markets that traditional financial institutions are not adequately serving. 

The $1.398 million award to NOAH is the first of its kind to the organization and was the second largest grant of the 48 given nationally.

According to Van Vliet, “These dollars will go a long way in allowing us to serve a number of markets around the state that are in need of additional affordable housing projects.”

NOAH is a non-profit consortium of Oregon banks created to provide long-term financing for multi-family rental housing which is affordable to lower-income populations.  Formed in 1990, NOAH has funded 90 loans for a total of $101 million.  This has contributed to a production of 4,149 units of rental housing throughout the state. 

For more information on NOAH, visit their website at www.noah-housing.org or contact Bill Van Vliet at 503-223-3211.  For more information on the CDFI fund, visit www.cdfi.org.

Total spending in Oregon on welfare reform programs - child care subsidies, employment services, cash assistance, and emergency assistance – has collapsed since welfare reform began in the mid-1990s, according to a report released today by the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP). Because funding for these programs has not remained at 1993-95 levels, Oregon’s low-income families have lost a total of $861 million in support over the last decade.

“As Oregon families left the cash assistance caseload following welfare reform, Oregon could have devoted the savings to help low-wage workers build their skills and achieve true self-sufficiency,” said Michael Leachman, policy analyst with the OCPP. “Instead, Oregon has spent a large chunk of the savings filling other budget holes.”

The report documents that nearly a quarter of welfare reform-related spending in Oregon is going to pay for programs related to child protective services, not to promote self-sufficiency through traditional welfare services. Some of the savings from cutting self-sufficiency programs has been spent on K-12 education and the Oregon Health Plan.

“Facing a state budget under pressure from increasing costs and inadequate revenue, Oregon has taken advantage of the increased flexibility under welfare reform to siphon money away from self-sufficiency programs to fill budget gaps in other programs,” said Leachman. “When policy makers talk about welfare reform’s ‘increased flexibility,’ they really mean ‘more shell games’.”

“The child protective services system is still seriously underfunded,” said Leachman, “but it has more money than it otherwise would because Oregon has raided the welfare reform funds to cover some of the holes in child protective services. This is the sort of choice the ongoing revenue shortfall has forced upon the state.”

“Rather than taking money from poor people to help poor people, Oregon should raise more revenue from the corporations and rich people who have seen their taxes decline,” he added.

The report points out that major spending cuts in self-sufficiency programs were produced by deliberate policy choices. “Oregon achieved substantial savings by reducing deliberately the number of low-income families who are eligible for assistance, and then spent the ‘savings’ to fill other budget holes,” said Leachman. “These policy decisions had nothing to do with how well Oregon’s poorest families were doing.”

Since 1991, Oregon has required families to be deeper in poverty each year to be eligible for temporary cash assistance. By 2005, according to the report, eligibility shrank to 46 percent of the federal poverty level for a mother with two children. In 1991, it was at 66 percent of poverty.

“Because Oregon has chosen not to invest more in low-wage workers, poverty remains higher in Oregon’s workforce than it otherwise would be,” said Leachman. Poverty among working families with children in Oregon is nearly double what it was a generation ago, he said.

“Unless Oregon overcomes the ongoing revenue shortfall,” said Leachman, “the future for Oregon’s traditional self-sufficiency programs looks bleak.” In the 2005-07 budget period, he noted, traditional self-sufficiency programs are being cut even more, despite Oregon’s return to economic growth.

The 2005-07 budget cut field staff for these programs and further reduced funding that helps welfare recipients prepare for and find work. In addition, the 2005-07 budget does not cover the costs of anticipated caseloads in programs that provide cash assistance and child care subsidies and, as a result, the state welfare agency likely will have to cut these programs further.

To read the full study, go to: http://www.ocpp.org/2005/rpt090912TANF.pdf

The Oregon Center for Public Policy uses research and analysis to advance policies and practices that improve the economic and social opportunities of all Oregonians. (http://www.ocpp.org/)

(From the National Low Income Housing Coalition) The continuing resolution (CR) passed by the House on September 29 and the Senate on September 30 (H.J. Res. 68) will mean cuts to some HUD programs for the duration of the CR. Usually, CRs keep programs at the previous fiscal year’s funding levels, sometimes with some minor adjustment. In the September 29 CR, however, all federal programs will be funded at the lower of the House-passed level, the Senate passed-level, or the FY05-enacted funding level. Since the Senate has not passed the FY06 HUD appropriations bill, HUD programs will be subject to the lower of the House-passed bill or FY05 funding levels. This CR is in effect until November 18.

This is bad news for many HUD programs. These cuts might only be in place for up to six weeks, but six weeks can mean substantial cuts for both larger and smaller HUD programs. For example, the public housing operating subsidy fund’s low funding level of $2.4 billion for FY05 was an anomaly. The President had requested $3.4 billion for FY06 (and the House-passed bill provides $3.6 billion), but under the rules of the CR, the FY05 level will hold until November 18, or until an FY06 HUD bill is enacted. The President and the House have asked for increases for voucher renewals in FY06, but the FY05 level will remain in place for the duration of the CR, more than $850 million below the House-approved level. Under the CR, the House-requested $24 million for resident opportunity and self sufficiency programs will hold, an almost 50% cut to that program. Similarly, compared to FY05 levels, the House has passed significant cuts to CDBG, HOPE VI, Native American Housing Block Grants and Youthbuild. These will all hold until the FY06 HUD bill is enacted or a new CR is enacted on November 18.

A CR was necessary because Congress failed to pass all of the FY06 appropriations bills, including the HUD appropriations bill. The CR is needed to ensure that funds are available to keep the government running when the new fiscal year begins October 1. The House passed all of its appropriations bills for FY06, but the Senate has only passed six of its 12 appropriations bills.

At an Americans for Democratic Action press conference on September 29, Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) decried the budget cuts being proposed by the Administration, and, in particular, the language in the CR that will keep programs operating at the lowest of the three levels. Ms. Schakowsky said this is unprecedented and that programs have always been funded at the prior year levels to ensure that no programs are cut prior to final congressional action.

Budget Reconciliation Process Ahead

Action on budget reconciliation legislation, which was to take place in mid-September, has now been scheduled for the week of October 24. The $70 billion tax cut that was also scheduled for September is still slated for debate later this fall.

Housing advocates and others continue to express their strong objections to cuts that are being considered as part of the budget reconciliation process. NLIHC joined with the Coalition on Human Needs in a letter to Congress urging that all proposed cuts to mandatory programs as well as proposed tax cuts for the wealthy be abandoned. The letter urges increased funding in many areas including housing, and proposes that access to essential services be streamlined for the survivors of the hurricane disasters.

NLIHC also joined in a letter, as a member of the National Preservation Working Group, sent to members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, arguing against cutting up-front grants currently provided by HUD in their property disposition program. The Administration has proposed this cut as part of their reconciliation recommendation, and the letter argues that this proposal will actually increase the government costs to save this badly needed housing.

McKinney-Vento Reauthorization Bill Introduced                  

On September 29, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation introduced S. 1801, the Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act of 2005. The bill proposes to reauthorize, and make significant changes to, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Programs.

The legislation would amend the purpose of the McKinney Act to: create a unified, performance based process for funding; encourage collaboration and planning; focus the public and private sector on ending and preventing homelessness; assist people in transitioning from homelessness and prevention; consolidate existing homelessness programs; allow flexibility and creativity and outcome focus; and ensure that multiple Federal agencies are involved as appropriate for their missions, to serve homeless people.

The legislation would make a number of changes to the role and operation of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH). The bill instructs the ICH to “develop and coordinate the implementation of a national strategy to prevent and end homelessness while maximizing the effectiveness of the Federal Government in contributing to an end to homelessness.” Additional changes to ICH would include, among other things, requiring that the Domestic Policy Council oversee the ICH and adding to the functions of the ICH the development of a National Strategic Plan to End Homelessness.

The bill would eliminate the Continuum of Care process and instead establish Collaborative Applicants (CA), which would oversee and coordinate all of the projects funded in a geographic area. The CA would be established by “the relevant parties in a geographic area” and must include advocates for homeless people, service providers, government officials, members of the business community, neighborhood advocates and philanthropy and at least two people who are or have been homeless.

Collaborative Applicants would apply for a new consolidated program, the Homeless Assistance Program. The purpose of the program is to: prevent homelessness; promote the development of permanent, transitional and “low demand housing”; help people access mainstream resources; and optimize self-sufficiency. Homeless Assistance Program grants could be awarded to collaborative applicants or directly to project sponsors.

The bill would require HUD to use 30% of total funds available nationally for permanent housing development activities for disabled homeless persons or families with a disabled adult. Also, funds in addition to the 30% can be used for permanent housing for homeless people without disabilities.

The bill would also, among other things: allow communities to use up to 5% of their grant funding for homelessness prevention programs; allow HUD to renew permanent housing projects through a noncompetitive process; require community planning boards to review relevant public policies and practices that may result in “imminent, repeated, or prolonged homelessness,” such as discharge planning policies; eliminate the 30% cap on the amount of ESG that can be used for services; and require a cash match of 25% for all activities except for renewals of permanent housing operating costs.

The bill would increase authorization for appropriations to $1.6 billion for fiscal year 2006, and “such sums as necessary” for 2007-2010.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Final FY06 FMRs Released, Katrina FMRs Coming Soon

On September 30, HUD released its final FY06 Fair Market Rents (FMRs). These will be effective as of October 1, 2005. As with last year’s numbers, however, this year’s FMRs are final in name only, with HUD already stating that revised FMRs will follow in coming months.

Though HUD chose not to make many of the changes requested in public comments, such as reverting to the old FMR areas or ignoring the results of its random digit dialing (RDD) surveys, there are still some significant changes between the proposed and the final FY06 FMRs.

The most significant change is that HUD has decided to revert to using a state minimum FMR. This minimum is set at the statewide median nonmetropolitan rent level and is meant to assure that voucher holders will be able to secure decent housing in rural areas that may be poorly served by rental housing. While this was the practice in the years immediately before FY05, a new wrinkle this year is that the statewide minimum is not allowed to exceed the  U.S. median nonmetropolitan rent level. As a result, this change primarily affects small nonmetropolitan counties in the South with low rents.

A series of 18 RDDs conducted this summer in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico led either to no change or increases in the FMRs of the affected areas.

In the proposed FMRs, HUD indicated it would use American Community Survey (ACS) data in place of the regional RDDs it had previously used to update FMRs in areas where Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data was not available, if the ACS data became available in time. Apparently these data did not become available in time, so without regional RDDs “census region CPI data for Class B and C size cities is being used to update areas without local CPI update factors.” The notice does not speculate on the implications of this change..

Along with the announced changes in this notice, HUD has let it be known it will be issuing revised FMRs after October 1. Related to Hurricane Katrina, the notice states that HUD’s past natural disaster policy has been to allow PHAs in Federal Emergency Management Agency-designated disaster areas to request exception FMRs of 110% of published FMRs, and to allow them to retain use of those FMRs for a two-year period. The notice goes on to indicate that HUD is aware that the Katrina disaster is “much larger in scope than previous disasters.” While not proposing a specific policy, the notice states that HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing will issue a notice “within the next few weeks” that addresses how PHAs may obtain disaster-related exception to their FMRs.

Furthermore, HUD notes that since the comment period on its proposed changes to the 50th percentile areas just closed on September 26, 2005, changes in 50th percentile designations will be implemented “as quickly as possible after review and consideration of public comments on the August 25, 2005 notice.” While in the September 30 notice HUD strongly suggests that it will implement the reductions from 50th to 40th percentile FMRs in a subsequent notice, in the data released on September 30 all areas previously designated as 50th percentile FMRs and all areas newly designated as 50th percentile FMRs on August 25th are set at the 50th percentile FMR.

Finally, HUD announces in this notice its intention, and the intention of others in some areas, to conduct a small number of rent studies, which may lead to further FMR revisions.

The final FY06 FMRs and the accompanying documentation can be found at: www.huduser.org/datasets/fmr.html.

Documentary on The Century Plaza to Screen October 18

By popular demand, there will be another screening of The Century Plaza movie, a documentary shot in the Century Plaza before it was purchased and renovated by Central City Concern and became the Hotel Alder.

Built at the turn of the twentieth century, the Century Plaza was at one time as elegant as it was esteemed. Indeed, businessmen, and those simply passing through the city, made a point to patronize this five-story complex sandwiched in the heart of industrial Portland. Sadly, as the century gave way to the development of high-rise and commercial lodging, the Plaza began a downward spiral into the shadows of its towering competition. By the 1960's, the future of the plaza appeared as bleak as that of the nomads and vagabonds who had come to inhabit it: A decaying remnant of the past in which to conceal the likewise inferior members of society.

The Century Plaza movie is told through Rico the cat, the only enduring resident of the hotel. Rico reveals the untold stories of this nebulous culture slowly unfold as he wanders his urban enclave.

Filmmaker Eric Lahey will hold a question and answer session after the showing. 

The screening will take place on Tuesday, October 18, 2005, 12:00 to 1:30 pm at the Portland Development Commission, 222 NW 5th Avenue, 1st Floor Commission Conference Room

Only 150 Seats, RSVP to cappleberry@centralcityconcern.org soon to hold your place!

Many thanks to the Portland Development Commission for the space to screen this film.

You are invited to attend an interactive training on green affordable housing development from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 2005, at Portland City Hall, 1900 Building, S.W. 4th Avenue in Portland. There is no cost to participate and lunch will be served.

Hosted by The Enterprise Foundation, this training will provide practical information about green building specifically for affordable housing developers. You will learn about:

* Green building strategies and how to integrate them into your next affordable housing project.

* New resources–grants, loans, tax credit equity and technical assistance–available to developers interested in building affordable housing that promotes health, conserves energy and natural resources, and provides easy access to jobs, schools, and services.

This training is part of Green Communities™, a five-year, $555 million initiative to build more than 8,500 environmentally healthy homes for low-income families created by Enterprise in partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council. (For more information about the national Green Communities initiative, please review the attached flyer and visit us at http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/)

Southface, a nonprofit corporation with an outstanding reputation for providing sound environmental education and outreach programs, will lead the training. Southface has been recognized for excellence by the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American Institute of Architects, and numerous other industry and community organizations. 

Please register online at www.enterprisemeetings.org to reserve a space at the training.

The Neighborhhod Partnership Fund kicksoff its Fall and Winter Training series on October 27 in Eugene with “Housing Development and Finance. Presented by the Community Development Law Center and CASA of Oregon, this workshop will provide a broad overview of the housing development process and affordable housing finance tools. It is targeted towards new CHDO staff, existing staff with housing development responsibilities and organizations that are relatively inexperienced with developing affordable housing.   Topics will include:

*  Developing a project concept

*  Understanding the market

*  Forming a development team

*  Board roles in the development process

*  Acquiring land

*  Local approval processes

*  Dealing with community opposition

*  Developing project proformas

*  Sources of affordable housing finance

*  Understanding and negotiating project financing agreements

*  Understanding and negotiating project contracts (development services agreements, architect contracts; construction contracts, etc.)

* Construction management oversight

* Obtaining property management services

* Asset management functions

Presenters: 

Leon Laptook:  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.

Charlie Harris:  Charlie Harris, Housing Program Manager at CASA of Oregon, has been in the affordable housing field for 29 years as a consultant for lenders, investors, and non-profit organizations. Mr. Harris co-founded the Community Development Law Center.  He also founded and served as the first executive director for CASA of Oregon, a statewide non-profit housing organization specializing in farm worker housing development, and as a legal services attorney and private real estate attorney.  Mr. Harris has been involved in the development of approximately 1500 units of affordable housing. He has extensive experience in housing finance and providing technical assistance and training to rural community development organizations. He is the author of the Nonprofit Rural and Farmworker Housing Finance Manual and Managing Farmworker Housing:  A Guide to Asset and Property Management. Most recently he was the principal author of 2003 CDLC’s study, prepared for the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department, titled Oregon’s Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit Projects: An Analysis of Income and Expenses. 

The training will run from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.  The location is at the Northwest Community Credit Union, 3660 Gateway Street in Eugene OR Registration is $25.  To sign up, contact Daurie Mangan-Dimuzio at dmangan@tnpf.org or via phone at (503) 226-3001 ext. 100

Registration Deadline: October 6, 2005    

NPF Fall & Winter Community Development Training Series

NPF is pleased to announce a series of trainings available to the community development industry in Oregon over the Fall and early Winter months. These trainings have been designed in cooperation and consultation with CDC staff, our partner organizations that offer training and technical assistance, and national experts. The trainings will be supplemented with support through peer networks and occasional on-site technical assistance.

 The trainings available this Fall and Winter are in two tracks. One track, Asset and Property Management, is largely funded through a grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and will continue through 2006. Many of the early sessions in this series will be offered in the mid-Willamette Valley to maximize availability to all Oregon CDCs. The other track, Resident Services, is funded and designed as part of our Resident Services Demonstration Project, supported by the Allen Family Foundation, The Spirit Mountain Community Fund, and the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning. 

Oregon Alliance for Land Use and Affordable Housing Conference Nov 4

The Oregon Alliance for Land Use and Affordable Housing (OALUAH) is pleased to present the 2005 Oregon Land Use and Housing Affordability Conference on November 4, 2005 from 9:00am - 4:00pm. The conference will be held in the Council Chambers at Metro, 600 NE Grand in Portland.  The morning session will be devoted to providing resources and technical assistance for planners, affordable housing developers, providers and advocates. In the afternoon, participants will discuss long-term solutions to resolve the housing affordability crisis. 

Speakers include Bob Repine, Richard Bjelland, Mike Sheehan, Doug Longhurst, Martha McLennan and Councilor Robert Liberty.

OALUAH is a volunteer-driven, statewide grassroots organization working to guarantee an adequate supply of housing and public services for all Oregonians.  OALUAH meets its mission by providing technical and legal assistance and public education activities to land use planners, affordable housing and public services advocates, decision-makers, and members of the general public. 

Registration information will be sent out shortly.  We hope you will join us on November 4. Lunch will be provided with registration.

For more information, please contact Sophia McDonald, OALUAH Project Coordinator, at (503) 318-9973 or sophiairenem@yahoo.com.

Register Now: 2005 Enterprise Network Conference Nov 9-11 in Washington DC

The 2005 Enterprise Network Conference “Changing Communities in a Changing Landscape” will take place in Washington DC on November 9-11 in Washington DC.  Register by October 14 and save $175.

Keeping up with community development in today’s environment comes with more than vision and will. It comes with many challenges unique to our field. Here are great opportunities to learn how to help your organization meet those challenges. You can concentrate your learning experience on the tracks that focus on your individual concerns, or gain an overall view of what’s new in the field by mixing it up. Either way, you are sure to take home new knowledge, new tools, new contacts and new ideas for today’s – and tomorrow’s – challenges.

The 2005 Enterprise Network Conference will include workshops about Green Communities, Housing, Public Policy and Government Partners, Strengthening Communities, Strengthening Organizations and Mobile Learning Labs.  To find out more about the conference, click here.