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| Housing that Works for Families: Springwater Commons Open House Nov 16 Northwest Housing Alternatives (NHA) is pleased to announce the completion of a new affordable housing community in outer Southeast Portland. Responding to the shortage of affordable apartments with enough bedrooms for larger families, Northwest Housing Alternatives designed the Springwater Commons specifically with the needs of large families in mind. “Children deserve an opportunity to succeed, and having a stable home is a huge part of that opportunity,” said Martha McLennan, Executive Director of Northwest Housing Alternatives. The townhomes at Springwater Commons offer 36 new three, four and five bedroom units for families in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood in outer Southeast Portland. The spacious and light-filled homes have great amenities including free high-speed internet, full size washers and dryers, energy efficient appliances, play areas for children, and a community room for social events and on-site services. Nearby conveniences include public transportation, shopping and open spaces like the Springwater Corridor and Leach Botanical Gardens. Northwest Housing Alternatives invites you to attend the Springwater Commons open house, Tuesday November 16th from 10 am to 12 noon. Remarks will begin at 11 am, and light refreshments will be served. Please join us at 6430 SE 128th, Portland (the SE corner of Foster Road and 128th). For more information, please contact Kate Kealy at 503-654-1007. Springwater Commons was developed by Northwest Housing Alternatives and Tom Walsh & Co. Funding partners include the City of Portland Bureau of Housing and Community Development, Enterprise Social Investment Corporation, the Housing Authority of Portland, Oregon Housing and Community Services, the Portland Development Commission, the Enterprise Foundation and US Bank. Project based Section 8 assistance for nine of the units will help families with even the lowest incomes live at Springwater Commons. For twenty-three years, NHA has been working to provide a wide range of affordable housing options for people in Oregon. NHA currently owns and manages over 1,200 units of affordable housing in 14 counties across the state, including a shelter for homeless families with children, apartments, and group homes for folks with special needs. From inner city Portland to John Day, our mission remains the same - to provide affordable homes to those who need it most, including seniors, families and people with disabilities. Working in concert with partners and community supporters, NHA has an active development program to help fill the growing need for low-cost rental housing across Oregon. We are currently developing 200 units of new-construction affordable housing, and preserving affordability at another 200 units. HUD Awards Caritas Community Housing Over $2 Million for Supportive Housing On October 22, HUD announced the fiscal year 2004 funding awards for its popular Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program. Included in this year's funding are a capital advance of $1,925,000 and a five-year rental subsidy of $306,000 to project sponsor Caritas Community Housing Corporation (CCHC), more than $2.5 Million in total. These funds will be used to construct 20 new one-bedroom units for very low-income persons with chronic mental illness in the Villebois development on the site of the former Dammasch State Hospital in Wilsonville. Villebois is the nation's first planned unit development to include integrating mental health housing in its redevelopment plan. A total of eight acres in 22 separate sites scattered through the development are reserved for mental health housing. The HUD funded project just announced, with the rest of the community being developed, will create a housing diversity that will benefit both the target population and the community as a whole. CCHC is a non-profit corporation formed in 2001 to develop affordable housing in Clackamas County. It is an offshoot of Catholic Charities' Caritas Housing Initiative, which has provided over 110 affordable housing units in Oregon since 1999. Caritas has received over $1 million dollars from HUD in connection with its Sandy Vista project and North Slope Village in Sutherlin. To learn more about HUD's Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program visit: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/mfh/progdesc/disab811.cfm 12,000 Submit Comments Opposing CRA Changes; FDIC Rule Expected in Dec National organizations, banks, advocates, elected officials and citizens submitted more than 12,000 letters to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) about proposed changes to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Thousands responded to calls by The Enterprise Foundation and other national groups to let the FDIC know how the proposal would harm low- and moderate-income communities across the country. In addition, Enterprise secured many letters from key congressional leaders voicing opposition. The proposed change would allow about 5,000 banks with total assets of more than $754 billion and branches in more than 18,800 communities - 96 percent of all FDIC-regulated banks - to receive a watered-down CRA exam that looks only at certain types of lending. The Office of Thrift Supervision, which regulates savings and loans institutions, has already adopted this new “small bank” definition. Now 88 percent of all of thrifts - 828 institutions - will have only cursory CRA exams. In the last days of the comment period, the Baltimore Sun took an editorial position against the FDIC proposal, saying that the proposed changes would “undermine the incentive for banks to invest in poor communities” and “unravel the tradition of reinvestment.” The FDIC is expected to announce its final rule in December. Advocates have made a strong stand in support of the CRA's 30-year record of promoting investments in low- and moderate-income communities. It remains to be seen if the FDIC will heed the comments and withdraw their proposal. BHCD Single Family Rehabilitation Program RFP's Due Dec 17 Training on Property Management and Services in Supportive Housing Dec 6 & 7 The City of Portland's Bureau of Housing and Community Development (BHCD) is hosting the Corporation for Supporting Housing to conduct a training entitled, "Coordinating Property Management and Social Services in Supportive Housing" on both December 6 and 7. This training is geared to provide local, real case examples of how communication among housing, service providers, and in some cases, resident services coordinators can improve to better stabilize tenants in this type of housing. This training examines the elements of an effective working relationship between property management and supportive services- respect; effective, ongoing communication; and attention to tenant confidentiality. Anyone who has ever worked in supportive housing knows that each project must balance among competing forces - the financial demands of the building, the security of the larger community and the needs of the tenants. This training will explore how these natural tensions can add a new dimension to the work and what local resources are available to help stabilize tenants and properties. This training is helpful whether or not management and services are provided by one or two separate organizations. BHCD is offering this one-day training twice, on Dec. 6 and 7th, from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. Where: The Portland Conference Center, 300 NE Multnomah, Portland Who is the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)?: CSH are national leaders in the field of supportive housing. In coordination with broader national efforts to end homelessness, CSH will help communities create 150,000 units of supportive housing during the next decade. CSH brings together people, skills, and resources. They advance their mission by providing high-quality advice and development expertise, by making loans and grants to supportive housing sponsors, by strengthening the supportive housing industry, and by reforming public policy to make it easier to create and operate supportive housing. They have also provided the City of Portland and Multnomah County funding to promote systems change to better integrate our housing and services funding to create more permanent supportive housing. This training is paid for by this grant. Intended Audience: On-Site Property Managers, Case Managers and Resident Services Coordinators who work with clients in housing, although we welcome anyone who is interested in learning more about making connections between housing and services providers. The Trainer: Darin Lounds, from CSH, Oakland, CA Darin Lounds has been with CSH since August 2002. He has worked in the homeless services and supportive housing industries since 1994 as direct services staff, Operations Director and Administrative Director for two community based non-profits in San Francisco, CA. With CSH, Darin has created and sustained housing for youth emancipating from Foster Care, homeless families, re-entry housing for ex-offenders, and long-term homeless adults in a Housing First approach. He has also provided project-specific assistance to CSH partners throughout Northern California and is currently part of CSH's Strategic Partnerships Team. Darin will be partnering with local champions of supportive housing to facilitate this training. To register, contact Molly Rogers at (503) 823-2386 or mrogers@ci.portland.or.us TACS Workshop on Nonprofit Financial Fundamentals Dec 7 Master the five key functions essential to effective financial management: Planning: annual budgets, capital budgets, grant budgets, cash flow projection Execution: fiscal controls to ensure that what you've planned is what you do Recording: accounting system choices and challenges Reporting: getting and using the financial info you need Monitoring: understanding whether your financial plan is working Nonprofit organizations confront new skepticism about their ability to manage funds and fulfill donor expectations. Join us for a new workshop designed for executive directors and financial managers who aspire to have their nonprofit meet the highest standards for accountability. Financial Fundamentals for Nonprofits provides the basic tools every executive director needs to provide effective direction and oversight for their nonprofit's finances. This full day, interactive workshop offers a great opportunity to improve communication between executive directors and fiscal manager/accountants and to increase board involvement in productive financial oversight and directions setting. Learn budget, accounting, and financial reporting techniques to deal with multiple programs and multiple funding sources, cash flow issues, and the challenge of building reserves. Who Should Attend: This training will benefit anyone wanting to understand the basics of nonprofit financial management including Executive Directors and Fiscal Staff Event Sponsors: Qwest Date: December 7, 2004, 8:30am - 4:00pm Cost: $110 Location: Mary L. Collins Conference Center at the YWCA (1111 SW 10th Ave. Portland, OR) To register, go to http://www.tacs.org/training/register.asp Nonprofit Finance Fund Green Building Workshop in Portland Dec 9 The Nonprofit Finance Fund-a national leader in social enterprise finance-presents the "Green Building Workshop: Helping Nonprofits Consider Green," Portland, Dec. 9, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM This session, developed in partnership with The Kresge Foundation, is intended for the organization's Executive Director and a senior board member. The registration fee is $200 per organization (for two participants). Space is limited to 15 organizations (per workshop). Those interested in attending must first submit a preliminary survey by Friday, November 5th. Visit The Nonprofit Finance Fund at http://whatcounts.com/t?ctl=9AF06C:2ABE2C4 to learn more about NFF's Green Building Workshop Series or contact Wells Chen at wells.chen@nffusa.org for more information and to obtain a survey. 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