Agenda - 04-07-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 1 positive impact for residents. He said Habitat also assists residents with revitalization and repair 2 of older homes through its Brush with Kindness program. He thanked the Board for 3 consideration of this request, and he provided a copy of Habitat for Humanity's annual report. 4 5 Angel Davalos lives in a Habitat home located in the Fairview community in 6 Hillsborough. He said, by providing these funds to Habitat, the Board is keeping the 7 organization functional so that wonderful things can happen. He said, for families purchasing 8 homes, this program makes the single family home dream a reality. He said he had previously 9 lived in public housing, and his wife grew up in one bedroom trailer with her family of five. He 10 said he and his wife feel incredibly blessed to provide a better home for their children. He said 11 the Board is also giving the gift of giving to all of the volunteers involved in this program, and is 12 fostering partnerships between Habitat and organizations within the Community. He highlighted 13 the Hands for Habitat partnership between Habitat and Orange County schools, with a focus on 14 educating students on the issue of affordable housing. He said this program has been in 15 existence for 7 years, and 12 schools and 68 classrooms have participated. He said his home 16 was built by Orange High students, while students in younger grades participated in fund raising 17 activities. He said this program is having an incredible impact on students. He thanked the 18 Board for their support and asked for their continued help. 19 20 Michael Kelly works for Housing for New Hope. He said he has nothing bad to say 21 about Habitat, but you do have to make a certain amount of money to qualify for a Habitat 22 home. He said Housing for New Hope's homeless outreach and support program targets 23 homeless residents and those who make less than 30 percent of area median income. He said 24 these are people who would probably not qualify for a Habitat home, and some form of 25 assistance is needed for them. He said these currently homeless residents are provided with 26 temporary assistance to obtain and retain affordable rental housing. He said HOME funds are 27 requested to support this direct assistance. He said the team searches the streets of Orange 28 County, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, and works in cooperation with other organizations in the 29 area. He said funds are used to help provide these homeless residents with rental and utility 30 deposits, first month's rent, and sometimes with monthly rental assistance. He said the 31 program is considered a success when an individual or family becomes securely housed. He 32 said the goal is to assist with the provision of decent, safe, affordable housing, and to assist 33 participants with obtaining income to live as independently as possible. 34 35 Jamie Rohe is the Homeless Programs Coordinator for Orange County. She hears over 36 and over again from the homeless service providers that there is no affordable rental housing in 37 Orange County. She said Housing for New Hope is an essential program that fills a great need 38 in this area for residents who earn little and are chronically homeless. She said there are very 39 few landlords who will rent to residents with criminal histories or poor credit. She said the 40 Department of Social Services (DSS) and Inter-faith Council (IFC) staff cannot find affordable 41 rental units in Orange County for their clients. She said to bridge these two topics, Orange 42 County and Chapel Hill are required to create a consolidated plan, and this plan is a tool to 43 identify unmet needs and best strategies for filling that need for affordable housing. She 44 encouraged the Board to use this tool to inform funding and policy decisions. 45 46 Maggie West affirmed the previous comments. She requested that the plan include 47 efforts to address the severe lack of properties accepting Section 8 federal vouchers. She said 48 the community is in a crisis of finding landlords who are willing to accept these vouchers and 49 house the families receiving subsidies. She said she is working for two women who are 50 wheelchair bound and have no poor credit or criminal history, but they are having trouble only