Minutes 03-03-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The maximum-to-date has been 29 men. Hence, we believe the community will need an additional 12-15 emergency shelter beds in southern Orange County on cold weather nights for homeless men in addition to those that will be available at the new Community House. Hudson Vaughn works with the Jackson Center, and he supports the previous comments. He feels it is important that the consolidated plan supports critical home repairs for long term elderly residents in Orange County. He gave examples of homes he has seen that have significant repair needs. He said these critical repairs need a quick response, and efforts have been made to connect these residents with agencies such as Habitat for Humanity and the IFC to address their needs in a multifaceted way. He said Orange County's Housing Department has programs to address some of these, but the process is often too slow to accommodate the needs. He gave examples of situations to support the existence of this issue. Robert Reda is the President of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. He said the demand for Habitat homes will continue to rise, and one way Habitat is preparing to meet those needs is by acquiring land. He noted the future agenda item regarding a lot donation from the County. He hopes the County will be open to future donations of other properties that are suitable for affordable housing. He said Habitat for Humanity's site committee has identified a number of possible building lots, and Habitat will continue to raise funds for purchase of these lots, but local government funding will also be needed. He said Habitat is a member of the Affordable Housing Coalition, which is chaired by Habitat's Executive Director, Susan Levy. He said the coalition has successfully advocated for the Town of Chapel Hill to have an ongoing source of local funding for affordable housing. He said the County will also be asked to develop a sustainable source for funding. He said Habitat also has an exterior repair program, which is supported by the County through its outside agency grant. He said there is still a significant unmet need among low income residents, especially the elderly, and he hopes the consolidated plan will address this. He thanked the Board for their support. The following written statement was submitted via email: FROM: Mary Jean Seyda, COO of CASA, Chair of the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness DATE: February 20, 2015 RE: Public Comment on the FY 2015-2019 Orange County Consolidated Housing Plan & 2015-2016 HOME Investment Partnership funds Research shows that Extremely Low Income Households (ELI) have the greatest need for rental housing. These are individuals and families whose income is at or below 30% of the median. In Orange County these community members have incomes that range from $0- $13,800 for a single individual, $19,700 for a family of 4. Federal housing assistance including Public Housing Authority units and Housing Choice Vouchers, is aimed at this group. "But unlike most other safety net programs, federal low income housing assistance is not an entitlement. Everyone who is eligible for it does not receive it. These programs only reach about 23% of income eligible households, because they are not funded at a high enough level to serve all eligible households." (National Low Income Housing Coalition, The Aliqnment Proiect, http://nlihc.orq/library/research/aliqnment, 2014) According to the Urban Institute (http://urban.org/housingaffordability� in Orange County