2000 Best Practice Awards
Program and Geographical Winners: Iowa
Best Practice: New Lawn Apartments
Anawim Housing Renovates Historic Apartment
Building
Des Moines.
Anawim Housing, in conjunction with the City of Des Moines HOME programs,
Polk County Housing Trust Fund, Iowa Finance Authority and Federal Home
Loan Bank, stepped in to restore what had once been a state-of-the-art luxury
apartment building on a main inner-city thoroughfare. Neglected almost beyond
repair, the structure, which was built in 1915, would not have survived
another winter. The Pacesetter Company, Inc., supervised a complete renovation
of seven three-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom unit. The building
is now called the New Lawn Apartments. The restoration earned the apartment
building a spot on the Historical Register as a landmark property. The renovated
building provided much-needed low-income housing for larger families. All
of the families currently residing in the complex earn less than 50 percent
of the area median income. In addition, the project serves to anchor rehabilitation
of the surrounding neighborhood and has transformed what was once an eyesore
into a beautiful landmark.
Contact: Stella Neill, Phone: (515) 244-8308
Tracking Number: 181
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Affordable Homeownership Program
Program Offers Downpayment Assistance to
Low-Income Families
Sioux City.
The Affordable Home Ownership Program provides downpayment assistance to
help low-income families purchase their first home. The program offers qualifying
low-income families with a forgivable loan/second mortgage, which they may
use as a downpayment to cover closing costs on the purchase of a single-family
home located within the city. At the end of five years, if the family has
not sold or vacated the house, the loan is forgiven and the second mortgage
is released. Applicants must attend the Home Ownership Pre-purchase Program
offered by the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Siouxland.
Applicants who meet program eligibility guidelines must find a home, negotiate
the price and make financial arrangements with a private lender. This program
is funded with proceeds from public housing sales and has helped 150 families
place an average downpayment of $4,089.
Contact: Doug Grindberg, Phone: (712) 279-6276
Tracking Number: 300
Winning Category: Program (Community Builder)
Best Practice: Polk County, Iowa, Housing Trust
Fund
Polk County Trust Fund Finances 838 Units
of Affordable Housing
Polk County.
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund is a public-private partnership working
to improve and increase affordable housing for low-income families. Seven
nonprofit housing providers form the trust which funds projects that could
not secure financial support from any other source. The trust fund has financed
838 units of affordable housing. The fund supports six programs. They include
supportive counseling and educational services to stabilize families; operating
expense funding to stabilize nonprofit partners; capacity building funding
to enable the expansion of operations of member nonprofits; development
funding for rehabilitation or new construction; early stage predevelopment
funding until permanent funding is secured; and technical assistance funding
for the completion of housing needs assessments. Nonprofits belonging to
the fund do not individually solicit financial support. This allows the
corporate community to make contributions to one entity so that individual
nonprofits can concentrate activities on helping the community instead of
fundraising.
Contact: Jayne Jochem, Phone: (515) 883-2509
Tracking Number: 512
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)
Best Practice: Stay N Play Child Care Center
Public Housing Families Benefit from Stay
N Play Child Care Center
Clinton.
The Clinton Housing Authority, with the assistance of HUD and many local
and state partners, has created a childcare center that enables Section
8 and public housing parents to obtain quality childcare at an affordable
price. The Stay N Play Child Care Center offers age-appropriate activities,
including a structured "preschool," a summer camp for school-aged
children that centers around daily field trips and community involvement.
In cooperation with the Iowa State University Extension Office, the Center
offers a unique program that helps children learn about gardening as they
raise vegetables to share with their classmates. Crucial to the success
of this Best Practice is the Family Investment Center and computer lab/learning
center immediately adjacent to Stay N Play. Parents can attend workshops
taught by area colleges, federal agencies and private social workers on
topics such as life skills, money management, self-esteem and parenting.
The computer lab provides a well-equipped, quiet place for residents to
complete school assignments or create resumes. In addition, the centers
have provided nutritious breakfasts, lunches, and snacks to over 120 public
housing and/or Section 8 families.
Contact: Debra Vath, Phone: (319) 243-1289
Tracking Number: 511
Winning Category: Geographical and Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: NHS Homeownership Mobile Unit
Housing Assistance on Wheels: Mobile Field
Office for Neighborhood Housing
Rural Iowa.
After government downsizing caused the closing of more than 20 USDA Rural
Development Field Offices in Iowa, a number of communities suddenly found
themselves cut off from their connection to housing services, counseling
and information. Recognizing this gap in coverage, Neighborhood Housing
Services (NHS), a nonprofit agency based in central Iowa developed a simple
and logical solution. The group acquired a 35-foot recreational vehicle
and created a field office on wheels.
The mobile field office operates as a local
point of contact, resources center and outreach hub for rural communities
in southern Iowa lacking access to information on fail housing, homeownership
and housing assistance resources. The mobile home enables interagency teas
to visit rural areas periodically and is equipped to receive satellite broadcasts
from the NHS home office, as well as broadcasts from HUD headquarters. The
mobile field office allows rural communities immediate access to training
materials and HUD broadcasts, such as speeches by Secretary Cuomo. Training
sessions can be conducted by setting up chairs around the front of the recreational
vehicle, and necessary retrofitting and accommodations have enabled the
Winnebago to accommodate people with disabilities.
Beneficiaries of this program are under-served
rural communities and populations, including many major immigrants groups,
across southern Iowa.
Although the solution is highly nontraditional,
the planning, development and funding was rather straightforward. The nonprofit
Neighborhood Housing Service approached the state USDA/Rural Development
office with the plan for a mobile unit to replace the closed field offices.
Planning sessions were held, and funding possibilities were discussed for
the acquisition and retrofitting of the mobile field unit. Ultimately, the
project secured commitments from USDA/Rural Services to provide financial
assistance, and from NHS to do the hands-on work needed to operate the unit
and perform the outreach.
The mobile unit is tangible evidence of high-level
cooperation between the nonprofit sector and a major federal agency, USDA/Rural
Development. USDA funded the project with a customized mix of grants and
loans, and Neighborhood Housing Services will service, staff and operate
the mobile field office with funds from other sources. The project creatively
addresses two issues: (1) The closure of more than 20 USDA/Rural Development
field offices in Iowa, while needs remain to be met; and (2) The growth
of under-served populations including expanding immigrant groups.
The mobile home, because of its mobility and
the imaginative retrofit, has the capacity to serve nearly all of the 20
communities that recently lost service using the costs associated with only
this one unique office and one staff.
Contact: Kathleen Moretz, Phone: (515) 277-6647
Tracking Number: 222
Winning Category: Program (Community Builder)
Best Practice: Building Blocks for a Better
Tomorrow Through the Community Housing Development Corporation
Community Housing Development Corporation
Builds Low Income Housing
Des Moines.
The mission of the Community Housing Development Corporation is to provide
safe, decent, affordable homeownership opportunities for families with incomes
below 80 percent of the area median income. This year, 50 homes will be
completed, representing more than $1.2 million in construction costs and
$50,000 in owner-occupied repair services. The program uses job trainees
to revitalize neighborhoods by renovating homes surrounding city schools.
In one neighborhood, the renovation of 26 homes spurred other enhancements
within the community including rehabilitation of the local school. The organization
has implemented a bilingual job training program in Spanish, Vietnamese
and Bosnian to help unemployed or underemployed non-English speakers learn
valuable construction skills while learning English. For homeowners living
near the renovation projects, repair services are also provided at reduced
rates.
Contact: Carol Bower, Phone: (515) 244-7798
Tracking Number: 551
Winning Category: Geographical
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Content Archived: April 20, 2011 |