2000 Best Practice Awards
Program and Geographical Winners: Oregon
Best Practice: North Bend, Oregon Confederated
Tribes Cooperative Agreement
Confederated Tribes Enter into One of A
Kind Agreement with City
North Bend. The
Cooperative Agreement between the Confederated Tribes and the city of North
Bend, Oregon is one of the only agreements of this type in the Nation between
a tribe and a municipality. The Confederated Tribes sought for over a year
to develop affordable housing for low income Native Americans on trust land
in the city of North Bend. The Confederated Tribes took the lead in developing
the Cooperative Agreement with the city of North Bend, requiring months
of painstaking negotiations with the city to facilitate providing municipal
services to the housing site. As such, it represents an innovative solution
to the problems presented by the development of Indian Trust Land within
the jurisdictional boundaries of a municipality. When the city was reluctant
to proceed, the Confederated Tribes felt compelled to file a Fair Housing
complaint to move the Agreement forward. The Tribes worked in partnership
with HUD to develop an instrument that would enable the monitoring of the
Cooperative Agreement. While negotiations are still underway with the city
of North Bend to finalize a Voluntary Compliance Agreement providing for
this monitoring, the Confederated Tribes has provided assistance in resolving
some of the remaining areas of concern.
Contact: Bill Orme, Phone: (541) 888-9577
Tracking Number: 1029
Winning Category: Program (Fair Housing and Equal Opportuntiy)
Best Practice: Housing Authority of Portlands
GOALS Program
Portlands Low-Income Residents Become
Self-sufficient through GOALS
Portland.
The Housing Authority of Portlands GOALS Program offers greater opportunities
to advance, learn and succeed through job training, education, counseling,
homeownership and family resources to help low-income people become self-sufficient.
The program uses grants, operating funds and matching funds to provide a
Family Self-sufficiency Program with Escrow, an apprenticeship, entrepreneurship
and homeownership program open to public housing and Section 8 residents.
The program has 28 private, nonprofit and public-sector partners. It has
graduated 85 participants who are employed and no longer receive public
assistance. Of these graduates, 61 now own their own homes. Eighty percent
of the 290 participants are employed.
Contact: Jim Trapp, Phone: (503) 802-8300
Tracking number: 2817
Winning Category: Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: Portland, Oregon Hispanic Metropolitan
Chamber of Commerce Latino Home Buying Fair
First Latino Homeownership Fair Attracts
Over 75 Families
Portland. In an effort to increase
the number of Latino homeowners, the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
held a homeownership fair, which included various home buying seminars presented
in Spanish, Spanish language pamphlets and brochures, a raffle drawing for
items donated by various sponsors and activities for children. The 19 exhibitors
at the fair consisted of realtors, lenders, FHA/HUD representatives, and
others in the local real estate community. This first effort attracted over
75 Hispanic families. A second fair is expected to have 30 exhibitors and
attract the same or greater number of Hispanic families as the first successful
homeowner fair.
Contact: Shelli Romero, Phone: (503) 282-7455
Tracking Number: 1055
Winning Category: Geographic
Best Practice: Family Self-Sufficiency ABCs
of Homebuying Club
The ABCs of Homebuying Educates Potential
Homebuyers
Salem.
The Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program provides encouragement, support,
information and training to Housing Authority residents interested in homeownership.
All inquiries to the Housing Authority regarding home buying are referred
to self-sufficiency case managers who provide information about general
requirements of lenders and local training classes for first time home buyers.
Basic information about government homeownership programs is mailed to every
caller making a request. Housing Authority residents making inquiries are
encouraged to join the program and work specifically towards their homeownership
goal. FSS Program Coordinators organize Homebuyers' Clubs, and lead workshops
in the Homeowner Education Collaborative of Oregon's curriculum "The
ABC's of Homebuying." In addition they promote special programs with
lenders for FSS homebuyers, and work intensively with prospective homebuyers,
as well as make referrals to community agencies to help participants prepare
to meet the various homebuying requirements.
Contact: Barbara Kauss, Phone: (503) 588-6368
Tracking Number: 2742
Winning Category: Geographic
Best Practice: Affordable Housing Association of
Certified Public Accountants (AHACPA)
AHACPA Provides Means of Entering Financial
Data into HUD Database
Oregon (Statewide). The Affordable Housing Association of Certified Public Accountants
was formed to provide education services to CPA's who audit Multifamily
and Public and Indian Housing programs. The organization conducts seminars,
provides their members with updated training materials and answers technical
questions. The association also provides data input services. AHACPA inputs
financial information in HUD's Multifamily Financial Assessment Subsystem
(FASS) or the Public Housing FASS. HUD uses the FASS system to collect audit
and financial data for HUD-insured and HUD-assisted multifamily housing
complexes. FASS also collects information on public housing authorities.
HUD uses this financial data to assess risks and monitor compliance with
federal laws and regulations. AHACPA enters financial data into FASS for
those owners and Public Housing Authorities that do not have the capability
or expertise to enter the data themselves. AHACPA has 200 members. It is
continually helping them to comply with HUD laws and regulations.
Contact: David Bybee, Phone: (800) 532-0809
Tracking Number: 1035
Winning Category: Program (Real Estate Assessment Center)
Best Practice: Metro Portland and Vancouver Bi-State
Regional Housing and Community Development Partnership
Bi-State Forum Targets $100+ Million in
Affordable Housing
Portland.
A voluntary forum of Metro Portland Entitlement communities, Public Housing
Authorities, State of Oregon Housing and Community Services, Metro government,
and HUD program Managers and Community Builders is emerging as an important
metropolitan area housing and community development partnership. Through
this forum, partners have identified an agenda of common regional interests
and commitments. Accomplishments include a 1-Year Action agenda; a regional
analysis of impediments to fair housing, and a standard process for project
based vouchers that could produce $100+ million in housing that is affordable
and available for very low-income renters. The forum has provided for a
sharing of standard documents for local consideration for a $20 million
Enterprise Foundation land acquisition fund as well.
A working group is actively exploring ways
to increase the supply of affordable housing. By establishing a concrete
regional work plan despite the existence of state boundaries, the Portland
partnership demonstrates to others that regional housing and community development
cooperation is possible.
Contact: Tom Cusack, Phone: (503) 326-2561
Tracking Number: 1261
Winning Category: Program (Community Builders)
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