OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AWARDS $29.8 MILLION FOR HOUSING FOR SENIORS & PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN BREMERTON, COLVILLE, KENNEWICK, SEATTLE, SPOKANE & WALLA WALLA
Awards Will Generate Almost 600 Construction & Service Jobs

SEATTLE - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today competitively awarded a total of $29,805,800 in capital advances and rent subsidies to develop 200 units of accessible housing, provide rental assistance, and facilitate supportive services for very low-income elderly and persons with disabilities in Bremerton, Colville, Kennewick, Seattle, Spokane and Walla Walla.

The eight awards today to Washington state nonprofits were among 189 grants nationwide under HUD's Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Very Low Income Elderly and Section 811 Supportive Housing for Very Low Income
Persons with Disabilities. Every $1 million in Section 202 and Section 811 grants generates an estimated 20 jobs in
the construction and service sectors and these $29.8 million are expected to generate an estimated 596 jobs.

"The Obama Administration is committed to helping our senior citizens and persons with disabilities find a decent, affordable place to live that is close to needed healthcare services and transportation," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "Recent bipartisan changes to these two supportive housing programs will allow us to better serve some of our more vulnerable populations who would otherwise be struggling to find a safe and decent home of their own."

"In any time, but certainly in these times there is a pressing need in communities large and small across the country for accessible and affordable housing that helps some of our most vulnerable citizens live full and independent lives," said HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Mary McBride. "Our Section 811 program provides critical resources to our non-profit sector to expand the supportive housing stock and, thanks to recent legislative changes, to expand the numbers of people we can help to remain active members of the communities they call home."

Washington state projects winning awards today include:

• American Baptist Homes of the West will use its $10,524,700 Section 202 grant - $9,769,000 in capital advance funds and $755,700 in rent subsidies - to construct and operate the 65-unit Bay Vista Senior Apartments in the Bremerton Housing Authority's HOPE VI revitalization area, also known as Bay Vista.
  
  
• Shalom Ecumenical Services will use its $1,829,000 Section 202 grant - $1,676,900 in capital advance funds and $152,100 in rent subsidies - to construct and operate a 14-unit senior housing complex in Colville.
  
  
• The Low Income Housing Institute will use its $7,596,100 Section 202 grant - $7,011,700 in capital advance funds and $584,400 in rent subsidies - to construct and operate a 51-unit senior housing complex atop an "urban rest stop" in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood.
  
  
• The Blue Mountain Action Council will use its $1,734,100 Section 202 grant - $1,582,000 in capital advance funds and $152,100 in rent subsidies - to construct and operate a total of 13, one-bedroom units for the elderly on two sites in Walla Walla.
  
  
• The Shalom Ecumenical Center will use its $1,977,700 Section 811 grant - $1,814,200 in capital advance funds and $163,500 in rent subsidies - to build and operate a 15-unit complex for the physically- and developmentally-disabled in Kennewick.
  
  
• The Community Psychiatric Clinic will use its $3,257,100 Section 811 grant - $3,006,600 in capital advance funds and $250,500 in rent subsidies to construct and operate a 21-unit facility for the chronically mentally-ill in Seattle.
  
  
• Plymouth Healing Communities will use its $930,700 Section 811 grant - $859,000 in capital advance funds and $71,700 in rent subsidies -  to build and operate Argonaut House II, a two-story, 6-unit "infill" project that will connect to its Argonaut House I and serve the chronically mentally-ill in Seattle.
  
  
• Community Frameworks will use its $1,958,400 Section 811 grant - $1,794,900 in capital advance funds and $163,500 in rent subsidies - to construct and operate a 15-unit facility for persons with disabilities in Spokane.

Enacted earlier this year with strong bipartisan support, the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act and
the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Act provided needed enhancements and reforms to both
programs. Nonprofit grant recipients will now receive federal assistance that is better leveraged and better
connected to state and local health care investments, allowing greater numbers of vulnerable elderly and disabled individuals to access the housing they need even more quickly.

Section 202 Capital Advances will provide $545 million nationwide to 97 projects in 42 States and Puerto Rico. In addition to funding the construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation of multifamily developments, HUD's Section 202 program will also provide $54 million in rental assistance so that residents only pay 30 percent of their adjusted incomes. Section 202 provides very low-income elderly persons 62 years of age or older with the opportunity to live independently in an environment that provides support services to frail elderly resident.

Section 811 Capital Advances will provide $137 million nationwide to assist very low-income persons with disabilities through 92 projects in 35 states. An additional $12.6 million will be available for project rental assistance contracts. Most of the housing supported through the Section 811 Program will be newly constructed, typically small apartment buildings, group homes for three to four persons, or condominium units that are integrated into the larger community. Residents will pay 30 percent of their adjusted income for rent and the federal government will pay the rest.

HUD's Section 811 program provides housing for households with one or more very low-income individuals with a disability. Under this program at least one person must be 18 years or older and have a physical or developmental disability or chronic mental illness. The program provides persons with disabilities the opportunity to live
independently in their communities by increasing the supply of rental housing with the availability of supportive services.

HUD provides these funds to non-profit organizations in two forms:

• Capital Advances. This is funding that covers the cost of developing, acquiring, or rehabilitating the development. Repayment is not required as long as the housing remains available for occupancy by very low-income elderly persons for at least 40 years for (under Section 202) or very low-income persons with disabilities (under Section 811).
  
  
• Project Rental Assistance Contracts. This is funding that goes to each development to cover the difference between the residents' contributions toward rent and the cost of operating the project.
  
  

Residents must be "very low income" with household incomes less than 50 percent of their median for that area. However, most households that receive Section 811 or Section 202 assistance earn less than 30 percent of the median for their area. Generally, this means that a one-person household will have an annual income of about $13,500.

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