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Ohio
Community Development
News
August 2015
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Volume 6, Issue 8 | August 31, 2015
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Below is an update with a collection of news items that are relevant to Community Development in Ohio and the Ohio CDC Association.
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September 8th is the Last Day to Book a Hotel Room for the OCDCA Conference in Kent
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Register for the OCDCA 2015 Annual Conference - Igniting Collaborative Innovation
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Last Day to Apply for a Student or Young Professional Conference Scholarship!
OCDCA is pleased to announce a limited number of full registration scholarships for students and young professionals (under thirty) for the 31st annual conference in Kent on October 1-2. Apply for a scholarship here. The deadline is Monday, August 31.
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OCDCA Receives Community Development Support from Bank of America
Thank you
Bank of America for recognizing Ohio CDC Association for your Charitable Foundation's Community Development Grant! OCDCA is excited to continue its partnership with Bank of America as we engage in capacity building for CDCs across Ohio. Their forward belief of being only as strong as the communities they serve unites wonderfully with our vision of creating a a community development environment that comprehensively improves life opportunities for all residents.
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2015 Ohio Microbusiness Development Program Application Available
The funding application for the Ohio Microbusiness Development Program is now available. The purpose of the Ohio Microbusiness Development Program is to provide funding for CDCs to further develop a local delivery system that encourages microbusiness development, provides low- and moderate-income households with access to capital for business development and self-employment, and creates and retains long-term jobs in the private sector. The assistance enabled by this funding can be in the form of either training or technical assistance or direct assistance to the business in the form of a loan, with loan funds repaid into a local microbusiness revolving loan fund. Applications are due September 23. Please contact David Foust at [email protected] for questions.
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Seeking OCDCA AmeriCorps VISTA Alums
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of AmeriCorps VISTA. Ohio CDC Association has had the privilege to operate an AmeriCorps VISTA program since 1995. To commemorate, we are trying to compile a comprehensive profile on OCDCA AmeriCorps VISTA Alums. If you are or know of a VISTA Alum, please contact Melissa Miller at [email protected]. We want to know where you served and what you are doing now. Thank you for your service!
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Webinars on Commercial Vacant Property Redevelopment and Revitalization
Ohio CDC Association, in partnership with Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC), presents four free webinars that will explain how to accomplish various aspects of commercial vacant property redevelopment and commercial district revitalization. Three of the four have already occurred, but there is no need to have attended them to join us for this final webinar. The webinars are designed as "How To" guides for local community development practitioners, identifying strategies and tools that leverage the link between available commercial properties and economic re-growth strategies in legacy cities. The content of the webinars, described below, will match the overall process of commercial property redevelopment and reuse.
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Tools for Overcoming Financial Gaps
September 16, 2015
2 PM - 3:15 PM
Webinar
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The target audience of the webinars are community development organizations, including CDCs, Main Street program and commercial district managers, business improvement districts, county land banks, municipal planning and economic development officials, private individuals and developers, chambers of commerce, and other local champions and practitioners leading commercial revitalization efforts.
These webinars proudly sponsored by:
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Fall Webinars: Delving into the Future of Community and Housing Development
This fall, join OCDCA in partnership with Arch City Development, for our new free webinar series: Delving into the Future of Community and Housing Development
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What's Next for the Community Development Industry? A Look Into a Future of Diminished Resources
November 12, 2015
2 PM - 3:30 PM
Webinar
Click here to register!
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For more information on the specifics of any of these webinars, visit our Training page. These webinars proudly sponsored by:
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Nurture an Idea Crowdrise Challenge
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Local Group Brings Fresh Food to Underserved Communities
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YNDC and Mahoning Land Bank Team up to Save Vacant Houses
Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) and the Mahoning County Land Bank will save some vacant houses in the city from the wrecking ball as reported in the
Youngstown Vindicator.
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AmeriCorps VISTA Spotlight
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AmeriCorps VISTAs Recruited 375 New Volunteers in July
In July, the OCDCA VISTA Members were very successful in building volunteer capacity at a number of member organizations.
Last month alone, our VISTA Members recruited 375 new volunteers who collectively served a total of 8,419 hours.
Beth Combs
, a second-year VISTA Member at
Supports to Encourage Low-income Families
in Hamilton, recruited 250 volunteers to assist with affordable housing efforts.
Abbey Bott
, one of our new VISTA Members serving at
Godman Guild
in Columbus, recruited 45 volunteers to assist with employment and asset-building efforts.
Our VISTA Members also have continued to raise financial resources for their sites.
Adam Abraham, a second-year VISTA at
Yellow Springs Home Inc., helped secure a $15,200 donation to the organization for their affordable housing development programs. As we enter September, we are very excited to see the great work that our VISTA Members across the state will continue to do.
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NeighborWorks Health and Community Development Webinars
Neighborworks America's Healthy Homes and Communities Webinar Series is a four-part webinar series that will explore topics at the intersection of health, housing, and community development. The series will focus on four central themes: 1) Healthy Communities; 2) Healthy Homes; 3) Healthy People; and 4) Partnerships on the "First Tuesday" of every month from September to December.
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A Successful Model of Lease-To-Own Using 9% Housing Tax Credits Webinar
Join special guest speaker Rob Curry of the
Cleveland Housing Network
as he discusses how they have assisted over 900 families to become homeowners after renting scattered site single family homes. This webinar, produced by Enterprise, will be September 22. More information here.
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Ohio's Service as a Solution Summit
This year marks AmeriCorps VISTA's fiftieth anniversary. In Ohio, the Corporation for National Services is celebrating the VISTA anniversary by hosting a summit for all of the national service programs.
The summit will be held at the Fawcett Center at the Ohio State University on September 23. More information here. OCDCA is one of many partners for this summit.
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OHFA Housing Tax Credit Program Compliance Training
The
Ohio Housing Finance Agency offers this course that focuses primarily on the basics of compliance for the Housing Tax Credit program (also known as the HTC program). Because compliance rules and procedures are frequently updated, the course is beneficial for individuals new to the Housing Tax Credit program as well as seasoned veterans. Cost is $89 for a full day training and there are eight different dates and locations from which to choose. Read more
here.
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2015 Ohio Rural Housing Conference
The Council for Rural Housing & Development of Ohio and USDA Rural Development are holding the upcoming conference scheduled for September 21-23, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. More information here.
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Small Grants for Make a Difference Day
ServeOhio, in conjunction with its corporate Stewards of Service, Honda of America and AEP Ohio, announces the availability of grants to support community service projects organized for Make A Difference Day on October 24, 2015. Grant awards will be in the range of $500 to $1,000. Depending on amounts requested, an estimated five to ten grants will be awarded.
Deadline is September 8, 2015.
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Walmart State Giving
Walmart holds four funding cycle opportunities per year. Ohio non-profits can submit an application in the focused giving cycle (hunger relief and healthy eating or career opportunity) or community engagement from Sept. 14 - 18. The minimum amount that can be requested is $25,000. The maximum is $250,000. The average grant size is $40,000.
More information.
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National Endowment of the Arts Our Town Grants for Creative Placemaking
The National Endowment for the Arts has published guidelines and the application for the next funding round of Our Town, the agency's primary creative placemaking grants program. Our Town requires partnerships between arts organizations and government, other nonprofit organizations, and private entities to achieve livability goals for communities, under the program areas of either arts engagement, cultural planning, and design projects or projects that build knowledge about creative placemaking. Deadline is September 21.
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HUD Community Compass TA & Capacity Building Program
Community Compass is HUD's integrated technical assistance and capacity building initiative that helps communities navigate complex housing and community development challenges by equipping them with the knowledge, skills, tools, capacity, and systems to implement HUD programs and policies successfully. The selection process may include providers with a broad range of skills and expertise as well as providers with more targeted skills and expertise. Applicants are encouraged to procure subcontractors and consultants to build a team with expertise in a range of HUD program and policy areas. Selected providers may work collaboratively in teams and will be deployed as HUD deems most necessary across the country to achieve these objectives. Deadline is September 25. |
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Efficiency Crafted Homes Incentives
Efficiency Crafted Homes provides financial incentives for new home construction or gut rehabs in Columbia Gas of Ohio or AEP Ohio territory. For more information about becoming an Efficiency Crafted builder, contact 1-877-771-5506 or [email protected].
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FHLBank of Cincinnati Community Investment Cash Advances
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati provides discounted advances through two programs to support housing and economic development. Under the Community Investment Program (CIP), discounted loans are available to finance the purchase, construction, and/or rehabilitation of housing and economic development projects. The Economic Development Program (EDP) provides discounted advances to promote economic development and/or job creation/retention. Available year-round. More information about these and other programs is available here. |
For current postings Click Here.
Organizations with employment opportunities in the housing and community development field, please send your employment notices to Lisa Much at [email protected]. |
Non-Profit Developer Fee Bonus Passed by OHFA Board
Due to the dismantling of the CHDO operating grant program caused by the HUD HOME rules, OCDCA has advocated for changes to developer fees in OHFA's Multifamily Underwriting Guidelines in an attempt to make up for lost resources. On page 11 of this redline version is language approved for an additional $75,000 in the maximum overall developer fee to go to the "community based non-profit developer". This is intended to be above and beyond the negotiated developer fee split in the event of a joint venture and when a community based non-profit is the 100% owner. It is incumbent upon the non-profit developer to utilize this intended bonus when negotiating development agreements. We would like to thank OHFA for their support of this measure and recognition of the important work of non-profit affordable housing developers. If you have any questions please contact Nate Coffman at [email protected] or (614) 461-6392 x 207.
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Nuisance Abatement Legislation Introduced
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Service Station Cleanup Fund
The Service Station Cleanup Fund was established by the Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA) in the state budget for the purpose of cleanup and remediation of Class C release sites to provide for and enable environmentally safe and productive reuse of abandoned gas stations. ODSA expects to launch the program after the effective date of the bill, which is September 29th, 2015. ODSA is continuing to work on the guidelines for the program and non-profit organizations are expected to be eligible to utilize this program. At the request of the Director of Development Services, the Director of the Budget Management may transfer up to $20,000,000 cash from the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund to the Service Station Cleanup Fund to provide for grants awarded.
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Appropriations Process Stalls, Advocates Call on Congress to Lift Budget Caps and Restore HOME
The fiscal year 2016 appropriations process has stalled, with a month before government funding runs out on September 30. Senate Democrats have continued to block all 12 appropriations bills from coming to the Senate floor for a vote in opposition to restrictive budget caps. The latest confrontation over federal funding for Planned Parenthood has further complicated negotiations; Senate Republicans want to vote on the measure soon, but Democrats are expected to prevent it, too, from coming to the floor. In addition to the threat of a government shutdown, there are risks to housing and community development programs as a result of
cuts proposed in both the House and Senate appropriations bills. For example, both bills would severely underfund the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, with the Senate bill almost eliminating it entirely. In response, the
HOME Coalition delivered a
letter signed by more than 1,500 organizations urging congressional leadership to lift the budget caps and restore HOME funding to at least $1.06 billion, as requested by President Obama. In a
HOME Coalition-sponsored webinar, HUD Secretary Julian Castro said that "affordable housing is under attack," adding that those who support legislation that would underfund HOME "either don't know [how critical the HOME program is], or don't care." To join the campaign to lift harmful spending caps please
click here.
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Report Analyzes Relationship between Race and Poverty
According to new data analyzed by Rutgers University, a poor African-American family is much more likely than a poor white family to live in a high-poverty neighborhood. Read more about the factors contributing to racial wealth disparities and proposed solutions.
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Thanks for subscribing and reading! Please feel free to email us with any comments or suggestions!
Sincerely,
Lisa Much
Program and Development Manager
Ohio CDC Association
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