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The Latest News
June 2018
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Dear Colleagues,
Like many other communities throughout the Northwest and Country, the Mid-Columbia region - which straddles the Columbia River just east of the Portland/Vancouver Metropolitan Statistical Area - is grappling with the complexity of creating housing opportunities for all of our citizens. Even in this challenging time, we are finding opportunities and remain optimistic that our collaborative work will move us forward, together.
We are excited to expand our role in our region's implementation of the Bridges to Health (B2H) pathways program. Pathways is a centralized mechanism that coordinates, tracks, and measures both the process and the resources that enables community care coordination to those served. We have three new positions joining our dedicated team to provide a higher level of service to households who have been issued a Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), those who are currently participating in the HCV program and residents of our properties.
In addition to increasing our level of service we are also serving more households than ever before through our HCV program. Due in part to an increase in budget authority, triggered by a timely reevaluation of HUD's Fair Market Rents, this year we will serve the maximum number of households as allowed in our Annual Contribution Contract. We aspired to continue this trend of serving more households efficiently and effectively with our regional response to HUD's Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Mainstream vouchers.
Finally, we are proud of the collaborative work in our region that is generating more resources for affordable housing. Our Hood River Community Housing development received the first allocation of the City of Hood River and the County of Hood River's locally generated Construction Excise Tax for Affordable Housing to balance our budget just in time to respond to the Oregon Housing and Community Services' NOFA. We look forward to moving folks into this important community development in 2020!
May you too find opportunity amidst challenges times and remain optimistic that we can move forward together.
Joel Madsen
Executive Director
Mid-Columbia Housing Authority and
Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation
500 E Second St.
The Dalles, OR 97058
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 Record Breaking PNRC Annual Conference
The 2018 Annual Conference had nearly 350 people in attendance who had 32 breakout sessions to choose from as well as an Exhibit Hall filled with industry related vendors and many networking opportunities all located in a beautiful hotel on the shore of Lake Washington. In addition to all of that, attendees heard from two keynote speakers (Tiffany Manuel and Sasha Abramsky), NAHRO CEO, Adrianne Todman; NAHRO President, Carl Richie; NAHRO Senior Vice President, Sunny Shaw and NAHRO Legislative Liaison, Tess Hembree. A 50/50 raffle as well as a silent auction of gift baskets and other items raised nearly $1,500 for PNRC's Scholarships. This year we had a conference app that allowed attendees to have all of the pertinent conference information including schedules, presentations, and evaluations. We received the most evaluations ever and the consensus was that attendees thought this was a great conference all around.
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PNRC President
Saeed Hajarizadeh |
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NAHRO President
Carl Richie |
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NAHRO
Legislative Liaison
Tess Hembree |
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NAHRO Senior Vice President and Past PNRC President
Sunny Shaw |
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PNRC Senior Vice President
Cupid Alexander |
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Keynote Speaker
Dr. Tiffany Manuel |
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| Left to right:Cupid Alexander, PNRC Senior VP; Saeed Hajarizadeh, PNRC President; Dr. Tiffany Manuel; Sunny Shaw, NAHRO Senior VP; Adrianne Todman, NAHRO CEO |
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Keynote Speaker
Sasha Abramsky |
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Awards of Merit
The National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) Awards of Merit and Awards of Excellence recognize and promote the nation's best in housing and community development.
The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of NAHRO received 10 Applications from the Pacific Northwest.
In the category of Administrative Innovation, the following applications were received:
- Lean Public Housing Inspections - Seattle Housing Authority
- Ducks Down Program - Housing Authority of the City of Kennewick
- Customer Service Awareness - Seattle Housing Authority
- Specialized Maintenance & Repair Training Program - Seattle Housing Authority
In the category of Affordable Housing, the following applications were received:
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Cosecha Court Homeless Housing -
Housing Authority of the City of Yakima
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3600 Spenard - Cook Inlet Housing Authority
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Lincoln Place Apartments Collaboration - Vancouver Housing Authority
In the category of Resident and Client Services, the following applications were received:
- CIHA Resident Engagement - Cook Inlet Housing Authority
- Senior Games at Centennial Village - Cook Inlet Housing Authority
- Youth Program Community of Practice - King County Housing Authority
PNRC is proud to announce that all 10 Applications will be forwarded on to the National Level of NAHRO for Awards of Merit.
Award of Excellence
Applications being forwarded to NAHRO for competition in the National Awards of Excellence are:
- Lean Public Housing Inspections - Seattle Housing Authority
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Specialized Maintenance & Repair Training Program - Seattle Housing Authority
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Cosecha Court Homeless Housing -
Housing Authority of the City of Yakima
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3600 Spenard -
Cook Inlet Housing Authority
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Lincoln Place Apartments Collaboration -
Vancouver Housing Authority
PRAIS Award
Each year PNRC recognizes the highest scoring application for the NAHRO Awards of Merit as the Pacific Northwest Regional Award for Innovation and Service (PRAIS).
The 2018 PRAIS winner was the Housing Authority of the City of Yakima for their Cosecha Court Homeless Housing.
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L to R: Pam Thompson, PNRC VP of Member Services; Lowel Krueger, Executive Director of Yakima Housing Authority and Saeed Hajarizadeh, PNRC President
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| Cosecha - The Right Thing to Do |
President's Award
Each year, the PNRC President selects one person that they feel has gone above and beyond to help the housing and community development industry. This year's recipient is Pam Thompson.
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PNRC President, Saeed Hajarizadeh presents Pam Thompson with the 2018 President's Award
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Pam has been with the Northeast Oregon Housing Authority for over 30 years and is currently the Director of Finance. She was also the Interim Director of Finance for Malheur County Housing Authority from 1993-1997. Besides all of the great work she does at her agency, she has also been very actively involved with PNRC and NAHRO. I'm sure that we have probably missed a few of the positions she has held over the years, but here goes: Board of Governors , VP of Member Services, Board of Governors Regional At Large, VP of Member Services, Vice Chair of Member Services, BECT, and the Nominating and Elections Committee.
She is involved with Special Olympics Oregon as an aquatic coach and she is also involved in their golf program.
Pam is a true leader in our industry and we are very lucky to have her in our region. Congratulations to Please join me in recognizing this year's PRNC President's Award winner, Pam Thompson.
Housing America Poster Contest
A total of 191 posters were created by children in agencies across the region. Each agency had to select the top poster in each age category and submit them for judging at the regional conference.
The winners in each category are:
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Elementary Winner
Rut, age 7
Housing Authority of Yamhill County |
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High School Winner
Anastasia, age 17
Housing Authority of Yamhill County |
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Middle School Winner (tied)
Mischa, age 11
Housing Authority of Yamhill County |
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Middle School Winner (tied)
Jannely, age 13
Yakima Housing Authority |
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These four winners will each receive a $50 gift card from PNRC and their posters will be submitted to NAHRO for the national competition. National honorees will be selected by a Blue Ribbon panel of judges to be assembled by National NAHRO staff. National honorees will be officially announced during Housing America Month in October. All eight NAHRO regions will be represented in the calendar
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Mark your calendars for
the 2019 Conference!
If you are interested in being on the conference planning committee, or you have suggestions regarding speakers, sessions, etc., please contact
Kristen Damazio.
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Housing Choice Voucher Occupancy, Eligibility, Income and Rent Calculation (HCVOEIR) w/ Certificati
on
Exam
June 25-29, 2018
Registration Closes Friday, June 15th
Hosted by the Vancouver Housing Authority
This NAHRO Professional Development offering combines two seminars - Housing Choice Voucher Occupancy and Housing Choice Voucher Eligibility, Income, and Rent Calculation - into one comprehensive program. This seminar now meets three of the professional development requirements for NAHRO's Housing Choice Voucher Occupancy Specialist Certification, including the Ethics for Specialist module.
This seminar will provide participants with an understanding of the vast regulatory guidance that has formed and shaped the Housing Choice Voucher program. It focuses on effective interviewing, waitlist management, screening, outreach and marketing, and accurate application of eligibility, income and rent calculation regulatory compliance. The nuts and bolts of dealing with eligibility, income, and rent calculations will be mastered through engaging participants in skill development and practice. Most importantly, this class will equip participants with the necessary skills to reduce errors and avoid HUD findings in compliance audits.
Who Should Attend:
Front line staff, case managers and supervisors responsible for managing wait lists, applications, and certification/re-certification tasks.
Schedule:
Day 1: 8:00am - 8:30am - Check In
Day 1: 8:30am - 4:30pm - Training
Day 2: 8:30am - 4:30pm - Training
Day 3: 8:30am - 4:30pm - Training
Day 4: 8:30am - 4:30pm - Training
Day 5: 8:30am - 2:30pm - Training
Day 5: 2:30pm - 4:30 pm - Exam
NAHRO Continuing Education Units (CEU's) Training Completion = 3.05
Certification Exam = 0.20 Total = 3.25
Cost: $995 for PNRC Member
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Little Library Dedication
 What a wonderful way to start a Friday. Homes for Good Veneta Villa Little Library Dedication was a fun way to connect with our neighbors and community neighbors.
Thank you to all of the Homes for Good staff who put in hard work into building the little library and setting up the event. Thank you,
City of Veneta Mayor Sandra Larson for your support and backing this event and donating Veneta based authors to the little library! We hope our residents at Veneta Villa and our neighbors and community members will enjoy this gem.
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Veneta Mayor Sandra Larson, Homes for Good Executive Director, Jacob Fox and Board Chair, Char Reavis
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KCHA's
2017 Annual Report
is now available
The report highlights the housing authority's achievements in four key areas: increasing affordable housing opportunities, expanding access to opportunity, addressing homelessness in King County, and strengthening our portfolio of affordable housing. Please find an electronic copy of the report
here.
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Register Now for the 2018 NAHRO Summer Conference!
The Summer Conference will be held from July 27-29 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis Hotel in fabulous San Francisco! It's the second of NAHRO's three Innovate 2018 events: IMPACT, IMAGINE, and IMPLEMENT.
At this conference, we'll encourage attendees to IMAGINE: to dream big and think out of the box about the future of the affordable housing and community development industry. The conference will feature educational sessions focused on current and emerging industry issues; a showcase of innovative programs and services from NAHRO's 2018 Agency Awards of Merit-winning agencies; a housing and community development tour hosted by the San Francisco Housing Authority, and as always, productive peer-to-peer networking opportunities.
For Commissioners: NAHRO Professional Development is offering Summer Conference registrants a special opportunity to attend either our Commissioners' Fundamentals seminar or our Commissioners Guide to Monitoring & Oversight seminar while also attending the conference.
We hope to see you in The City by the Bay!
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INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
NAHRO offers a variety of awards and recognition to persons who have made outstanding contributions to the housing and community development field. Make sure your deserving candidate is nominated for one of the following awards:
M. Justin Herman Memorial Award
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NAHRO's most prestigious award, honors an exceptionally qualified person who has made outstanding contributions to the quality of life through service in the field of housing or community development.
John D. Lange International Award
acknowledges a person who has made contributions to the international community.
Elizabeth B. Wells Memorial Award
celebrates the accomplishments and service of an outstanding commissioner.
Emerging Leader Award
recognizes an individual who has been involved in NAHRO at the national, regional and/or chapter levels for at least five years and has distinguished him/herself as an Emerging Leader.
Deadlines for these awards: AUGUST 15, 2018.
The winners will be honored at NAHRO's National Conference
in Atlanta, GA: October 25-27, 2018
NAHRO Fellowship Program
venerates recipients who have demonstrated exemplary qualities as housing and community development advocates, professionals and/or volunteers.
Deadline for applications: July 1, 2018
Roll of Achievers
showcases residents who have made noteworthy efforts to improve as an individual or as a member of the community. Applications are accepted all year.
For additional information on these awards, click here.
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Looking for a new job or just want to see what's out there?
If you have position to be posted, please send it to Kristen Damazio,
Regional Service Officer at [email protected]
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Check out the PNRC-NAHRO Website at
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