As a proud member of the Housing Leaders Group of Greater Washington (HLG), HAND is excited to share its new initiative: the CAPITAL REGION HOUSING CHALLENGE! Officially launched at the D.C. Metro Affordable Housing Summit, the challenge is a cross-sector, capital solutions platform created to catalyze $1 billion dollars of NEW capital commitments that will accelerate greater housing affordability in the Capital Region. As a key stakeholder, we wanted to make sure you heard the news, and most importantly, know how you can get involved!

WHAT IS THE CAPITAL REGION HOUSING CHALLENGE?
Effectively addressing housing affordability requires a collective effort across multiple sectors and jurisdictions in the Capital Region. The Challenge is a multi-faceted effort to secure $1 billion toward housing affordability in the region by 2020 ($500 million in new private capital and $500 million in new public funds above current commitments).

The Challenge is not creating a new fund, rather it’s a platform to catalyze support and a regional commitment to scale the investment of public and private resources to meet the region’s housing production needs.

READY TO TAKE THE CHALLENGE?
Commitments from private investors, employers, anchor institutions, the philanthropic sector, as well as local and state governments are encouraged. Thank you to these organizations that have accepted the challenge!

• Bernstein Management Corporation
• Greater Washington Community Foundation Partnership to End Homelessness
• Justice Housing Partners
• Kaiser Permanente
• Metro IAF Community Restoration Fund, LLC
• Montgomery Housing Partnership
• The Washington Housing Initiative (Federal City Council & JBG SMITH)

In addition to catalyzing capital to support regional housing affordability, HLG will also be actively engaged in advocacy campaigns that align with the goals of the Challenge. In particular, state and local Trust Funds can leverage significant additional private investment to ensure housing affordability production, preservation, and additional housing support for individuals and families across the income spectrum. HLG will promote working with government officials, housing practitioners, and advocates to create or expand local housing trust funds in every jurisdiction in our region.

Check out this fact sheet for more information on the Challenge and how your organization can get involved.

You can read the full press release on the Challenge’s launch here.

HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) has announced $1.5 million in new funding to create and relaunch a specialized training academy dedicated to preparing civil rights professionals to combat housing discrimination. Named for the Nation’s first African-American woman to hold a cabinet-level position, the Patricia R. Harris National Fair Housing Training Academy (NFHTA) will train civil rights professionals nationwide and provide a clearinghouse of fair housing education and outreach material.

The Fair Housing Act makes housing discrimination illegal on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. This includes housing discrimination in renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance, or engaging in other housing-related activities.

About NFHTA
Through this premier training academy, the chosen applicant and FHEO will provide training related to housing discrimination, civil rights history, and current housing discrimination trends, and will teach methodologies to assess housing discrimination at local, state, and national levels. NFHTA will prepare civil rights professionals to understand the investigative process and to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of complaint processing. NFHTA will also serve as a think tank and conduit through which current and future generations of civil rights professionals share and explore best practices and raise industry standards. This includes the creation of a consistently evolving clearinghouse of fair housing education and outreach materials.

FHEO and the chosen applicant will select appropriate modalities to teach civil rights professionals. It is anticipated that HUD and the applicant will offer at least six high-quality trainings per year (each training lasting 24-32 hours and training approximately 20-30 persons). Trainings may include a blend of pre- and post-training reading materials, in-person trainings, webinars, videos, and/or other effective methods to create an environment that achieves identified outcomes.

Applicants must identify at least one individual (or a cadre of individuals) with at least two years of demonstrated experience conducting investigations, litigation, and/or education and outreach under the federal Fair Housing Act and/or state or local laws that HUD has determined to be substantially equivalent to the Fair Housing Act. Necessary experience includes delivery of training courses, ongoing review of courses to ensure accuracy and relevance, and development of new courses and new course delivery methods. Applicants must also have experience marketing training services to potential users. Identified individuals may include staff, contractors, or consultants.

How to Apply
HUD’s Community Compass Technical Assistance and Capacity Building program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 was published to Grants.gov on Monday, December 17, 2018, under funding opportunity number FR-6200-N-06. Due to the government shutdown that began on December 22, 2018, HUD has extended the application due date to 11:59:59 PM EDT on March 14, 2019. The NOFA text and all other application requirements remain the same.

In addition to reading the full NOFA announcement on Grants.gov, potential applicants are encouraged to view the information about the NOFA on the Community Compass NOFA page. The NOFA page will be periodically updated to include Frequently Asked Questions, links to pre-recorded webinars, webinar presentation slides, and other relevant information.

Over $1 million was recently allocated to fund the Virginia Low Income and Weatherization Program.

The funds provide multifamily properties energy saving measures such as:
– Insulation and air sealing
– Furnace tune-ups
– Low-flow water measures
– About $1,500 per unit in capital improvements, completely funded by Washington Gas

There is NO COST to the property owners or residents to receive these measures. To be eligible:
– A property must be classified as “affordable housing,” or two-thirds of the residents must be considered “income eligible”
– Residents MUST have their own Washington Gas account

For additional information, please visit this website or call Mitch Fischler, Utility Programs Advisor at ZeroDraft to discuss: (410) 980-9774. You may also email info@zerodraftmd.com for further explanation.

Act quickly – funding expires in April!

CohnReznick invites you to join its team for a discussion on affordable housing development. To be discussed are timely topics making national and local industry headlines along with business and tax issues impacting your deals:

Discussion Topics

• How Tax reform will affect your business
• The current legislation for tax credit expansion
• Appropriated Housing changes and RAD
• Healthcare and housing: new partners in development?
• State and local programs and QAP changes impacting your deal
• Strategies for filling the funding gap in your deals

Who Should Attend

Key decision-makers of companies involved in the affordable housing industry—developers, owners, property managers, syndicators, investors, and lenders. It will offer an ideal networking venue that will enable attendees to connect, exchange ideas, and develop relationships.

Local Locations and Dates

Baltimore – January 24, 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET
Address: 500 East Pratt Street, 3rd Floor, Baltimore, MD

Bethesda – January 25, 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET
Address: 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 400E, Bethesda, MD

Register and check out more details here.

Three years ago, HAND launched GenerationHAND, an initiative designed to exclusively support practitioners who are on the rise within the affordable housing and community development industry. The goal of this initiative is to provide needed tools and guidance to our “emerging leaders” as they pursue successful careers in the public and private sector. Through a wide variety of dialogues, panel discussions, volunteer events, and professional development activities, we strive to embolden the individuals who will be doing the hard work of creating and preserving affordable housing in our communities.

On Thursday, November 8, 2018, GenerationHAND will host a SoulCycle Fundraiser. Funds raised will directly support scholarships awarded to graduate students studying real estate, urban planning and other fields within community development.

Application Guidelines & More Details
-Applicants must be enrolled in a graduate program at a university or college in Washington, DC, Maryland or Virginia.
-Applicants must be studying real estate, urban planning or a related field within community development.
-The award will go towards the 2019 Spring Semester.
–All applicants are required to join HAND (at the Student membership level). If you are already a member of HAND via an organizational membership, please email Courtney Battle, HAND’s Membership Manager, at cbattle@handhousing.org before moving forward on the application.
-You can fill out an electronic application here. The deadline for all submissions is 5:00 pm, November 16, 2018.
-All submissions will be reviewed by an independent committee, and winners will be honored at HAND’s Annual Holiday Mixer in early December. Winners will be notified by November 30, 2018.

If you have any questions, please email cbattle@handhousing.org. Good luck!