Get ready: Affordable Housing Week 2015 will be BIGGER than ever!
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Mark your calendars for April 13-18! You won't want to miss what we're planning for the third annual Affordable Housing Week. Of course, your favorite events from years past, like our bus tour and Design Challenge, will return better than ever. But this year, we're reaching out to our community partners to bring you even more, with brand new events that will offer everyone new ways to get involved. And finally, we'll be unveiling Housing Tomorrow, Central Iowa's first regional plan for housing.
Watch this newsletter in the coming months for more announcements. We're excited to share what we're working on and we'll tell you more as soon as we can! You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter to get the latest updates.
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Have you taken our survey? Five minutes is all it takes to improve housing in DSM |
We are still looking for responses to our online survey! Your responses will help us create Housing Tomorrow, our region's first plan for housing. The survey is completely anonymous and will only take 5 minutes. Participate now by clicking the link below, and be sure to share with your friends and colleagues! |
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New Federal Program To Bring New Resources to Iowa National Housing Trust Fund finally funded |
In an environment of declining federal support for affordable housing, a program left unfunded since the Great Recession is revived. Before the housing meltdown last decade, a more bipartisan Congress fashioned the National Housing Trust Fund program to address the severe rental housing shortage for households that make less than 30% of area median income. Funding for the program was delayed for years due to the state of the economy - but with a recent announcement from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt, the program will finally move forward.
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State Budget Will Be a Hot Topic in 2015 Tom Cope on what this means for PCHTF |
The 2015 session of the Iowa Legislature starts on Monday, January 12, and the major topic of discussion will be the 2016 state budget. 2016? Just a few days ago, it was 2014. The reason the budget will be such a hot topic is two-fold: (1) the Ag economy in Iowa has seen slower growth due to lower farm commodity prices, and that means slower growth in the state budget, and (2) the state is having to pay for commitments it made in previous years to provide commercial property tax relief, more funding for education, and more funding for the Medicaid program.
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New Report Connects Housing and Health UI graduate summarizes practicum research |
In December I completed a practicum that began examining the impacts of housing conditions on health in Greater Des Moines. I was a dual degree student in urban planning and public health, and interested in bringing health into a regional plan. Housing Tomorrow was in its initial public participation stage, and I worked with the PCHTF on a series of survey questions to measure housing needs and perceptions of future directions for Greater Des Moines. By now you've probably taken the online HT survey, which includes a "health module" of several questions based on my research.
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Spotlight on Iowa Finance Authority State dollars help build new housing in Polk County |
The Board of Directors of the Iowa Finance Authority recently approved the Polk County Housing Trust Fund's 2015 application for almost $780,000. This is the second largest award to PCHTF in the organization's history.
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