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Housing Virginia's Rural Network News
RURAL HOUSING NEEDS SURVEY

If you haven't already participated, please take a moment to fill out a brief, 11-question survey about rural housing and service providers' most urgent gaps and needs. We will continue collecting responses and report the results at small-scale regional meetings around the state that we are planning for early summer. 

Keep an eye out for news about these meetings - we want local voices to help us create rural housing and development policy recommendations.

Click here for survey
USDA-RD Information Sessions on Guaranteed & Direct Home Loan Programs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development offices in Virginia are hosting information sessions about their guaranteed and direct single family housing loan programs to allow lenders, realtors, nonprofit partners and interested individuals to ask questions about the programs.

Information session participants can expect an overview of the programs and their processes and an opportunity to speak directly with USDA Rural Development single family housing specialists.

Martinsville
Wednesday, March 23
10:30 am - 12 pm
Blue Ridge Public Library
310 East Church St, Martinsville, VA

Harrisonburg
Wednesday, April 6
10:30 am - 12 pm 
Massanutten Regional Library
174 S Main St, Harrisonburg, VA
Warsaw
Friday, April 8
10:30 am - 12 pm
Rappahannock Community College
52 Campus Dr, Warsaw, VA


Click here to register!
Housing Virginia Holding Overcoming NIMBY Workshops Around the State

Have you ever faced a roomful of confused or angry opponents to your housing proposal?  

Have you needed to convince skeptical planning commission members about the value of your project? 

Are you looking for tools to help you win the hearts and minds of community members to support your work?   

NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) is still very much alive and well in Virginia and many good housing projects and programs never make it out of the starting gate due to opposition from neighbors and others.  To help you be better prepared to successfully address NIMBY concerns, Housing Virginia is offering a half day training opportunity that aims to assist affordable housing providers, local government, and advocates with their efforts in overcoming opposition to their projects and policies. Nimbyism (Not in My Backyard) is a frequently encountered negative reaction to change by community residents and businesses. 

Sessions will be in Roanoke, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg and Hampton Roads in April and May this year. See below for dates, times, locations and registration links!
Get a Year's Worth of Housing Information in 30 Minutes: 

30 Minute Webinars on Housing Virginia's Database Tools

Housing Virginia is excited to announce that we will hold a series of webinars focused on how to best utilize our web tools: Sourcebook, Playbook, the Research Library, and the Economic Impact Calculators for New Construction and Acquisition/Rehab.
 
These 30-minute free webinars will acquaint participants with the new website layout and suggest the best ways to get the most out of each tool. If you are interested in learning how to best utilize our web tools, be sure to sign up for one of the sessions below!
Looking at Rural Issues Through Data: Gaps in Educational Attainment



The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) is one of the leading sources of data around rural housing in the US. Their Rural Data Portal includes a comparison of educational attainment in Virginia between rural, suburban, and urban areas.

When only considering attainment of a high school diploma or the equivalent, there is a larger portion of this population over 25 in rural areas compared to suburban and urban ones. However, the portion of population with Bachelor's degrees or more is significantly less in these same areas.

This could reflect two issues - one being the educational opportunity gap in rural areas, and another being the trend of college graduates leaving rural areas to live in more urban and suburban ones. 

What are the trends and issues you're seeing in YOUR rural area? Take a few minutes to fill out our survey above to give us an accurate picture of rural Virginia.
If you have an event or program you would like us to feature, please email admin@housingvirginia.org with your request!
Housing Virginia's Rural Housing Network Initiative is made possible with the generous support of:
Housing Virginia   |   admin@housingvirginia.org  |   www.housingvirginia.org
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