Housing

Arkansas Homeless Coalition Now Has a Mobile Outreach Van

The Arkansas Homeless Coalition now has a van to dispense needed items such as blankets, soap, hygiene products and water to those living on the street. The van was donated to the Coalition by the Jericho Bingo Charity and is staffed strictly by volunteers. The service is new, but the Coalition hopes the van will eventually be able to provide services such as medical aid, materials distribution, and financial and legal consulting. The types of services provided will be structured largely according to the expertise of the volunteers staffing the van. Van outings are currently taking place Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6pm to 8pm, and Saturdays from 2pm to 4pm. If you’d like more information, contact Jeffrey Rickman at 501.607.4799 or jrickman at ashn dot org.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR QUALIFIED BUYERS

The Downtown Little Rock Community Development Corporation is a non-profit developer of affordable housing, and they have announced they currently have seven affordable homes they are looking to pre-sell and build this year in the SOMA district east of Main Street in downtown Little Rock. To qualify, individuals or families must be at or below the following income levels:

For individuals who qualify, the Downtown Little Rock CDC has a $20,000 grant that will be applied towards the purchase of the home. The family must be first time homebuyers, or have not owned a home within the last three years.

For more information, contact: J. Scott Grummer at 372-0148.

Arkansas Tops HUD’S 2006 List of Homeless

For the year 2006, Arkansas had the highest percentage of homeless citizens in the country, with 16,665 people who are homeless out of a population of 2,810,872, or .59%. Coming in second was Nevada, with .52% of it’s population homeless, and number three was California, with .49% of it’s population living in homelessness. It is believed that Gulf Coast residents who evacuated to Arkansas after the hurricanes in August and September 2005 are one of the primary reasons for the big jump in homelessness in the state, given the number of homeless in 2006 was three times that of 2005.

The annual Homeless Assessment Report from HUD defines homelessness as when a person doesn’t have a regular, adequate nighttime residence and stays in a shelter or sleeps in a place not ordinarily used for sleeping. It is anticipated Arkansas’ rate will go down for 2007, although that figure won’t be released until next year. Arkansas’ homeless rate in 2005 was .20%, which placed it more in the middle of the ranking of states.

HUD Releases National Report on Homelessness

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has just released it's second national report for Congress on homelessness in America. The first national report was submitted to Congress in February 2007.

April Fair Housing Seminar in Ft. Smith

The Arkansas Fair Housing Commission, in conjunction with the HUD Little Rock Field Office, will host a Fair Housing Summit in honor of Fair Housing Month. The summit will be held on April 22-23, 2008 at the Holiday Inn City Center, 700 Rogers Avenue, Ft. Smith.

The summit will kick off with a reception April 22 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm, to be followed by an all-day program from 7:30am to 5:00pm April 23.

There is no cost for attendance. Hotel accommodations are available with the Holiday Inn City Center at a rate of $70. Please contact the hotel directly at 800.465.4329. Reservations must be received by April 1, 2008, to guarantee rate and availability.

Lunch will be provided to the first 150 registrants so get your registration forms in early!

Mail, fax or email the completed registration form by April 4, 2008, to:

The Arkansas Fair Housing Commission
101 East Capitol Avenue, Suite 114
Little Rock, AR 72201
501.682.3247 or 800.340.9108 phone
501.682.3271 fax
carol[dot]johnson[at]arkansas[dot]gov

Special Assistance: Please let the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission know if you have a special need (i.e., hearing or visual impairment, wheel-chair accessibility) or a condition that requires either special assistance or accommodations.

Consolidated Plan Annual Update Public Hearings Scheduled

Following is a list of dates, times and locations for the hearings to be held around the state. These hearings provide the public with opportunities to provide comments that assist the state in determining the priorities for the use of grant funds in the upcoming year. The funds for the upcoming year (to begin July 2008) total $33,608,972, and are allocated to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME, Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Grant (HOPWA) programs. A copy of the consolidated plan can be accessed at http://www.arkansasedc.com, each county courthouse and the library of each two- and four-year college. The funds cover a large array of projects, from senior citizen and child care centers in rural communities to economic development activities to tenant-based rental assistance to new housing construction and rehabilitation of existing housing to homeless shelters to supportive services for people with AIDS. This is a great opportunity to people with disabilities to speak out about what projects are important to them and their communities.

Consolidated Plan Annual Update Public Hearings

Date	Location	Time
March 24, 2008	Little Rock Central Arkansas Public Library Darragh Center 100 Rock St.	10:00 a.m.
March 25, 2008	Eureka Springs Eureka Inn Best Western 101 Van Buren Street	10:00 a.m.
March 26, 2008	Paragould Community Center 3404 Linwood Dr. (Hwy. 49)	10:00 a.m.
March 31, 2008	Crossett Crossett Economic Development Foundation 125 Main Street	10:00 a.m.
April 1, 2008	Washington Historic Washington State Park 1914 School Auditorium 700 N.E. Conway Street	10:00 a.m.

All meeting locations are wheelchair accessible. Persons needing interpreters or other accommodations are requested to telephone the Economic Development Commission at 1-800-ARKANSAS and speak to Basil Julian so that arrangements can be made in advance.

Affordable Housing Grants Announced for Four Towns/Counties

The Arkansas Development Finance Authority (ADFA) has announced awards totaling 1.5 million dollars to four local housing entities for affordable housing projects. The groups receiving the funds are: the Office of Human Concern in Rogers (for Carroll and Madison counties), the Warren Housing Authority, the St. Francis County CDC and the Pine Bluff-Jefferson County EOC.

These grants will cover the costs associated with rehabilitation or reconstruction of five homes for low- and moderate-income individuals/families in the grant recipient’s area.

Arkansas Safe Room/Shelter Program Provides Assistance for Building Storm Shelters

This program, administered by the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, provides up to $1,000 to households that build safe rooms/storm shelters. This program is for homeowners who install a shelter after January 21, 1999, and will pay up to 50% of cost and installation, not to exceed $1,000. The money comes in the form of a rebate, and there is no deadline to apply. The contact is Bonnie Arnold, State Mitigation Grant Coordinator, and more information can be found at http://www.adem.arkansas.gov

ANNOUNCEMENT

The Little Rock Housing Authority is currently accepting pre-applications from First-time Homebuyers for the NEW HORIZON VILLAGE HOMEOWNERSHIP WAITLIST. LRHA is offering FOR SALE, single-family homes located on New Horizon Lane (formerly Ives Walk, off Cumberland Street). There are eleven (11) two-bedroom, one-bath homes available and six (6) three-bedroom, two-bath homes available. Two homes are fully accessible and preference shall be given to families requiring ADA housing. The estimated market prices are from $109,000 to $125,000.

To qualify you must meet the following minimum criteria for eligibility:

1. First-time Homebuyer, as defined by HUD.
2. Applicant(s) must have a target credit rating of 620 or higher.
3. Financial ability to secure mortgage financing to purchase the home.
4. Complete an ADFA certified Homebuyer Education Program and provide a copy of the Completion Certificate.
5. Attendance at orientation sessions held by LRHA.
6. Annual household income between 60-80% HUD AMI Limits (subject to annual adjustments):
   

   Family Size
   	2 Person	3 Person	4 Person	5 Person	6 Person
   60% AMI	$22,600	$25,450	$28,250	$30,500	$32,750
   80% AMI	$36,150	$40,700	$45,200	$48,800	$52,450

   
   
7. Families must fall into one of the three categories listed below:
   
   1. Little Rock Housing Authority HCV FSS family
   2. LRHA Low Rent Public Housing Resident
   3. Any resident in the City of Little Rock

The Following Documents are Required to be Submitted to Process Your Application:

• Signed Criminal/Credit Report Release Form.
• Signed Authorization to Release Information.
• Signed Application.
• Birth Certificates of all Individuals in the Household.
• Social Security Cards of all Individuals in the Household.
• Arkansas Photo Identification of the Applicant(s).
• Proof of Income.
• Copy of AFDA Certified Homebuyer Education Certificate.
• Copy of the Applicant(s) Credit Report or a Money Order made payable to the Little Rock Housing Authority in the amount of $16.20 for an individual Applicant and $19.40 for joint Applicants.

Note: If the Applicant(s) chooses to furnish their own Credit Report, the Credit Report must have been issued within the last 90 days to be accepted.

ALL PRE-APPLICATIONS WILL BE PLACED ON THE WAITING LIST.

It is the policy of the LRHA to provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. Any persons with mobility, hearing or visual impairment requiring special accommodations are requested to contact the LRHA Administration Office at (501) 340-4821 at least two days in advance.

For additional information contact Gerald Turner, Director of Real Estate Dev. at 501-340-4821.

USDA Rental Assistance

LOOKING FOR SUBSIDIZED HOUSING? ON A WAITING LIST FOR HUD AND/OR PUBLIC HOUSING?

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides rental assistance on over 6,000 units of housing in Arkansas. This rental assistance program is funded through USDA’s Rural Development program, with most of this housing located in rural areas of Arkansas. The rental assistance is tied to the individual unit, so to access the rental assistance, you must rent an apartment that has been designated a rental assistance property, and you cannot transfer your assistance to another property.

The program operates similarly to HUD’s housing programs, with applicants having to meet low-income guidelines, and with rents usually amounting to 30% of an eligible individual’s income. Because this is a federal program, these USDA units must comply with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, meaning at least five percent of the units are accessible for people with a mobility disability and another one percent are accessible for people with visual and hearing disabilities.

To find a list of properties with USDA rental assistance attached to them, visit: nhtinc.org

1. Click on subsidized housing data
2. Click on Arkansas
3. Click on section 515 loans in PDF

Properties are listed alphabetically by town. This site does not state whether there are currently vacancies at each property, as that information changes daily. The site does provide the name and address of the property, the number of total units, the number of units with rental assistance, and a breakdown of how many apartments have one bedroom, two bedrooms, etc.

Housing and Homeless Interests

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty released an updated version of Educating Homeless Children and Youth:The Guide to Their Rights (Aug 2007). It is available for download on NLCHP's website in PDF format.