Director's Message
May 29, 2009
To: Employees and Partners of Oregon Housing and
Community Services
From:
Victor Merced
Re:
Director’s Bulletin – Ways and Means Monday,
Homelessness Up Sharply, TCAP Application, Port Orford Plan,
Stimulus for CDBG, Weatherization Stimulus Event, Habitat for Humanity Build
Critical budget deliberations are scheduled for Oregon Housing and Community Services next Monday afternoon. The Joint Ways and Means Committee will conduct a work session on the department’s $1.9 billion budget.
Our extraordinary partners – you know who you are – will be by our sides as Deputy Director Rick Crager and I and other members of the agency’s executive team make the case to serve deserving Oregonians with affordable housing and community services.
Dramatic homeless jump. Homelessness in Oregon continues to grow. The increase is 37 percent from January 2008 to 2009.
More than 17,000 Oregonians have no place to call home, according to data released this week from the One-Night Homeless Count conducted in January by OHCS partners throughout the state.
Loss of jobs and resulting lack of rent money explain the increase, and the number of Oregonians affected is growing. Further, as the need for a strong safety net grows, state resources are shrinking.
Nearly 60 percent of the people identified as homeless in the recent count received no services or shelter. Many, especially youth, turned to family and friends for help.
The number of homeless veterans doubled. The number of childless couples increased 100 percent. And close to half of the households counted had a member with an emotional, mental or substance abuse challenge.
TCAP application. Oregon Housing and Community Services has assessed public comments and will apply next week to HUD for a $27.3 million grant under the Tax Credit Assistance Program of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
This stimulus money to fill financing gaps caused by the collapse of the tax credit market and to jumpstart stalled housing development projects, if approved, could be in the hands of OHCS by mid-summer.
The public comments in Oregon put forth a significant keenness for preserving affordable subsidized rental housing in the state, noted Bob Gillespie, housing division administrator.
The OHCS executive went on to say: “We’re trying to maximize benefits for the people of Oregon. We want to get this money into the marketplace and get the economy moving.”
Marine Recovery Plan. The Oregon Way Advisory Group yesterday recommended a sustainable fisheries plan for Port Orford to Gov. Kulongoski for consideration as a signature project to highlight best use of federal stimulus dollars.
I was pleased to put forth my name with others on the advisory group that voted to advance the plan to the governor.
It would make Port Orford a center for sustainable fisheries and a showcase on the South Coast for both Oregon’s first marine reserve and for green technologies that enhance the local economy and create jobs.
Co-chair Dick Pedersen of the Oregon Way Advisory Group noted: “This project will have a profound effect on a rural community where new jobs are desperately needed.”
Stimulus for CDBG. Housing rehabilitation in Oregon expects a significant boost in stimulus funding by way of the Community Development Block Grant.
These CDBG funds, totaling $825,900, will help rehabilitate the homes of eligible low- to moderate-income Oregonians.
Electeds plug weatherization job creation. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and U.S. Congressman Kurt Schrader met with weatherization experts this past Wednesday.
They touted the employment formation potential of federal stimulus dollars in upgrading eligible low-income homes throughout the state.
The potential benefit: 900 jobs over three years.
Amid insulation piled to the warehouse rafters, the governor and congressman extolled the new jobs and energy efficiency put in play by weatherization spending derived from the federal American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009.
“We hope to put a lot of people to work,” said Gov. Kulongoski “That’s what it’s all about.”
And Congressman Schrader encouraged the governor to urge lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to “keep pushing us to get the money out.”
Oregon has received its administrative portion of $38.5 million in weatherization stimulus money. But the installation money has yet to flow to OHCS, to community action agencies throughout the state, and to businesses that do the work.
Such a business is Orr Insulation of Salem where the governor and congressman spoke of new jobs, better protection against home heat-loss, and “green” infrastructure.
Teresa Cox, executive director, Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, anticipates significant job increases with the stimulus weatherization money.
For a contractor such as Orr Insulation, Cox calculated, the number of weatherization jobs for qualifying low-income homes could jump from roughly 50 to 150 each year for three years. That means jobs.
Want to know more about applying for weatherization or for contracting? Click here.
Habitat happiness. The OHCS turnout was small, but hard working. Five hearty souls labored in the sun Wednesday, May 27, to craft foundations of Habitat for Humanity homes in South Salem.
The OHCS crew worked alongside other volunteers supporting Cristino Ceja, whose family will occupy one of the new homes. Many from the department would have joined the labor but for the press of work driven by legislative and other unremitting deadlines.
Patricia Ten Eyck, Habitat’s executive director for Oregon, pressed herself into service too, lifting lumber and driving nails like a veteran framer. And she did not contain her enthusiasm for recent financial contributions to her organization from my former employer, Meyer Memorial Trust.
Meyer has contributed significantly toward Habitat’s revolving loan fund, which has grown substantially, says Ten Eyck, since OHCS kicked in a half-million dollars two years ago.
All Habitat officials were most gracious and encouraging to the OHCS crew, which took on the home-building task in part to honor Oregon’s 150th birthday, and in part to demonstrate grass-roots commitment to affordable homeownership.
Let’s face it, there’s another reason: OHCS employees just have a darn good time helping others, especially a determined family like the Cejas, willing to put sweat equity into owning a home.
If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. ~ Booker T. Washington
Victor Merced, Director
Oregon Housing & Community Services
725 Summer St NE, Suite B
Salem, OR 97301-1266
Phone 503.986.2005
Fax 503.986.2132
Email: victor.merced@hcs.state.or.us
www.ohcs.oregon.gov
–30–
Gov. Kulongoski,
U.S. Congressman
Kurt Schrader, and
Travis Orr, Owner
U.S. Congressman
Kurt Schrader,
Teresa Cox and
OHCS Director
Victor Merced
