New Markets Tax Credits Allocated to CSH

CSH Awarded $40 Million New Markets Tax Credits
       

Today, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund announced it has awarded $40 million in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to CSH as part of the 2014 round.

“The Department of Treasury has given us the tools to leverage even more resources to spur the creation of supportive housing,” said CSH President and CEO Deborah De Santis. “Not only will we be able to create the dynamic to house vulnerable people facing instability, this award will help us fulfill our goal of bringing healthcare services to hundreds more who need to access it.”

De Santis explained NMTC allocations can be used to develop facilities such as health care centers, which complement the medical and mental health services often made available to residents of supportive housing.

Thus far, CSH has used NMTC investments to leverage and add to other resources, which in turn have created about 200 units of supportive housing across the country, and enabled 15,000 healthcare visits for those facing homelessness and other forms of housing instability. In addition, CSH investments have generated approximately 800 high-quality permanent and construction jobs in communities.


To learn more about our use of NMTC to promote supportive housing, please see profiles of the Bell Building in Detroit, MI and Paseo Verde in Philadelphia, PA.


With the new award, CSH will address a number of supportive housing projects currently in the pipeline for development and estimates adding another 150 - 200 units of affordable housing, including supportive housing, and an additional 100,000 - 125,000 healthcare visits for those facing homelessness and housing instability.

“The investments made possible by today’s awards will have significant impact nationwide," said Annie Donovan, Director of the CDFI Fund.

To learn more about CSH’s New Markets Tax Credit strategy visit our lending page or contact our Community Investment Team.


"CSH gets it when it comes to supportive housing and they are willing to work in partnership with developers to tailor their support and products to get the deal done." Joe Heaphy, NSO (Bell Building) Vice-President of Real Estate Development and Management

Houston Ends Veteran Homelessness

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CSH President & CEO Deb De Santis with Houston Mayor Annise Parker, Houston Coalition for the Homeless President & CEO Marilyn Brown, and officials from the US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

 

 

 

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Deb De Santis, President & CEO of CSH, speaks last September in Houston, Texas, lauding the community partnership that worked together to build an infrastructure to quickly and effectively address the housing and services needs of veterans experiencing homelessness.

 

 

 

 

“More so than in any community in this country, the people of Houston came together to end veteran homelessness. This milestone reflects the countless hours and hard work of those on the ground – the members of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County and The Way Home Campaign – who broke down barriers, built new relationships, innovated, and are now ensuring a future where no veteran will ever be shut out from housing or services again.” Deb De Santis, CSH President & CEO

 

READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE ANNOUNCING THE END OF VETERAN HOMELESSNESS IN HOUSTON, TEXAS

 

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BIG Partnerships

CSH and the Texas Homeless Network (THN) welcomed over 100 guests to the BIG Partnerships conference in Austin on March 31. This three day long conference featured two keynote speakers, Kay Ghahremani, Texas Medicaid Director and Jennifer Ho, HUD Senior Advisor on Housing and Services. BIG Partnerships focused on building existing relationship and creating new relationships among primary and behavioral healthcare leaders, philanthropic funders, and experts and decision-makers within supportive housing.

“It is clear from the conference presentations and discussions that supportive housing equals health care,” said Katrina Van Valkenburgh, CSH Central Region Managing Director. “Experts from around the country told us more and more evidence suggests integrating stable housing and health care improves health outcomes and lowers costs.” The conference also promoted supportive housing as an effective solution for frequent users while reducing costs to health systems and improving patient outcomes. 305_BIGPartnerships(3)_15The collaboration between CSH and THN allowed for clinics, hospitals, Medicaid managed care organizations, federally qualified health centers, affordable housing providers, housing finance agencies, policy makers, and philanthropy to partner with supportive housing experts. Also, BIG Partnerships provided evidence-based guidance on how best to serve frequent users while, sharing information and recommendations from Regional Health Plans and Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) project. “Our presenters delivered powerful messages on the community benefits of building on Medicaid eligibility to enhance services within the community and how doing so can maximize the healthcare options available to supportive housing residents,” said Lisa Castro, CSH Director in Texas. “Every participant left with ideas for improving our communities by creating affordable housing and strengthening partnerships with healthcare providers to deliver better services across the board.”

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6th Annual Indiana Supportive Housing Institute Begins

The Indiana Supportive Housing Institute began during the first week of April with a focus on supportive housing programs that will address the needs of people experiencing homelessness, people with high medical vulnerability, and frequent users of emergency systems.

Five teams are participating in the 2015 Institute from South Bend, Porter County, Lafayette, Bloomington, and New Albany.

305_Ray 2_15Ray Lay, an Indiana Certified Recovery Specialist and VA Peer Support Specialist, is serving as one of the Institute trainers and spoke at this session. As a current supportive housing tenant through the HUD VASH program, Ray has been in recovery for eight years and works tirelessly to help others find their path to wellness. He shared some of his background with the Institute teams and the role that housing and support has played in his life.

"I have slept on the ground in many, many places, and I can tell you that being in your own home makes you want to do more. So I do a lot to fight stigma and help others," Ray commented when asked why he is so committed to sharing his lived experience with others.

The Institute is sponsored by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and Division of Mental Health and Addiction. Staff from both agencies are actively involved in the learning process with Institute teams, helping groups think through how to make the largest impact possible in their community. 305_Jake 2_15Jake Sipe, IHCDA Executive Director, addressed the teams at this session and spoke about a study on supportive housing conducted by the University of Southern Indiana. This study demonstrated that the supportive housing in Evansville, IN has been incredibly cost effective, in addition to being beneficial for residents and the community. Including the costs associated with housing and providing services to households, supportive housing has saved thousands of dollars due to residents no longer needing to depend on emergency services.

305_Lafayette Great_15The Institute will include four additional sessions and a peer to peer trip, concluding with a finale in August where each team will share their vision for their supportive housing project. Participants are learning both inside and outside of sessions, thanks to online courses created by the CSH Training Center, with support from our sponsors. We want to thank our generous sponsors for their commitment to state-wide capacity building:

Supportive Housing Leader

Great Lakes Capital Fund

Supportive Housing Partners 

Kuhl and Grant LLP, Attorneys at Law

Old National Bank

Community Builders    

Bose McKinney & Evans LLP

City Real Estate Advisors, Inc.

Butler Woodcrafters

Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis

Friend

Guidon Design

 

CSH Addresses Homelessness In Detroit

CSH has been enlisted to help the City of Detroit implement strategies to end veteran and chronic homelessness.

Lisa Chapman, Director of the CSH Michigan office explains the partnership this way: “We have assigned one of our staff experts, Meghan Takashima, to work directly within the City’s executive structure as a Senior Homelessness Policy Advisor to Detroit. In this role, Meghan will provide the intensive support Detroit has requested to align city policy to end veteran and chronic homelessness."

This unique arrangement is made possible in part by a generous grant previously awarded by the McGregor Fund.

“The McGregor Fund has committed considerable resources toward ending homelessness in the City of Detroit and was very receptive to our idea to tailor their grant to embed Meghan in city government as a key voice in guiding policy decisions,” said Chapman.

3ee220cMeghan will support Detroit’s Housing and Revitalization Department in the development of Every Detroiter Counts, the Detroit strategy to end homelessness. CSH’s overall role will be to provide information on best practices in service provision for those experiencing homelessness, providing local demographic and outcome data to help inform decision making and assistance in drafting plans to address homelessness and increase supportive housing development. CSH will also assist in creating measurable goals to track outcomes and to monitor program progress for city-funded organizations serving those experiencing homelessness.

Meghan noted that one specific area of focus for the work will be veteran homelessness. “No one who has served our country should have to spend a night without a home. CSH will help the city coordinate with community partners to meet the federal timeline of ending veteran homelessness by the end of 2015, and to make homelessness rare and brief among veterans moving forward.”

Meghan also pointed out the Detroit Housing and Revitalization Department is already working closely with CSH to target 200 high-need, chronically homeless individuals, veterans and families for housing in 2015.

Inaugural Supportive Housing Institute in Missouri

CSH: The Source for Housing Solutions is excited to announce its first Missouri Supportive Housing Institute (The Institute) in collaboration with its sponsor, Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH). The Institute will address the supportive housing needs of Persons Experiencing Chronic Homelessness, Frequent Users of Emergency Services, Vulnerable Persons, and Families Experiencing Homelessness and Struggling with Multiple Barriers. The Institute is currently seeking interested supportive housing development teams- see below for details on how to apply.

This training series will help supportive housing partners learn how to navigate the complex process of developing housing with support services, and reduce the time it takes to obtain funding by improving the planning and development process.  Consideration will be given to both integrated housing (with up to 25% of the housing set aside for supportive housing) and 100% supportive housing developments.

The Institute is based on the CSH Dimensions of Quality Supportive Housing, which strives to build the capacity of the supportive and affordable housing industries to create and operate high-quality, effective and sustainable housing.

HOW TO APPLY FOR THE INSTITUTE

Click here to review the Request for Applications.

Click here for the Missouri Supportive Housing Institute Application.

CSH in Madison Wisconsin/Dane County CoC

CSH is excited to collaborate with the Madison/Dane County Continuum of Care (CoC) create a more accessible path to housing for vulnerable individuals and families. To achieve this goal, CSH and the CoC are working together to:

  • implement written standards
  • create a housing first system
  • analyze transitional housing stock and community need
  • implement coordinated access

CSH and the Madison/Dane County CoC will accomplish this in a four part process.

Part One
Train providers on moving toward a housing first system. With this goal in mind, CSH delivered a one-day training for executive directors and program staff on the topic of housing first as a philosophy and practice.

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Part Two
Establishing program standards. CSH Staff Nicole Bahena and Stephanie Mercier hosted a community meeting centered around setting program standards in Madison. The morning was spent discussing housing first; where people weighed in on what housing first components are essential for the community and what policies and resources need to change to get us there. The afternoon was spent talking about and dissecting the process of setting standards. By the end of this, the community was able to give a draft version of their housing models chart that can be used by the written standards committee to edit for approval by the CoC board of directors.

Part Three
Analyzing system flow and gaps. The goal of this phase will be for CSH to create a CoC System map and gaps analysis to establish the community need for homeless interventions, as well as appropriate target populations for each intervention. Additionally, there will be a presentation to appropriate CoC members on map and gaps analysis findings. Finally, CSH will provide recommendations for coordinated access expansion based on system flow and gaps analysis.

Part Four
Provide transitional housing analysis for six projects. This will include providing a report that summarizes the transitional housing projects analysis as well as an action plan for proceeding with any conversion or performance improvement recommendations. Additionally, CSH will schedule coaching sessions with agencies interested in making changes.

CSH is looking forward to seeing the great outcomes of this work in Madison/Dane County CoC.

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Building Michigan Communities Conference

CSH is a proud sponsor, track leader and exhibitor at the annual Building MI Communities Conference taking place April 27-29, 2015. We are excited to announce that we will be presenting our annual Julie Sandorf award recognizing tenant leadership.

Join us for any number of sessions in the People track focused on ending homelessness, such as:

  • Changing the Paradigm- How a Community Worked Together to Address Permanent Supportive Housing Needs
  • Hot topics- Updates From HUD's Office of Community Programs and Development
  • Planning Permanent Housing Solutions to End Homelessness
  • Housing Veterans Through Federal, State, and Local Connections
  • Senior Housing: Urban, Rural and Homeless

Click here for additional information about the conference and to register.

This event is taking place at the Lansing Center, 333 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing MI.

Upcoming Training Sessions in Ohio

CSH will be offering a number of trainings in 2015 to help your organization develop, manage, and provide quality services to supportive housing in Ohio. This spring, trainings will be offered to assist potential applicants in submitting successful housing funding applications, and the Six Steps to Community Engagement. Additional capacity building trainings are being scheduled for the fall. Training is offered at no cost to participants, and is sponsored by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services with support from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

Community Engagement

Developers face increasing challenges to creating affordable housing. NIMBYism can negatively impact costs and actually derail otherwise soundly thought out projects. The Six Steps training was originally produced for use by developers of homeless housing and services and designed to respond to both the uniquely local aspect of each proposal and the generic aspect, i.e. that similar concerns are raised in nearly every case. Over time, it has proven to be an effective strategy to engage the community in constructive dialogue about proposed development projects. The Six Steps encourages housing providers to conduct a “due diligence” process early in the development planning in which the provider gathers information, considers options and makes informed, deliberate decisions about what actions it will take toward local government, local community and the media. CSH’s training will help developers understand the practical uses of the Six Steps to reduce potential delays and costs that may result from local opposition.

  • April 27, 2015 – Community Engagement and the Six Steps.

Space in this training is limited. If you are interested in attending these trainings or for additional information please contact Leah Werner at 614.228.6263 Ext 224 or leah.werner@csh.org .

Funding Application Training

In March and May, CSH will be offering practical, hands on trainings to a small group of organizations that intend to apply to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency for funding to create supportive housing. The trainings will focus on the practical aspects of creating competitive applications. We conducted this training in 2013; of the teams that were trained  60% applying to FHLB were successful, and 80% applying to OHFA were successful. This resulted in a total of 50 units of supportive housing being added to the pipeline and securing $4.8 million in capital.

  • May 5, 2015 - Ohio Housing Finance Agency – Housing Development Gap Financing

Space in these sessions is limited. If you are interested in attending these trainings or for additional information please contact Leah Werner at 614.228.6263 Ext 224 or leah.werner@csh.org .

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Supportive Housing Academy

302_SHA_14CSH is pleased to present the 2015 Supportive Housing Academy. The Academy will be in Chicago, IL taking place on Tuesday, April 14 through Friday, April 17.

The Academy provides an intensive training on creating new supportive housing and improving the quality of existing supportive housing by encompassing financing, development partnerships, policy, and service design. The Academy condenses the key components of the six-month CSH Supportive Housing Institute into four days of training. Academy participants may request follow-up technical assistance. The goals of the Supportive Housing Academy are to:

  • Empower agencies to identify the building blocks of sound projects that are positioned to access public and private dollars;
  • Create solid project partnerships with staying power and the skills needed to develop and operate supportive housing;
  • Increase the number of units effectively serving individuals and families in need of Supportive Housing; and
  • Develop an array of housing options including new construction or rehabilitation of single-site, mixed-affordability, and scattered site models.

Click here to learn more about the Supportive Housing Academy and to register.

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