OHCS Announces NOFA Winners.

OHCS has announced HERE the winners of this years NOFA.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am on the Board of the Housing Development Center. HDC played a role in three of the funded applications: Orchards at Orenco, Glisan Phase II, and Rosewood Plaza. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

CORRECTED: Eligible Applicant List to Submit Full Application for HUD Regional Planning Grant NOFA Does NOT Include Portland's Metro.

CORRECTION:
Thanks to prompt weekend early AM response from Metro staff, I was able to confirm that Metro WAS invited to submit a full application for the subject sustainability planning grant. While they do NOT appear on the Excel listing, it turns out that HUD had NOT recorded their application, but fortunately Metro kept a copy of the Grants.gov receipt confirmation for their application. Text has been changed below to correctly reflect that Metro IS an invited application, and prior text is shown with strikethrough.
--------------

I downloaded the NOFA for the full HUD Regional Sustainable Communities Planning Grant NOFA HERE, which was posted September 6th, and has a October 6th deadline for response. (If this link does not work search for CFDA number 14.703 at Grants.gov).

Within the zipped folder for this NOFA there is an Excel list titled "Appendix A Eligible Applicants.xlsx" I sorted through the list of eligible metro areas and found 4 Oregon eligible applicants that did NOT include Portland's Metro: 

• Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, Bend
• Mid-Columbia Economic Development District, The Dalles
• Oregon Cascades West Council Of Governments, Albany
• Southwestern Oregon Community College, Coos Bay

HOWEVER, good news is that Metro staff has confirmed via email that HUD has invited them to apply since HUD lost their application, but Metro was able to supply a confirmation that the application had been submitted on time. So Oregon now has 5 areas invited to apply for this grant.

(Kudos to Metro staff for timely weekend AM response to my request for confirmation of their status). 

I will contact Metro for confirmation, but if anyone has been formally told by Metro that it did not qualify for the full application, feel free to add a comment or send me an email. (I would be happy to correct this post if Metro advises that it is error).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Issues Advance Notice of Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant NOFA.

HUD PR is HERE. 

Link within PR will [eventually] get you to "Program " Section of NOFA HERE , that has specifics that relate to this program. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Section 202 NOFA Out, Closes June 1st.

Happened while I was on vacation. Web page for program is HERE; closes on June 1st. Full announcement page is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Awards $73 Million in Housing Counseling Grants; Oregon Agencies Get $228k.

National HUD PR is HERE. 

Oregon grant awards are pasted below:

Bend	NEIGHBORIMPACT FKA: COCAAN	$46,799
Corvallis	WILLAMETTE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES, INC (FORMERLY CORVALLIS NHS)	$44,832
Hillsboro	OPEN DOOR COUNSELING CENTER	$39,425
Hillsboro	OPEN DOOR COUNSELING CENTER	$10,000
Portland	NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH AND FAMILY CENTER	$44,341
Springfield	NEIGHBORHOOD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (NEDCO)	$42,866
	Total	$228,263

I calculate that awards to Oregon agencies amount to $3.13 out of every $1,000 awarded by HUD, but Oregon counseling agencies could also receive sub awards from national grantees. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

As Submitted, Portland Metro's Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Application.

I am pleased that Metro staff promptly responded to my request and provided the complete application materials sent to HUD for the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant.

The process of putting together the 20+ exhibits, let alone the coordination required to bring parties together, must have been substantial and I commend Metro and other parties for the effort required and the commitments they made. 

While I will save substantive comments for a future post, I wanted to make these documents available ASAP to others. 

I have created and uploaded a zip file with all of the 20+ documents (Documents are in MS Word, PowerPoint, or Excel formats). Once opened you will see files are in four different folders:  Applicant Information, Budget, Project Narrative, and Rating Factor Forms. 

Zipped file can be downloaded HERE. (You won't want to open the zip file in your browser, instead right click the file link and save it to your PC and after downloading then double click the downloaded file to open it).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Choice Neighborhoods and HOPE VI NOFA Out.

URL for HUD PR is HERE:

http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2010/HUDNo.10-185

House Today Considering HUD/DOT FY 2011 Appropriations Bill; NOFA's Within 60 Days to Be Required for HUD.

Bill status page for H.R. 5850 is HERE.(Look for amendments and Congressional actions to appear later within that page)

Bill text, prior to amendments, is HERE.

253 page bill Report is HERE. From that report

Within HUD, the Committee has focused this year’s bill and report on strengthening the core programs of the Department and
eliminating large carryover balances by requiring the issuance of
Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs) within strict timeframes.
Further, the Committee is mandating administrative reforms in
the Housing for the Elderly program and in the Housing for Persons with Disabilities program through the accompanying report.

From bill text appears that "timeframes" will require HUD NOFA's within 60 days of enactment. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Washington County Board Presentation on HUD Sustainable Community Grant NOFA.

The Washington County Board of Commissioners recently received a briefing on the HUD Sustainable Housing NOFA's; I have posted that presentation (as a PDF file) HERE. 

Provides a good summary of current thinking on content of application,which is due to HUD in mid August.  (23rd if I recall correctly).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Sustainbility NOFA Webcast Time Confirmed, 12-1:30 PDT MONDAY July 19th.

HUD corrected prior error and has posted correct time on their web cast schedule HERE.

HUD Sustainable Communities NOFA Changes.

Wow, this is getting more screwed up by the day....

I got an email notifying me of changes in the Sustainable Communities Planning Grant NOFA; full text of that message  is pasted below. 

However after downloading the form again, numerous links continue to NOT work AND the links for data for one of the factors, Segregation by County, has disappeared. (Is that the "removal of one date point" referred to in the message, and if so how does that affect rating point distribution?).

The Rating Factor form has minor corrections, only in Rating Factor 2; for spelling, labels and the removal of one data point for which it turns out data will not be available in time for the grant deadline.    The modification only affects the Instructions Download; the Application Package does NOT have to be downloaded again.

You can download the new application package from http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/opportunities/packages/oppFR-5396-N-03-cfda14.703-cidSCRPG-03.pdf

The instructions for applying for this grant opportunity have also changed.  You can download the new instructions from http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/opportunities/instructions/oppFR-5396-N-03-cfda14.703-cidSCRPG-03-instructions.zip

Hopefully resolution of these problems will be discussed in the upcoming NOFA  web cast next week. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Sustainable Communities NOFA Webcast Date AND Time Change?

HUD has published two different times for the webcast for the Sustainable Communities web cast. As I originally posted the time was 12-1:30 PDT MONDAY July 19th; but now the HUD web cast schedule HERE shows a time of 11-12 PDT on THURSDAY July 22nd!.

I have sent email requesting clarification and will update this post IF I get clarification; if I don't get clarification, I would double check the web cast schedule link again on Monday to see if in fact there is a web cast at 12 PDT. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Releasing MORE Data Sources for Regional Sustainable Communities Planning Grant.

HUD is sure taking a long time to release data sources to be used to complete the rating form required for the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant NOFA. 

The data page for the rating form can be found HERE; check often as this page is supposed to be updated in the future--some new items were added as recently as this morning.  

Some Factors Will Require Use of "Locally Collected" Data Source:

One example: Data for "Factor 5.1 Availability of Subsidized Housing within 2 Miles of the Region’s 5 Largest Employment Centers" is to be "locally collected". [I have suggested way of doing that, if anyone is interested].

NO HUD Webcast Currently Scheduled

It sure seems like additional guidance on completing the form will be required, however I have yet to see a webcast scheduled for this NOFA, you can check HUD webcast schedules HERE. 

The main HUD web page for this NOFA is HERE. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Regional Sustainable Communities NOFA Material, Including Form Data, Continues to Be Updated.

HUD continues to add stuff to the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant NOFA web page. 

Regional Planning Grant web page HERE has adds for FAQ's, side by side comparisons with Community Challenge Grant and TIGER II NOFA, a July 1 Tiger II webinar, and a link to data necessary to complete the rating form that is part of the Regional Planning Grant NOFA. 

Rating form data as of early Wednesday AM is only partially complete, so also keep looking for revisions to form data web page HERE for posting of additional data necessary to complete the rating form. (Posting of a revised rating form seems also likely at some point, as links within current form are broken).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Sustainable Communities NOFA Not Yet Out, Two Months After HUD's Original Projection.

At mid June and with no HUD Sustainable Communities planning grant NOFA yet out, I thought it would be interesting to see what HUD originally projected for a timetable. 

I pulled from the Advance Notice HERE the dates that HUD was originally projecting:

• Week of March 1, 2010—Webcast Briefings
• March 12, 2010—Comments on Draft Description due C.O.B. to HUD
• Week of April 12, 2010—NOFA published
• Approx. June 5, 2010—Applications due to HUD
• Approx. August 2, 2010—Announcement of Awardees

As you can see HUD is now nearly two months OVER their original projected date for issuance of this NOFA. 

If there is ONE take away for public agencies, particularly with new programs, that message SHOULD be:

UNDER promise and OVER deliver. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

MUST Read: HUD NOFA Will Include "Policy Points" Awarded for Consistency with HUD Strategic Plan.

HUD PR is HERE;  Advance copy of NOFA Policy Guidance and General Section Notice (linked within the PR) is HERE.

Page 75 is the rough schedule for when individual NOFA's are scheduled to appear.

"Policy Points" are discussed beginning on page 7; description indicates 6 policy priorities: 

1. Job Creation/Employment
2. Sustainablity
3. Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH)
4. Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing
5. Using Housing as a Platform for Improving Other Outcomes
6. Expand Cross-Cutting Policy Knowledge

Applicants that propose to undertake activities that result in the achievement of the specific Policy Priorities are eligible to receive policy priority points in the rating of their application. Each NOFA shall have a minimum of two Policy Priorities applicable to the program in the NOFA for which points can be obtained. The total number of points available for policy priorities is a maximum of five points per NOFA, devoted to policy priority points.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

NLIHC Comments on HUD Sustainable NOFA Rating Form.

NLIHC highlights the contents of the draft HUD Sustainable NOFA Rating form on page 5 of this weeks Memo to Members, which I have posted HERE.

Also NLIHC has provided me with a copy of the comments they made on the draft form prior to the June 1st deadline for comments. Those NLIHC comments, in MS Word format, are HERE.  (I especially appreciated their comments about a lack of focus on extremely low income households).


My Speculation: LEED-ND May be Missing Factor 3 on the Draft Form?
My earlier post pointed out there was no rating factor 3 on the form; I am wondering if that factor will be related to new LEED-ND rating process that HUD Secretary has said HUD will be using? [Put this into a WAG category].

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Tease: Form with Rating Factors for HUD Sustainability Grant.

HUD recently published a FR Notice of the rating factors form it is planning on using for the HUD Sustainable Communities Planning Grant NOFA. I have obtained a DRAFT copy of this form, and as a prelude to the publication of the actual NOFA; HERE is that draft as a MS Word document.

The form clearly is a subject to change as a DRAFT - it appears that either Factor 3 is missing or mislabeled; these are the factors and sub factors found on the draft form (no max points for each factor or sub factor are shown on the form):

Factor I – Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience
1.    Key Personnel
2.    Partners

Factor 2 – Need and Extent of the Problem
1.    Housing Costs    
2.    Environmental Quality   
3.    Transportation Access   
4.    Socioeconomic Inequity   
5.    Economic Opportunity
6.    Fresh Food Access
7.    Healthy Communities
 
FACTOR 3 is missing or mislabelled
Factor 4 – Leveraging Resources
Factor 5 – Achieving Results and Program Evaluation

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog. 

HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant: I Expect NOFA this Week.

This is the last week in May and I expect the HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant to be coming out shortly. (I will be checking during the day today, but will be on the road at times on Tuesday and Wednesday covering the Hardest Hit legislative hearings in Salem, so look for HUD PR , or go to the HUD Sustainable Communities website during the week HERE to check for the NOFA).

Earliest signal is planned publication tomorrow of the HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grant notice of the NOFA rating forms, published in advance in the FR Public Inspection  website HERE. (Actual form not included in the publication just the Notice of the form).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD Sustainable Communities: Advance Registration Info Posted on HUD Website, NOFA Will be Delayed Unil "May 2010".

Advance copy of Notice in Federal Register advises applicants to register NOW, and requests applicants who intend to file a application to Notify HUD by May 14th. Advance Notice is HERE with final copy to appear in Federal Register tomorrow.

Notice ALSO says:

• 900+ comments received on requests for comment HUD previously published.
• NOFA itself, previously scheduled for THIS week, has been delayed until "May 2010".

(Notice also appears off of HUD Funds Available website HERE).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.