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Home My WebLink About2021-01-28 Housing & Human Services PACKET Ashland Housing and Human Services Commission Regular Meeting Agenda January 28,2021:4:00–4:30pm Siskiyou Room of the Community Development Building 51 Winburn Way 1.(4:00)Approval of Minutes (5 min) December 10, 2020 2.(4:05)CDBG and Social Service Grants ScheduleUpdate(5 min) January 23, 2020 3.(4:10) Racial Justice CommitmentAdoption Discussion (5 min) Rich Rohde, Commission Chair 4.(4:15)Covid Homeless Response Update (5 min) Linda Reid, HousingProgram Specialist 5.(4:20)SOU program report(10 min) Chris Mahan, Commissioner 6.(4:30)Upcoming Eventsand Meetings Next Housing Commission Regular Meeting February 25, 2021 7.(4:30)Adjournment In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the Community Development office at 541-488-5305 (TTY phone is 1-800-735-2900). Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the Ashland Housing and Human Services Commission Draft Minutes November 19,2020 Audio Call to Order Commission Chair Rohde called the meeting to order at 4:00pmvia Zoom meeting. Commissioners Present:Council Liaison Rich RohdeDennis SlatteryABS Echo Fields Gina DuquenneSOU Liaison Linda ReppondNone appointed at this time Jackie Bachman Tom GundersonStaff Present: Heidi ParkerLinda Reid, Housing Program Specialist Chris Mahan Commissioners Not In Attendance: Erin Crowely Approval of Minutes CommissionersEchoFields/GinaDuquenne m/s to approve the minuteswith amendment to section of Affordable Housing Trust fund & CDBG Award UpdateofOctober 22, 2020. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion passed Public Forum - None Council Update Debrief Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist,grand terrace property annexationwason the docket. Developeris waiting for land use changes to happen before they bring their development plans forward Echo Fields stated what she liked about the council meeting. Gina Duquennetalked about needing a property to house homeless CAPER Review and Approval Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist, meet goals for homelessness, facilitiesand housing rehab. Funded Maslow and they helped 117,StVincentDe Paul 27 households, food angels benefitedthousands. CARES act money funded 2 projectsfrom 2019, hotel vouchersfor ORHA 57 people housed for 67 days. Peace house ORHA for meal delivery, 125 meals 4 days aweeksince March. Showertrailer back on line,was an economic development project with hiring cleaner for shower trailer. JB– page 55 chart for drawn down money amounts.Did everything get drawn down properly? LR – caper only counts what is drawn in the given year, most times there is carry over to next year. GD– fairhousing training for landlords and property management.Where are we with that? LR – oncity website we have a housing hotline with info for fairhousing. RR–There is a new fair housingpersonfor Southern Oregon,Meg Tinan.Break down of racial data for people servedshowed only 4 people of color?LR –Maslow and St VincentDe Paulk keep better records for racial needs. However,Food angels does notas they are not doing a direct service. CM–Isthere long-termpenaltyfor not meeting goals. LR –not really, if we were to continually be lower on our goals. CommissionersChris Mahan/GinaDuquenne m/s to acceptthe Caper report. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion passed Pam Marsh-Manufactured Housing Discussion Pam Marsh got involved with mobile parks becausepark space rentals went up so high. Rights of park residents when park closes. Own unit, lease space. Wanted Legislationin Oregonrequires notificationof closureand residents be given option to buy park. Hb2896 would help private funding to buy parks that would be closingor for sale. 8-10%of total housingstock in Oregon.104 parks before firehere. 1100 parks statewide 27 are alternateowned. 20 parksdestroyed in our fire. 1500homes in those parks destroyed.Parks that come back will be at ahigher price pointwith all new homesas well as higher space rent to recoup rebuilding. For low income housingparks coming back will not cover low incomeagain. CASA puts together cooperative park running. Pallet Shelter Pilot Project Overview Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist,Ashlandfailing is lack of location for cold weather shelter. City purchasing 3 pallet shelters, putting them at Unitarianchurch in parking places. Volunteers will check in evening. 4900.00 per unit. 25K for 3 units set up. Coming from oldCDBG money December Retreat Meeting Agenda Discussion No speaker yet, possiblyChelseyGatter(sp?). Zoom training with mental health.Rich,Heidi& Jackie wantto focus affordable housing in Ashland.How to learn to breakdown barriers in getting affordable housinginto Ashland.speaker options could be Columbia Care and Umpqua neighbor works. th Thursday during the day 2-4:30 Dec 10 General Announcements and Updates TG -Rogue retreat is expanding the campground to 100 people. Grants Pass shelter is going to 24 hour for 3 months. RR–implementationof measure 110 decimalizessmall amounts of drugs and puts Marijuanainto drug treatment. Forum on Dec7th 5pmlocally, send to Linda Reid for invite. CM –gave COVIDreport at SOU, 61 in quarantine, if studentsgo home for holiday must quarantinewhen they come back. Linda Reid –Americourt internforconservation dept,Bridgette,coming to Januarymeeting with new project. Upcoming Eventsand Meetings Next Housing Commission RegularMeeting Adjournment:Rich Rohdeadjourned the meeting at 6:15p.m. Respectfully submitted by Liz Hamilton Ashland Housing and Human Services Commission DraftMinutes December10, 2020 Call to Order Commission Chair Rohde called the meeting to order at 2:00pm by Zoom Commissioners Present:Council Liaison Rich Rohde Echo Fields Gina DuquenneSOU Liaison Linda ReppondNone appointed at this time Jackie Bachman Tom GundersonStaff Present: Heidi ParkerLinda Reid, Housing Program Specialist Chris Mahan Commissioners Not In Attendance: Erin Crowley Special Meeting - Presentationon Rent Burden Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist. Ashland has a rent burden of 34.7% which is in the top 3 in the State of Oregon for Cities of this size. Presenters:Ryan Haines from Housing Authority of Jackson County. Chad McComas from RogueRetreat. Brian Shelton-Kelly from Neighbor Works Umpqua Ryan Haines:has had good luck in dealing with City of Ashland. 3 broad categoriesof barriersinthe Rogue Valleyof Rent Burden solutions 1, GeneralConstruction Barriers:Profit margin is key with land costs. Wages is also and issue, current wages are upin this area.Cost of goods and insurance are escalating. 2.Income and economic factors:A house is considered affordable at 2.5 times the incomeof the homeowner. The 34.7% rent burdenin Ashland is all renters. Of the low-incomebracket 75% are paying more that 50% of their income on rent. Asa regionwe need to attract better paying employers. 3.Political Will: In this region a large portion of people do not see having adequate housing for low income a priority. Questions and answers between Commission and Ryan. Chad McComas: Habitat forHumanity is a great source for low income house owning. More and more homeless these days. Rogue Retreat islooking for shelters, camping land and tiny home communities. TheCampgroundin Medford is going well but the cost is $30k a month with 24-hourservice. Kelly Shelter is a full-timeshelter with case managers. Hope Village is a34-unittiny home development. Questions and answers between Commission and Chad. Brian Shelton-Kelly: Neighbor Works is a steward of the 30 land trust units in Ashland to provide permanent homeownership for low income families. Land Trust program is a long-termlease to take the cost of theland out of the cost of thehome to make it more affordable.The number 49,000 is the number of housingunits that will be needed in SWOregonbetweennow and 2040. NeighborWorks is expanding both their rental housing and home ownership. Questions and answers between Commission andBrain. Adjournment:Rich Rohdeadjourned specialmeeting portion of the meeting at 3.45p.m. Respectfully submitted by Liz Hamilton Housingand Human Services Commission Memo TITLE:CDBG and Social Service Grant Timelineand Meeting Schedule Discussion DEPT:Community Development DATE: January 28, 2021 SUBMITTED BY:Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist Below is a spreadsheet that outlines the timelines for CDBG andSocial Service Grant processesfor the 2021 grant year to assist the Commission in setting a meeting schedule for review of those grant applications. MONTHH&HS MEETINGCDBGSOCIAL SERVICE GRANT RFP Issued-first week of RFP Issued-first week of January JanuaryJanuary Regular meetingApplicationsDue-February February th (receive CDBG apps 19 for review) thth CDBG App. Review March 25-Public RFP Issued-March 15 March and RecommendationHearing/Recommendations thrd April 20Council review Applications Due-April 23 April and final allocation/Annual Action Plan Public Notice th Review and Approval May 27-Annual Action Review and Recommendation May th of the CDBG Annual Plan Public by H&HSC-May 27 Action PlanHearing/Approval th June 15-Review and final June allocation by Council Memo DATE: January 28, 2021 TO: Housing and Human ServicesCommission FROM: Rich Rohde, Commission Chair RE:Racial Justice Commitment Adoption Discussion Commission Chair Rohde is requesting that the Commission adopt a commitment to using aracial justice lens for of the Commission’s work in the coming year. DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us Memo DATE: January 28, 2021 TO: Housing and Human ServicesCommission FROM: Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist RE: Covid Homeless Response Update The City of Ashland Housing Program administers three sources of funding: The Affordable Housing Trust Fund, The Social Service Grant Fund and Community Development Block Grant funds. Together and individually, these funding sources provide resources to assist area non-profit agencies and affordable housing providers in providing a range of services and housing activities to support the continuum of housing needs, from emergency shelter, case management and navigation services, to funding to support the development of affordable rental housing and permanent supportive housing. th Since March 17the City has funded several activities to prevent, prepare and respond to COVID-19with CDBG-CV funds. Similarly, the City has utilized Affordable Housing trust funds to address some of the urgent needs arising from both the pandemic and the issues arising from the recent wildfire event. Social Service grant funds also provided services to support many of the agencies address the needs of the pandemic and wildfire, though these activities were funded prior to the onset of both disasters. These activities are detailed in the attached table. The City has provided funding to support a variety of shelter and housing related activities, including OHRA’s Winter shelter program, and funding for OHRA and Maslow Project to house vulnerable households in hotels. The City has also continued support for essential services such as operational support for the shower trailer and funding to support meal preparation and delivery to the most vulnerable. However, these resources have not been enough to address the many needs created by the ongoing pandemic which have been amplified by the Almeda wildfire, and City staff has been exploring creative solutions to meet these urgent needs. The State of Oregon received an additional allocation of Emergency Shelter Grant-Corona Virus (ESG-CV) funds through the CARES Act from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This funding is required to be used to provide resources and services for homeless populations, specifically to prevent, prepare for, and respond to issues created by the pandemic. For the first time the State has offered this funding to entities throughout the state through a competitive process. The City has submitted an application for funding to address the need for emergency non-congregate shelter. The City has applied for $300,000 in ESG funding to purchase additional pallet shelter buildings and to work with Rogue Retreat to establish and DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us oversee an urban campground similar to the one that organization is currently running in Medford. Oregon Housing and Community Services is scheduled to make award announcements in mid-February. The City is also working with the Rogue Valley Universal Unitarian Fellowship on a pilot program which will provide non-congregate sheltering for homeless populations in three pallet shelters purchased by the City utilizing expiring Capital funding through the CDBG program. This program is a work in progress and some of the forms and processes are currently established and refined. The pallet shelters are expected to be available for use in mid-January. Options for Helping Residents of Ashland (OHRA) opened an emergency winter shelter at 1615 Clark Ave accommodating up to 40 individuals experiencing homelessness. This shelter was supported by the City through the award of $174,000 in combined Affordable Housing Trust and CDBG Funds by the City Council on October 6, 2020. In an effort to reduce the risk of spread of COVID 19, a portion of the AHTF grant was utilized to install barrier separations between occupant beds and maintain adequate separation between those st utilizing the shelter. The OHRA winter shelter opened on November 1 2020, and is scheduled to continue through March 2021. Due to the impacts of the wildfire and the pandemic, City staff has taken on the responsibility of organizing the Inclement Weather shelter. This temporary emergency shelter is called in times of extreme weather conditions including hazardous weather events, and extreme temperatures. Traditionally this shelter has been organized and run by community volunteers and utilized donated space. In prior years the City has provided funding to pay organizations to organize the shelters and pay staff and has also provided space for the shelter in Pioneer Hall. However, due to structural deficiencies, Pioneer Hall is no longer a viable option for overnight sheltering. Consequently, City staff has worked with community volunteers to organize staffing, with local non-profit and faith based groups to provide overnight shelter space, and with non-profit partners to supply limited personal protective equipment to shelter volunteers and patrons in an effort to meet Oregon Health Authority guidelines for emergency congregate shelters. So far this winter the City has opened the Inclement Weather shelter for two nights, which served at total of 18 individuals. City staff continues to monitor upcoming weather conditions and communicate with volunteer coordinators to prepare for inclement weather shelter events. The City has the potential to receive additional funding from the State of Oregon to address the needs of the homeless population. Should the City receive a funding award from the State, the majority of the grant funding will be provided as a pass through grant to Rogue Retreat. City staffing costs to administer the grant funding will be incurred. The Pallet Pilot Project has utilized $25,080 in previously unallocated restricted CDBG funding and an additional $5,000 in Affordable Housing Trust funds. Inclement Weather Shelter program administration incurs staffing costs to organize shelter volunteers and space, and has the potential to incur costs to rent shelter space as needed. The cost to rent shelter space is estimated to be $200 per night. Covid-19 and Homeless Services Funding Breakdown Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and CDBG-CVFunding YearAllocation Admin- A portion of Funds Committed Outcomes: City Staff’s time # of people DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us working on homeless served related activities 2019-ends $178,562$35,712 $10,850-Maslow Project117-Maslow June 2020 $15,463-SVDP-Rent, Security Deposit, Utility 26-SVDP payments $18,000-Food Angels-Meals and Food for 981-AFA homeless $103,808-OHRA-hotels/meals-emergency 55 -OHRA shelter for the homeless 2020-$176,926$35,385 $13,291-Maslow ProjectEst. 99-Maslow begins July $5,525-Food Angels Est. 1000-AFA 2020 $50,000-OHRA-Rent Assistance for homeless TBD and at risk of households $20,704.78-Peace House Meals for 5,840-meals Homeless Est. 960- $19,968-OHRA Shower Program showers CDBG-CV$104,079$20,815$32,000-Peace House Meals for homelessEst. 8,000 meals CDBG-CV3 $189,741$37,941 $125,483-OHRA Winter Shelter Est. 40 Pre 2019 $165,702.55Not Available $6,446.72 –OHRA Shower ProgramEst. 240- 1 carryover showers Total $815,010.55 $129,853 $421,539.50 Affordable Housing Trust Funds(AHTF) Outcomes: Year Total Funds Committed # of people Amount served Available 2020-2021 $216,986 $3,500-OHRA Emergency Shelter for the homeless 10 $1,500-JxCo Greenway MealsTBD $60,000-Maslow Project-Emergency Shelter Program Est. 12+ $48,500-OHRA Non-Congregate Shelter Program Est. 5+ $43,500-NWU-Pre-development and Capacity Building Est. 30+ Remaining Balance $59,986 $157,000-Total of all projects Social Service Grant(SSG)Funds2019-2020 Addictions Recovery Center-Crisis/transportation $4,000 Community Works-Dunn House Shelter $6,500 Food Angels $4,500 La Clinica Mobile Health Unit-Uncle Food’s $5,000 Maslow-Case Management of Homeless Youth$8,500 OHRA-Winter Shelter $26,500 Peace House-Uncle Food’s Diner $7,000 Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice-Peace Meal $13,000 St. Vincent De Paul- $25,00 Total-Annually for two years $75,000 1 Unexpended funds prior to 2019 are not eligible for the CDBG waiver-no public service cap waiver or public comment period suspensions. DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us Outcome reporting not available for all funded projects as this time. All Funding Sources $421,539.50 CDBG 2019-2020 AHTF 2020-2021 $157,000 SSG-2019-2020 $150,000 Total $728,539.50 DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us Memo DATE:January 28, 2021 TO:Housingand Human ServicesCommission FROM:Chris Mahan, Commissioner RE:SOU program report Commissioner Mahan will provide an update on programs and the current environment at Southern Oregon University. DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us