15 families
T
moved from renting to home ownership with HRA help
he Rice County Housing and Redevelopment Authority administers housing programs for Rice County with the mission of providing decent, safe, and affordable housing. The HRA administers several rental assistance programs, including the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, Mainstream voucher and Bridges, a state-funded rental assistance program for adults with a serious mental illness. The HRA also administers a Permanent Supportive Housing grant with the Community Action Center of Northfield. The Section 8 program is the Guest Columnist largest program the HRA administers. Joy Watson It is an income-based rental assistance program that subsidizes rent for families who earn less than 50% of the area median income, $41,200 for a family of four. Because the HRA has a limited number of Section 8 vouchers available, it maintains a waiting list. The waiting was open from August 31 to September 18, 2020; the last time the waiting list was open was 2017. Due to COVID, the HRA made the decision to transition to an online waiting list system. Applicants completed the application form online and then submitted proof that they live or work in Rice County.
This year, the HRA made the decision to transition some of its Section 8 vouchers to project-based vouchers, which allows the HRA to allocate vouchers to specific properties through a competitive request for proposal process. The benefit of project-based vouchers is that it allows the HRA to incentivize the development of affordable housing using existing funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The HRA awarded its first project-based vouchers to Three Rivers Community Action Center for an affordable housing development in Northfield. The vouchers are contingent on Three Rivers being awarded tax credit funding by the state of Minnesota. The HRA also has a homeownership option as part of the Section 8 program, which allows Section 8 participants to convert their existing rental assistance voucher to a home ownership voucher, so rather than assisting the participant with their monthly rental costs, the participant secures their own mortgage for a home and the HRA subsidizes their monthly payment. To date, 15 families have transitioned from rental assistance to home ownership. Over the past year, the HRA took part in a learning cohort through the National Association of Counties and County Health Rankings and Roadmaps; Rice County’s team was made up of the HRA, Rice County Public Health and Rice County Commissioner Galen Malecha. The team spent almost a year with 11 other teams from around the country focused on housing as a social determinant of health and resources available to rural communities. The cohort has been invaluable during COVID-19 because it has provided information about best practices and leveraging resources . As we go in to 2021, the HRA will use that knowledge as we continue to navigate the pandemic and serve the community.
PROGRESS Joy Watson is executive director of the Rice County Housing and Redevelopment Authority.
Fall 2020
23
