Bend City Council approves $454K in federal funds for affordable housing help

(Update: Adding video and more information)

Eight nonprofits receive funding

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Eight Bend nonprofit housing organizations will use $454,387 to provide housing assistance and other services to low- and moderate-income community members.

City councilors approved the annual allocation of the federal Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant funds at Wednesday night's meeting.

Saving Grace, a sexual and domestic assault intervention organization, will receive $10,000 to continue providing counseling services.

“This funding will enable Saving Grace to provide over 400 counseling sessions for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault,” Trish Meyer, assistant executive director of Saving Grace. told NewsChannel 21 on Thursday.

According to Meyer, Saving Grace serves 4,000 patients a year, and nearly all of them are struggling with poverty.

“The people we work with experience a pretty dramatic post-traumatic stress disorder," Meyer said. "We have specialized counselors on staff that can help them move through the trauma and abuse.”

Housing Works, headquartered in Redmond, will receive a majority of the approved funds, more than $290,000, to acquire 5.5 acres of land to develop 200 affordable rental homes in Bend's urban Growth Boundary.

“Any time we are creating more affordable housing units and more apartment units, that’s a great need here," said Racheal Baker, the city's affordable housing coordinator.

In the past, the city has gotten as little as $300,000 in federal funding for the Community Development Block Grant program. According to Baker, this year's total of about $455,000 is closer to average.

“Especially during a pandemic, community resources that we have are stretched right now, and we need to make sure we are building their capacity to meet our community needs,” Baker said.

More details of the approved funding can be seen in this council issue summary: https://bend.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=9&clip_id=640&meta_id=47557

Here's Thursday's city announcement:

At yesterday’s City Council meeting, Councilors approved the 2021 Annual Action Plan for the Community Development Block Grant. The plan includes allocating $454,387 in federal funds to local nonprofit organizations and housing providers for housing assistance and other services to support low- and moderate-income community members in Bend.

From a pool of 13 applicants, these seven were selected to receive grant awards:

• Fair Housing Council of Oregon will conduct targeted education and outreach to Bend-area housing providers and case managers or housing advocates that serve low-income households.
• Central Oregon FUSE (Frequent Users System Engagement) will offer permanent supportive housing to eight persons experiencing chronic homelessness, a coexisting condition, a high vulnerability score, and a history of repeated jail and/or hospital emergency room usage who is in need of no- or low-barrier housing.
• NeighborImpact HomeSource Counseling and Education will provide homebuyer education, home buying coaching and counseling, foreclosure mitigation, reverse mortgage counseling, fair housing education, financial education, financial coaching and counseling, rental workshops, and other asset building and home ownership services for Bend households. In addition, the Mortgage Assistance program will support mortgage assistance for low- and moderate-income households struggling to make mortgage payments as a result of COVID-19.
• Saving Grace will offer trauma-informed counseling services to over 30 survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking.
• Shepherd’s House will open a winter warming shelter for the potential of 70 shelter beds to an estimated 300 persons during months when overnight temperatures are below freezing.
• Thrive Central Oregon will connect individual needs with community resources by providing vital connection to services and support for 400 community members.
• Volunteers in Medicine will offer one year of free healthcare to 10 low- or extremely low-income City of Bend adults who are not eligible for Affordable Care Act insurance.
• Housing Works will acquire 5.5 acres of land to develop more than 200 affordable rental housing units under House Bill 4079.

The Affordable Housing Advisory Committee made recommendations to the City Council as part of its 2021 Annual Action Plan for the Community Development Block Grant. Recommendations for the grant program are guided by the City of Bend Consolidated Plan, a comprehensive housing and community development strategy to support low-income community members that was prepared with extensive public involvement.

Learn more about the City’s Affordable Housing Program at www.bendoregon.gov/affordablehousing.