The St. Paul-based
Minnesota Housing Partnership (MHP),
a nonprofit organization that preserves and creates affordable housing,
last week received $750,000 from the federal government to help carry
out a new "place-based" community assistance program.
MHP was chosen through a competitive process, along with a dozen other organizations nationwide to work with the
U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s recently formed arm, OneCPD, which refers to its Office of Community Planning and Development.
Although
the details of the new program are still coming together, MHP executive
director Chip Halbach explains that the consortium will probably be on
hand to help HUD in a more consistent way than it has in the past.
Previously,
HUD hired the housing organization for specific needs, helping to
revise an organization's property management practices or meet
income-tracking requirements. "There are specific chunks of work we
would come in and do," he says, adding, "This points to a different
approach."
Basically, HUD is going for a more broadly based
integrated community development style, while MHP's focus will be on the
Upper Midwest, according to MHP information.
Halbach says he's excited about HUD's new direction. In his view, "There's a lot of potential for what could be done."
As
a part of this new initiative, HUD has pulled together various agencies
that can lend different types of expertise, including affordable
housing, business and community planning, economic development,
infrastructure planning, construction management, sustainable design and
natural resource protection, and market research, among other things,
according to MHP information.
Other local organizations that are a part of this effort that MHP is leading includes the following:
Bonestroo Inc., the
Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers, and
Affordable Housing Connections,
Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development,
Great Lakes Capital Fund in Michigan and
Seattle's Sound Thinking.
Source: Chip Halbach, executive director, Minnesota Housing Partnership
Writer: Anna Pratt