posted Jan 5, 2012 9:42 AM by J. Aric
[
updated Jan 5, 2012 9:44 AM
]
The City of Austin is putting together a set of communication guidelines for affordable housing project developers. The purpose of the guidelines is to ensure developers and neighbors communicate with one another when an affordable housing development is going into a neighborhood. Speak Up Austin - The purpose of the listening forum is to gather input on a set of Good Neighbor Guidelines for all housing developments supported with local and federal funding through the City of Austin Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Office. The guidelines are intended to address issues of mutual interest to neighbors, tenants, developers and other community stakeholders. These issues may include but are not limited to notification regarding the proposed project, community safety measures, and physical property elements. Note: Geographic Dispersion Resolution |
posted Nov 21, 2011 7:11 AM by J. Aric
[
updated Nov 21, 2011 7:11 AM
]
TEXAS INTERAGENCY COUNCIL FOR THE HOMELESS Tuesday, December 13, 2011 9:30-11:30 am Austin City Hall Council Chambers 301 W. Second St. Austin, TX 78701
On October 4th, 2011, the Texas Interagency Council for the Homeless (TICH) released the Texas Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness for public comment. TICH is holding public hearings across the state to gather communities’ input on the plan. TICH will consider all public input while finalizing the plan.
The plan promotes coordination of state, federal, and local efforts and proposes goals, objectives, and strategies to help state agencies better serve those experiencing and at risk of homelessness. The four priority areas in the plan are:
1. Data, research, and analysis; 2. Affordable housing and supportive services; 3. Homelessness prevention; and 4. State infrastructure.
During the public hearings, TICH (DADS, TDHCA & more) will take input related to these four priority areas, the plan in general, and the State’s response to homelessness.
In conjunction with ECHO, TICH will host a hearing in Austin on December 13 at 9:30am. If you wish to sign up in advance to speak, please contact Ann Howard at annhoward@austinecho.org .
TICH asks that speakers with prepared written comment provide TICH representatives with a copy of their oral testimony at the time of the hearing. Please bring 5 copies.
The plan may be accessed hereContact: Colin McGrath for more information: colin.mcgrath@tdhca.state.tx.us | 512-475-3897 |
posted Sep 30, 2011 2:59 PM by J. Aric
Please join the ECHO Board of Directors, our members, and supporters in extending a warm welcome to Ann Howard, ECHO’s new Executive Director. She begins her time at ECHO on October 1st and you’ll have the opportunity to meet her at the annual membership meeting on October 19th at Neighborhood Housing & Community Development. Her email address is annhoward@austinecho.org Ann comes to us from Citizen Schools, where she served as the Director of Development. At Citizen Schools she led the state-wide funding efforts of this national organization to support programs in Austin and Houston, established and nurtured partnerships with foundations and corporations, developed an Austin advisory board, and successfully increased giving by 22% in eleven months. Ann is an alumnus of the University of Texas, with a JD from the School of Law, and an MPA from the LBJ School of Public Affairs. We are thrilled to welcome Ann. Her expertise in community outreach, advocacy and strategic campaigns in the non-profit, government and business sectors make Ann the ideal person to lead ECHO’s efforts to end homelessness in Austin, TX. Ed McHorse Chariman, Board of Directors |
posted Sep 15, 2011 1:12 PM by J. Aric
[
updated Sep 15, 2011 1:14 PM
]
Please see the following attachment for ECHO's FY2011 HUD Application Timeline. |
posted Aug 30, 2011 9:02 AM by J. Aric
[
updated Sep 23, 2011 10:33 AM
]
FY2011 NOFA Published & Application Available in e-snaps
Submission Deadline: October 28, 2011 at 7:59:59PM Eastern Time
HUD’s Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS) has published the FY 2011 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Assistance Programs. The CoC NOFA is posted on the Funds Available page of HUD’s website (www.hud.gov) and on HUD’s Homelessness Resource Exchange (HRE) in the What’s New section and in the top banner of home page.Programs included in the CoC NOFA are: the Supportive Housing Program, the Shelter Plus Care, and the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation for Single Room Occupancy Program.
Electronic Application in e-snaps
The CoC application (Exhibit 1) and the project application (Exhibit 2) are available online through e-snaps. The application submission deadline is Friday,
October 28, 2011 at 7:59:59PM Eastern Time. NOTE: the grants.gov application process is not applicable to the CoC competition. Both Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2 are only available via SNAPS’ online grants management system, e-snaps.
Only those CoCs with a HUD-approved FY2011CoC Registration will have access to Exhibit 1 for the FY2011 CoC competition.
The process for completing the applicant profile has changed this year. Therefore, HUD urges each CoC lead contact and project applicant to review the appropriate training module on the Applicant profile before attempting to start the application process.
NOFA
HUD strongly encourages CoC lead agency contacts, project applicants, project sponsors and other interested stakeholders to review the FY2011 CoC NOFA and General Section (General Section to HUD’s FY2011 NOFAs) to ensure proper consideration of all application requirements. Application procedures, evaluation and scoring schema, deadlines, and other requirements are outlined in the FY2011 CoC NOFA as well as in the General Section.
WEBCAST
A pre-recorded webcast that that highlights key changes in the NOFA requirements, the application process, and provides information on Exhibits 1 and 2 will be available in the Webcast Archives page on HUD’s website (www.hud.gov) after September 7, 2011. A listserv message will announce the availability of the archived webcast.
APPLICATION RESOURCES ON HRE
· CoC Competition Training and Resources Page includes CoC NOFA and the General Section
· Training modules
· Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
· Listserv Archive for messages related to the 2011 CoC NOFA and application.
HUD strongly urges CoCs and project applicants to thoroughly review all the FY2011 NOFA resources prior to beginning or submitting applications.
QUESTIONS
Policy and technical questions for the FY2011 CoC competition should be submitted to the Virtual Help Desk (VHD) on the HUD HRE. The VHD accepts question submissions every day all day. However, responses are usually provided between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except for federal holidays. .
LISTSERV
To join one or more of the SNAPS’ listserv groups, click here or click the listserv tab on the home page of the HUD HRE. |
posted Aug 1, 2011 4:02 PM by J. Aric
[
updated Aug 1, 2011 4:04 PM
]
The Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, Inc. (ECHO) is a newly designated 501 (c) 3 organization that serves as the coordinating agency for homeless services in the Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care. ECHO has existed as a broad-based coalition of individuals and organizations since 1996 and has been the primary planning entity for the region since its inception. The Community Plan to End Homelessness recommended establishing an independent lead organization on homelessness and ECHO was granted 501(c)3 status in May of 2011. At this juncture, ECHO is collaborating and networking with stakeholders at all levels of the homeless services community including policymakers, consumers, researchers, educators, providers, and partner organizations. Accepting Applications - Executive Director The Executive Director (ED) of ECHO provides strategic and tactical leadership to the organization. This role serves ECHO between staff, the Board of Directors and stakeholders in the homeless services and policy community. The ED will be expected to bring visionary leadership while guiding ECHO’s strategic development, fundraising efforts, business planning and financial management in addition to representing ECHO with key external audiences. The ECHO Executive Director serves as the critical link between the ECHO Board and the ECHO working groups. The Executive Director reports directly to the Chair of the ECHO Board but is responsible to the entire Board and the community for leadership, updates and coordination.
Please see the attached posting for more detail. |
|
posted Jun 26, 2011 12:12 PM by J. Aric
[
updated Jun 26, 2011 12:18 PM
]
This Notice is intended to achieve three goals: (1) to provide CoC applicants with an outline of the functions and requirements of the annual registration in e-snaps; (2) to provide CoC applicants and project applicants with the major changes that HUD will make under the CoC Competition Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for FY2011; and (3) to familiarize CoC applicants and project applicants with HUD’s plan to implement the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended by the Homeless Emergency and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act.
Highlights of the FY 2011 registration process in E-snaps include:
- The CoC Lead Agency must complete registration in e-snaps by 7:00 p.m. July 25, 2011. HUD will review all registrations and approve correct and complete registrations. CoCs must acknowledge HUD approval in e-snaps. CoCs that fail to meet all the steps of the registration by the deadline will not be permitted to submit an application in the FY 2011 CoC Competition
- CoCs must submit the final approved Grant Inventory Worksheets via e-snaps during the CoC registration process
- The amount of funds each continuum is eligible to receive is determined by the geographic areas indicated in the registration process. For a full list of the FY 2011 geo-codes click here
Highlights of the changes in the FY 2011 CoC NOFA include: - Continuums are encouraged to prepare for the new performance measures outlined in HEARTH and begin the process of identifying how outcomes will be measured and the capacity of the HMIS to meet the new requirements
- Renewal projects will be evaluated in their ability to meet basic threshold requirements. Programs that have displayed substantial issues in drawing down funds or program start up may be at risk of being de-funded
- New SHP projects associated with permanent housing will have the ability to apply for 1,2 or 3 years of funding
- HUD will seek to increase geographic diversity of funded projects and will make awards accordingly. HUD may award up to $10 million to projects in 100% rural areas
- HUD will make an effort to target funds to high need communities as identified in the CoC NOFA in order to advance the goals of Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
- Continuums must provide educational assurances indicating efforts to address the needs of homeless students
- Continuums will be asked to describe efforts in coordinating with HUD funded programs, ARRA programs and other federal homeless assistance programs
- As in past years, award announcements will be made in two phases. Eligible renewal projects will be announced first and new projects will be announced at a later date.
To read the full CoC Registration Notice click here. |
posted Jun 22, 2011 10:40 AM by J. Aric
[
updated Jun 22, 2011 10:43 AM
]
Contingent on
the release of the NOFA, the following community priorities were approved by the Board of Directors on June 16, 2011:
Priority One: Permanent Supportive Housing
that has a strong emphasis on housing (80% housing and 20% services ratio
with more points for higher ratios) for persons who qualify as chronically
homeless and/or are veterans.
Priority Two:
Permanent Supportive Housing with a strong
housing emphasis that moves toward creating housing units as recommended by the
2010 CSH financial modeling report. The report is available here: http://www.caction.org/homeless/documents/AustinModelPresentation.pdf
Priority Three: HMIS Expansion
Because a strong HMIS system is critical to
support the overall Continuum of Care, FPRN funding can be used to support
expansion and improvement of the HMIS system.
Local Emphasis on:
·
Expending all resources available
·
Acquisition, construction, or
renovation
·
Leveraging |
posted Jun 16, 2011 8:13 AM by J. Aric
[
updated Jun 16, 2011 8:16 AM
]
We have an opening this year for a new member of
the Independent Review Team.
Purpose of the Independent Review Team (IRT):
- To review and provide recommendations to homeless serving agencies
- To review and rank the applications for the HUD Continuum of Care
application
- To provide an annual program review report to ECHO
Note: IRT
members may not currently work for, receive compensation from, or serve on the
Board of an organization that receives and/or is applying for HUD CoC funding
in Travis County. Please
feel free to forward this application to anyone who may be interested. The application deadline is Friday, July 15,
2011. |
posted Jun 15, 2011 10:13 AM by J. Aric
The Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) released the Annual Homeless Assessment Report to
Congress (AHAR) on June 14th. According to the findings, levels of homelessness in the
United States have stayed flat from 2009 to 2010. Overall homelessness increased
by one percent, rising to 649,917 according to the annual point-in-time counts.
The number of homeless individuals, unsheltered homeless persons, and homeless
persons in families showed marginal increases of 0.75 percent, 2.76 percent, and
1.61 percent, respectively.
The number of chronically homeless individuals declined by one percent; the
steady and continual decline of chronic homelessness reflects the success of
local and federal efforts to implement best practices to serve chronically
homeless people. The report also offers findings from annual prevalence data and
the impact of the federal Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program
(HPRP). Download the Report |
|
