Our newsletter, the Land Trust Telegraph, is our periodic way to reach out to constituents and stake holders interested in a forum for and about affordable housing in Story County. The Land Trust Telegraph covers topics including latest happenings at the SCCHC, news of importance from across the County, and ways in which you can help with our marketing and message. Links to the most recent editions of the Land Trust Telegraph are available to the left (Adobe Acrobat 7 or better suggested). If you would like to receive your copy of the newsletter electronically, please email us under “Contact Us” with a request and emailing address. We’ll try our best.
Here is a talk put together by Trish Stauble in March 2014 which describes the history of Story County Housing, Inc. and Story County Community Land Trust as well as our current organization, Story County Community Housing Corporation.
Housing Issues in Story County
There have been a lot of wonderful people involved with housing issues in our community over the years. Many of you are here ! Your generosity to the non-profits in town, by being on their boards, volunteering with them, and donating to them has made a real difference in the lives of many low-income families in our community. Thank you!!
There have been some real super stars who have played roles in the affordable housing arena in Ames and Story County– you have one of them here — Vic Moss has seen the challenges that families experience when they can’t afford their housing.
Joyce Hertz, of course, was another passionate player in this arena. I was blessed to have spent time working with her on several boards. She and I got involved with Story County Housing, Inc. back in the early ‘90s and we did some hands on work together through their Mobile Home Program. I remember cleaning out a mobile home together one windy day in Huxley. I believe we encouraged our husbands to come along and help with that particular effort !!
Dale Vander Schaaf is another person who has been involved for many years…he helped start the Habitat for Humanity chapter in Story County back in the ‘70s and has been on many boards – Story County Housing, the Land Trust and the current non-profit which formed from the merger of those two groups – Story County Community Housing Corporation. We’re currently involved with building a 4-plex two doors down from the homeless shelter on the corner of S. Kellogg and S. Third.
Story County Housing, Inc.
Story County Housing, Inc., and the people who took part in it, planted the seeds of service for several non-profit efforts in Ames and Story County. They formed in 1968 with Don Hadwiger as their first president and Earl Hammond as their vice president of the board. Earl was instrumental in bringing two housing units for the low-income elderly or disabled to Ames, in the early ‘80’s – Keystone, which has 56 units and Stonehaven which has 54.
Over the years, the non-profit built up quite a lot of capital by purchasing homes, renovating them, selling some and renting others out at affordable rates. With volunteer labor, we kept costs low, and were able to pay for the mortgages, maintenance and property taxes of our properties.
As a result of our accumulated capital, we were able to help other non-profits:
–We helped ERP establish their present site by holding title to their building;
–We held title to a Habitat for Humanity property on Wilson Street to make it affordable for two working, single moms.
–We worked with ERP to purchase a property adjacent to their facility to rent in the short term and to hold for the long-term needs of the non-profit housing community – the location for our current 4-plex build.
–We obtained a construction loan for the Community Land Trust to use in building their first home at 24th and Hoover.
Over our 46 year history, SCHI took advantage of available grant dollars. In the 70’s, we weatherized homes with volunteer labor, in the 80’s we renovated homes and resold them at affordable prices. In the 90’s and until our merger with the Land Trust in 2006, we addressed the whole span of housing needs for low-income families: home ownership, rental, transitional and homeless prevention.
Rental properties
Clients in our rental properties included special populations. I could provide many stories. Mental illness and drug abuse were additional issues our low-income residents dealt with. It was not easy. One of our residents committed suicide. It was a real tragedy. Most of you must know how tattered the net is for our mentally ill in this nation.
Our most recent inventory included 6 rental properties in Ames and Nevada.
–a home at 620-12th Street
–a home at 414 S. 4th
–a duplex at 231-233 S. Kellogg
–a duplex on Hodge
Three of the Ames properties were torn down and new units were constructed using the Building Trades Classes from DMACC and the Hunziker Academy.
1) In 2004, a 3-plex was constructed at 414 S. 4th which we named in honor of two long-time board members, Jean Hempstead and Dick Squires. Mainstream Living uses one of these units for their program participants, which has worked out well;
2) In 2010, the SCCHC built a new home at 620-12th Street which is equipped with an active solar array. Energy savings are estimated at about 20% per year and PowerFilm Solar who gave us a significant reduction in price as a demonstration model still monitors the array to adjust and maximize energy savings for the family over time. We also secured a grant from the IDED to help pay for the cost of the roof panels.
This was an exciting project. The city of Ames did extensive work with us on approving the home’s solar infrastructure so excess electricity could be fed back onto the grid. This was approved after much work, and so a small non-profit is helping to light up Ames !! Hopefully the city will consider more green energy initiatives because they do have a lot of work in place from this project.
3) Currently, the SCCHC is building a 4-plex on a third property which Story County Housing purchased in the mid-90s at 231 S. Kellogg. We are dedicating it to Joyce Hertz. We are trying to incorporate a handicapped accessible unit in this build.
SCHI’s Transitional Housing
In the early ‘90s, we created the Mobile Home Program. Habitat was having trouble qualifying families because of their debts. Debts build up quickly when you can’t afford your housing. So Joyce and I worked to develop this transitional program which would help families repair their debts so they could purchase a Habitat home.
Several churches and civic organizations provided us with funds to purchase six mobile home in Ames and Huxley. We worked with MICA to provide the families with financial counseling. Ten families took part in the program and two were successful in repairing their debts and building enough equity to qualify for a Habitat home.
SCHI’s Emergency Grants
We also offered emergency grants to help keep families in their housing, much like ERP’s Homeless Prevention program.
The Story County Community Land Trust
In the mid-90s as the need for affordable housing continued to grow, the city conducted a Housing Needs Assessment. This study detailed the desperate housing needs of lower-income families in our community – 1,500 units needed for families who could pay $400 to $500 per month for their housing. Another 1000 units needed for folks who needed even more affordable monthly housing costs !
The city built 80 homes in West Ames with a major federal grant of infrastructure and another 13 homes in southeast Ames, but the prices of homes in both developments rose very quickly with market appreciation out of the reach of low-income families.
As these homes sold, the subsidies used to create them left with the family. Vic, and Robert Karp from Beyond Welfare wanted to create a mechanism to recapture and reuse subsidies and help keep such homes affordable into the future
And so work began on the creation of the Story County Community Land Trust.
The SCCLT held its first annual meeting on April 30, 1998 after months of work. In that work, we were aided by Vanessa Baker-Latimer the city housing coordinator and John Klaus, City Attorney. Vic, Dale, Joyce and I were all involved with the formation of the SCCLT as were representatives from Beyond Welfare and the Good Neighbor Emergency Assistance fund.
With this model, we were also able to help Habitat build homes in Ames. Land costs here made their projects too expensive for families of four who were making $20,000 to $45,000 a year, which is 25 and 60% of county median income — the families Habitat tries to serve. By partnering with the Land Trust, these families could purchase just the house, the land was “purchased” and held by the Land Trust. The model worked and 4 Habitat homes were built in Ames as a result !!
We were really excited about the Community Land Trust Model as it can be the basis for a stock of permanently affordable housing (PAH). With the model, we were able to help families purchase affordable homes and also keep them affordable into the future…As a result, families had affordable mortgage payments, which made their monthly budgets work !
To maintain affordability for the next family and to recapture the subsidies used to create that housing, the model limits the amount of market equity at the time of sale. Our land trust gives our families 30% of market equity when the house is sold. We felt this amount of equity would provide them with enough money for a downpayment for their next home purchase. This was born out when one of our families sold their land trust home and purchased another in Des Moines. Success !
The Story County Community Land Trust created five Land Trust homes in Ames and the Story County Community Housing Corporation has created two.
During their eight year history, they also explored two major projects:
–a 70 house development on a triangle of land owned by the school district across from Northcrest; much work was done but it fell through !
–Explored purchasing Eastwood. But decided it would not cash flow.
This property has been purchased by a non-profit, Community Initiatives which has done some building in north central Iowa.
Story County Community Housing Corporation
In 2006, the Story County Housing and the Community Land Trust merged to form the Story County Community Housing Corporation. We felt the merger would provide enough financial capacity to pay for a director which would move us forward more quickly. We were able to cash flow a paid employee for a few years and made quite a lot of progress:
–SCCHC purchased and renovated a six plex apartment complex at 1018 Lincolnway with a grant from the Iowa Department of Economic Development. The grant given in 2007 for $217,300 was obtained through IDED Home Program funds. For 10 years we must rent the units to folks who make 60% or less of county median income.
–We received a $54,000 grant to provide funding for two land trust properties from the Iowa Finance Authority’s project based program.
–We applied for a $350,000 grant from IDED in 2008 for a 4-plex we intended to rent to low-income families. It was not approved.
–We built a home equipped with solar panels at 620-12th street – used building trades
–and, currently, we are building a 4 plex at 231 S. Kellogg and are using the building trades class, once again.
We’ve had a wonderful association with the Building Trades Class. And Chuck Abbott, the Habitat Building manager is now on the SCCHC board. Alan Christy is advising us on the 4-plex. He’s a retired builder in Ames. I’m very excited by the SCCHC because I think we now have the hands-on capacity to be a non-profit housing developer. This is really a perfect storm of wisdom to move some affordable housing projects forward.
The Need
Vic and Troy and Cynthia have done outstanding jobs of providing for the families that come to them. With their homeless prevention program they have kept thousands of people housed over the 27 year history of the shelter. What comes next? All 3 of them work twice the number of hours they are paid for. Where do we find 3 more saints??
I’m not sure if everyone here knows how much money from community organizations goes into preventing homelessness? St. Thomas Aquinas has a fund, ERP has a fund, Good Neighbor Emergency Assistance has a fund, several other groups give emergency funds…probably $400,000 a year is spent by churches and non-profits to keep families housed in their current housing.
This speaks to the incredible generosity of folks in this town but also to the incredible need for affordable housing !
Affordable housing efforts by non-profits have been valiant. Habitat and Story County Community Housing have added about 60 homes in the past 20 years. The SCCHC’s 4-plex on S. Kellogg will cost us about $275,000 to build. With $100,000 input of labor by the Building Trades Classes of DMACC and Hunziker Academy and by the great discounts Munn lumber gives us, we are creating some truly affordable units.
But the city and non-profits can do better. Somehow we need to institutionalize the partnership between the city and nonprofit developers so affordable housing becomes a priority…not just something that happens if a few volunteers or housing super stars in our community have the energy to press a special project forward.
Here are a few ways we might coordinate affordable housing efforts in Ames:
Solutions:
A local bond issue…
In March, 2014, Ames voters said no to a convention center, but low-income housing for those already here would benefit many families. The poverty rate in Story County is 18.7%. In Iowa as a whole it is 11.5%. Many businesses would benefit as some housing dollars from this population could be re-directed to the other needs these families have.
Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program
The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is the country’s largest source of federal subsidy for affordable housing. Since its inception through the1986 Tax Reform Act, the program has financed more than 2.2 million housing units, accounting for about one-sixth of all rental housing in the country. It provides market incentives for the development or rehabilitation of rental housing affordable to households with incomes equal to or less than 60 percent of area median income.
It would be a perfect marriage, if the SCCHC could partner with a for-profit developer and utilize this program. Because we foster the development of permanently affordable housing (PAH) through the CLT model, often referred to as a “shared equity” model, we can ensure the affordability and stewardship of LIHTC housing in perpetuity and preserve public subsidies. In turn, the LIHTC program can more effectively utilize public dollars by funding the permanently affordable housing sector.
Without non-profit involvement with these tax credits, developers at year 15 can opt out of the low-income housing provision and return them to market based rents. Vic witnessed this happening in Ames a number of years ago and lamented this situation. At the 15 year mark, if a non-profit can step forward and purchase them, their use as low-income housing can be maintained for another 15 years.
Having a non-profit involved from the outset is best. The Story County Community Land Trust did try to purchase Eastwood a number of years ago, but the funding package was too complex to put together in a timely fashion to make work.
This is where the city can become involved in a significant way.
Involving a non-profit, up-front, with this program will require some dedicated expertise and attention. Volunteers really cannot devote enough energy and time to this complicated process. AMOS is calling for more city involvement in bringing affordable housing to Ames, and staff time to coordinate and move forward this complex application process would be a wonderful investment !
Tax credits are really a unique source of funding which will incentivize the for profit sector to become involved in the development of affordable housing. However, they are extremely complicated vehicles and much dedicated expertise and attention is needed to move these applications forward, and to make sure that the interests of both the for-profit and non-profit entities are accommodated.
With SCCHC involvement, we will be able to guarantee that the housing will remain affordable for the full 30 years as called for in the tax credit program provisions. And, with the SCCHC, we can use the land trust model to guarantee that the subsidies provided through these tax credits will be retained even farther into the future as there are provisions in the law to set up some of the units as lease-purchase arrangements.
Form a Housing Trust Fund for Story County or Ames (This was accomplished in 2017.)
Amber Corieri our new city council at large member is on-board with helping Ames or Story County form a Housing Trust Fund in Story County. There is a lot of untapped money available through the Iowa Housing Finance Authority – nearly $8 million for FY14. Amber works with Mainstream Living which owns a housing unit in Des Moines. They received funding through the Polk County Housing Trust.
In the meantime, there is $500,000 available from the Iowa Housing Authority in their project-based housing program for FY14. SCCHC received a grant from this program in 2007 and we are exploring an application with them for our 4-plex.
I’ll put her interview with KHOI Radio on this subject, on the SCCHC website.
Utilize CDBG monies for affordable housing and job training programs
Utilize CDBG monies for affordable housing and job training programs rather than infrastructure such as sewers and gutters in low income areas. I guess there is a sign up on S. Maple announcing the completion of the work on the road in that low-income neighborhood via CDBG monies. Well, that’s great to have better roads in a “low-income” neighborhood in Ames, but let’s use the money for more housing projects.
Jan Flora with AMOS has done an analysis of this funding in Ames and Story County for the past four years. This is nearly $500,000 in funding each year that could make a real difference if targeted to affordable housing projects. I’ve put Jan’s study on the Story County Community Housing website for you to view.
Non-profits will continue to address the affordable housing need in Ames and Story County. I’m not sure it will be done as well as Vic and Troy and Cynthia have done emergency and homeless prevention work, though. We need a focused, concerted effort on the part of our city government. We need affordable housing prioritized. Amos held a forum recently and asked the city council candidates whether they agreed with the following AMOS initiatives which include:
- housing commission or task force…have them review development projects; insert a percentage of low-income housing into each … ?? That’s pretty radical…but the need is critical…
- CDBG funding to housing and to Project Iowa, a jobs program, which lines up employers and supports participants through a training program to make them qualified workers for those employers. Sauer Danfoss and several other businesses have hired Project Iowa participants.
- Review housing codes which prevent full utilization of re-developments and rehabilitations.
- Put line item for non-profit housing developers into city budget. The city funnels state and federal funds to this need. The city should be asked to put some money into the pot for affordable housing. The Hotel-Motel tax is used for social services program funding in Ames.
- Have a city staffer work with non-profits to help them apply for grants and help them coordinate services in the city
- Ride free program for school aged children – about a $50,000 cost. Lower income children can get to after school activities. Biggest concern expressed by some city council candidates and incumbents was that rich children might ride too and they shouldn’t get the subsidy. They have cars. If a few of them ride the but that would be great ! Let’s promote bus riding and help poor kids get to some fun activities…it would be good for our environment, good for wear and tear on our roads, good habits for our kids.
What you can do
If you agree Ames should make affordable housing a priority, I hope you will contact your city council members and other city officials. That can make a real difference if they hear from many of us.
There are city council members who believe we should develop a transportation system which would allow low-income people to live outside of Ames and be bused to their jobs in Ames. I love to ride the bus. Buses are great transportation. But really, busing these people to their jobs is the answer? I’m not sure that economics should be the only scale we use to make decisions. A range of housing choices for the range of income levels that people are paid in our city will result in a richer, more diverse and a more caring and just community…
If you would like to become a board member for the SCCHC, we could use your help. A donation to our 4-plex building fund would be greatly appreciated. Envelopes are right there. Thank you for all you have done and will do to make our community such a great place to live!