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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, August 9, 2005,
Contact:
Connie
Rivera, Capital
Finance Manager, 360-709-3065
Thurston
County
Seeks Applicants for Low Income Housing Grants
OLYMPIA
–
Thurston
County
officials are seeking qualified applicants to receive HOME or HB2060 funds.
The HOME Action Plan for FY2005 (September 2005-August 2006) has set
aside $62,421 for emergent issues that meet HOME funding criteria.
The county also administers HB2060 funds for operating and maintenance
of low-income housing projects.
The
Thurston County Board of Commissioners outlined
their plan to utilize HOME funding to further the vision of reducing
homelessness in
Thurston
County
by 50%. This vision continues into
the FY2005 Program Year. The
priorities are to assist very low-income residents of
Thurston
County
with affordable housing options, with emphasis on reaching those who are the
most vulnerable--the homeless, mentally ill, and at-risk youth.
To
apply for funding, an organization must be non-profit and the proposal must
principally benefit low and moderate-income persons. HB2060 funding can be
used for the following activities:
Acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of housing projects that
are affordable to low-income persons at or below 50% of the area median,
Support for building, operation and maintenance costs of low-income
housing projects,
Providing Rental Vouchers for persons below 50% of median income, to be
administered by a local public housing authority or other local organization
that has existing rental voucher program,
Providing operating costs for emergency shelters and licensed overnight
youthshelters.
Because
the county has had inquiries from more than one agency, the county needs a
preliminary idea of which agencies are interested in applying for HOME and
HB2060 funds and for what projects. Those
who wish to propose a HOME/HB2060 funded project should fill a pre-application
and turn it in to Connie Rivera by 5:00 on August 22, 2005.
The
HOME Consortium meets in early September and will review the proposals and
make their recommendation to the
County
Commissioners
.
Those
who have questions, or who need a pre-application, can contact Connie Rivera
at 360- 709-3065 or by e-mail at riverac@co.thurston.wa.us
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