New River Housing

Kanputetsu, which can be translated from Japanese as "(clouds are floating) very slowly, entreats Slow.

Brief work reference:"emotional" fundraising letters is a post from a neglected blog on fundraising innovations. This post is not really about innovation as much as it is comment on how to write an appeal letter. The discussion being speak to the heart or the head. The author writes one of his best posts here--speaks from the heart about personal experience. A particular example is: "A few years ago, a Scottish colleague had a bunch of fundraisers stand up and say: ‘Reach the heart, to reach the head, to reach for the wallet’. I think it’s a fun reminder that all of these things work respectfully together." Well, I think this a good reminder at cusp of a task I have to do--write a letter of introduction about a nonprofit agency I'm involved with. End brief work reference.

In addition to worry about what to write, I worry about how to write--often there is an uncomfortable stiffness and formality in my writing. The best guidance found recently is another reminder--"RELAX!".

In my last job, I encountered Compassion Fatigue and began looking around for escape. What I did find were ways to re-create myself & my job so that integrity could re-established & responsibility could belong to those who own it. While my dreams remain unrealized, I am walking the walk.

relaxChanneling Thoreau is no longer my thing; but, consider:

"I learned this, at least, by my experiment;
that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
from the "Conclusion" to Walden

contributed by Austin Meredith

An interesting twist on burnout comes from the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Christina Maslach & Michael Leiter (Winter 2005) present Reversing Burnout: How to rekindle your passion for your work, an article based on the relationship we have with our vocation.

Our surveys and interviews of more than 10,000 people across a wide range of organizations in several different countries have revealed that most person-job mismatches fall into six categories: workload (too much work, not enough resources); control (micromanagement, lack of influence, accountability without power); reward (not enough pay, acknowledgment, or satisfaction); community (isolation, conflict, disrespect); fairness (discrimination, favoritism); and values (ethical conflicts, meaningless tasks).

When considering how to solve the mismatchs that bog us down, we also have to consider possible solutions. Here is a link to a NPR radio series exploring the ways some people remade their lives. The series aired its last program today, but all the reports are archived for inspiration.
relaxHow did I get here? (although, this was a refreshing distraction). Can you tell I learned to change font colors?rmcox

Good Morning,

This post contains annotated housing resources for the Region D/NorthWest Continuum of Care/New River Behavioral HealthCare updated as new sites become available. Feel free to pass along links that you find useful.

Boone Apartments

This site is provided as a service of Coe Realty:

“Although Coe Realty no longer provides rental properties, I hope the following sources of apartments will help you.” It lists the major rental management agencies in Watauga County, as well as links to local classified ads.

Wilmington Housing--County Housing Inventories

“Wilmington Housing, a housing resource service provided by Southeastern Mental Health Center, provides housing information and referral for supportive care housing in Wilmington, NC. This non-profit organization also maintains and publishes current vacancy information monthly [Wilmington, NC only].”

This site features an inventory of supportive housing by county across NC. Follow the links in the left column to find the county you are interested in. If you find errors or changes, let me know and I will update my records & inform the site manager.

North Carolina Housing Finance Agency

“Organizational Profile and History:

The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency is a self-supporting public agency. The Agency’s mission is to create affordable housing opportunities for North Carolinians whose needs are not met by the market. Since its creation in 1973 by the General Assembly, the Agency has financed more than 163,000 affordable homes and apartments, totaling $9 billion.

The Agency provides financing through the sale of tax-exempt bonds and management of federal and state tax credit programs, the federal HOME Program, the state Housing Trust Fund, and other programs.

What we offer:
Using these resources and its own earnings, the Agency:
• offers low-cost mortgages and downpayment assistance for first-time home buyers
• finances affordable homes and apartments developed by local governments, nonprofit organizations, and private owners
• finances the development of housing for people with special needs
• finances the rehabilitation of substandard owner-occupied homes
• administers HUD rent assistance contracts for 24,000 privately owned apartments statewide.”

Oxford House, Inc

The Oxford House concept provides a model for developing grassroots self-sustaining recovery housing. They present:

“Oxford House is a concept in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. In its simplest form, an Oxford House describes a democratically run, self-supporting and drug free home. Parallel to this concept lies the organizational structure of Oxford House, Inc. This publicly supported, non-profit 501(c)3 corporation is the umbrella organization which provides the network connecting all Oxford Houses and allocates resources to duplicate the Oxford House concept where needs arise.
The number of residents in a House may range from six to fifteen; there are houses for men, houses for women, and houses which accept women with children. Oxford Houses flourish in metropolitan areas, such as New York City and Washington D.C. and thrive in such diverse communities, as Hawaii, Washington State, Canada and Australia; but they all abide by the basic criteria.
Each House represents a remarkably effective and low cost method of preventing relapse. This was the purpose of the first Oxford House established in 1975, and this purpose is served, day by day, house after house, in each of over 1,000 houses in the United States today.”

TITLE 42 > CHAPTER 119 > SUBCHAPTER I > § 11302
§ 11302. General definition of homeless individual
Release date: 2005-12-27
(a) In general
For purposes of this chapter, the term “homeless” or “homeless individual or homeless person” [1] includes—
(1) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and
(2) an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is—
(A) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);
(B) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or
(C) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
(b) Income eligibility
(1) In general
A homeless individual shall be eligible for assistance under any program provided by this chapter, only if the individual complies with the income eligibility requirements otherwise applicable to such program.
(2) Exception
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a homeless individual shall be eligible for assistance under title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 [29 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.].
(c) Exclusion
For purposes of this chapter, the term “homeless” or “homeless individual” does not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an Act of the Congress or a State law.
________________________________________

[1] So in original. Probably should be “ ‘homeless individual’ or ‘homeless person’”.


McKinney-Vento Act establishes: (b) Purpose
It is the purpose of this chapter—
(1) to establish an Interagency Council on the Homeless;
(2) to use public resources and programs in a more coordinated manner to meet the critically urgent needs of the homeless of the Nation; and
(3) to provide funds for programs to assist the homeless, with special emphasis on elderly persons, handicapped persons, families with children, Native Americans, and veterans.

Chronic homelessness is a definition of severity applied to individuals who “In general, is an unaccompanied disabled individual who has been continuously homeless for over one year or more or has experienced four or more episodes of homelessness over the last three years.” Note that this excludes families.

"A disabling condition is defined as a diagnosible substance abuse disorder, serious mental illness, developmental disability, or chronic physical illness or disability, including the co-occurrence of two or more of these conditions." (quoted in HUD's FY2006 general section of the SuperNOFA, Federal Register, vol71 n13, Friday 20 Jan 2006, notices.)

For Guidance determining eligibility for consumers of services funded with HUD Supportive Housing Program (SHP) funds click here.

Good Morning,

I make occasional tweaks to this site & never let anyone know. Today I changed the URL to make it more informative and less ego-centric. The new URL is www.newriverhousing.blogspot.com.

I also added a description to the title section. Don't know that I like it totally, but it is a start.

I enabled comments & please leave any.

Additionally, some collegues have put together lists of some housing inventories for each county in North Carolina. Let me know how useful you find this information or if there are updates that need to be made.

The site is maintained by:

Wilmington Housing, a housing resource service provided by Southeastern Mental Health Center, provides housing information and referral for supportive care housing in Wilmington, NC.

rmcox

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

HUD ANNOUNCES HIGHER FHA HOME LOAN LIMITS TO HELP MORE AMERICAN FAMILIES BECOME HOMEOWNERS

WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson today announced that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has increased its single-family home mortgage limits by more than 15 percent.

Effective January 1, 2006, FHA will insure single-family home mortgages up to $200,160 in standard areas and up to $362,790 in high cost areas. The high cost amount is almost $50,000 more than last year. The loan limits for two-, three- and four-unit dwellings also increased. FHA is sending letters to thousands of mortgage lenders and brokers to make them aware of the higher rates that can help families.

"This Administration is working to make homeownership more affordable and accessible so that more families can own a piece of the American Dream," said Jackson. " These higher loan limits will strengthen the economy by helping to create more construction and more jobs, while contributing to the President's commitment to create 5.5 million new minority homeowners by the end of the decade."

Here's a story from the HUD website that should be music to the ears of low-income homebuyers across the nation. The cost of buying a home have gone up fast & some help is on its way. Another angle on this story is that the increased limits further reflect the dis-affordability of housing in America today.

rmcox

Good Morning,

I hope that everyone had a comfortable, routine holiday break. The holidays can be brutal sometimes with all the stuff we "have" to get done.

One task for the new year is to collect a listing of all landlords in the New River catchment area (Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Watauga, Wilkes counties of NC)--maybe even to add Mitchell & Yancey counties to fill out the NWCoC region.

To this end I was sent a link to a listing of virtually all rental management companies in Watauga. This list was complied by Helen Phillips of Find a Mountain Home and Coe Realty.

When you are ready to buy, be sure to remember Helen--she's "good people" & will do all she can to make your homebuying experience positive.

rmcox