Without the stimulus funding, the project “would have died on the vine,” says Kevin Tatreau, director of multifamily development for Florida Housing Finance Corporation. “Stimulus allowed for less than 60% AMI, says Steven Kirk, President of Rural Neighborhoods. “We try to get as many units set aside for extremely low income so farmworkers can take advantage of that.”
Read the article Stimulus Saves Farmworker Deal
Metro commissioners have agreed to turn the reins of the financially troubled Everglades Migrant Labor Camp over to a 15- member nonprofit corporation controlled by farmworkers. The management plan accepted last week was a blend of proposals forwarded by rival camp factions who recently have smoothed out their differences. Read the article Nonprofit Group to…
One of South Dade’s Farmworker communities is on the move. After months of delays, the Everglades Community Association has begun relocating trailers to a temporary site in Leisure City. Once the move is complete, construction of permanent housing will begin at the ECA site outside Florida City. “The funds have been allocated and thinks are…
Cypress Cove is among the recent developments to benefit from the Tax Credit Assistance Program and the exchange funds that Congress passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to bolster LIHTC construction during the economic turndown. Read the article AFH Making Farmworker Housing Mainstream 2012
Rural Neighborhoods’ President, Steven Kirk, participated in a White Housing roundtable on rural housing on Wednesday, July 24th. The policy discussion brought together twenty-five rural and tribal housing professionals from around the country together with leadership from Domestic Policy Council, USDA and HUD. Undersecretary of Agriculture for Rural Development Basil Gooden, HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary…
This past week our legislators slashed $190M in affordable housing construction. Just as essential elected officials broke faith with working people, investors and other governments as it violated signed loan commitments previously agreed. Such rash, unthinking action results in the loss of $1B in construction expenditures, a thousand jobs and the risk of bankruptcy to…
The challenges of site acquisition, land use, and competitive financing are no different in communities targeting agricultural workers than in other affordable rental communities, said Kirk. “The added complexity in serving farmworkers is to understand agricultural markets and wages, and to layer sufficient subsidies to reach affordability.” Read the article Seeds of Change