Month: September 2024

Congratulations to Johnstown Housing Authority and their co-grantee, Cambria County Planning Commission, for their selection as one of only 13 communities nationwide to receive funding through HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants Program.

The Choice Neighborhood Grants are to be utilized to create a comprehensive neighborhood “Transformation Plan” to modernize existing HUD housing; improve workforce, health and education outcomes for residents; and attract long-term public and private reinvestment to promote economic development.  Read on for a summary of Johnstown’s plan.

Once the leading steel producer in the United States, Johnstown has a long history as a major manufacturing center. Unfortunately, perpetual flooding and the loss of manufacturing caused a steady decline in population. Today Johnstown and the West End neighborhood face significant challenges related to poverty, job loss, environmental decontamination, and crime.

The target housing site, Coopersdale Homes, is one of many low-income housing sites in the neighborhood. Located near the historic West End neighborhood and Downtown Johnstown, the West End neighborhood serves as a northern gateway into the City of Johnstown. The West End is situated along the Conemaugh River, and features rolling hills, historic homes, and small neighborhood parks.

With the Choice Neighborhoods grant, Johnstown hopes to capitalize upon these assets and develop a community-based, bottom-up planning approach that empowers residents to envision a new future for the neighborhood.

This is an administrative Civil Service and union position to assist the Comptroller and other accounting personnel by using application of bookkeeping principles and practices for a Housing Authority.

This position requires you to prepare and process monthly Tenant Accounting work.  Prepare reports and analyze all work.  Prepare and process purchase orders.  Code and enter invoices and enter into computer software system.  Track tenant collection losses. Assist with software issues.  Typing and all related duties.

To apply for this position please follow the instructions below:

• Go to: employment.pa.gov
• Click on “Open Jobs” (top right of page)
• Click on “Open to Public”
• Search: Fiscal Assistant – Washington County – Follow instructions to apply
• You may apply beginning 9/11/2024 until 11:59 pm on 9/24/2024

Job Type: Full-time -35 hours a week

Annual Salary:  $36,582.00-$40,640.00.    Excellent benefit package including, health, vision, dental, pension.

The Washington County Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Our friends at American Property Consultants (APC) have announced that their newly updated NSPIRE Essentials 2024 Physical Inspectors Pocket Guide is now available in Spanish.

Copies of both English and Spanish translations can be ordered by calling APC at 800-272-7134 or you can order online at https://hudpass.com/upcs_pocket_guide.php.

Thanks to Dennis DiBello, COO / Chief Inspector and the APC team for sharing this helpful resource.

The Eastern and Western Pennsylvania Continuums of Care (CoCs) are soliciting applications for Acquisition, Construction, or Rehabilitation of New Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) through HUD’s CoCBuilds NOFO.

Background:  In July 2024, HUD released the CoCBuilds Notice of Funding Opportunity (CoCBuilds NOFO). This is a first-of-its-kind funding opportunity for new construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation of permanent supportive housing. Through one-time awards under the CoC program, this NOFO will enable communities to develop new units of rental housing with supportive services for people experiencing homelessness.

Materials:  Interested developers/applicants can review the RFPs and application materials, including a list of counties covered by the Eastern and Western PA CoCs, here:

• Eastern PA CoC: https://pennsylvaniacoc.org/news/eastern-pa-coc-issues-rfp-new-psh-cocbuilds-nofo
• Western PA CoC: https://pennsylvaniacoc.org/news/western-pa-coc-issues-rfp-new-psh-cocbuilds-nofo

Briefing Session:  The Eastern and Western PA CoCs will host a joint CoCBuilds NOFO RFP Briefing Session on Tuesday, September 10^th from 1pm-2:30pm to provide an overview of this RFP and the application process and to answer questions.

You can join the briefing session by registering at: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwrdOugqjwoHdceRMFih5PHGsFaU-2Y4QYE.
York and Berks Counties:  In addition, the York City/County CoC and Reading/Berks County CoC have also released CoCBuilds RFPs:

• York City/County CoC: https://www.ycpc.org/695/CoCBuilds-NOFO
• Reading/Berks County CoC: https://bceh.org/agency-support/funding/ (click CocBuilds PSH Development tab)

Developers and interested applicants who work in other counties not covered by the CoCs above are encouraged to reach out to the CoC contacts for those counties.

Funding priority will be given to proposals from third-class cities  The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency has issued a Request for Proposals for new construction, or the rehabilitation, of mixed-use projects seeking financial support. Funding will be provided through the Community Revitalization Fund Program. Mixed-use projects combine residential and retail/commercial space in the same building and often serve as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization. The deadline for proposal submission is 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1. This funding program was created as part of the commonwealth’s fiscal year 2017/18 budget, and PHFA was designated by the General Assembly to administer it. This year’s approved state budget authorized PHFA to sell $4.5 million of state tax credits and use the proceeds to make awards for the development of mixed-use properties in commercial/retail corridors in Pennsylvania that are undergoing revitalization. Examples of projects eligible for funding include: ·        The rehabilitation of older or under-utilized buildings for immediate re-use to support community development goals; ·        Preparing commercial build-out and business lease space; ·        The design of, and structural and legal conversion of, existing buildings; and ·        The provision of additional units of housing by combining uses in a single, newly constructed or renovated building. “It has been our experience that mixed-use projects bring a special energy to a community through their combination of commercial and residential space,” said PHFA Executive Director and CEO Robin Wiessmann. “This community revitalization funding allows us to not only bring more affordable housing to a town or city, but also to provide an economic spark from the businesses attracted to each development, too.” Eligible applicants for this funding include units of local government (counties, cities, boroughs, etc.); redevelopment authorities; for-profit firms; non-profit groups; and economic development organizations. Applications from third-class cities will be given higher priority in this year’s proposal evaluations. For the first time, CRFP applications will be completed and submitted entirely online, eliminating the need for paper submissions and simplifying the process for applicants. The RFP is located on PHFA’s website at https://www.phfa.org/mhp/developers/loans.aspx. The online application is accessible on the CRFP website at https://crfp.phfa.org. Questions may be directed to Shelby Rexrode at PHFA via email at srexrode@phfa.org.