By Caroline Yu | Daily Independent
Tempe’s Coalition for Affordable Housing is seeing rapid growth and success as it works to put a roof over the heads of local residents.
On March 24, Tempe City Council held its first joint meeting with the Tempe Coalition for Affordable Housing, which was created in 2018 by the city’s public housing authority to identify, procure and manage living arrangements for individuals experiencing homelessness in Tempe.
Currently, the coalition manages almost $10 million in assets, according to the city’s website. The living units have been mostly purchased using federal grant funding while others were donated by the city.
At the meeting, the council met with members of the nonprofit to discuss the group’s duties and what has been accomplished coming up on the five-year mark of its inception.
Irma Hollamby Cain, president of the coalition’s board of directors, led a presentation on the group’s work, focusing on overall performance and financial effects.
As it stands, the city has 55 rental units owned through the coalition with 94% of the units currently occupied. Cain said five of the units are offline for rehabilitation and another six are being used by partner agencies like the Foundation for Senior Living.
“The units are designated affordable housing so that 0-80% AMI, or area median income, and the net income generated from these units is used to support the affordable and workforce housing that are in it,” Cain said.
Looking into expansion, the coalition recently purchased Watson’s Flowers to turn into more affordable units, however the land will now be used for the Tempe Community Action Agency’s social services campus.
Other updates included a new hire responsible for bookkeeping and MEB Affordable Management Services taking over property management effective May 1.
Cain also talked about the financial data on Hometown for All, the 2021 initiative passed by council to accelerate the growth of Tempe’s affordable housing.
According to her, this effort has accomplished two things: creating a dedicated funding support where 50% of permitting fees support the coalition’s activities and inspiring the development community to financially support the coalition’s work.
“In the past two years, much has been accomplished,” Cain said.
The presentation showed Hometown for All has received a total of $4.5 million in city investments, $3.3 million in donations and $17.5 million in pledged funds, which reflect the year they are recorded and may be used at a later date or over a period of time.
Speaking of its investments, Cain showed that $2.3 million went into improving properties while $146,400 has been put into acquiring land for housing units.
“The work before us is tremendous to do the work to ensure that individuals and families in Tempe have a broad range of affordable housing opportunities available to them now and into the future,” she said.
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