LANO Baton Rouge Has New Phone and Fax Numbers

LANO in Baton Rouge has moved to 8281 Goodwood Blvd. Our contact information has changed, so please take a moment to update your records.

The following is our new information:

Phone: 225-929-LANO (225-929-5266)

Fax: 225-925-2711

Our mailing address has not changed: P.O. Box 3808, Baton Rouge, LA, 70821.

The contact information for our New Orleans and Shreveport offices remains the same.

Thanks for your patience during our transition! We look forward to serving Louisiana's nonprofit organizations from our new home.

Congress Passes War Supplemental that Includes Gulf Coast Provisions

Yesterday President Obama signed into law the Defense Supplemental bill that will fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Included in that bill are a number of Gulf Coast related provisions.

The first provision will provide $80 million to Gulf Coast states in housing vouchers. It has not been determined how much each state will receive. These vouchers have flexibility and can be used for either tenant-based or project-based vouchers. The provision does not specifically call for priority for residents living in FEMA temporary housing, but HUD still indicates that this is their intent. The vouchers will be dispersed by HUD soon.

A second Gulf Coast provision was clarification on Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) tax credit projects qualifying to apply for TCAP (gap financing) funds from the federal stimulus package, as long as the project has some allocation of regular low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs). An allocation of LIHTCs can be concurrent to award of TCAP funds. This is good news for affordable housing developments.

Finally the bill included language for FEMA to extend reimbursement for case management relating to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita through March 2010.

If you have any questions, please contact Elisabeth Gehl at elisabeth@lano.org.

LANO Baton Rouge is Moving June 22nd & 23rd

Today and tomorrow, June 22nd and 23rd, LANO Baton Rouge is moving their office. Our phone and email system will be down these two days so please be patient with us during this transition. In addition, the website http://www.lano.org/ will be out of service temporarily.

LANO will be moving to 8281 Goodwood Blvd, Suite A, Baton Rouge, LA, 70806.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and will be back up and running on Wednesday, June 24. We look forward to sharing our new office with you!

LANO New Orleans and LANO North staff will be unaffected by the move.

Great news for nonprofits: LRA approves Nonprofit Rebuilding Pilot Program and Emergency Rental Assistance

Nonprofit Rebuilding Pilot Program

Yesterday the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) Board approved its plan to establish a Nonprofit Rebuilding Pilot program. Originally the LRA proposed funding the pilot program at $5 million, but the Board approved a sizeable increase and raised the amount to $20 million. This is great news for nonprofit developers!

The board offered preliminary approval for the pilot program back in April. They opened a public comment period to gather input from the community and as a result of that feedback the LRA increased the funding level because of the great need for housing, and the strong work shown by nonprofits to assist those struggling to rebuild.

The program will award competitive grants to nonprofits and other organizations that have a proven track record in assisting homeowners to meet gaps in their rebuilding resources. Now the program must go before the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget to be approved by the Louisiana Legislature before the state submits it to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for final approval.

LANO hopes that the forthcoming process of approval will be fast and smooth so that nonprofits can start applying for the funds soon. For more detailed information about the program please contact Elisabeth Gehl at elisabeth@lano.org.

Emergency Rental Assistance

The LRA board also reallocated $5 million in unallocated funds from the Small Rental Property Program to the state's Rapid Rehousing program, which is run by nonprofit agencies under a contract with the state Department of Social Services. The additional funds will bring the program's total available funding to $12.7 million.

The LRA is working with FEMA, HUD, DSS and other state and nonprofit partners to assist those residents who are moving out of their FEMA trailers and off of the Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP), which ends this fall. The Rapid Rehousing program is a key element of the state's strategy for ensuring that those affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita do not become homeless when temporary disaster assistance ends.

Rapid Rehousing funds are used to offer temporary rental assistance, pay utility connection fees and other costs necessary to assist families threatened by homelessness. Following a federally required public comment period, the state will submit its plan to add funds to the program for HUD approval.

Obama Unveils "United We Serve" Initiative to Expand Volunteering

Today the Obama Administration unveiled a new service initiative entitled "United We Serve". This program is designed to encourage all Americans to engage in sustained, meaningful community service to help tackle our nation's leading social problems.

The three goals of the creation of "United We Serve" include:

1. to increase the number of Americans involved in service;
2. to engage citizens in community service around the Administration's priority areas of education, health, energy, the environment and community renewal; and
3. to build lasting partnerships between the federal government and organizations in all sectors including nonprofits.

A new website has been created, www.serve.gov, to support this initiative. The website will serve as a one-stop shop to find and create service projects in communities nationwide, share stories about successful projects, download toolkits, and create goals on how to measure community impact. The initiative will be led by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency dedicated to fostering service in communities across the country.

The United We Serve summer initiative begins on June 22nd and runs through the National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11th. This summer, the Administration is encouraging Americans to identify needs in their communities, engage in meaningful service to create change – and stay engaged with those projects long after September.

If you are interested in getting involved please visit www.serve.gov.

LANO Baton Rouge is Moving June 22nd & 23rd

Today and tomorrow, June 22nd and 23rd, LANO Baton Rouge is moving their office. Our phone and email system will be down these two days so please be patient with us during this transition. In addition, the website www.lano.org will be out of service temporarily.

LANO will be moving to 8281 Goodwood Blvd, Suite A, Baton Rouge, LA, 70806.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and will be back up and running on Wednesday, June 24. We look forward to sharing our new office with you!

LANO New Orleans and LANO North staff will be unaffected by the move.

HUD Announces Next Phase of Gustav/Ike Funding Allocation to Louisiana

Last September following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, Congress appropriated $6 billion in recovery funding for all states impacted by the two storms. Until now, HUD had only allocated $2.4 billion of the $6 billion. This week HUD announced that all states including Louisiana will receive the remaining balance of allocations from these disaster recovery funds.

The next phase of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike recovery funding will be $3.7 billion, which includes $620 million for Louisiana. View the HUD press release .

In response to the announcement, Governor Jindal indicated that the newly released funds will help the state follow its recovery plan that includes $84.9 million for affordable rental housing assistance. You can read his comments by clicking here.

HUD also announced a new $312 million Disaster Recovery Enhancement Fund to supplement the work of states “that spend their CDBG funds on specific disaster recovery activities likely to reduce the extent of damage in the future”. This funding is seperate from Gustav/Ike recovery dollars. More information about this new line of funding will be forthcoming.


The HUD press release indicates that such CDBG projects would include:

• Buyout payments for homeowners living in high-risk areas;


• Optional relocation payments to encourage residents to move to safer locations;


• Home improvement grants to reduce damage risks (property elevation, reinforced garage doors and windows, etc.);
  
• Improving and enforcing building codes; and
  
• Developing forward-thinking land-use plans that reduce development in high-risk areas.
  

New Solutions for Families Living in FEMA Trailers

This week the Obama Administration announced new plans to address the needs of families still living in FEMA trailers along the Gulf Coast. Approximately 2,000 families in Louisiana are living in travel trailers or mobile homes as they continue to transition to permanent housing. Most of the trailers can be found on private properties as families continue to rebuild their homes using Road Home money, or in many cases they have been unable to finish rebuilding due to contractor fraud and lack of sufficient funds.

This announcement came as FEMA began evicting families from their trailers as of June 1st.

The Administration's plan includes the following:

• Making $50 million in new housing voucher rental assistance available to Gulf Coast housing authorities;
• Providing more hands-on case management for every family still in temporary housing; and
• Offering those families the opportunity to buy mobile homes and smaller park models from FEMA for as little as $1.

The goal of the Administration is to figure out the permanent housing needs and solutions for these families this summer so that another extension is not needed.

Under the new plan, those living in mobile homes and park models that meet safety standards can buy their unit and stay in it. The park models would go for $1 and the larger mobile homes for $5. Those in travel trailers could move out of their trailer -- which would be junked -- and buy a mobile home or park unit for that same price and, subject to local zoning restrictions, move it to the same location on their property where the travel trailer was.

For more information, check out the FEMA Long-Term Housing for Hurricane Victims Factsheet.