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E-Briefs from the Richmond Office of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development

$21 MILLION FOR THE HOMELESS
More than 60 Virginia nonprofits, local governments and housing authorities have won a record $20,995,829 in HUD funds for emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent support for the homeless. The funds, said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, help "those who might otherwise be living on our streets." Some $18.3 million went to Continuums of Care in Alexandria, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Danville, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Portsmouth, Richmond, Roanoke, Virginia Beach, northern Shenandoah Valley and Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties. The rest, in Emergency Shelter Grants, are going to Norfolk, Richmond, Roanoke, Virginia Beach, Fairfax and Prince Williams counties and the State

S.P.A.R.C. SPARK
Since 2002, VHDA's allocated more than $450 million in SPARC - Sponsoring Partnerships & Revitalizing Communities - funds to produce and preserve affordable housing. Millions more are on the way. Learn more at SPARC application workshops March 19 th in Richmond, March 22 nd in Virginia Beach, March 29 th in Sterling and April 3 rd in Roanoke. E-mail toni.ostrowski@vhda.com or call (804) 343-5982.

YOU'RE INVITED
To join HUD Richmond and the Newport News Office of Human Affairs.to celebrate Fair Housing Month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., April 10 th, at the Main Street Library in Newport News. Register online at www.hud.gov/event_registration/index_2.cfm?eventID=470

BRIEF BRIEFS
HUD Secretary Jackson proposes $35.2 billion HUD budget for 2008, up $1.6 billion from 2007 request...Catholic Charities of Hampton Roads celebrates 75 th anniversary...Piedmont Housing Alliance and Freddie Mac kick-off "Don't Borrow Trouble" campaign in Charlottesville, March 13 th...Anthony Scott is named executive director of Richmond Redevelopment &. Housing... Register for 2007 Virginia Emergency Management Conference in Williamsburg April 17 th to 20 th at www.vaemergency.com...Calling it "a tool for economic development," Daily News Record says Page County is using $25,000 DHCD grant to identify service gaps and "county-wide survey of how residents use the Internet"...Blue Ridge Housing Development breaks ground for C2C-inspired home in Gainsboro area of Roanoke...February 22 ndFederal Register says applications from new and current providers for funding under Department of Veterans Affairs Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program are due April 4 th...Danville Register-Bee says Habitat chapter has broken ground for home that, thanks to tankless water heater, fluorescent lights and argon-filled windows, will be 30 percent more energy efficient than houses built to uniform building code...Virginia Sustainable Building Network hosts EarthCraft house building training at VHDA on March 14th...Community Tax Law Project to conduct "how to start a nonprofit in Virginia" workshop March 15 th in Richmond...Readers contribute record $178,395 to Roanoke Times' Good Neighbor Fund...Bank of America says nonprofits in Hampton Roads and Richmond area are eligible to apply for its 2007 Neighborhood Builders, Local Heroes and Student Builders grants...Wise County Redevelopment & Housing's Charles McConnell wins DHCD's Carl Rasnic Lifetime Achievement Award..

VIVA VIDA
There's another good reason why Virginia households who are eligible to apply - but haven't - for an Earned Income Tax Credit ought to do so. Put an EITC refund in a Virginia Individual Development Account and it'll be matched 2 to1 with state or Federal funds. "If a family with two children invested $2,000 of their EITC into a VIDA account," says DHCD's Bill Shelton, "in two years they could have up to $6,000 saved" to use, he adds, for a down payment, education expenses or to start a business. For more, visit www.vaeitc.org

RING-A-DING THING
HUD Richmond's main telephone numbers - (800) 842-2610 or (804) 771-2100 - remain unchanged, but every HUD Richmond staff member now has a direct line. For a complete listing of our new numbers, visit www.hud.gov/virginia

IM-MOBILE HOMES.
Every year, Overton McGehee of Habitat of Greater Charlottesville, told The Richmond Times Dispatch, "thousands of low-income people get displaced" because their mobile home courts are "in prime locations." Not so for residents of the Sunrise Trailer Court. Instead, the chapter has bought the court to redevelop it "into a high-density complex of 60 energy-efficient town houses." To protect current residents, the project will be built in phases, with trailers shifted to empty pads. It's a a first-of-a-kind project Habitat International will "follow it enthusiastically." So will Sunrise residents. "I didn't know where I was going." said resident Dorothy Williams. "This saved my life.

BRIEF BRIEFS TOO
Housing authorities in Chesapeake, Danville, Fairfax, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Richmond, Roanoke and Waynesborohave won a total of $2.6 million HUD funds to provide public housing residents with education, job training, employment services and homeownership counseling promoting self-sufficiency... F.O.R. Kids begins 3-month product to shore-up foundation of nearly 100-year old Norfolk house it uses as emergency family shelter...Visit www.dcjs.virginia.gov/reentry to register for "Coming Home: Building Reentry Capacity Through Community Collaboration" conference in Portsmouth April 30 th to May 1 st...Community Foundation of Richmond sets March 16 th deadline to submit nominations for 2007 Stettinus Awards for Nonprofit Leadership awards...HUD study estimates 10,343 homeless people in Virginia on typical night...Pulaski awards contracts for phase two of CDBG funded downtown revitalization...Virginian Pilot says stepped-up enforcement by police and code officials has cut crime 13 percent over last 10 months in Northridge and Lake Edwards areas of Virginia Beach...Register with michelle.d.jones@dhcd.virginia.gov for DHCD's Getting Started in Affordable Housing Development workshop March 13 th and 14 th in Richmond. . VHDA unveils plans for new affordable housing community in Brunswick County...Rebuilding Together Richmond at www.rebuildingtogetherrichmond.org/ is seeking nominations for community in Richmond to receive National Rebuilding Day home repair and modification services in April 2008...Home Depot Foundation seeking nominations for 3 rd annual Awards of Excellence for Affordable Housing Built Responsibly at www.homedepotfoundation.org/awards_housing_apply.html

DON'T FORGET
To make sure you're ready to compete in HUD's 2007 SuperNOFA. visit www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm

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