Monarch Housing’s Blog!

This makes you wonder who is on first base?

MORRISTOWN - Who is required to ensure the construction of thousands of affordable housing units when major Meadowlands projects such as Xanadu are built?

That “conundrum,” as Appellate Division Judge Donald Coburn described it Tuesday, was the subject of a two-hour hearing at the Morris County Courthouse that had two state agencies and the borough of East Rutherford each disavowing responsibility.

“We do not belong in this case, your honor,” said Timothy O’Neill, attorney for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. The agency runs the Meadowlands Sports Complex site where the $2 billion Xanadu entertainment and retail complex is being constructed.

“We do zoning for people versus trucks versus landfills - not Mount Laurel obligations,” said Deputy Attorney General Barbara Conklin, representing the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission. Conklin was referring to the landmark 1975 state Supreme Court ruling that requires each municipality to provide affordable housing.

“East Rutherford keeps getting fingers pointed at it for (affordable housing), but there’s simply no room,” Borough Attorney Beverly Wurth said, adding that 75 percent of East Rutherford’s land is managed by either or both state agencies.

To read the full article from the Herald News, click here.

The Enterprise Foundation will be holding a Live Online Event that may be of interest to those who are involved in Green design.

Green Communities: Designing Efficient, Affordable Multifamily Housing
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
90 minutes, beginning 2:00pm ET/ 11:00am PT

Nationally, affordable multifamily housing can be more efficient than single-family, but most is overheated and poorly built, and as such, over-consumes fuel. In this event, we will look at the 8 to 10 main design flaws that many teams miss in multifamily design, and the solutions to avoiding this in future. Participants will walk away with the smart design differences that cost nothing to very little, that are the first step in high performance affordable housing design.

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The flowing information is from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

The number of people who experience rural homelessness is unknown, but the last national count of homeless people found that 9 percent live in rural areas. The same structural factors that contribute to urban homelessness — lack of affordable housing and inadequate income—also lead to rural homelessness. One of the most important strategies in ending rural homelessness is prevention.

To read the full Fact Checker: on Rural Homelessness click here.

This article about an innovative housing first initiative in Seattle appeared in the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER. Share your comments by clicking here .

Is letting them drink working?
Residents, neighbors and experts say results are promising, but full study awaits

Thursday, April 26, 2007

By KERY MURAKAMI
P-I REPORTER

A couple of years ago, Darryl and Ed were drinking partners in the alleys of Pioneer Square, gulping down bottles of 2-Eleven Reserve or vodka when they saw the cops coming.

One April afternoon, though, Darryl, 59, and Ed, 61, veterans of the Vietnam War and the streets, sat in the cafeteria of a blue, four-story, subsidized apartment building near downtown. At 1811 Eastlake, they said, their lives revolve around reruns, instead of the all-too-familiar legions of people passed out in the city’s doorways.

” ‘Law and Order.’ ‘Walker, Texas Ranger,’ ” said Darryl, who wears a do-rag and bears a slight resemblance to Hulk Hogan.

Without 1811, “we’d probably be out running a sign right now,” he said, referring to sitting on a street corner with a cardboard sign asking for money. Neither man wanted his last name used because they didn’t want their home revealed to some friends and family.

Questions remain about the project at 1811 Eastlake — an experiment being watched nationally that deals with homeless street alcoholics. And while residents, neighbors, and public health and law officials say the program’s results are promising, a study on its effectiveness isn’t expected until late this summer or fall.

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This update on youth and homelessness is from KnowledgePlex.

As part of its effort to reduce homelessness in downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is seeking to move children living on skid row to housing, reported the Los Angeles Times. For two years, a team of county social workers has roamed the skid row area, offering families mental health treatment, help accessing welfare benefits, and other assistance. When team members suspect that children are abused or neglected, they call a child abuse hotline operated by the county Department of Children and Family Services. DCFS sends an investigator to decide whether a child should be removed from his or her family. Providers and some county supervisors criticize the county for potentially removing children from parents who seek help just because they are homeless. The targeted outreach efforts may deter some families from accepting assistance, critics say. Social workers say they are trying to get children to safety while keeping families intact.

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We found out about this important new study from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. It underscores the importance of permanent, affordable and supportive housing. Click here to read the full report.

Housing Important for Staying Out of Prison

Finding a place to live is a major obstacle for returning prisoners. The Urban Institute’s Returning Home study found that among a sample of returning prisoners in Cleveland, Ohio 84 percent anticipated that “having a place to stay would be an important fact in staying out of prison.” One year after about 25 percent of returning prisoners in the study returned to their own home (about one-third lived in their own home before prison), 28 percent were living with a parent, and 18 percent were living with a sibling. Nearly half (46 percent) were living in their previous neighborhood, although many reported not wanting to return “in order to avoid trouble.”

Almost one-third of returning prisoners in the study reported residential instability: 21 percent moved three times, 5 percent moved four times, and 3 percent moved five times or more. A year after release nearly half considered their housing situation to be temporary. In addition to residential instability, about a quarter of returning prisoners in the study are living in tenuous housing situations that could put them at risk for technical violations or recidivism. 17 percent lived with someone who had been in prison and 23 percent with someone who “often drank to the point of intoxication or used illegal drugs.” Returning prisoners with secure long term housing were less likely to be reincarcerated.

The study findings are based on prerelease interviews with 424 males and three post release interviews with 358, 322, and 294 respondents from the original sample. Researchers corrected for attrition bias using observed characteristics captured in the baseline survey.

The new charts mentioned yesterday that HUD released to help with the CoC submission are now on line.

1. The Housing Inventory Chart (HIC) Q&A has been designed to help CoCs complete Chart I (HIC). The document answers many questions and provides examples and a sample HIC section that has been completed.

2. The Chart V (CoC Chronic Homeless Progress Chart) worksheet has been designed to help CoCs calculate the costs and sources of funds for development and operation of new beds for chronically homeless persons. The worksheet has 3 portions: detailed instructions, detailed project budgets and a summary chart which will provide the information necessary for section 3 of Chart V.