PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FUNDING

Establish financial incentives and pools of capital to sustain and expand “permanent supportive housing programs” (PSH) that combine affordable housing with voluntary support services like mental healthcare and employment assistance

BUILD COMMUNITY WEALTH AND PROTECT HOUSEHOLDS FROM HOUSING DISCRIMINATION, DISPLACEMENT, AND DISASTER

Permanent Supportive Housing Funding

Establish new financial incentives and pools of capital to sustain existing, and encourage development of new, high-quality “permanent supportive housing programs” (PSH) that combine affordable housing with on-site, dedicated supportive services for populations with disabilities whose special needs put them at greater risk of becoming homeless. It is particularly important to cover the full cost of the supportive services, which can address mental health, substance and alcohol use, physical health, independent living skills, employment, etc.

Two examples of permanent supportive housing in NC are the Transitions to Community Living Initiative and Housing for New Hope in Durham, NC. An example of a flexible capital pool to support permanent supportive housing is the flex funding program offered through the Partnership to End Homelessness in Washington, D.C.

This promising strategy requires investment in:

Recurring capital pool for pre-development, development, support services, and indirect costs
Operating costs to support organizations managing PSH
Funding for support services

Evaluation of Promising Strategy in Initial Target Regions

Learn more about the Investment Map’s selection of Initial Target Regions.

At the statewide level, the NC Housing Finance Agency offers two statewide programs – Supportive Housing Development Program (SHDP) and Integrated Supportive Housing Program (ISHP).

At the regional level, Cardinal Innovations Healthcare has worked with the NC Housing Finance Agency on ISHP, specifically in Winston-Salem. The resulting community is called The Reserve at Hickory Commons. ISHP provided $1.5M to support this community.

There is a general lack of awareness about the availability of down payment assistance as support for homeownership.

Assets: NCHFA – Supportive Housing Program

Description:

Housing for New Hope

Partnership to End Homelessness

Transitions to Community Living Initiative

Investment Approach:

NCHFA – Housing Partnership

NCHFA – Supportive Housing Program

Amount of PSH housing in the region increases. Metric = #/% change in number of communities with a PSH approach. Metric = #/% change in number of PSH units available.
Amount of support services in the region increases. Metric = change in # of supportive services (by type) offered per PSH housing development.

At the statewide level, the NC Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) offers two programs – Supportive Housing Development Program (SHDP) and Integrated Supportive Housing Program (ISHP). The NCHFA is part of a partnership that establishes and oversees funding policy and allocates funding for the NCHFA Housing Trust Fund, which is NC’s most flexible housing resource, as well as the largest source of financing for supportive housing and emergency repairs and accessibility modifications.

At the regional level, Haywood Street Congregation is pursuing a 40+ unit PSH development for low-income and homeless individuals. Homeward Bound is converting a hotel into PSH housing units. The Asheville-Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM) is developing Transformation Village, which will have 150 permanent supportive housing units. It has raised more than $10M in funding for this project to date.

A January 2019 point-in-time count found 580 homeless individuals within the Asheville area, a 4% increase over 2018. Of these, 149 were female (a 9% increase), 29 were under the age of 18.

Insufficient funding to support the service component of PSH communities is a persistent barrier to PSH development.

Case management in NC has shifted toward serving adults with severe psychiatric issues and tends to serve this population on an episode-by-episode basis. This limits the amounts and types of ongoing support services available to the broad population of North Carolinians that need PSH.

PSH communities developed with funding from HUD grants often struggle to provide sufficient support services to their tenants.