Region One Housing Development Alliance
Region One Housing Development Alliance (ROHDA) strives to improve the quality of life for the people who live and work in the seven counties of Northwestern Minnesota by upgrading and maintaining existing housing stock, encouraging construction of new affordable housing, creating additional opportunities for home ownership and increasing the availability of decent, safe and affordable rental housing.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Region One Housing Development Alliance offers a variety of services to assist Northwestern Minnesota Communities in the creation and preservation of affordable housing, including:
- Housing planning and strategy development
- Financial packaging
- Funding applications
- Project coordination
- Local capacity building
ROHDA maintains working relationships with other housing development professionals in the state that can be recruited to assist in community housing initiatives on an "as needed" basis.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Region One Housing Development Alliance was founded by key staff of leading nonprofit housing development organizations to assist communities in addressing their particular housing needs. With varied backgrounds and experience, ROHDA can put the right people on your projects to assist with...
- explaining the myriad of housing options available in today’s marketplace.
- offering assistance to communities with the local decision-making process, needs assessment, technical assistance, and community capacity building.
- helping communities utilize all available resources for financial planning and packaging and preparation of grant applications.
- connecting residents with home buyer education programming and home owner counseling.
- providing services to communities in managing housing rehabilitation and development projects/programs.
- working with communities to identify development strategies and set priorities for housing rehabilitation and development by identifying available resources for projects of a multi-community nature and seeking financing as a multi-community group.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Region One Housing Development Alliance has experience in working with a broad range of programs delivered through a variety of sources for housing development financing. These include:
- Conventional mortgage financing
- Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA)
- Equity financing sources (such as the syndication of Low Income Housing Tax Credits)
- Supplemental financing sources (such as Community Development Block Grants, and the Affordable Housing Program of the Federal Home Loan Bank)
- Tax exempt financing and various bond financing programs.
PRINCIPALS
Wes Roland, Housing Director, Inter-County Community Council 218-796-5144
Inter-County Community Council has administered housing rehabilitation and community development programs for nearly 20 years in Pennington, Red Lake, Clearwater and East Polk Counties. Hundreds of homes and businesses have been improved in our service area through various grant and loan programs.
Inter-County provides many housing related services, including the DOE Weatherization program, the MHFA Fix-up Fund, the Home Energy Loan Program, the Rehab Loan Program and the Revolving Loan Program. By coordinating funds from these and other sources, the funding for each project can be customized for maximum efficiency and utilization. Inter-County also offers grant writing and technical assistance to area communities for local community development projects. Our staff has experience working with programs from many different funding agencies, including the MHFA, Dept. of Trade and Economic Development, the RECD, and other public and private funding sources.
John Wynne, Outreach Coordinator, Northwest Community Action Agency 218-528-3258
The Northwest Community Action Agency (NWCAA) is one of the main sources of housing funding for the low income households of its 3.5 county service area (Kittson, Roseau, East Marshall). The Agency’s involvement in most of the housing programs offered in the service area and its thorough knowledge of the housing needs of the area make it the logical agency to look to when seeking housing assistance.
NWCAA currently administers housing/community development programs involving the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and RECD*. NWCAA continues to explore new housing program possibilities. It is hoped that by doing so the Agency will be able to attract financial resources in sufficient amounts to measurably impact the housing needs of the 3.5 county service area.
Craig Folkedahl, Director of Community Services and Tri-Valley Opportunity Council 218-281-5832
Tri-Valley Opportunity Council (TVOC) assists communities in meeting housing needs in 12 counties in Northwest Minnesota. Current programming includes the HOME Rental Rehab, transitional housing, emergency mortgage and rental assistance loans and other emergency needs for qualifying families for rent, energy and food. TVOC staff is experienced in administering programs through the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, RECD* and the Minnesota Housing Partnership.
The Greater Minnesota Housing Network is a component of the Minnesota Housing Partnership, a statewide housing assistance and advocacy organization. There are six coordinators located throughout the state.
Lee Meier, Community Development, Multi-County Housing and Redevelopment Authority 218-637-2435
Multi-County HRA works to maintain and develop affordable housing that is decent, safe and sanitary for the residents of northwestern Minnesota. Programs operated by the HRA, as of September 1995, include providing Section 8 Rental Assistance to 669 households, ownership and management of 118 units of Public Housing, and the development and construction of 561 units of market-rate, non-subsidized rental units through the use of "Essential Function Bonds."
The Community Development Department of the HRA provides grant writing and administrative assistance to communities in the areas of housing and public infrastructure programs. Staff is experienced in Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development, RECD*, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and other state and federal programs.
Leon Heath, Executive Director, Northwest Regional Development Commission 218-745-6733
The Community Development Program of the NWRDC is directed towards two main goals: first, to assist local communities to improve the quality of life in the region and second, to help local units of government and service agencies to increase their technical and service capacities.
The NWRDC is currently serving an administrative role for the Region One Housing Development Alliance.
*RECD (Rural Economic and Community Development --formerly FMHA programs)
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