ABHOW’s Hillcrest Gardens affordable housing community in Daly City, Calif., has 39 apartments. The waiting list has 575 names. The gap between the demand for affordable housing and its availability should be a concern for every American. It is for ABHOW.
In recent years we have stepped up our efforts to provide high-quality senior communities that meet the federal standard for affordability — under which rent costs 30 percent or less of monthly income — and provide residents with safe, appealing and well-maintained homes. Led by Senior Vice President Ancel Romero, our highly committed affordable housing team manages 22 communities where more than 1,800 seniors live in security and dignity. Two additional communities comprising 160 apartments are under construction, and seven other projects are in various stages of development.
Ancel’s team has been successful in finding ways to finance and build new affordable communities, even in these difficult economic times. By joining forces with other nonprofit organizations whose missions are similar to ABHOW’s, his group has leveraged its knowledge, talent, and capacity to provide these vital services.
Yet the need for affordable senior housing continues to grow dramatically. As the senior population increases, a significant proportion will have limited financial resources.
For many years, the linchpins for construction financing were the Section 202 grant program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and a federal tax credit program that lets companies shelter some profits from taxes by investing in affordable housing. Because these two funding streams spurred public/private partnerships that created high-quality housing services for vulnerable populations, both proved to be excellent investments of federal funds.
But the tax credit program has declined as companies have had fewer profits to shelter. And when the administration made its budget recommendations for 2011, it stripped all funding for new construction under Section 202 and HUD’s Section 811 program, which supports housing for people with disabilities.
Ancel and other ABHOW colleagues have visited congressional offices in Washington, D.C., in recent months to advocate for the restoration of these vital funds. They spoke by phone with HUD Assistant Secretary Carol Galante to underscore the essential role resident service coordinators play at each of our affordable communities. And they have been closely involved with local, state and national nonprofit organizations that work tirelessly to promote affordable housing.
We salute the dedication of our affordable housing team. Ancel describes their motivation this way: “In a time of great uncertainty, it is all the more imperative to ensure that the housing and supportive service needs of our nation’s low-income elderly, frail and disabled are addressed.”
We heartily agree.
