Internal releases and external coverage.

New $15 Million Fund Will Finance Creation of More Affordable Housing in DC

/in

Washington, DC – July 13, 2016 – To boost the ability of nonprofit developers to create more affordable housing in the District of Columbia, The Jubilee Manna Community Development Enterprise (CDE) has created a $15 million Justice Housing Opportunity Fund. The fund, which is an innovative use of its New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) will finance multiple affordable housing projects during the next seven years. Jubilee Manna CDE has established an $8 million credit pool for affordable homeownership projects and a $7 million credit pool for affordable rental housing projects.

The Fund, using entirely private financing, will enable nonprofit developers to create justice housing in the District through affordable for-sale and rental housing projects that provide access to an array of programs and services that open doors of opportunity. The crash of the housing market, especially affordable, for-sale housing, has made it very difficult to obtain financing for new projects. At the same time, despite the recent economic recession there has not been significant decrease in the cost to acquire new properties for development. These contradictory phenomena have only made the affordability problem worse. Real estate prices and rents have increased in the District since 2008, while household incomes have stagnated.

The Justice Housing Opportunity Fund will help more DC residents benefit from the growth of the city by assisting nonprofit developers to: a) acquire and renovate buildings with a combination of affordable rental housing and nonprofit community facilities such as childcare centers; or b) enable nonprofit developers to acquire and redevelop blighted/abandoned properties into affordable for-sale housing with wraparound social services.

“As our city continues to experience white hot development, here is a growing group of residents who are squeezed out. The Justice Housing Opportunity Fund will help people with fewer financial resources to stay in the District and share the benefits of living in this great City. That’s housing justice,” said Jim Knight, president of Jubilee Housing.

The first series of projects financed by the Fund includes the development of 24 units of affordable homeownership housing developed by Habitat for Humanity. The units will be affordable to households earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of area median income in three sites across the city.

“Habitat’s strong track record as one of the best producers of affordable homeownership made them an ideal partner for the first investment,” said Avram Fechter, managing director of Equity Plus, LCC, which is managing the Justice Housing Opportunity Fund on behalf of Jubilee Manna CDE.

“This fund is exactly what the city needs to help preserve diversity while also providing opportunities for low-to-moderate income households to move up the economic ladder through homeownership. This fund is a part of helping folks stay in the District and continue adding to the city’s vibrancy, culture and life. This is just a beginning and we are excited about more to come,” said Jim Dickerson, CEO of Manna, Inc.

About Jubilee Manna CDE is a joint venture between two of the District’s longest standing and most well respected housing nonprofits, Jubilee Housing and Manna. The CDE was launched with funding support from the Agnes and Eugene Meyer Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Treasury awarded Jubilee Manna CDE $15 million in NMTC in June 2015. www.jubileemannacde.org

Jubilee Housing is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to build diverse, compassionate communities that create opportunities for everyone to thrive. Jubilee envisions a city and a world where access to basic resources and opportunities are available to all people and where people live out these opportunities in the context of supportive community. Jubilee provides service enriched housing that combines stable, affordable housing with a variety of programs based on the needs determined by and with our community.

Manna, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to help low and moderate income persons acquire quality housing, build assets for families through homeownership, revitalize distressed neighborhoods, and preserve racial and ethnic diversity. Since 1982, Manna has developed almost 1,200 housing units across 170 projects through Washington, DC, counseled and helped over 1700 households purchase their first home, and currently manages approximately 200 condominiums.

Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C. believes that everyone deserves a house they want to call home. That’s why Habitat works to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness in the nation’s capital by building affordable, energy-and resource-efficient homes for people in need. DC Habitat builds and rehabilitates homes in order to sell them to families who are ineligible for conventional financing.

CONTACT:

Avram Fechter
Managing Director
EquityPlus, LLC
24851 Quimby Oaks Place
Aldie, Virginia 20105
202-236-4402

Returning Citizens to Celebrate New Beginnings at Jubilee Reentry Graduation

/in ,

Washington, DC — August 17, 2015 — Jubilee Housing will celebrate the graduation of six returning citizens on Friday, August 21, 2015 as they matriculate from the Reentry Housing Initiative (RHI), a program that helps returning citizens transition from incarceration back to the community, thereby dramatically increasing their chances for success while reducing the likelihood of recidivism.

The ceremony will be held at the Festival Center located at 1640 Columbia Road NW in Washington, DC and will begin at 5:30 p.m. Guests in attendance will include staff, partners, and friends and families of the graduating class.

Jubilee Housing’s RHI grew out of a realization that the needs of nearly 8,000 Washingtonians returning from incarceration each year were not being met. Launched as a small scale pilot in 2011, the program has grown to include two buildings serving up to 20 men and women at a time, pairing each resident with ongoing support, case management and connective services for up to one year. Eighteen men and women have found stability, self-sufficiency, and long-term housing through the program this year.

At the ceremony, graduates will share commencement addresses to inspire current members of the reentry program to let go of the past and choose a positive path for the life ahead of them. Graduates will also participate in the ceremonial passing of the Key to New Beginnings to current residents.

“We are excited to celebrate the accomplishments of these men and women who have worked so hard to begin to rebuild their lives,” said Jim Knight, president of Jubilee Housing. “It is a privilege to be able to support their incredible journeys through the platform of affordable housing and supportive community. We hope that others will be drawn to provide similar opportunities for men and women who are in their first weeks and months reengaging the community.”

Washington, DC has the fourth highest incarceration rate in the US, with nearly 5 percent of the District’s population incarcerated, on probation, or on parole. At the same time, DC releases as many as 8,000 individuals from jail each year to communities that offer little support for their successful return. The Urban Institute and the Abell Foundation found that about 20 percent of the annual returning population ended up in a cycle bouncing from homeless shelters and emergency room visits back to incarceration. RHI works to decrease that percentage and has done so successfully with only one instance of recidivism to date.

Jubilee Housing is a non-profit organization founded in 1973 to provide affordable housing and supportive services to economically disadvantaged residents of the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC. Jubilee serves more than 700 individuals and families, and has been a model for programs around the country seeking effective responses to the urban affordable housing crisis. The vision and purpose of Jubilee Housing is about more than providing housing, it is about making it possible for members of the Jubilee community to become their best selves in an atmosphere of supportive community.

$1.4 Million Renovation Preserves 27 Affordable Units at Jubilee Housing Ontario Court

/in ,

Washington, DC – July 20, 2015 – On Friday, July 24 at 10 a.m., Jubilee Housing, along with residents, city officials, financiers, and community members, will gather to celebrate the Ontario Court building located at 2525 Ontario Road NW in Adams Morgan, Washington, DC. The renovation will keep the apartment building in the heart of Ward 1 affordable for families making as little as $19,000 a year. The innovative financing used by Jubilee will keep those deep levels of affordability for the next 30 years. The event will include remarks expected from Councilmember Brianne Nadeau and members of the Bowser administration.

The 29,700 square foot Ontario Court building is home to 27 residential units and a 4,000 square foot program space used by Jubilee JumpStart, an accredited early childhood education nonprofit that supports infants, toddlers, and preschool students in Jubilee Housing and the broader Adams Morgan community.

The $1.4 million renovation includes improvements such as ramp access into the building, five handicapped-accessible units, new hardwood floors, lighting, kitchen upgrades, and solar panels on the roof that will defray utilities costs (Ontario Court is one of the first affordable housing developments in DC to have them).

“We are so pleased by this renovation,” said Jim Knight, president of Jubilee Housing. “Not only does it guarantee a place in the neighborhood for another generation of families, but it creates new opportunities for those who are handicapped and makes Ontario Court a part of the greening of the city. We are grateful to our partners for their creativity and expertise in making this project work.”

The redevelopment was made possible through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, a federal subsidy for affordable housing rental projects. Key financing partners included United Bank, R4 Capital, DC Housing Finance Agency, DC Department of Housing and Community Development, DC Housing Authority, and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Bonstra Haresign was the architect for the renovations and Monarc Construction was the general contractor.

Ontario Court’s rehab maintains it as part of Jubilee Housing’s stock of affordable housing in Adams Morgan. By utilizing innovative funding leveraging private and low-income tax credit financing, Jubilee Housing is not only providing needed affordable housing in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, but moving the District toward a more handicapped accessible and environmentally sustainable future.