Fort Walton Beach Resolution — 2008-25-CDBG Annual Action Plan — reading text

5 o HOUSING & HOMEOWNER SERVICES: Fair Housin2 Bude:et Amount: $ 500. 00 City of Fort Walton Beach Target Area: Citywide Community Development Department Units of Services: As needed 105 Miracle Strip Parkway Beneficiaries: As needed Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548 850- 833- 9598 This program provides fair housing services consisting of compliant investigations, housing testing, and educational activities. HOMEOWNER REHABILITATION Residential Rehabilitation Bude:et Amount: $ 56. 324. 00 City of Fort Walton Beach Target Area: City-wide Community Development Services Units of Service: 2 Households 105 Miracle Strip Parkway Beneficiaries: Low/Moderate Income Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548 Homeowners 850- 833- 9598 The program provides financial assistance to low/moderate income homeowners to o rehabilitate their homes and obtain emergency repairs. World Chane:ers Bude:et Amount: $ 35. 000 City of Fort Walton Beach Target Area: City-wide Community Development Department Units of Service: 20 Households 105 Miracle Strip Parkway Beneficiaries: Low/Moderate Income Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32548 Homeowners 850- 833- 9598 Wodd Changers help low and moderate income homeowners by replacing roofs and painting the exterior of the home. o 6  YOUTH SERVICES 0 Chester Pruitt Youth Enrichment Bud2et Amount: $ 190. 00 14.. Pro2ram Target Area: Citywide Community Development Department Units of Service: 40 low/moderate 105 Miracle Strip Parkway income 6- 12 year olds Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32548 Beneficiaries: Low/moderate income 850- 833- 9598 youth This program provides after school and summer programs that engage, enrich, and instruct youth in low- income neighborhoods. Okaloosa Countv Comprehensive Head Start Child Development Pro2ram Okaloosa County Comprehensive Head Bud2et Amount: $ 000. 00 7.. Start Child Development, Inc. Target Area: Citywide 60 Second Street, Suite 401 Units of Service: 100 low income 3- 5 Shalimar, Florida 32579 year olds Ben~ficiaries: Low income children This program will provide a handicapped accessible walkway from the building to the play area. o TOTAL: $141, 267 Program Year 2008- 2009 Section 91.220) d) Geographic Targeting. The City has established a CDBG Target Area within the City which represents the Block Group with greatest concentration of low income households. All of the proposed Public Services and Public Facility activities are located within this area. Residential Rehabilitation projects may be located anywhere within the low, low City limits provided the household meets the income qualification of extremely and moderate income. At the onset of the CDBG program in the mid- 1970' s, federal regulations required that certain activities be targeted. Although this requirement has since been geographically removed, the City has continued its targeting strategy. The primary consideration for income levels), target area selection is neighborhood economic need ( low and moderate followed by the degree of housing deterioration. The geographic boundary of the 2 target areas are Hughes Street ( north), Eglin Parkway east), Robinwood Drive ( west), and First Street ( south) as .well as the area between Bay o 7  Street and Burnette Avenue in the northwest portion of the City. These two areas are the 10 areas within the City of low income and minority concentration. Approximately 79% of the grantfunds will be directed to the Housing Rehabilitation and Youth Enrichment the need. programs based upon the applications received and e) Homeless and Other Special Needs Activities. Under this category, the City will not undertake these activities but, will support several operating agencies that are providing valuable services to prevent homelessness and to assist those who are already homeless. Many of these -agencies provide shelter and comprehensive transitional female heads of permanent housing services to homeless families, many of which have households. Others are coordinating housing assistance for homeless and at- risk families by emphasizing prevention, shelter referrals, and relocation services. The City' s one year goal is to work with the Continuum of Care to identify funding sources for an emergency homeless shelter which would provide shelter for at least 50 homeless individuals. In addition, the City is working with Transition Vil ageF/ resh Start to build 20+ units for transition housing by providing support for tax credits for the one of its development of the units. The City has agreed to provide a cold night shelter in commu~ity centers if needed. Unfortunately, the City' s CDBG funds are not sufficient to provide actual funding for these activities. The City of Fort Walton Beach Entitlement allocation is insufficient to meet this type of is housing needs. However through the Community Redevelopment Agency, funding available to local to assist them in addressing the needs of the agencies potentially homeless. f) Other Actions (91. 220F) a. Meeting Underserved Needs. The primary target of activities funded by Community Development programs is improvement of living conditions for low to moderate income persons. The activities are focused on assisting persons in the in community to obtain and maintain suitable housing and adequate living standards stable or improving neighborhoods. The activities include in the Consolidated Plan are designed to overcome obstacles and meet the underserved needs of low and moderate income persons. Housing program activities for improvement of housing, expansion of decent and attractive occupied affordable housing stocks, and assistance to persons to enable them to live in good that improve housing are direct methods to improve living conditions. Activities infrastructure improve the quality of life and raise the living standards for all the people in the neighborhood served by the infrastructure. Public services and facilities that meet which community needs particularly for the young and the elderly provide a means by that will enable them to live decently; persons may receive needed services and benefits and, in the case of children, develop the future capability to provide for themselves. o 8  b. Obstacles. primary obstacles to meeting underserved housing and The o community development needs of the City are funding and these resource~ are shrinking. Demand for assistance exceeds tHe supply of available resources. The number of lower income individuals, families, and neighborhoods in need, coupled with the complexity of issues they face is steadily increasing in both scale and cost. The combination of these factors places substantial new burdens on an already strained housing and community development delivery system. c. Community Development Block Grants. Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 ( Public Law f93- 383) created the Community the Development Block Grant funding program. It is allocated primarily through entitlement communities, and state and small cities program. The primary objective of the CDBG program is to develop viable urban communities, by providing decent housing and suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities principally for and activities must meet one of persons of low and moderate income. All CDBG projects three national objectives: Principally benefit low-and- moderate income persons, aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight, or meet other urgent community needs. The City of Fort Walton Beach will use CDBG funds for activities that provides decent housing, provide a suitable living environment, and economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income, and provide education and care for our youth. f.t) General 0 f.1.a) General. The City plans to undertake activities to address obstacles to meeting underserved needs by funding the non-profit subrecipient organizations previously identified. f.1.b) Affordable Housing. The City will also encourage and support other entities in their effort to secure additional public and private funds for affordable housing, of community and economic development. The City will foster and maintain the stock affordable of the Residential Rehabilitation program. Applicants for this housing by way program are also advised of the rehabilitation services of the Okaloosa County seivices Development Corporation, which also provides housing and rehabilitation SHIP) and the HOME through the State Housing Initiative