Partners for Impact provided SHARP Outreach and Technical Assistance.
Client:
North Carolina Housing Finance Agency
Services Provided:
Strengthening Networks
The Problem/Challenge:
The Supportive Housing American Rescue Plan (SHARP) Program, managed through the NC Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) was structured to support development of affordable housing across North Carolina for individuals and families experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. In an effort to reach rural communities that often are underrepresented in federal funding programs for affordable housing, NCHFA contracted with Partners for Impact to provide Outreach and Technical Assistance for 19 rural counties in the middle and eastern parts of the state.
Our Process:
Our team of consultants conducted extensive outreach through direct messaging, phone calls and networking in each community, to share the SHARP opportunity with local governments, nonprofits, housing developers, faith communities and community advocates. As communities showed interest, our team provided technical assistance for them to understand specific federal and NCHFA application and project requirements, assess the scope of their affordable housing project, develop an appropriate and adequate team for housing development and for programming, consider sustainability for the life of the project, connect with housing consultants and explore land options.
End Result:
Nine counties expressed interest and explored possible projects resulting in five applications for SHARP funding. Several entities that ultimately did not apply expressed appreciation for the outreach and technical assistance process and said they felt more prepared for future federal affordable housing applications.
Continued Success:
Our team learned so much from this project that we decided to collect our learnings along with a little more targeted research through a couple of focus groups with rural county leaders. The results will be published in a White Paper on The Challenges of Rural NC Affordable Housing.
Key Staff:
Nancy Bloebaum
Annie Baumann-Mitchell
Key Backbone Partners of Interest:
Carson Dean Consulting, LLC
Rachel Zeitler