House America

HOST partners lifting a wall section at an affordable housing construction site

House America is a federal initiative to utilize investments through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and other federal recovery funding to address the crisis of homelessness through a Housing First approach. The House America initiative did not come with dedicated, additional funds, but rather asks cities how they will utilize HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) ARPA and other specific funds to help resolve episodes of homelessness. It aims to house at least 100,000 households experiencing homelessness and add at least 20,000 new units of affordable housing to the pipeline nationally by Sept. 30, 2022.   

To support Denver’s House America effort, The Denver Department of Housing Stability (HOST) intends to house at least 500 residents experiencing homelessness and support 144 units of affordable housing through resources provided by Emergency Solutions Grant – Coronavirus (ESG-CV) funds, HOME Investment Partnerships Program ARPA funds (HOME-ARP) Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) dollars, and Emergency Housing Vouchers via Denver Housing Authority.

HOST conducted a public meeting Wednesday, April 6, for individuals to learn more about and comment on the city’s proposed plans for utilizing HOME Investment Partnership Program – American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP) funds:

Find out more about HOME-ARP, including recordings of previous stakeholder engagement, in the dropdown menu below.

HOST's HOME-ARP Investment

Through its Five-Year Strategic Planning process, HOST heard the need for long-term, deeply affordable units. Therefore, HOST is considering using its HOME-ARP funds to help subsidize already-planned, affordable units so that they serve households at deeper affordability levels, and/or to acquire properties to create more units that are affordable to households earning at or below 30% of the area median income.   

Want to learn more? We will be hosting a public meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, for individuals to learn more about and comment on the city’s proposed plans for utilizing HOME Investment Partnership Program – American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP) funds.

Link to join the meeting: https://denvergov-org.zoom.us/j/83790752735

HOST also previously held two partner consultation sessions. You can find the meeting recording and presentation slides here:

Video of consultation session 

Slides from consultation sessions(PDF, 2MB)

Funds for HOME-ARP

HOST anticipates receiving a $10.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for HOME-ARP.  

Of that $10.8 million, the City expects up to roughly $10.5 million will be available to lend after subtracting administrative costs. 

Funds can be used for: 

  • the production and preservation of affordable housing,

  • tenant-based rental assistance,

  • supportive services,  

  • homelessness prevention services,  

  •  housing counseling, and  

  • the purchase and development of non-congregate shelter.  

    Funds must be spent by Sept. 30, 2030. 




 

Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF)

Through the Coronavirus Relief Fund, the CARES Act provides for payments to State, Local, and Tribal governments navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. The CARES Act established the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund.

Treasury has made payments from the Fund to states and eligible units of local government; the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories (the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands); and Tribal governments.

The CARES Act requires that the payments from the Coronavirus Relief Fund only be used to cover expenses that:

  1. are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19);
  2. were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government; and
  3. were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 31, 2021.

Emergency Solutions Grant – Coronavirus (ESG-CV) funds

The CARES Act appropriated $4 billion through the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, among individuals and families who are homeless or receiving homeless assistance and to support additional homeless assistance and homelessness prevention activities to mitigate the impacts created by coronavirus under the Emergency Solutions Grants program (42 U.S.C. 11371).”" Eligible activities that we could fund include: incentives for landlords or volunteers, temporary emergency shelters, training for staff, handwashing stations, portable bathrooms, sponsor based rental assistances, PPE, and paying for furnishings and services for helping people get rehoused.

 

Emergency Housing Vouchers via Denver Housing Authority

Emergency Housing Vouchers are administered through Denver Housing Authority (DHA) in partnership with MDHI, the HUD website includes the following description “The Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program is available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Through EHV, HUD is providing 70,000 housing choice vouchers to local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) in order to assist individuals and families who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness, fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, or were recently homeless or have a high risk of housing instability.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

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