Posts tagged housing
Boulder County assistance program featured on Dateline NBC
Jun 21st
Boulder County’s human services programs highlighted nationally
County’s focus on early intervention and prevention helping increasing numbers of people
Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County’s front-end approach to providing human services will be in the national spotlight this weekend. On Sunday, June 24, Dateline NBC will feature a documentary on three families who have received services through the county and its collaboration with community providers.
According to the network’s description, the one-hour special, “America Now: Lost in Suburbia,” focuses on formerly middle class families confronting poverty for the first time. Dateline producers and camera crews have been in Boulder County since late 2011 conducting interviews and gathering footage for the documentary. Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services (DHHS) Director Frank Alexander spoke with Dateline NBC anchor Lester Holt for the program, and numerous interviews were also conducted with DHHS staff and representatives from community non-profit partner organizations.
The program will air this Sunday at 7 p.m. Mountain time on NBC.
Since 2008, Boulder County has seen a 150 percent increase in need for Food Assistance and a 63 percent increase in need for Medicaid services. Some of this increase is a result of people applying for human services assistance for the first time in their lives. Alexander notes that in recent years, in part to address this rising need, Boulder County has shifted to a front-end, early intervention and prevention approach to providing human services. “This involves helping clients identify their full range of needs as soon as they come to us,” he said. “For example, if we can help someone avoid foreclosure by getting him into housing counseling, we save him and the community nearly $75,000.”
Boulder County’s foreclosure rate has fallen 58 percent since it peaked in 2009, the same year the number of clients in DHHS’ foreclosure counseling program hit its high point. “Many clients who come to us for Food Assistance quickly find out that they also need housing counseling and are eligible for financial assistance with childcare,” Alexander said. “By investing more in this early identification of needs, we are saving money and helping people avoid deeper crisis.”
Ballot Initiative 1A, also known as the Temporary Human Services Safety Net (TSN), is helping generate funding for these crucial services. The TSN, passed by voters in November 2010, was designed to back-fill budget cuts to Boulder County’s human services programs. The county has seen a 20 percent cut to its human services funding at the state and federal level during a time when need has risen dramatically.
“Our front-end approach to human services is strengthening our safety net,” said Boulder County Commissioner Cindy Domenico. “Thanks in big part to the taxpayers and our community partners, as more of our neighbors find themselves needing help we’re building a system that is there to meet them earlier and more efficiently.”
Boulder County Human services nonprofit agencies apply for 2013 funding
May 9th
Boulder County, Colo. – Nonprofit human service agencies and housing authorities in Boulder County may now apply for capital funds through Boulder County’s 2013 Worthy Cause pool.
The Worthy Cause Request for Funding application for 2013 pool funding is available on the Boulder County website atwww.BoulderCounty.org/gov/tax/pages/worthycause.aspx. Applications must be submitted by June 22.
During the 2008 General Election, Boulder County voters approved an extension of the .05 percent Worthy Cause sales tax with 73 percent of the vote. The 10-year initiative allocates a portion of sales tax revenue to Boulder County nonprofit human service agencies for capital projects, including the purchase of land or buildings; construction; renovation or debt reduction.
Revenues from the sales tax will be divided into two allocations: dedicated funding for nonprofit human service agencies that were identified in the ballot initiative, and competitive “pool” funding, for which qualifying nonprofit agencies may now apply via the Request for Funding process.
Throughout the course of Worthy Cause III, sales tax revenues have been leveraged through fundraising and other grants to strengthen our community services in early childhood learning, family support services, basic needs services such as food, clothing, housing and shelter, domestic violence and healthcare. To date, 28 local nonprofit human service agencies have been awarded approximately $5.5 million in capital awards since voters reapproved the tax in 2008.
For more information about Worthy Cause and the application process, contact Megan Davis at mdavis@bouldercounty.org or 303-441-3562.
Boulder grabs the gold ring on energy merry-go-round
Apr 26th
The City of Boulder’s SmartRegs ordinance and the EnergySmart service were presented with the J. Robert Havlick award for Innovation in Government by the Alliance for Innovation at its annual conference in Kansas City, MO, on April 18.
Innovation Awards are chosen from the 70+ applications received by a multi-member selection committee consisting of city and county managers from across the United States and Alliance staff. The selection committee looks for local governments that have shown a dedication to stretching and improving the boundaries of day-to-day government operations and practices, implementing creative business processes, and improving the civic health of the community.
These programs “won the 2012 J. Robert Havlick Award for Innovation in Local Government for demonstrating a pragmatic and progressive approach for long-lasting energy savings in their community,” said Karen Thoreson, president of the Alliance for Innovation. “The work combined the successful and innovative approach of utilizing a regulatory platform, financial incentives and technical assistance tools for homeowners and renters in order to achieve measurable and meaningful results.”
In September 2010, Boulder City Council adopted three ordinances requiring all of Boulder’s rental housing – approximately half of the city’s housing stock – to meet energy efficiency standards by 2019. The new “SmartRegs” requirements went into effect in January 2011, and are part of the Climate Action Plan’s (CAP) “Reduce Use” strategy area, which was established to promote energy-conserving behavior in homes and businesses throughout Boulder.
To help homeowners, landlords and tenants navigate the new SmartRegs ordinance, the city and Boulder County created a SmartRegs path through EnergySmart. EnergySmart services provide efficiency solutions for homes, whether rental or owner-occupied, commercial businesses, and property owners in all Boulder County communities, resulting in permanent improvements to the existing building stock. The EnergySmart service provides people with an energy assessment, as well as an expert Energy Advisor who recommends upgrades specific to each property, helps with rebate and financing applications, and even helps collect bids from contractors to perform energy upgrades.
Some of the key results in the City of Boulder from 2011’s SmartRegs and EnergySmart efforts include:
- 678 owner-occupied units participated in the EnergySmart services, with 67% completing upgrades.
- 2,081 renter-occupied units participated in the EnergySmart service as a result of the SmartRegs policy, with 33% completing upgrades.
- Owner-occupied units that participated saw an average annual energy savings of 714 kWh of electricity and 226 therms of natural gas (equivalent to $219 per year).
- Renter-occupied units that participated saw an average annual energy savings of 217 kWh of electricity and 72 therms of natural gas (equivalent to $63 per year).
- 1,687 services were provided to 960 individual businesses.
- Commercial property owners and businesses receiving quick installs saw an average annual energy savings of 421 kWh of electricity (equivalent to $52 per year), and 14,930 kWh of electricity for businesses receiving upgrades (equivalent to $1,318 per year).
The results achieved through both EnergySmart and SmartRegs demonstrate an innovative approach to complementing a policy requirement with assistance and funding to ease the burden of compliance.
EnergySmart aims to reach at least 10,000 homes and 3,000 businesses throughout Boulder County by June 2013. It is designed to stimulate local economic growth; increase energy efficiency investment in Colorado; and advance the state’s energy independence through energy upgrades. EnergySmart is a collaborative partnership throughout Boulder County, funded by a $25 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Program, combined with contributions from the City of Boulder’s Climate Action Plan tax and the City of Longmont.
The Alliance for Innovation is an international network of progressive governments and partners committed to transforming local government by accelerating the development and dissemination of innovations. They seek out innovative practices, challenge existing business models, exchange knowledge, and provide products and services that help members perform at their best.
For more information on EnergySmart programs and services, visit www.EnergySmartYes.com, or call 303-544-1000 for residential information and 303-441-1300 for commercial information. More information about the Alliance for Innovation can be found at www.transformgov.org.