INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Fourteen houses designated for homeless and near-homeless families will be brought to neighborhood acceptable conditions through a $20,000 grant provided by the Indian River Community Foundation.
Last year, Treasure Coast Homeless Services Council, was able to use funds from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, to purchase 14 vacant houses in distressed neighborhoods that had gone into foreclosure. The plan was for the organization to rent the homes at affordable rates to families living at, or below, poverty level.
The homes, many vacant for lengthy time periods, were in disrepair and far below what was considered to be acceptable by the surrounding neighbors, said Louise Hubbard, Treasure Coast Homeless Services Council Executive Director.
“The original grant to purchase the homes did not provide any funding to rehabilitate the properties. This was a big problem for our success,” Hubbard said. “We knew we needed the families renting these properties to be able to start on a positive note and not be viewed as a burden on the neighborhoods.”
The grant from Indian River Community Foundation will be used to bring the homes up to “neighborhood acceptable” conditions, making them indistinguishable from other homes in the area.
According to Kerry Bartlett, the foundation’s Executive Director, the grant request fit very well with her organization’s goal of funding measurable programs that would address the root causes of time-sensitive community issues.
“The rate of foreclosures and the lack of affordable housing options have made the price of rental properties soar in our community,” said Bartlett. “This places an enormous burden on families who are living day-to-day to survive, especially those with disabled family members, which is a target population of this program.”
In addition to the direct impact of the program, Bartlett said her Board of Directors was also attracted to the collaborative nature of the project. The Treasure Coast Homeless Services Council partnered with five local nonprofit organizations to fill the homes with needy families from our community.
The families are required to be living at 30 percent or less of the area median income for affordable housing. After a federally mandated time period, ownership of the properties will be transferred to the partner nonprofit agencies, which include Breath of Heaven Ministries, Economic Opportunities Council, Every Dream Has A Price, Homeless Family Center, and National Alliance on Mental Illness.
“Transferring the properties to these nonprofit organizations will assure the homes continue to be utilized by needy families in our community,” Bartlett said.
To fund this grant, Indian River Community Foundation received contributions to an unrestricted fund from eight philanthropically minded individuals who requested guidance in finding charitable programs with defined measures of success.
The Indian River Community Foundation currently holds nearly $9 million in assets, the majority of which are in Donor Advised funds, Bartlett said.
Periodically, the foundation will receive unrestricted funds from donors who allow for grant programs such as this.
For more information contact Bartlett at (772) 492-1407 or visit www.ircommunityfoundation.com.
