General Affordable Housing Terms
Cost-Burdened: A household that pays more than 30% of their income for housing, as defined by HUD. Paying more than 30% means that this household does not realistically have money left over after rent to sufficiently cover other essentials like food, clothing or health care.
The Drive-by Test: A way to determine if affordable housing blends into surrounding communities successfully. If a community passes the drive-by test, it means that someone driving by wouldn't notice the difference between the affordable homes and the surrounding neighborhood.
Low Income: Households that qualify for affordable housing. Low income households earn 60% or less of the area median income, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). For example, if the middle income of an area is $40,000 per year, a household in that area would earn $20,000 or less per year to be considered low income. Other qualifications include very low income households, which earn 50% or less of the median income and very very low income households, which earn 30% or under the median income.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)- Cabinet department in the Executive Branch of the United States federal government devoted to developing and executing policy on housing and cities.
Types of Housing
Low-Income Housing Tax Credits: Low-Income Housing Tax Credits were designed to encourage private investment in affordable housing for low and moderate income households. The tax credit is provided to private investment partners who contribute to the project financing. Their contributions offset the cost of building and rehabilitating the property so rents can stay low. In tax credit properties the rents are often below the market rates and new residents must be low income
Market Rate: Rents based on the housing market.
Section 202: The Section 202 program is designed to help expand the supply of affordable housing with supportive services for the elderly. It provides very low-income elderly with options that allow them to live independently but in an environment that provides support activities such as cleaning, cooking, transportation, etc.HUD provides interest-free capital advances to private, nonprofit sponsors like CommonBond to finance the development of supportive housing for the elderly. The nonprofit sponsors are then able to charge lower rates for rents.
Section 8: A government program that allows low income residents to pay only 30% of their income to live in safe housing and avoid becoming cost-burdened.There are two types of Section 8 programs: Section 8 vouchers and project based Section 8.
Project-based Section 8- an affordable housing subsidy is connected to the rental unit rather than the resident. The subsidy provides the difference between the market rate value of the home and 30% of the resident’s income. If the resident moves, the subsidy will go to the next qualified resident who moves into the Section 8 unit.
While many Section 8 Housing buildings still exist, funding is scarce create new Section 8 Housing communities or to reinstate a Section 8 subsidy if it is allowed to lapse.
Section 8 Vouchers are given to individuals rather than properties. CommonBond welcomes people with Section 8 vouchers. Once a person acquires a Section 8 Voucher from the government, their household can choose to live at many properties (market rate or affordable) and the government pays the difference between 30% of the renter’s income and the fair market rate of an apartment in that area. Due to reductions in funding, these vouchers are notoriously difficult to receive.
Development Terms
Brownfield: A commercial or housing site that has been previously used for industry and may be contaminated or need extensive clearing. The site of Bishop’s Creek Family Community in Milwaukee was a brownfield before clean up and development.
Closing/ closed: financing has been secured for this development and construction or rehabilitation can begin. In a rehabilitation, this usually does not mean that the building itself is closed.
Homelessness units: Units reserved for people who have experienced homelessness. People in these units pay reduced rents and receive individualized services.
Rehabilitation: The physical update and refinance of an affordable housing community to retain quality and affordability. When CommonBond takes over a housing community from another owner, we often do a full rehabilitation of the facilities. We also rehabilitate and refinance Section 8 Housing communities at risk of losing this increasingly rare subsidy.
Rental terms
Wait List:Housing communities that either have immediate openings, or a short list of people who have applied to a CommonBond housing community and are waiting for a spot to open up.
No Vacancies/Waiting list closed:If a wait list gets too long, it is closed until enough people on the list are placed in a home. It is not possible to show interest in these communities until the waiting list opens again.
Service terms
Advantage Services: CommonBond services provided on-site at CommonBond housing communities to CommonBond residents. Advantage Services work to ensure that our housing serves as a steppingstone to success for the people who live there. The services at each housing community vary by that community’s needs, but often include computer labs, youth programming, career help and health services. Read more about Advantage Services
Advantage Centers: Advantage Services are provided through Advantage Centers. Advantage Centers are the physical, on-site resource centers. These offices, community rooms and computer labs are a point of access- access to technology, services, information and support.
Family stability: One of the goals of CommonBond Advantage Services for family communities. CommonBond measures success by the number of heads of household with a full time job with benefits and able to either maintain their current housing or positioned to move into market-rate rental or single-family home ownership.
Youth achievement: One of the goals of CommonBond Advantage Services for family communities. Through academic and social mentoring programs like Study Buddies and out of school programming like Summer Fun, services aim to help resident kids achieve academically and socially. We measure success by the number of participants who are able to move up a grade level.
Independent living: One of the goals of CommonBond Advantage Services for seniors and special needs. Services at senior and special need housing communities aim to keep seniors living independently in their own homes as long as possible. Success is measured by the number of residents these services were able to prevent from entering an institution.
Career Advantage: CommonBond’s comprehensive employment and professional development program offered at high need communities. Career Advantage works to help work-age adult residents find and keep jobs, develop career paths and achieve professional goals.
Career Laddering: One of the goals of CommonBond’s Career Advantage Program. Career laddering means that Career Advantage participants are not only able to find and keep a job, but move up to a position that includes a living wage and benefits.
Study Buddies: CommonBond’s one-on-one mentoring program that pairs resident youth with trained volunteers. Study Buddy pairs meet weekly during the academic year to work on homework, computer skills and enrichment activities.
Learning Circles: CommonBond’s mentoring program for youth in St. Paul. Learning Circles partners an AmeriCorps member, a volunteer and groups of resident youth. The groups meet twice weekly to work on academic and social learning.
