Ashland Council Hands Out $660,000 to Support Affordable Housing Efforts, Social Services Programs
Ashland Council Hands Out $660,000 to Support
Affordable Housing Efforts, Social Services Programs
4/17/24
By David Runkel
Ashland’s City Council last night showered $660,000 on 15 organizations providing social services to homeless people and others in need and to groups fostering affordable housing construction.
The big winner in the awarding of grants was Options for Housing, Resources and Assistance (OHRA), which operates homeless programs out of a former motel at 2350 Ashland Street. OHRA was given $155,000 out of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and $34,333 from the social service grant program.
Sunstone Housing Collaborative, a new organization putting together an affordable housing development on an Ashland High School athletic field at East Main Street and North Mountain Avenue, was given $55,000 from the Affordable Housing Fund, $20,000 from the social services program and a provisional grant of $123,660 from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.
The money will be provided if the project gets off the ground, otherwise it will be distributed to other organizations, Linda Reid, the city’s housing program coordinator, said. A spokesperson for Sunstone told Council potential developers are being asked to submit proposals and a Memorandum of Understanding is being prepared outlining the scope of the project. Last week, the school board endorsed the project with the hope that it will provide housing for teachers and staff.
Councilor Gina DuQuenne has been a Sunstone board member, but told her colleagues she has resigned. School Board Member Jill Franko, a Council candidate two years ago, remains on the group’s board.
The biggest pot of funds which the Council distributed was generated by the city’s marijuana tax. In addition to OHRA and Sunstone, other recipients of money from the housing trust fund were Habitat for Humanity, $100,000 for land purchases, and a new community land trust organizing committee, $40,000.
The Maslow Project was the only other organization given money out of the federal government funded CDBG program, $20,000 to help 100 homeless youths up to age 24 find housing.
Other organizations granted money out of the city’s social services fund were: Ashland Emergency Food Bank, $4,333; Ashland Food Angels, $10,667; Community Works Inc. (Dunn House), $8,000; Rogue Valley Council of Governments Food and Friends, $6,333; Jackson County SART, $6,667; La Clinica, $13,333; Peace House , $12,500; Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice, $11,667; St. Vincent De Paul, $13,333; and the United Way, $5,333.
This was the most competitive granting procedure, Reid said, with organizations seeking more than $300,000. The money for these grants comes out of the city’s general fund.
The Council’s Housing and Community Services Advisory Committee reviewed the requests for money from this fund and the Housing Trust Fund. Its recommendations were accepted by the Council without change. The CDBG fund is under the jurisdiction of the Community Development Department.
