Rock Island County Housing Finance Corporation Secures $7 Million in Funding for New Development and Housing Program
Amy Clark, CEO of Rock Island Housing Finance Corporation (RICHFC), a non-profit affiliate of the Greater Metropolitan Area Housing Authority of R.I. County (GMAHA) is excited to announce the recent funding awards for a new multifamily housing development and a pilot homeownership program to serve residents of Rock Island County. The announcement comes after the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) approved various funding awards at their January 2022 Board Meeting.
RICHFC received an award allocation of $5,137,992 in a National Housing Trust Fund Grant and a $859,485 State Housing Fund Loan to be used for a new housing development Apoyo Village.
Apoyo Village is a twenty-four unit multifamily project, which will offer supportive services and will be located in Silvis. The development will help fill a tremendous gap in affordable rental housing options within the community by creating new units and including supportive services utilizing local human service agencies. IHDA’s Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Development Program Round VIII received a total of seventeen applications, and Apoyo Village was one of only ten to be selected for funding, demonstrating the competitive nature of these resources.
The PSH program is designed to finance developments that focuses on residents who need supportive services in order to access and maintain affordable housing. As a nonprofit affiliate of the Greater Metropolitan Area Housing Authority of Rock Island County (GMAHA), Rock Island County Housing Finance Corporation (RICHFC) is serving as the project’s sponsor, co-developer, and property manager. GMAHA has partnered with Domera Development, LLC who is serving as the project’s developer. Domera is an experienced developer of affordable housing and permanent supportive housing. The project’s architect is #9 Design, LLC d/b/a North Arrow Architecture, and La Mancha Construction d/b/a North Arrow Construction is serving as its general contractor.
Amy Clark
In addition to Apoyo Village, RICHFC was awarded $1,009,162 in State Donation Tax Credits to pilot its homebuyer program I-HOPE (Independence through Home Ownership Program Equity). I-HOPE is a new homeownership initiative developed by RICHFC to assist low to moderate income families in Rock Island County with down-payment and closing cost assistance, as well as mortgage principal reduction assistance. The goal of this program to move individuals and/or families along the housing continuum to self-sufficiency through pre-purchase education and financial literacy services, as well as post-purchase case management services. This program will offer up to $35,000 to each participating household through a forgivable grant.
“We are thankful for the funding awarded to us by the Illinois Housing Development Authority to further our mission to create and finance housing opportunities for the residents of Rock Island County, whether those housing needs are affordable rental tied to supportive services or affordable homeownership. We now have the ability, through a multifaceted approach, to provide more targeted housing options to adequately fit each family’s individual dynamic”, said Ms. Clark.
For more information about GMAHA and RICHFC please visit https://www.gmaharic.org/.
