The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) updated online information about the rural affordable workforce housing pilot to reflect community inquiries.
The pilot will work with stakeholders from at least three rural communities to develop partnerships and processes that will benefit communities statewide. Following two webinars to introduce the project and engage with stakeholders, WHEDA received a number of interesting and unanticipated questions, prompting helpful updates to the application materials and FAQs, which can be found here.
The updates include:
- Clarification that noncontiguous counties may apply as a “community.” This flexibility may be beneficial for rural counties facing affordable housing challenges that share the same employer.
- Clarification that the “lead applicant” role is primarily administrative and important as a point of contact. The “convener” role may be separate and would ideally be filled by someone with recognized facilitation skills.
- Clarification that, although some housing markets straddle border communities in more than one state, WHEDA resources can only be deployed in Wisconsin.
WHEDA’s rural affordable workforce housing initiative includes the pilot effort and supplemental financing tools designed to better serve rural communities by overcoming gaps in existing programs.
A recording of a July 24 webinar covers the application process for the pilot effort, including the need for communities to apply with a diverse team of stakeholders that demonstrate geographic, demographic, public and private collaboration. The slide deck for the webinar can be found here. The rural affordable workforce housing initiative page also contains FAQs, amended application instructions and an amended application. Applications for the pilot effort will be due August 31 with participating communities announced in early October.
For questions about the application process, email: ruralaffordablehousing@wheda.com.
