Legislative Agenda

"Impacts of Housing and Community Development in Wyoming"

The Wyoming Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (WyoNAHRO) is comprised of professionals and agencies that administer the federal programs that serve the needs of Wyoming residents. Our residents often need access to multiple federal programs and various agencies in order to succeed as contributing citizens. The stories below are a glimpse into the lives of only a few folks in Wyoming and the various ways that WyoNAHRO members have directly or indirectly impacted their lives.

Joan is trying to get her life back together after a divorce. She was devastated to have to seek the help, but very thankful that Interfaith had CDBG funding available to provide emergency assistance so that her kids had a temporary place to sleep. It seemed like forever, but her application for a Voucher finally reached the top of the waiting list. Now her family has a stable, safe, clean, and decent place to live that is close to her children's school, so she didn't have to disrupt their lives even more, and a rent that she can afford. She is also working through the housing authority's Family Self Sufficiency program and is pursuing her Dental Hygienist degree while continuing to work. She has plans to be completely self sufficient within five years. She and her kids are grateful for the help that they received when they so desperately needed it. Her employer is also grateful that Joan is able to continue working, due to the federal subsidy her family has received.

Ken and Megan had always wanted to attain the "American Dream" of homeownership. They didn't think they would ever get there. They were caught in an all-too-common catch-22 that affects many Wyoming families: They couldn't find a house they could afford that didn't need extensive – and expensive - repairs. The Wyoming Rehabilitation & Acquisition Program (WRAP), which utilizes NSP funds in Wyoming, was the solution to their problem. The WRAP program uses NSP funds to purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed and abandoned homes, then sells the homes to eligible Wyoming citizens with terms based on their income. They entered the program and cleaned up their credit, attended homebuyer education classes, and were successful in buying their first home. They attained the "American Dream" that only a year earlier seemed unreachable.

Stan was a veteran who came home to find things more difficult than he had ever imagined. He has had his bouts with homelessness and chemical dependency, but he is now plugged into the VA programs. The VA connected him to the local housing authority and he now has a VASH Voucher that keeps his rent affordable. This Voucher, along with ongoing counseling from the VA, is helping him re-engage in society. Thanks to these programs he has a place to live and a job and is learning to become a productive member of the society he thought had abandoned him.

Each of these lives has been impacted by WyoNAHRO member organizations and the federal programs they administer. These impacts are not only social and emotional, but also economic. These federal programs have infused funding into contracting, purchasing, subsidizing, and staffing within Wyoming. In fact, these agencies were responsible for administering more than $ 49 million in program funds and subsidies during the last year. Those dollars multiply through the economy as these agencies provide assistance to more than 5,000 Wyoming families each year and each of these families can continue to be, or again become productive members of society. It is disheartening that, in spite of these successes, waiting lists for housing assistance continue to exceed 2,600 applicants in Wyoming.

WyoNAHRO Membership includes:

• Wyoming Community Development AuthorityCheyenne Housing Authority
• City of Cheyenne – Housing & Community DevelopmentCity of Casper
• City of RawlinsCasper Housing Authority
• Rock Springs Housing AuthorityCity of Douglas
• Wyoming Dept. of Health, Mental HealthRCAC
• Council of Community ServicesGrimshaw Investments
• Cokeville Economic Development Corp.Kirkham & Assoc.
• Wyoming Family Homeownership Program1st Bank of Alpine
• Habitat for Humanity – CasperWyoming Housing Network
• Interfaith of Natrona County1st Bank of Evanston
• Wyoming Homeless CollaborativeRENEW
• Mountain Plains Equity GroupEide Bailly, LLP
• Wyoming Community NetworkFHLB Seattle
• Wyoming Frontier DevelopmentProperty Management, Inc.

WyoNAHRO Members administer:

• 2,093 Housing Choice Vouchers that annually pay more than $ 10,300,000 to more than 650 Wyoming landlords
• 656 Public Housing units that contribute more than $ 1,200,000 annually to the economy through contracting and procurement activities
• 2,330 project-based subsidized units with more than $ 9,000,000 in subsidy paid to owners annually
• CDBG funds of $ 3,000,000 that secures job by funding local community development projects
• HOME funds of $ 3,500,000 that creates on average 28 new or rehabilitated affordable rental units annually and secures jobs through the local contracting for rehabilitation and construction
• Low Income Housing Tax Credits that create an average of 168 new or rehabilitated affordable rental units annually that brings approximately $ 18,000,000 into Wyoming through local contracting and material purchases
• Emergency Shelter and Homeless grants that serve the homeless
• 95 VASH Vouchers providing stable and affordable housing for homeless veterans in collaboration with the VA hospitals in Cheyenne and Sheridan
• NSP funds that have rescued 57 single family foreclosed properties around the state which has added value to neighborhoods and provided affordable homeownership opportunities for low income families, and replaced condemned multi-family rental units with 44 new affordable units.

WyoNAHRO Position Regarding the Federal Budget

WyoNAHRO recognizes that Congress needs to get a handle on the federal budget, and that means that cuts must be made to the overall budget. We encourage Congress to not burden only discretionary programs with cuts in an effort to improve the budget outlook. You can see that WyoNAHRO members impact countless lives and we do so in a very fiscally responsible manner that ensures the benefit of all subsidy dollars is maximized, and in a manner that produces more than $ 49 million dollars of direct economic impact in Wyoming annually. The Bottom Line: The assistance WyoNAHRO members are able to provide to thousands of Wyoming citizens would not be possible without the federal subsidies that are directed to Wyoming.