Retired Subcategories: COVID-19 Response

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation:
Vote for Alaska

Some tasks are like climbing a mountain. In many ways, the Alpine analogy holds for us throughout this entry. This nomination addresses the risks, strategies and partnerships we adopted to implement the new Emergency Rental Assistance program at a frenetic pace while considerable uncertainty lingered overhead. The numbers speak for themselves.

Connecticut Housing Finance Authority:
CHFA (CT) Housing Authority Small Improvement Program

When the COVID-19 public health emergency was declared, CHFA Multifamily staff recognized the impact it would have on public housing residents. Basic needs items became scarce, as was the ability to obtain them safely. To address these needs, CHFA sought to transform a current program to provide essential supplies to residents. The Housing Authority Small Improvement Program was ideal as it provided a platform that could be built out to create a Basic Needs Pantry to fulfill resident’s needs.

District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency:
HSG: Stabilizing the District’s Affordable Housing

In late November of 2020, the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency Portfolio and Asset Management group was tasked with distributing $10.4 million of Housing Stabilization funds to the affordable housing providers of Washington, D.C. DCHFA had to issue the entirety of the funds by December 31, 2020. The Agency faced what seemed an insurmountable challenge – to disburse nearly $10 million made available by the Cares Act in the last three weeks of the tumultuous 2020 calendar year.

Idaho Housing and Finance Association:
COVID-19 and the Housing Preservation Program

On March 13, 2020, Idaho declared a state of emergency. On April 1, IHFA launched its Housing Preservation Program (HPP). The program provides short-term rent and utility support for low-income Idahoans experiencing COVID-related financial hardship. Launched swiftly with funds from IHFA’s foundation, HPP received a huge boost from the State of Idaho, through two rounds of federal funding. By acting decisively, Idaho Housing helped keep thousands of people safely housed through the pandemic.

Illinois Housing Development Authority:
Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance Programs

In August 2020, IHDA launched the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) and Emergency Mortgage Assistance (EMA) programs which disbursed more than $324,000,000 in past due rent and mortgage payments helping keep over 56,000 households safe and sheltered at home during the pandemic. In six months, IHDA designed, implemented and launched the largest emergency housing assistance program in the nation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Louisiana Housing Corporation:
Louisiana’s Adaptive Response to COVID-19

In response to the global pandemic that brought shutdowns and social distancing, the Louisiana Housing Corporation launched two programs, the remote virtual inspection process and the homelessness housing initiative, to effectively continue work operations and protect Louisiana's homeless population from acute vulnerability to the virus. These programs were successful and established best practices for replicability among other agencies.

MaineHousing:
One Weekend in Maine

Over 500 migrant farm workers arrive annually in Maine. Working collaboratively with state, local, non-profit, and business partners, MaineHousing led efforts to establish testing sites and quarantine & isolation shelters for migrant farm workers. Without MaineHousing's fast response and agility, the migrant farm worker experience could have been very different - and perhaps deadly and more of a strain on Maine's rural healthcare system. It all changed in one weekend.

Masshousing:
Subsidized Housing Emergency Rental Assistance (SHERA) Program

MassHousing collaborated with two sister agencies to develop a new program for distribution of $450 million in federal COVID-19 rental assistance. The Subsidized Housing Emergency Rental Assistance (SHERA) program takes a fundamentally different approach by distributing federal funds directly to the Agency’s multi-family business partners who work with eligible residents and apply for assistance on their behalf. This wholesale vs. retail approach will move funds faster and more efficiently.

Rhode Island Housing:
Going L.E.A.N. To Innovate During a Pandemic

While no one could have predicted the challenges we would face in 2020, RIHousing was fortunate to have completed a comprehensive, multi-year LEAN process in our Leased Housing and IT departments. The LEAN effort pushed us to re-think our work through the lens of creating efficiencies, reducing redundancies and being the most impactful in our work. As a result we've increased our output and received high marks on our innovation.

Tennessee Housing Development Agency:
THDA COVID Readiness Response

Emergency preparedness and thoughtful response readiness enabled THDA’s Single Family Loan Operations and the Volunteer Mortgage Loan Servicing divisions to continue operating with minimal interruption and with a focus on quality customer service to our partners and the consumers THDA serves throughout the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.