Our Solutions
Vision
Our Vision at the Greenville Housing Fund (GHF) is simple; we want everyone to have a decent, safe and affordable place to call home. The goals of GHF are to:
- Educate the community about affordable housing needs.
- Build strong public/private partnerships to promote and support a local, affordable housing industry.
- Leverage local resources by developing a local housing trust fund to help finance affordable housing development.
- Increase the local market opportunities for affordable housing for our residents.
By joining in with the City of Greenville’s 2020 vision, we will help to sculpt our community into a vibrant city, where every ambition is achievable.
Everybody Benefits
In a community that is dedicated to solving their housing problems, everybody benefits-developers, businesses and individuals. The housing developers, assisted by GHF in building affordable housing, will see an increase in their businesses during slower economic times. Businesses who get involved in our employer assistance program will have the security of knowing that all their employees have the opportunity to own a home and grow roots in the area. Also, the individuals who utilize our programs will finally be able to afford housing in safe, secure neighborhoods that are as committed to strengthening our community as we are.
An Economic Benefit study conducted by the Clemson Strom Thurmond Institute projects the following fiscal benefits resulting from the development of a local housing trust fund to generate 200 housing units:
- A $4.3 million gain in gross regional product per year
- A $4.6 million gain in disposable income per year.
- An annual gain of $459,000 in local government revenues, including an annual gain of $116,637 in local property tax revenue and an increase of $10,089 in local sales tax revenues per year.
- When GHF invests $1, another $12.72 will be invested by other public and private funding resources. Because of this investment, approximately $14 million will be used for new housing developments per year.
Progress Already Made
GHF opened its doors for business in January 2008. The primary focus for the first six months was to set up the office and develop our back office operations to better serve our clients. The Board and staff have worked closely to develop our programs, policies and procedures. The Board approved up to $500,000 to fund current programs. Below is a summary of our program activity to date:
Bridge Loan Program
The Board approved $400,000 for this program. GHF will make short-term loans to provide financing, for affordable housing projects including where permanent financing or grant funding has already been committed but not dispersed, in order to expedite project completion. These short-term loans are provided to developers at a reduced interest rate. The loans may be used for land acquisition, predevelopment expenses and construction. The Board approved a $100,000 loan request from Homes of Hope for Perry Place, a proposed development for 12 affordable units in the West Greenville Neighborhood.
Homes for Teachers Program
This program is funded through a generous contribution of $250,000 from the Community Foundation. This money is available through the end of 2009. The program is targeted to Greenville’s school teachers who are first-time home buyers. As of October 1st, we have approved down payment assistance for six teachers.
Homebuyer Assistance Program
The Board approved $50,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance to assist low- and moderate-income first-time home buyers in Greenville County. Qualified home buyers can receive up to $5,000 in a forgivable loan. The loan is forgiven as long as the home buyer remains in the home for five years.
Home from Work Program
GHF has partnered with the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors to launch this Employer Assisted Housing Program initiative. GHF will work with local employers to design an employee benefit program to assist their employees with down payment and closing costs. In October, the Greenville Hospital System agreed to make this important employee benefit available to employees at their five locations.
Tenant Rental Assistance for Seniors
The Board allocated $25,000 for rental assistance for low-income seniors in Greenville's Special Emphasis Neighborhoods. The purpose of this program is to discourage the displacement of seniors in neighborhoods that are currently undergoing revitalization. To date, we have approved three seniors residing in the new Chicora Avenue apartments developed by Genesis Homes. We have also approved four seniors residing in the new Gower Place apartments developed by BGM Development located in West Greenville.
GHF and United Way Provide CDC Training Scholarships-GHS has partnered with the United Way to provide training and capacity building scholarships for local Community Development Corporations (CDC) who are developing housing. The National Development Council is a premier national training organization that specializes in training housing developers. They offer the Housing Finance Development Professional Certification through a four part course. The courses are offered all over the country and can be very costly. BB&T and the SC Association of CDCs have partnered to bring the training to CDCs in South Carolina.
GHF provided $500 scholarships to local housing CDCs who committed to obtaining the certification. The scholarship will be applied to the training course and cover some travel expenses. We have 5 local CDCs participating in the program, including Don Oglesby from Homes of Hope, Charlie Warth from Allen Temple CDC, Jim Childress from Genesis Homes, Bruce Forbes from SHARE CDC and Jerry Blassingame from Soteria/RWOC CDC. This is a great first step toward building and expanding our local capacity to develop affordable housing.
2010-2012 GHF Strategic Plan
In November 2009, GHF's Board of Directors met to discuss the 2010-2012 strategic plan. You can find our final plan here.
GHF 2009 IRS 990 Tax Return
If you would like to review GHF's 2009 IRS 990 Tax Return, please click here.
