A Holiday Message from TSAHC President David Long

December 22, 2020 | by David Long

Categories: Affordable Housing

As this unique and challenging year comes to a close, I want to take a moment to thank you for your partnership and commitment to TSAHC. As our homes have evolved into offices, classrooms, and secure places, we're more appreciative than ever of your unwavering support of our mission to provide a safe, stable, and affordable home to every Texan. 

When reflecting on this year, two themes emerge: adaptability and flexibility. Like many businesses, we quickly changed the way we operated in March to adjust to the new normal. We appreciate the flexibility of our partners, which, in turn, allowed us to adapt and provide new opportunities to those we serve.

Amid the constantly changing surroundings, one thing remained constant — our commitment to meeting the housing needs of Texans. I am honored to report how we accomplished that in 2020.

TSAHC's 2020* in Review: 

• Assisted more than 12,000 home buyers with achieving the dream of homeownership through our home buyer assistance programs which offer home buyers fixed rate interest loans, down payment assistance, and mortgage credit certificates. 
• Provided 64 single family homes to low-to-moderate income Texans through our Affordable Communities of Texas program and Texas Housing Impact Fund. 
• Awarded more than $1,000,000 in grants to 39 nonprofit organizations across Texas through our Texas Foundations Fund and Housing and Economic Assistance to Rebuild Texas (HEART) programs. These grants provide crucial repairs and supportive services to very-low income families and individuals, including those still recovering from Hurricane Harvey.
• Offered training to nonprofits through the HEART and Housing Connection programs to connect organizations to resources and help them build capacity. I'm proud to report that we were able to train 42 housing professionals through a virtual platform this year.
• Financed the construction or rehabilitation of 1,345 rental units through our Multifamily Private Activity Bond and Texas Housing Impact Fund programs. 
• Launched the Affordable Housing Partnership program in collaboration with the Health and Human Services Commission to support the construction of community integrated housing for Texans with long term health needs in Dallas and Travis Counties. More than $2,300,000 in funding is available through this program. 
• Created a $250,000 Predevelopment Loan Fund in partnership with the Austin Community Foundation to help smaller capacity organizations in Central Texas finance predevelopment costs.
• Completed our first ever Texas Supportive Housing Institute which provided training and technical support to six teams across Texas working on their first supportive housing developments. 
• Launched the TSAHC On the House podcast to expand our outreach to lenders, REALTORS®, and home buyers.
• Partnered with a network of organizations and individuals to launch the Texas Housing Stability Collaborative to raise awareness of free mortgage and rental assistance options and HUD-approved housing counseling services.

All of our 2020 successes and plans for the coming year can be found in our 2021 Draft Annual Action Plan, which is a great source of information for anyone interested in learning more about TSAHC and the work that we do. The draft of the 2021 Annual Action Plan will be available for public comment until January 22, 2021.

We don't know what 2021 will bring, but we know it will be a little brighter with your partnership. On behalf of everyone at TSAHC, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude for your support and wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. 

Sincerely,

David Long
President
Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation

*Numbers current as of October 31, 2020

On the House blog posts are meant to provide general information on various housing-related issues, research and programs. We are not liable for any errors or inaccuracies in the information provided by blog sources. Furthermore, this blog is not legal advice and should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney.