Black Hills Area Community Foundation
Report date
June 2020
What has been most instrumental to your progress?
Dedicated staff to lead this work. Hiring of David Lust as the Housing Consultant was critically important. David is a well respected local attorney and former legislator who served our state at Speaker of the House. He has been a driver of change in the business community and was a leader in the creation of Elevate Rapid City, a blending of the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership. His leadership and reputation added credibility to our work. We also engaged a part-time staffer with our BHACF Programs manager to gather information and build relationships from a resident perspective. There have been many gatherings and conversations regarding affordable housing over the years. Historically, very little if any actions were initiated after these meetings. After our first Collective Impact Summit and the resulting Housing Study, it was clear that someone needed to be accountable for leading the work. Having David Lust taking the lead and being the driver of our housing work demonstrated that this time things will be different.
Identification and relationship building with allies for housing policy change: Reorganization of the Homeless Coalition was necessary. This coalition worked each year to manage the Point in Time Count. This
was dependent on volunteer leadership, all whom had other full-time jobs related to homelessness. Our BHACF Programs Manager helped to create a sustainable structure as well as best practices for the Point In Time Count. Serving as the Coalition's fiscal sponsor, we provided a recognized nonprofit status for fundraising efforts but to be sustainable, but the Coalition needed a 'home'. The Volunteers of America (VOA)was identified as a 'fit'and connections to funding for a full-time Homeless Coordinator were initiated. Through VOA and other partners providing ongoing case management, more positive landlord/tenant relationships are being created and mitigating evictions. Meetings with County Housing leadership and residents highlighted concerns about policies, procedures and systemic barriers. We're working closely with our City to develop a Strategic Housing Policy to recognize and prioritize housing as a long term investment in stability and development of our community.
was dependent on volunteer leadership, all whom had other full-time jobs related to homelessness. Our BHACF Programs Manager helped to create a sustainable structure as well as best practices for the Point In Time Count. Serving as the Coalition's fiscal sponsor, we provided a recognized nonprofit status for fundraising efforts but to be sustainable, but the Coalition needed a 'home'. The Volunteers of America (VOA)was identified as a 'fit'and connections to funding for a full-time Homeless Coordinator were initiated. Through VOA and other partners providing ongoing case management, more positive landlord/tenant relationships are being created and mitigating evictions. Meetings with County Housing leadership and residents highlighted concerns about policies, procedures and systemic barriers. We're working closely with our City to develop a Strategic Housing Policy to recognize and prioritize housing as a long term investment in stability and development of our community.
The recruitment and agreement with CommonBond to join us in Rapid City as developer and provider of supportive housing helps to address a gap in our community and brings positive attention to successful affordable housing work. AND the creation of the OneHeart campus as transitional housing with wrap around services. Both CommonBond and OneHeart will provide a new level of supportive housing that has been missing from our city's landscape. We do have wonderful nonprofit service agencies who provide referrals and we have a small number full time case managed apartment units. With both CommonBond and OneHeart entering the mix, we will have new options for those in need of affordable housing and coordination of services at a variety of levels.
Key lessons learned
We have had to rebuild a level of trust with our local developers, property managers, city and county government to prove that our work isn't just another recognition of the problem. We need to continue to earn their confidence to partner with us to address the problem and do what is necessary to make change. We need to be patient and persistent, recognizing that moving this forward is slow work.
Due to COVID-19, our work to provide a 2020 housing summit in May has been shelved. We hope to put this together this fall, but that is also uncertain. If this does come together, it will need to be re-imagined.
This pandemic has redirected our housing work and has brought more attention to our need for temporary and transitional housing as well as additional, flexible resources to provide rental and utilities assistance.
This pandemic has redirected our housing work and has brought more attention to our need for temporary and transitional housing as well as additional, flexible resources to provide rental and utilities assistance.
Reflections on inclusive, collaborative or resourceful problem-solving
At the time of this report, the answer would be resourcefulness. Due to COVID-19, our focus has changed, we are working at the base of Maslow's Heirarchy - food, shelter and safety. We are hoping to acquire potential government resources while addressing the impact of a new segment of our population who are unemployed and learning to navigate the social services system for the first time. Keeping people housed is our top priority. job one. The pandemic response has required immediacy, expediting conversations, breaking down barriers and streamlining collaborative processes. The need for housing assistance dollars has helped us to expedite the creation of the Strategic Housing Trust Fund as a flexible housing resource. The centralization of housing and economic assistance partners (Volunteers of America, Catholic Social Services, Behavior Management Systems, Salvation Army, and others) through Pennington County Health and Human Services during the past few weeks provides the focus on each individual resident's needs for services and a consistent tracking mechanism. The coordination of resources as an urgent need will improve processes as we address housing.
Other key elements of Community Innovation
The trust that has been built over the past year has been critical, as well as constant and consistent communication. Although immediate priorities have shifted, all partners in the conversation - development, property management, economic assistance, resident focused education and services - and these relationships that have been strengthened are helping us to address housing needs, currently keeping people housed.
Understanding the problem
We began this work with a basic understanding of the need for housing in the $500-$900 month range.
Development of additional inventory that can be financially successful at this end of the market is expensive and requires many stack-able resources to address the gap between what people can afford to pay and what a project costs to break even. In addition to higher paying jobs, our city needs access to more funding to address these gaps in housing costs.
We had an idea of our numbers of 'working poor'. During these past few weeks, the number of residents who are living so close the their financial edge is undeniable as unemployment rises and calls for economic assistance escalate.
Development of additional inventory that can be financially successful at this end of the market is expensive and requires many stack-able resources to address the gap between what people can afford to pay and what a project costs to break even. In addition to higher paying jobs, our city needs access to more funding to address these gaps in housing costs.
We had an idea of our numbers of 'working poor'. During these past few weeks, the number of residents who are living so close the their financial edge is undeniable as unemployment rises and calls for economic assistance escalate.
If you could do it all over again...
Be patient and be flexible. Housing is a basic human need, but the solutions are far from basic. Addressing housing needs is a complex, multi-faceted body of work with many important actors.
One last thought
Sometimes a crisis can create the urgency needed to get things done.