(DES MOINES) – The Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors Wednesday (today), announced the award of a total of more than $7 million in grants to 27 Local Housing Trust Funds to support local housing initiatives. The grant awards are made available through the Local Housing Trust Fund program and are expected to assist more than 2,100 families. Iowa Finance Authority Executive Director Debi Durham says “The Local Housing Trust Fund program is a highly successful funding mechanism that serves all 99 counties,  ensures local leaders can make critical housing projects a reality and leverages millions in other contributions. Thousands of Iowa families will soon have access to a home in which they can prosper as a result of the outstanding work of Iowa’s 27 Local Housing Trust Funds.”

In the immediate KJAN listening area, the following Trust Funds were awarded grants from the Iowa Finance Authority:

• Council of Governments (Serving Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Greene, Guthrie & Sac Counties: $235,872 grant.
• Pottawattmie County Housing Trust Fund (Serving Pottawattamie County): $212,132 grant.
• Southern Iowa Council of Governments (SICOG) (Serving Adair, Adams, Clarke, Decatur, Madison, Ringgold, Taylor & Union Counties): $229,482 grant.
• Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund, Inc. (Serving Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page and Shelby Counties): $253,756 grant.

The grant funds will be used for initiatives such as preserving aging housing stock, subsidizing local rental and down payment assistance programs, providing low-interest loans or grants to assist Iowans with home rehabilitation, financing construction of new single-family housing for low-income Iowans and supporting housing for persons with disabilities and homeless assistance programs.

The State Housing Trust Fund was created by the Iowa Legislature in 2003. The awards announced today will leverage an additional $2.6 million in other financing or $.38 for every dollar of Local Housing Trust Fund program funding. Since its inception, the program has provided $84 million in affordable housing assistance to benefit nearly 29,000 Iowa families. The State Housing Trust Fund helps ensure decent, safe and affordable housing for Iowans through two programs. The Local Housing Trust Fund Program receives at least 60 percent of the State Housing Trust Fund allocation to provide grants for organizations certified by the Iowa Finance Authority as a Local Housing Trust Fund.

The remaining funding goes to the Project-Based Housing Program, which aids in the development of affordable single-family and multifamily housing. The Iowa Finance Authority administers both programs and provides technical assistance to housing-related organizations.