THE BUZZ >>NEWS
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE • MARCH 2008
Boston Sees Increase
in Homeless Families
FOR THE THIRD YEAR in a row, the
number of unaccompanied adult homeless
individuals is down while family
numbers have increased in Boston.
The number of homeless families
in the city rose by 17 percent, according
to preliminary results from the 28th
annual city homeless census that took
place Dec. 18, 2007. The number of
homeless children increased more than
21 percent.
The good news is that the number of
adults on the street dropped by 4.6 percent.
In all, the total number of all homeless
men, women, and children was
6,901, an increase of nearly 4 percent.
“We saw a major decrease in the
number of homeless people living on the
streets this winter, combined with fewer
adults in emergency shelter for the third
consecutive year,” said Mayor Thomas
Menino. “The reason for that trend is
that more of these individuals are in
permanent housing.”
Home Depot Teams with Nonprofits
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS may be eligible
to receive weekly donations of building
supplies and other products from
Home Depot stores across the country,
thanks to a new donation program
through Gifts in Kind International, a
national nonprofit organization that distributes
corporate product donations to
nonprofits around the world.
Products provided through the program
may include building supplies,
plumbing products, and assorted household
and cleaning items.
Participating charities are partnered
with a local store for one year and are
required to pick up donated products from
the store each week.
There are several criteria that a nonprofit
must meet before it can participate
in the program, including being vetted by
Gifts in Kind International. For further
details about the program guidelines/
criteria and how to participate, visit
www.giftsinkind.org/HomeDepot. What Does a
LIHTC Property
Contribute?LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT
(LIHTC) properties contribute more
than four walls and a roof, according to a
new National Association of Home
Builders (NAHB) study.
NAHB economists have prepared a
model that quantifies the substantial economic
benefits of tax credit developments.
The results are important because
they may help developers to build support
for their affordable housing projects.
The recent report updates the analysis
of a “typical” tax credit project of 100
units. It is based on data from 21 LIHTC
properties.
The model captures the effect of the
construction activity (phase I) as well as
the ripple impact that occurs when
income earned from construction activity
is spent (phase II), and the ongoing
impact that results from the new apartments
becoming occupied by residents
who pay taxes and otherwise participate
in the local economy year after year
(phase III), reported NAHB.
The estimated one-year local
impacts of the construction activity of
phase I and the ripple effect of phase II
include $7.3 million in local income,
$783,000 in taxes and other revenue for
local governments, and 151 local jobs.
NAHB said the additional annually
recurring impacts include $2.2 million in
local income, $372,000 in taxes and
other revenue for local governments, and
38 local jobs.
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