By Bruce Newman, RCAC regional manager, rural housing and health
Members of the RCAP network are familiar with the services that Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) provides in the areas of drinking water, wastewater and solid waste, but may not be aware of its programs to support the creation and preservation of affordable housing in rural communities. RCAC’s involvement in affordable housing goes back to the very beginnings of the organization.

In 1978, several staff members of Self Help Enterprises, the nation’s leading producer of housing through U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development’s Mutual Self-Help Housing Program, created a new entity, Rural Community Assistance Corporation. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, RCAC embraced the mission of helping community-based organizations and governments in rural areas implement housing and community development programs. Almost 29 years later, RCAC continues that tradition with a wide array of housing programs.

Self-Help Housing

RCAC traces its roots to the Mutual Self-Help Housing program. Through the Self-Help Housing Program, families work together in groups, building their homes and the homes of their new neighbors. Sponsoring organizations, called "grantees," help the families qualify for loans, secure building lots, and train in the skills they need to complete their homes. RCAC provides technical assistance to the grantees in all aspects of the program, including funding applications, loan packaging, site development, house plans and the like.

RCAC also works with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through its technical assistance programs. HUD’s emphasis is to help recipients of HUD funds administer them properly and use them effectively to increase the nation’s supply of decent, safe and affordable housing.

This technical assistance can take the form of sponsoring large conferences, one-on-one
training to ensure the success of a specific project, scattered-site workshops, and board training. HUD recently designated RCAC as a Housing Counseling Intermediary. As a result of this designation, RCAC is able to apply for and pass HUD funds to subgrantee organizations to support housing counseling activities. These programs often include homebuyer pre- and post-purchase counseling, credit repair, foreclosure prevention and home maintenance.

Farmworker Housing

Lack of adequate housing and heath care is a concern for everyone, but it’s especially acute for agricultural workers. RCAC acts as conduit for the U.S. Department of Labor Farmworker Housing Program and provides direct services and subgrants to providers of farmworker housing in Washington, Oregon and California.

Agricultural Worker Health and Housing

Eight years ago, RCAC established its Agricultural Worker Health and Housing Program with funding from the California Endowment. This program, which operates only in California, takes a holistic approach to farmworker well-being by linking housing and health services. Loans and grants are awarded to organizations that provide these basic services, as well as to fund innovative programs such as the "Promotoras de Salud," which trains leaders within the farmworker community to help others access the care and services they need to stay healthy.

Direct Contract Services

When funds for technical assistance are not available from other sources, RCAC will contract directly with a nonprofit, housing authority, or tribe to provide those services. One such exciting project involved contracting with the Tanacross Village Council to help them build 20 single family rent-to-own homes in their rural Alaskan native village. RCAC’s assistance included funding applications for the new homes and for water and sewer upgrades, assembling and working closely with the development team, providing financing through RCAC’s Loan Fund, and guiding the project to successful completion.

Manufactured Home Park Cooperatives

RCAC is always looking for ways to meet the needs of rural communities. It recently launched a pilot program, in partnership with the MSC Fund of the Cooperative Development Foundation, aimed at helping residents of senior rural mobile home parks form cooperatives to purchase their parks. Mobile home park residents frequently face eviction as park owners are tempted to sell to developers. In most cases, the homes cannot be relocated, and residents have few if any affordable options. The Ford Foundation is partnering in this initiative by providing lending capital for residents to purchase mobile home parks.

Many factors have an impact on the health of rural communities, from creating new economic opportunities and ensuring safe drinking water to training the future leaders of rural America. RCAC is committed to improving the quality of life in our rural communities—a quality of life that begins at home.

This article originally appeared in Rural Matters, a publication of Rural Community Assistance Partnership, www.rcap.org. It is reprinted here with their permission.