West Sacramento, Calif. — The Utah Commission on Housing Affordability appointed Rural Community Assistance Corporation’s (RCAC) Michele C. Weaver as its rural representative. The commission is in place for five years and began convening this month.
The commission stems from the 2017 Utah Workforce Services Housing and Community Development Department affordable housing assessment, which found a 40,000 unit affordable housing shortage in the state. Existing housing in Utah, the fastest growing state in the nation, is unaffordable for many. During the past year the state added 162,300 households but only 111,455 housing units, all amid increasing housing prices and interest rates.
In response, the Utah State Legislature created the Commission on Housing Affordability whereby members will consider and recommend options to increase affordable and sustainable housing. As a commission representative, Ms. Weaver, a rural development specialist at RCAC, will also be eligible to testify to support legislation. Utah lawmakers also assigned $6.6 million from the budget to fund homeless shelters and diverted sales tax revenue from cities without homeless shelters to pay for costs in cities that provide shelters.
“I’m excited to join the commission,” said Ms. Weaver. “It will be great opportunity to find progressive solutions and resources for rural Utah.”
“We are pleased that Ms. Weaver has accepted the appointment and confident that Utah’s rural community will be well represented,” said Stanley Keasling, RCAC Chief Executive Officer.
Ms. Weaver joined RCAC in 2015. As a rural development specialist for housing, she provides technical assistance to self-help housing agencies, tribal organizations and government housing authorities. Before joining RCAC, she worked in the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) department for a large community bank. She also is Board Secretary for both the Utah Housing Coalition and the Utah Native American Housing Corporation. Ms. Weaver is a loan committee member for NeighborWorks of Salt Lake and a coordinating committee member of Family Self Sufficiency, a HUD program.
Founded in 1978, RCAC provides training, technical and financial resources and advocacy so rural communities can achieve their goals and visions. RCAC serves rural communities in 13 western states and the Pacific islands. RCAC provides a broad range of community and economic development services and lending to support local efforts. To find out more about RCAC visit www.rcac.org
Contact: Julia Helmreich
Director, Communications, Development & Events
(916) 447-9832 ext. 1008
jhelmreich@rcac.org
