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Policy update

By Stan Keasling, RCAC chief executive officer

Earlier this month in DC, the National Rural Housing Coalition Board and the National Rural Self-Help Housing Association met. Both organizations met with staff from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Rural Development and there were several areas of concern. First, much to the surprise of the technical and management assistance contractors, USDA Rural Development committed all but $2.5 million of the Section 523 Self-Help funds. This raises some concerns about the proposed funding levels in the House and Senate versions of the budget, and makes it critical that we achieve the Senate funding level of $25 million. Read more>>

Self-help build efficiency

By Nancy Jacobsen, RCAC rural development specialist – housing  

Self-help grantees all share a common goal: to help families build their own affordable and safe homes. In Colorado, the long, harsh winters with short days and brutal temperatures that reach below freezing for many months create challenges to reaching that goal. Despite these challenges, Upper Arkansas Area Council of Government’s Central Colorado Housing (CCH) keeps minimal build times and motivated families. Read more>>

Dear Sher,

I have been a Construction Superintendent for years but just recently got hired on as a Mutual Self-Help Housing Construction Supervisor. What advice do you have for me?

Sincerely,

New to Self-Help but not Construction Read more>> 

SHARES tidbits

By Nancy Jacobsen, RCAC rural development specialist – housing

The new SHARES program seems to be working well, but the level of phone calls is still high. As you report issues and problems with the program, I send them to Rural Development where they are investigated. When problems are reported, the Rural Development SHARES consultant rewrites script to correct the issues.

Read more>>

Noteworthy

Judy Monteux is BAAACK! Read more>>

Upcoming events

RCAC Rural Housing and Community Conference! Read more>>

RCAC’s Self-Help Builder News is funded by USDA Rural Development

The newsletter is published quarterly for the western region self-help network at no cost to subscribers. We encourage correspondence and contributions.

Stanley Keasling, Chief Executive Officer

Angela Sisco, Executive Editor
asisco@rcac.org

Angela Terry, Managing Editor
aterry@rcac.org

Editorial office, West Sacramento, CA (916) 447-2854