Affordable Housing Takes Center Stage at Statewide Conference in Norfolk
-Secretary Schewel updates housing advocates on policies and initiatives to increase affordable housing in Virginia-
NORFOLK, Va. (Nov. 13, 2003) – Today, Secretary of Commerce and Trade Michael J. Schewel spoke to more than 700 participants of the 2003 Governor’s Housing Conference in Norfolk, Virginia. Secretary Schewel, who was Honorary Conference Chairman, provided the audience with an update on initiatives and policies the Warner administration has undertaken to increase affordable housing in Virginia.
“Creating safe and affordable housing opportunities for citizens throughout Virginia is an important priority for our administration,” said Secretary Schewel. “We have been proud to join you as we strive to make housing more affordable in Virginia and we are committed to being your partner for future statewide housing initiatives,” said Secretary Schewel.
Secretary Schewel made his comments during Thursday’s Virginia Housing Awards luncheon. The secretary highlighted actions taken by the administration to increase affordable housing including:
- Maximized financial resources for housing priorities by allocating $97 million from the Governor's discretionary portion of the state's bond authority
- Utilized a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the state's Housing Partnership Fund to create the Commonwealth Priority Housing Fund to support the creation of various affordable housing developments, many geared to very low-income and special needs citizens
- Pushed for the elimination of the VHDA unrelated borrower's restriction, which was preventing unrelated Virginians from accessing homebuyer assistance programs
- Created the Fair Housing Board to expand awareness of and compliance with Virginia's Fair Housing ActCreated the Olmstead Task Force, a portion of which will focus on creating housing opportunities for people with disabilities
Created the Urban Policy Task Force, a group comprised of state and local government leaders who are working to develop an action plan for revitalizing Virginia's core urban areas.
During his speech, Secretary Schewel also introduced the Virginia Policy Academy on Homelessness and the Housing Virginia campaign, two initiatives that are firsts of their kind in Virginia.
“Virginia’s participation at the National Policy Academy on Chronic Homelessness represents the state’s most collaborative effort to date to combat homelessness in Virginia,” said Bill Shelton, Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development. “Executives from organizations serving the state’s homeless populations have established a vision and priorities to end homelessness in Virginia and are developing an action plan to address those priorities.”
“The introduction of the Housing Virginia campaign marks the state’s first private/public partnership to educate the public about the needs and benefits of affordable communities,” explained Susan Dewey, executive director, Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA). “We are proud today to unveil the Housing Virginia logo and tagline – Building Blocks of Opportunity,” said Dewey.
“The Housing Virginia board, which includes members from VHDA, DHCD, Virginia Association of Realtors, Fannie Mae, homebuilders, nonprofits, and others, is developing educational materials and strategies to implement the awareness campaign within our communities,” added Dewey.
The Governor’s Housing Conference is Virginia’s largest and most comprehensive annual affordable housing event. The Conference is organized by state and federal organizations including the Department of Housing and Community Development, Virginia Housing Development Authority, Virginia Housing Study Commission, U.S. Department of Agriculture – Rural Development, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Richmond Field Office. For more information go to www.dhcd.virginia.gov or call (804) 371-7000.
