• They now allow for funding for new homes, existing homes with renovation, and existing homes without renovation.
• When rehabilitation is involved, Seminole is flexible in the amount. They do, however, ask that the workmanship be inspected and that it comes with a one-year warranty.
• Over a seven year span, Seminole County had a 121 foreclosures. Much of this was due to a plethora of lenders who were making poor loans. Subsequently, the County has restricted the number of lenders in the pool to twelve. They also made some changes with reference to underwriting. As a result, they've only had two foreclosures in the recent past.
• In the down payment process, the homebuyer goes through a program sponsored by HANDS. This includes a six-hour class and some one-on-one sessions. After this class, the homebuyer gets a certification. This certification does not necessarily entitle them to down payment assistance, but it does allow them to apply for it.
• The program is only for residents of Seminole County.
• Cheri indicated that they have $300,000 for down payment assistance for existing homes without rehab, $150,000 for new construction, and $167,000 for acquisition without renovation.
• Interested individuals should contact Cheri Wight at 407-831-8020.

Agenda Item 3 -- Bob from Accessible Alternatives

Staff from Accessible Alternatives was on-hand to talk about their program. Accessible Alternatives is a transitional living facility located in a large community apartment complex approximately 5 miles southwest of downtown Orlando. It is within easy rolling distance to grocery stores, banks, restaurants, a library and other community facilities.

All apartments are accessible and consist of a living room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, one with a roll-in shower. All Apartments have a small patio. The facility also consists of offices, an activity room, computer area, conference room and workout room. Laundry facilities are on-site, as is mail delivery and pickup.

Accessible Alternatives works with all funding sources to cover client program costs. These sources may include state agencies, workers compensation, insurance companies and private funds.

They also were on-hand to lead a group discussion about exploring the issues impacting accessible affordable housing.

• Accessible Alternatives is a transitional living facility operating out of Parkwood Apartments. The idea behind these apartments is to provide an independent living facility which teaches individuals who have had traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries to regain their independent living skills with their physical constraints that they now face.
• Bob indicated that one of the problems that they have is finding both affordable and accessible housing. Often times the accessible housing is newer and is not affordable. For their folks in Accessible Alternatives, often times after they come out of transitional living program, there is now place to go. They are forced to move back in with family or friends or in a more restrictive setting than they are capable of handling.
• There have been, in the past, tenant-based rental assistance programs. But these vouchers have been used up quite quickly.
• John Hazelroth mentioned that Quest and Orange County Housing Development Corporation are submitting a HUD Mainstream Voucher application. They will be asking for 75 vouchers for persons with disabilities. Gail Plowden, from the Orlando Housing Authority, is also submitting a similar application. Should one or the other be funded, this will provide badly needed vouchers for persons with disabilities.
• Scott Zimmerman indicated that he has accessible units in his apartment complexes, but he has a hard time attracting individuals with disabilities to these accessible units. He indicated that many of the new projects being built today are tax credit projects. They typically set aside a certain percentage of units for people with disabilities. In addition, all first-floor units are typically adaptable and have the minimum accessibility features. These units will not have fully accessible kitchens or baths, but can be made fully accessible if needed. In addition, Scott mentioned that all tax credit properties must accept Section 8 vouchers.
• In the case of Scott's properties, they ensure availability by having a flexible lease. Tenants moving into fully accessible units sign a lease that indicates if a person with a disability needs this unit, that they would be willing to relocate to another unit within the complex.
• A lengthy discussion took place with reference to making more units affordable and accessible. The following are some ideas that were put forth;
• Utilize the Section 811 program to either build complexes or to buy and renovate condominiums for persons with disabilities.
  • Use a quad-plex design. In this case, you would have one mortgage and four individuals. It would resemble co-op housing in that each individual would own a share of the entire complex. You would be to get a construction and permanent mortgage using the income of all four individuals. If the individuals moved out, they could sell their respective share. The units would be individually occupied and would have separate entrances and exits.
  • Continue to apply for special needs voucher programs, such as the Mainstream program.
  • Access other funding programs that are available. Lisa, from the County, was on-hand and she indicated that there is going to be an $800,000 HOME funding cycle coming up at Orange County. These funds are to be used for multi-family projects for either new construction or renovation. One of the targeted populations are people with special needs. This money could be used for renovations or for existing landlords wanting to make accessibility improvements to their units. The deadline for this application is August 15th.
• It was decided after the meeting that the Roundtable would convene a Special Needs Task Force to discuss these issues in more detail. The task force would meet only 1-3 times and would discuss the issues and present some general findings and recommendations to the Board. From there, these recommendations and findings could be presented to to respective county governments for consideration of funding. After the meeting, several individuals volunteered to sit on this advisory committee.

Agenda Item 4 -- Homebuyer Counseling Collaborative Update

• Gloria was on-hand to talk about what was happening with the Counseling Collaborative. She indicated that the recent Homebuyer Fair was well attended and everyone seemed to be encouraged by the results. The Collaborative will sponsor and coordinate another fair next year.
• She will now be turning her attention or establishing a core curriculum for the homebuyer counseling process.
• John Hazelroth indicated that the Executive Board and Gloria have decided that it would be advantageous for the Counseling Collaborative to establish its own 501(c)(3) tax exemption and Articles of Incorporation. This will allow the Homebuyer Counseling Collaborative more flexibility in terms of fund raising; it will allow them to have a Board of Directors which is more appropriate for their area of expertise; and will allow them to setup an organization which is more geared toward actual implementation, as opposed to the Roundtable which is more informational.

Agenda Item 5 -- Miscellaneous Business

• There were no comments from the County nor from HUD. With respect to the City of Orlando, Jacqueline indicated that the five year Consolidated Plan will be going to the Housing Advisory Board on July 18. After approval, the City Council will approve on July 24th. She encouraged anyone with comments on this Consolidated Plan to issue these prior to the July 18th Board date.

This concludes the end of the minutes. The next meeting will be held Wednesday, July 26th, 2000, at 8:30 am, at Orlando City Hall.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta has been a key player in affordable housing within the State of Florida for the past several years. During this period, the FHLB has invested millions of dollars in affordable housing and economic development. Ms. Moore will be on-hand to discuss the programs that the FHLB has to offer. The Affordable Housing Program (AHP) is one program which Ms. Moore will spend some time discussing. This program offers direct subsidies and the next funding round will occur in September. Although you may attend FHLB workshops, we encourage your attendance to ask specific questions of Ms. Moore.