MPC assistance leads to new employer-assisted housing programs around the country.
The Metropolitan Planning Council’s
employer-assisted housing (EAH) program has been cited repeatedly as a national
model, and the
Illinois
tax credits have inspired
introduction of a federal EAH incentive. Seeing the opportunity to demonstrate
the potential of engaged employers to support innovative housing policy, MPC has
been offering technical assistance outside
Illinois
.
MPC provided assistance that led to the
creation of REACH-Mississippi, a new EAH program for businesses in
three coastal counties that were
hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina. REACH-Mississippi was awarded $40 million in
recovery dollars to provide matching funds for homebuyers. Northrop Grumman
launched one of the first EAH programs with hundreds of employees applying for
housing assistance in the first two months of the program’s launch.
In
Nevada
, MPC advised the 60,000-member Culinary Union on
developing an EAH initiative in partnership with
Las Vegas
gaming employers, including Harrah’s
Entertainment, Golden Nugget, MGM Mirage, and others. MPC provided testimony in
support of state legislation that authorized $1 million to match the employers’
investment in down payment loans for first-time homebuyers, homebuyer education
and counseling, and foreclosure prevention workshops.
Other places MPC has provided technical
assistance include
Wisconsin
,
Maryland
,
Pennsylvania
,
and
Massachusetts
. This fall,
Johns
Hopkins
University
, in
Baltimore
, rolled out its
revamped EAH program, with increased assistance offered for buyers purchasing in
neighborhoods that need reinvestment.
In the Chicago region and around the
country, EAH continues to serve as a useful tool to engage business and other
leaders in supporting housing solutions, around promoting reinvestment,
overcoming affordability gaps, preventing foreclosure, and stabilizing
neighborhoods.
More
information about successful EAH models is available at
www.reachillinois.org
, including
contact information
for
EAH consultants working throughout Illinois and nationwide.