WEBVTT 00:00:00.866 --> 00:00:10.602 - Good afternoon, everyone. Wow, that is loud. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to our weekly celebration 00:00:10.602 --> 00:00:20.159 - of service for Rotary. My name is Tracy Yovanovich, and I'm pleased to serve as your president and honored 00:00:20.159 --> 00:00:29.448 - as well. Please silence your electronic devices. And I think for our where in the world, if this works, 00:00:29.448 --> 00:00:30.430 - let's see. 00:00:31.458 --> 00:00:37.229 - There we go. OK, so as you all know, I'm sharing Rotary Clubs around the world. And this one was particularly 00:00:37.229 --> 00:00:42.476 - interesting to me. I do a game every day to keep my mind fresh called Worldle, not wordle, worldle. 00:00:42.476 --> 00:00:47.827 - And you have to figure out what the country is. And it's it's actually kind of hard, but it helps you 00:00:47.827 --> 00:00:53.283 - learn more about country. And Kiributi is one that just makes me crazy because it's one of these little 00:00:53.283 --> 00:00:58.110 - islands. And trying to find that on Google Maps is virtually impossible. So when I saw this 00:00:58.434 --> 00:01:06.403 - They had Rotary. I was like, well, I'm going to share with everyone this one. It is part of District 00:01:06.403 --> 00:01:14.373 - 9920, which is a district larger than the entire geographic United States in size, right? Because it 00:01:14.373 --> 00:01:22.263 - stretches so far across the Pacific Ocean. But it's very sparsely populated. So there's 53 clubs in 00:01:22.263 --> 00:01:27.550 - the area. And Kiribiti was founded in 2019. And it has 10 members. 00:01:28.354 --> 00:01:35.836 - Now, small but mighty, because if you look, and I put it in bold, they have done about a $2 million 00:01:35.836 --> 00:01:43.916 - worth of work working on immunizing children on the 21 inhabited islands. I feel like we're going backwards 00:01:43.916 --> 00:01:51.398 - here, I'm just going to say, in the U.S., but that's okay. And the Gilbert Islands is part of every 00:01:51.398 --> 00:01:52.894 - child has a future. 00:01:53.026 --> 00:01:59.335 - Even though they're 10 members, they work closely and really get a lot accomplished. So I thought that 00:01:59.335 --> 00:02:05.584 - was absolutely fascinating. So if you're ever in Kiributi, please take a flag and make sure you go to 00:02:05.584 --> 00:02:11.893 - one of their meetings. And on that, we were going to do a reflection and Judy and I were communicating 00:02:11.893 --> 00:02:18.141 - over email. And I think we're going to just, I'm gonna just do a quick update given the topic that we 00:02:18.141 --> 00:02:19.550 - have today on housing. 00:02:19.650 --> 00:02:25.627 - I was sharing with Wendy that there's a book I read called Abundance. Ezra Klein and Derek Thomas wrote 00:02:25.627 --> 00:02:31.604 - it. It's a fascinating book. I highly recommend it. It talks about how you can grow the economy through 00:02:31.604 --> 00:02:37.352 - reducing bureaucratic tape, shall we say. And that's just one small message of it. That's the one I 00:02:37.352 --> 00:02:43.157 - want to focus on. And the reason I want to focus on that, when I was in Denver about a month ago, we 00:02:43.157 --> 00:02:47.582 - took Luca for his internship. And I lived in Denver back in 87, and they had 00:02:47.938 --> 00:02:55.625 - traffic issues galore, the downtown was looking a little shoddy. Fast forward to a month ago, they've 00:02:55.625 --> 00:03:03.613 - got train systems in place on multiple train systems in place. They've got ADUs, the alternative dwelling 00:03:03.613 --> 00:03:11.451 - units in place on multiple locations. They're gentrifying the neighborhoods. It's unbelievable. I could 00:03:11.451 --> 00:03:12.958 - not believe it. And 00:03:13.570 --> 00:03:20.377 - Somehow they have managed to figure out how to cut through the bureaucratic red tape. And I share that 00:03:20.377 --> 00:03:27.118 - because as progressive as we think we are here in Bloomington, we have a lot of no's. We say a lot of 00:03:27.118 --> 00:03:33.859 - no's and we weaponize zoning and we go to the meetings and we weaponize zoning some more. And we want 00:03:33.859 --> 00:03:40.798 - change. We all say we want to see affordable housing. We want to see people in houses, but we don't want 00:03:40.898 --> 00:03:47.337 - change and I'm sorry but you got to have change in order to do that. So I encourage us all there's a 00:03:47.337 --> 00:03:53.903 - couple locations specifically one on Sayre and College Mall Road you guys all know where doctors drive 00:03:53.903 --> 00:04:00.277 - they think they used to call it back in the day there's a house there that they've added an ADU and 00:04:00.277 --> 00:04:06.206 - it looks beautiful it looks just fine. Then there's another one that I just saw in the works 00:04:06.306 --> 00:04:12.490 - I almost drove off the road on High Street and Woodstock, literally on the corner. They're putting a 00:04:12.490 --> 00:04:18.857 - house in there, just a small little house. And so it can be done. I'm sure they had to go through quite 00:04:18.857 --> 00:04:24.980 - a bit of red tape. But I also hear us all talking about, I can't stand the apartments out in Kmart. 00:04:24.980 --> 00:04:30.552 - I can't stand the apartments. But guess what? It looks better than the Kmart building did. 00:04:30.552 --> 00:04:36.062 - The infrastructure, the infrastructure is a problem. There are things to come through it. 00:04:36.578 --> 00:04:43.222 - But I share this because we need to be open-minded. And we like Bloomington the way it is. That's one 00:04:43.222 --> 00:04:49.802 - of the reasons we all come back. But change is inevitable. And if we want people to be housed, we've 00:04:49.802 --> 00:04:56.511 - got to open our minds. So with that, I will turn it over to Mr. Change, Winston Schindel, to introduce 00:04:56.511 --> 00:05:00.094 - our guests. Where are you, Daddy? Come on up. He left. 00:05:11.074 --> 00:05:21.675 - Well, it's my pleasure to introduce our guests today and to welcome all of them to a club that really 00:05:21.675 --> 00:05:32.068 - believes service above self. So, if when I call your name, if you would raise your hand or stand up 00:05:32.068 --> 00:05:40.798 - and let us recognize you. Stacy Marotta, guest of Liz Erwin. Steve Bishop, guest of 00:05:40.930 --> 00:05:55.641 - Liz Erwin. Becky Non, guest of Brad Meyer. Do you? Well, listen, I got to tell you about this one. I 00:05:55.641 --> 00:06:10.206 - went to this guest and I said, I'm sorry, can you help me with your last name? I got the first one. 00:06:10.754 --> 00:06:22.288 - And she said, I don't think you could pronounce it. And I said, OK, is it all right if I just call you 00:06:22.288 --> 00:06:33.487 - by your first name? And she said, yes. So let me introduce Vuja. Rita Cruz, guest of Tyler Nichols. 00:06:33.487 --> 00:06:40.318 - And of course, Tony Huang, guest of Jim Bright. Welcome all. 00:06:40.642 --> 00:06:50.251 - Do we have anyone online as a guest? Winston, we are all Rotarians online today. OK, thank you very 00:06:50.251 --> 00:07:00.341 - much. Booya, don't worry. It took him two years of my marriage for him to learn to pronounce Yvonnevich, 00:07:00.341 --> 00:07:10.334 - so. Yeah, much less spell it. That's right. All right. There we go. So for birthdays and anniversaries, 00:07:10.626 --> 00:07:16.818 - Tyler Nichols and Scott Walters had birthdays on Sunday, the 26th. Amy Kendall, I know you're in here, 00:07:16.818 --> 00:07:23.009 - you have birthday coming up on Friday. And I have a birthday on Saturday, one year to Medicare, that's 00:07:23.009 --> 00:07:29.381 - all I'm saying. For anniversaries, it's a big deal, let me tell you. Yeah, but I still have a 20-year-old 00:07:29.381 --> 00:07:35.573 - who's gonna be taking Obamacare for a little bit longer, so we weren't thinking about healthcare, I'll 00:07:35.573 --> 00:07:40.382 - just say. Anniversaries, Mr. Baker, who is back. Stand up, Mike, where are you? 00:07:44.034 --> 00:07:50.465 - 24 years. Connie Chicalis, six years. And where's Connie? And Patrick Smith, seven years. Patrick? All 00:07:50.465 --> 00:07:56.834 - our anniversary guys are here. That's awesome. All right. And so for announcements, Hoosier Hills, we 00:07:56.834 --> 00:08:03.140 - still have 11 slots. I know it's on a weekday, but we need to get those 11 slots. I think everyone's 00:08:03.140 --> 00:08:09.571 - aware of the hardship and the funding cuts that Hoosier Hills has gone through, so we need to help and 00:08:09.571 --> 00:08:13.630 - step up. Please, please, please, Michelle's got a sign up sheet. 00:08:13.730 --> 00:08:20.797 - I think it's the 10 to 12 shift, the 12 to 2 shift that needs help. So if you could help us out, that 00:08:20.797 --> 00:08:27.795 - would be fabulous. We also have this Friday, my sister's closet is doing a ribbon cutting out at the 00:08:27.795 --> 00:08:34.862 - college mall location. It's right across from Blondie's Cookies, and that is from 11 to 1. The ribbon 00:08:34.862 --> 00:08:41.860 - cutting itself will be at 1130, and so we'd love to have as many rotarians there as we possibly can. 00:08:41.860 --> 00:08:43.038 - And then lastly, 00:08:43.586 --> 00:08:50.643 - Please sign up for Q3. We still have a couple for August 11th. And then lastly, please send prayers. 00:08:50.643 --> 00:08:57.630 - Natalie is in town. Her father's health is declining. So I know she'd appreciate your good thoughts 00:08:57.630 --> 00:09:04.617 - and warm prayers. All right. And on that, I believe we have happy dollars. Mr. Mike, where are you? 00:09:04.617 --> 00:09:09.438 - Do we have any happy people in the audience? Lynn's very happy here. 00:09:13.666 --> 00:09:27.657 - Are you getting to my person? All right. Oh my God. I am very happy. I recently returned from a stunning 00:09:27.657 --> 00:09:40.981 - trip to the country of Croatia where my partner Peter is a 100% Croatian and it was his first visit 00:09:40.981 --> 00:09:43.646 - and we were both in 00:09:43.842 --> 00:09:59.915 - I am exceedingly happy after months and months and months the very last part of our project which needed 00:09:59.915 --> 00:10:03.742 - an engineer for HVAC and 00:10:03.874 --> 00:10:16.936 - Electrical has been hired and not only was he hired, he reduced his fee to us by ridiculous amount when 00:10:16.936 --> 00:10:30.124 - he heard about our project. So I am so happy and so grateful. Anybody online? All right. Any other happy 00:10:30.124 --> 00:10:32.510 - dollars out there? 00:10:37.698 --> 00:10:48.166 - I might as well be more happy. The Chicago Cubs have the fifth best record in Major League Baseball. 00:10:48.166 --> 00:10:58.635 - But they're second in the National League Central, but we are very hopeful, as any Cub fan would be. 00:10:58.635 --> 00:11:02.366 - I just stole one of Lynn's dollars. 00:11:02.882 --> 00:11:10.560 - to tell you that there's a really good play going on at Eclipse Productions. Gani did a great job talking 00:11:10.560 --> 00:11:18.021 - about it, Doubt. It's a very thoughty play, and I encourage you to go. You can get a ticket. There you 00:11:18.021 --> 00:11:25.555 - go. And I owe you. All right. Thank you, everyone. And those dollars. Oh, we have Dave Meyer. And these 00:11:25.555 --> 00:11:30.046 - dollars go to Teacher's Warehouse, by the way. Well, I have a 00:11:30.402 --> 00:11:40.414 - funny thing to be happy about, but I'm happy that Cindy and I are out of Assembly Hall because on Saturday we spent 00:11:40.578 --> 00:11:50.796 - from 1 p.m. until 11 p.m., no, midnight, helping as extras in the filming of the Little Five movie that's 00:11:50.796 --> 00:12:00.147 - being done. And so we saw the sausage being made of filming a Hollywood movie. And I hope every, 00:12:00.147 --> 00:12:10.462 - oh yeah, we were, we made a news clip in Indianapolis Local News where I was sitting there reading my book 00:12:10.658 --> 00:12:18.275 - And he was looking ahead. There was a lot of downtime in there. But anyway, it was a really fun experience, 00:12:18.275 --> 00:12:25.822 - and I'm sure the movie will be great. It's targeted to come out in, I think, a year, this fall after next. 00:12:28.130 --> 00:12:34.086 - That's awesome. Well, thank you for sharing, and hopefully everybody has seen the crews around setting 00:12:34.086 --> 00:12:39.463 - up town. It's exciting to be a part of a community that has so much rich history and so much 00:12:39.463 --> 00:12:45.534 - rich possibilities. On that, I think, Mike Wade, if you would come up and introduce our speaker, please. 00:12:57.826 --> 00:13:05.855 - Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to introduce Wendy Goodlett, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity, 00:13:05.855 --> 00:13:13.575 - Monroe County. Wendy began her association with Habitat for Humanity in 2007 as a volunteer. My own 00:13:13.575 --> 00:13:21.372 - son Travis volunteered, and when I asked him this week what did he get as a volunteer in high school 00:13:21.372 --> 00:13:26.622 - with Habitat for Humanity, he said he learned an incredible amount. 00:13:27.266 --> 00:13:34.453 - about carpentry, caulking, blow-in insulation, bathroom tile, and many more skills that he applied in 00:13:34.453 --> 00:13:41.711 - finishing the house that he currently lives in. That's one of the unsung benefits of being a volunteer 00:13:41.711 --> 00:13:48.334 - for Habitat for Humanity, the skills that you learn. Wendy has two daughters, which have just 00:13:48.334 --> 00:13:51.646 - left Bloomington for Chicago to begin careers. 00:13:52.578 --> 00:14:00.995 - And she not only participates in Habitat for Humanity, but also provides Habitat for Humanity's best 00:14:00.995 --> 00:14:09.579 - friends to new dogs. Without further ado, here's Wendy Goodlett. Well, thank you so much for that warm 00:14:09.579 --> 00:14:16.830 - introduction. And thank you all for having me here today. This is a great opportunity. 00:14:17.026 --> 00:14:25.138 - Tracy, your remarks could not have hit the nail on the head, as we say in construction, better than 00:14:25.138 --> 00:14:33.493 - they were. And the timing couldn't be better. Normally, I would never be brave enough to stand up here 00:14:33.493 --> 00:14:41.849 - and talk about legislation, let alone federal legislation. But we have some exciting things to discuss 00:14:41.849 --> 00:14:46.878 - and what I'm calling unicorn legislation. It's pretty unique. 00:14:46.978 --> 00:14:55.319 - Even materialized and it did become law earlier this month. Alright, so we're going to talk a little 00:14:55.319 --> 00:15:03.743 - bit about habitat in particular our relation with this legislation. We do focus on homeownership. The 00:15:03.743 --> 00:15:12.167 - legislation covered a range of housing options and we certainly support that, but I'm going to really 00:15:12.167 --> 00:15:15.966 - focus on the homeownership piece of it today. 00:15:16.450 --> 00:15:24.720 - So I'm going to give you a little context about Habitat's work. And one of the things that you may not 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:33.071 - know is that we spend a lot of time and effort on advocacy at the local level, state level, the federal 00:15:33.071 --> 00:15:41.662 - level. We have a huge team of federal employees that work on advocacy and also the international level. So 00:15:42.242 --> 00:15:49.565 - The reason we focus on homeownership is that it remains one of the most important pathways to economic 00:15:49.565 --> 00:15:56.818 - stability, wealth building, and community participation. It's getting harder to achieve homeownership 00:15:56.818 --> 00:16:04.212 - and sustain it. Starter homes are in record short supply. Competition for those homes drives up prices, 00:16:04.212 --> 00:16:09.118 - leaving low to moderate income households unable to purchase a home. 00:16:09.986 --> 00:16:16.845 - There's also restricted access to mortgage capital. My banking friend in the room may not want to hear 00:16:16.845 --> 00:16:23.638 - that, but there's also just really stringent lending requirements, challenges with down payment. Part 00:16:23.638 --> 00:16:30.298 - of that is generational wealth, the lack of generational wealth among low income homeowners to help 00:16:30.298 --> 00:16:36.158 - with that first down payment and limited availability of affordable financing products. 00:16:36.962 --> 00:16:45.659 - Existing homeowners are also in a challenging situation. They're facing increasing pressure from rising 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:54.273 - insurance premiums. My insurance agent in the room is probably not happy to hear me say that. Combined 00:16:54.273 --> 00:17:03.138 - challenges demonstrate that affordability concerns extend beyond purchasing a home and include sustaining 00:17:03.138 --> 00:17:04.894 - ownership over time. 00:17:05.730 --> 00:17:15.730 - The urgency of these challenges underscores the need for policy actions that ensure homeownership remains 00:17:15.730 --> 00:17:25.448 - achievable and sustainable for families across diverse communities. All right, so Habitat for Humanity 00:17:25.448 --> 00:17:33.278 - plays a significant role, as I said, in advancing affordable homeownership through 00:17:47.970 --> 00:17:56.619 - and developing and revitalizing neighborhoods. And we are doing that right here in Monroe County. We 00:17:56.619 --> 00:18:05.439 - are building out our third habitat neighborhood in Monroe County. And I hope that we get to do another 00:18:05.439 --> 00:18:14.687 - in the near future. So this workplaces our organization in a unique position to observe. Did I do anything? 00:18:14.687 --> 00:18:17.598 - Okay. Are we good on audio? Okay. 00:18:17.794 --> 00:18:24.329 - All right. So we're in a unique position to observe the practical challenges that families encounter 00:18:24.329 --> 00:18:31.188 - while pursuing safe and affordable housing. In Monroe County, Habitat's experience extends beyond housing 00:18:31.188 --> 00:18:37.852 - production. It includes helping families understand the responsibilities of a mortgage. For any of you 00:18:37.852 --> 00:18:43.934 - who have signed a mortgage before, you know those documents can be a little bit overwhelming. 00:18:44.546 --> 00:18:50.422 - We teach money management classes to homeowners. We have a six-month money management program to help 00:18:50.422 --> 00:18:56.413 - ensure their long-term success. And we strengthen our community through the partnerships that we build, 00:18:56.413 --> 00:19:02.634 - the education that we provide to the community, and the volunteer engagement of people coming out, building 00:19:02.634 --> 00:19:08.798 - with us, raising funds for us, participating in Women Build. I've seen a couple of women builders in here. 00:19:10.338 --> 00:19:17.154 - So because affiliates work directly with households, local governments, lenders, and community stakeholders, 00:19:17.154 --> 00:19:23.907 - Habitat's policy recommendations are grounded in real-world experience rather than theoretical assumptions. 00:19:23.907 --> 00:19:30.535 - Habitat's mission centers on helping people attain strength, stability, and independence through housing, 00:19:30.535 --> 00:19:36.788 - making its perspective especially valuable when evaluating federal, state, and local housing policy 00:19:36.788 --> 00:19:37.726 - opportunities. 00:19:38.914 --> 00:19:45.077 - Alright, at the center of Habitat's housing policy platform is a commitment to fair and inclusive 00:19:45.077 --> 00:19:51.555 - opportunity. Effective housing policies should reduce barriers that disproportionately affect specific 00:19:51.555 --> 00:19:57.970 - populations and limit access to affordable homeownership. Policymakers must consider how regulations, 00:19:57.970 --> 00:20:00.926 - financing systems, land use practices, zoning, 00:20:01.570 --> 00:20:08.185 - and housing programs affect individuals with different economic backgrounds, geographic locations, and 00:20:08.185 --> 00:20:14.992 - life circumstances. A fair housing approach seeks to remove obstacles that unnecessarily prevent families 00:20:14.992 --> 00:20:21.414 - from pursuing homeownership while also ensuring that policy solutions do not unintentionally create 00:20:21.414 --> 00:20:27.900 - unequal outcomes. Inclusive policymaking requires active engagement. That's why I'm here speaking to 00:20:27.900 --> 00:20:28.606 - you today. 00:20:28.866 --> 00:20:35.851 - with impacted communities so that residents have meaningful opportunities to contribute their perspectives 00:20:35.851 --> 00:20:42.902 - and experiences. By incorporating community voices, decision makers can better understand local conditions, 00:20:42.902 --> 00:20:48.973 - identify unintended consequences, and develop more responsive solutions. And I will say that 00:20:48.973 --> 00:20:55.632 - our representatives in Congress are really good at listening. And we take a trip to DC once a year to 00:20:55.632 --> 00:20:57.982 - participate in Habitat on the Hill. 00:20:58.210 --> 00:21:04.625 - and those conversations are always very robust. They're well educated on housing and the problems of 00:21:04.625 --> 00:21:11.167 - housing and are really interested in solving that problem locally. Preventing unequal harms is equally 00:21:11.167 --> 00:21:17.646 - important as housing policies that benefit some groups while burdening others can deepen disparities. 00:21:17.646 --> 00:21:24.442 - Evaluating policy choices through the lens of fairness and inclusion helps ensure that efforts to increase 00:21:24.442 --> 00:21:28.062 - housing supply, improve access and strengthen resilience 00:21:28.226 --> 00:21:35.411 - create broad and lasting benefits for families and communities. So I want to talk about the three federal 00:21:35.411 --> 00:21:42.528 - action areas that Habitat for Humanity focuses on. You can see them up there. Increasing housing supply, 00:21:42.528 --> 00:21:49.510 - broadening homeownership access, and improving homeownership resilience. So our framework is organized 00:21:49.510 --> 00:21:56.830 - around these three areas. Increasing supply is needed to help moderate home prices as well as rental rates. 00:21:57.026 --> 00:22:03.196 - If more people have access to home ownership, then the rental market will need to lower prices to remain 00:22:03.196 --> 00:22:09.425 - competitive. We must incentivize investment in affordable housing development. It's very straightforward. 00:22:09.425 --> 00:22:15.301 - The single greatest data point to support the need for broadening access is that the average age of 00:22:15.301 --> 00:22:21.530 - a first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old. Improving resilience includes building better homes to reduce 00:22:21.530 --> 00:22:23.998 - energy costs as those costs are going up. 00:22:24.450 --> 00:22:30.715 - and to protect against climate impacts and disasters. Together, these three priorities represent 00:22:30.715 --> 00:22:37.174 - a comprehensive approach that recognizes homeownership challenges at multiple stages of the housing 00:22:37.174 --> 00:22:43.633 - journey. Framing policy discussions around supply, access, and resilience provide a clear structure 00:22:43.633 --> 00:22:50.221 - for evaluating legislative proposals and identifying practical solutions capable of improving housing 00:22:50.221 --> 00:22:52.094 - outcomes across communities. 00:22:59.842 --> 00:23:06.271 - So this is the unicorn legislation that I mentioned at the beginning of the presentation. The naming 00:23:06.271 --> 00:23:12.636 - convention is a combination of what came out of the Senate and out of the House. So they each had a 00:23:12.636 --> 00:23:19.064 - different name. They combined it into one big name, the 21st Century Road to Housing Act. Don't want 00:23:19.064 --> 00:23:25.302 - to leave anybody out. So this act represents a comprehensive bipartisan effort to address housing 00:23:25.302 --> 00:23:29.630 - affordability and availability challenges across the United States. 00:23:29.922 --> 00:23:37.669 - I think it's really important to let you know how the votes fell out, because it is so overwhelmingly 00:23:37.669 --> 00:23:45.493 - bipartisan. The Senate passed by a vote of 85 to 5 on June 22, and the House approved by a vote of 358 00:23:45.493 --> 00:23:53.088 - to 32 the next day. The bill subsequently became law on July 11, so earlier this month, without the 00:23:53.088 --> 00:23:57.342 - president's signature. This bipartisan support suggests 00:23:57.474 --> 00:24:04.025 - recognition of housing affordability as a significant national concern requiring coordinated action. 00:24:04.025 --> 00:24:10.641 - The legislation contains more than 50 provisions designed to expand housing supply, reduce regulatory 00:24:10.641 --> 00:24:17.257 - barriers, modernize federal housing programs, and improve coordination among housing-related systems. 00:24:17.257 --> 00:24:24.392 - Rather than focusing on a single challenge, the Act takes a broad approach that addresses multiple dimensions 00:24:24.392 --> 00:24:26.078 - of housing affordability. 00:24:26.722 --> 00:24:36.018 - By combining incentives, regulatory reforms, program improvements, and implementation support, the Act 00:24:36.018 --> 00:24:45.676 - seeks to create conditions that encourage housing production while improving effectiveness across existing 00:24:45.676 --> 00:24:53.438 - federal programs. So, why does it matter to Habitat? And why should you care locally? 00:24:54.370 --> 00:25:01.007 - The Act aligns closely with our mission and program activities because it addresses many of the structural 00:25:01.007 --> 00:25:07.583 - barriers encountered by affiliates in our partner communities. By expanding available tools, the hammers, 00:25:07.583 --> 00:25:13.972 - and resources, the legislation creates opportunities for affiliates to increase the number of families 00:25:13.972 --> 00:25:20.423 - served while strengthening local housing ecosystems. Several provisions target obstacles that can delay 00:25:20.423 --> 00:25:22.718 - development, increase project costs, 00:25:22.978 --> 00:25:30.386 - or limit access to affordable home ownership activities. Opportunities. These include regulatory complexity, 00:25:30.386 --> 00:25:37.183 - zoning challenges, funding limitations, and inefficiencies within federal housing programs. I think 00:25:37.183 --> 00:25:44.388 - that was a pretty self-reflective thing to include to recognize that the programs could be more efficient 00:25:44.388 --> 00:25:48.126 - and effective than they are existing federal programs. 00:25:48.258 --> 00:25:54.599 - The Act's significance extends beyond federal policy because its ultimate impact depends on how we implement 00:25:54.599 --> 00:26:00.534 - available opportunities at the local level. So Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County will use this as 00:26:00.534 --> 00:26:06.526 - a platform for community-level action that can support affordable and sustainable homeownership goals. 00:26:13.186 --> 00:26:21.474 - So first and foremost, we must make it easier to build. It is very much a supply problem. A major focus 00:26:21.474 --> 00:26:29.921 - of the legislation is increasing the supply of affordable housing through a combination of local planning 00:26:29.921 --> 00:26:34.942 - support, funding flexibility, and innovation incentives, which 00:27:40.002 --> 00:27:48.132 - Can you hear us online? Yes. Yes, we can hear you online now. Thank you, Joy. Yeah, OK. That's all right. 00:27:48.132 --> 00:27:56.262 - So we've only used CDBG for infrastructure funding in the past. It's going to be great if we can actually 00:27:56.262 --> 00:28:04.086 - use it for home construction. Obviously, we do infrastructure at the beginning of a project, and then 00:28:04.086 --> 00:28:07.614 - it might be years before we can use it again. 00:28:08.770 --> 00:28:15.367 - I'm excited about the carrot versus stick tactic of the Innovation Fund, which is designed to reward 00:28:15.367 --> 00:28:22.094 - measurable increases. So local communities are going to have to show how that has increased in housing 00:28:22.094 --> 00:28:29.278 - supply, encouraging communities to pursue solutions that generate tangible results. I'm all about a good KPI. 00:28:30.146 --> 00:28:36.085 - Collectively, these provisions address four key levers, which is the diagram on the left, for housing 00:28:36.085 --> 00:28:41.442 - production, zoning, funding, local capacity, and incentives. By strengthening each of these 00:28:41.442 --> 00:28:47.731 - areas, policymakers seek to reduce bottlenecks that restrict development and make it easier for communities 00:28:47.731 --> 00:28:50.526 - to produce additional affordable housing units. 00:28:56.162 --> 00:29:02.841 - So I would love to say that this is an actual diagram that we utilize in our work, but I had AI generate 00:29:02.841 --> 00:29:09.202 - it, and I think it did a pretty good job with my very limited prompts that they gave, so I must not 00:29:09.202 --> 00:29:15.626 - have been the first person to give that prompt. Reducing delays and uncertainty is another important 00:29:15.626 --> 00:29:17.598 - objective of this legislation. 00:29:17.954 --> 00:29:24.079 - Streamlining environmental review processes is intended to accelerate project approvals while maintaining 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:30.146 - necessary safeguards. We are all about protecting the environment, but sometimes that process just drags 00:29:30.146 --> 00:29:36.328 - out for months and months and really slows our ability to build. Promoting the use of pre-reviewed housing 00:29:36.328 --> 00:29:42.280 - designs in an effort for communities to accelerate the approval process, that's happening locally with 00:29:42.280 --> 00:29:45.342 - the Hopewell project, if you've been following that. 00:29:46.402 --> 00:29:52.091 - Faster approvals and greater predictability can significantly reduce project costs. There are a lot 00:29:52.091 --> 00:29:57.893 - of soft carrying costs that developers have that the longer a project takes to get approval, the more 00:29:57.893 --> 00:30:03.639 - expensive it becomes. And those pre-development costs directly impact how much that house sells for. 00:30:03.639 --> 00:30:09.328 - So Habitat's in a unique situation where we can absorb that because we have donors that are helping 00:30:09.328 --> 00:30:15.358 - fund, but other builders and developers cannot do that. It's why they're not building affordable housing. 00:30:16.642 --> 00:30:23.228 - It also opens the door for more local developers for that very reason to build market rate missing middle 00:30:23.228 --> 00:30:29.690 - housing. Again, we recognize that we are missing everything from affordable apartments up to, you know, 00:30:29.690 --> 00:30:35.965 - the standard beyond starter home, right? The family homes that people can move into to free up those 00:30:35.965 --> 00:30:40.190 - starter homes. Streamlining procedure does not eliminate oversight. 00:30:40.482 --> 00:30:47.066 - Rather, it seeks to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens that slow construction without improving 00:30:47.066 --> 00:30:53.522 - outcomes. I think that's a really key piece of it. For Habitat affiliates, nonprofit developers, and 00:30:53.522 --> 00:31:00.234 - local governments, these reforms may support more timely project delivery and greater housing production 00:31:00.234 --> 00:31:06.626 - capacity. Next, I want to provide a high-level overview of programs for repair and resilience. This 00:31:06.626 --> 00:31:10.078 - is something we've been doing resilience for a while. 00:31:10.658 --> 00:31:17.989 - here locally, but repair is something we're just getting into, as well as the home program, which we 00:31:17.989 --> 00:31:25.319 - currently rely on pretty heavily for funding. So sustaining homeownership requires more than helping 00:31:25.319 --> 00:31:32.795 - families purchase homes. It also depends on maintaining safe, stable, and resilient housing over time. 00:31:32.795 --> 00:31:40.126 - Section 202 of the legislation establishes a HUD pilot program focused on whole home repair efforts. 00:31:40.546 --> 00:31:46.952 - eligible assistance includes grants and forgivable loans that can support needed repairs, modifications, 00:31:46.952 --> 00:31:53.357 - and improvements. This is something that's been happening in the rural areas with USDA loans and grants, 00:31:53.357 --> 00:31:59.519 - but not something we've been able to utilize here locally. These investments help households address 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:05.620 - maintenance issues before they become major financial burdens or safety risks. The legislation also 00:32:05.620 --> 00:32:08.670 - includes provisions related to disaster recovery. 00:32:08.802 --> 00:32:15.951 - So Habitat has come to understand firsthand the challenges of climate disasters as we had two tornadoes 00:32:15.951 --> 00:32:22.962 - destroyed by a tornado in May of 2025. So that's the remains of our warehouse. It also authorizes and 00:32:22.962 --> 00:32:27.774 - reforms Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery programs. 00:32:28.098 --> 00:32:35.259 - for a three year period with an emphasis on better serving low and moderate income households following 00:32:35.259 --> 00:32:42.489 - major disasters. Those tend to be the people who are either uninsured or underinsured. And it's a really 00:32:42.489 --> 00:32:49.719 - difficult process to access funds, to be able to rebuild, repurchase items for an apartment after you've 00:32:49.719 --> 00:32:57.087 - lost it. Together, these initiatives recognize that resilience encompasses both preparedness and recovery. 00:32:57.087 --> 00:32:57.982 - So the home, 00:32:58.850 --> 00:33:05.040 - Investment partnerships program remains one of the federal government's most important affordable housing 00:33:05.040 --> 00:33:11.054 - tools. This is something that Habitat advocates for every year on the Hill. We're optimistic about the 00:33:11.054 --> 00:33:17.419 - reauthorization and reform of the home program to improve effectiveness. The legislation expands eligibility 00:33:17.419 --> 00:33:23.550 - requirements and provides greater flexibility for supporting housing related infrastructure investments. 00:33:24.002 --> 00:33:30.593 - It also streamlines environmental review requirements for certain small scale housing projects. I think 00:33:30.593 --> 00:33:37.184 - that's a very reasonable expectations, including infill development activities and property acquisition 00:33:37.184 --> 00:33:43.584 - intended for affordable housing. So as it stands right now, if we were to purchase an infill lot and 00:33:43.584 --> 00:33:50.239 - wanted to do construction on that for an affordable house, we still have to go through the environmental 00:33:50.239 --> 00:33:53.534 - review process at a level that it's just not really 00:33:54.274 --> 00:34:01.582 - scalable for other people doing work in that area. For us, these reforms should reduce administrative 00:34:01.582 --> 00:34:08.818 - burdens and accelerate project implementation. They also may enhance the value and usability of home 00:34:08.818 --> 00:34:16.197 - funding. So innovation is something I don't think we talk about enough, but it's the key to increasing 00:34:16.197 --> 00:34:17.630 - our housing supply. 00:34:17.762 --> 00:34:24.423 - The way that we've been building homes forever is great, but there are better ways to do it, and I think 00:34:24.423 --> 00:34:30.830 - we need to explore those. So I want to quickly mention some portions of the legislation that address 00:34:30.830 --> 00:34:37.427 - these opportunities. Emerging construction approaches offer potential opportunities to increase housing 00:34:37.427 --> 00:34:43.961 - supply while controlling costs and reducing project timelines. Title III of the legislation introduces 00:34:43.961 --> 00:34:46.942 - new standards related to manufactured housing, 00:34:47.298 --> 00:34:54.367 - and addresses barriers encountered by modular housing developers. The legislation also authorizes HUD 00:34:54.367 --> 00:35:01.504 - to examine the feasibility of a standardized code framework for modular homes and to evaluate the cost 00:35:01.504 --> 00:35:08.573 - effectiveness of offsite construction techniques. These are all things that Habitat affiliates across 00:35:08.573 --> 00:35:15.572 - the country are trying in order to, again, bring down those costs, ensure reliable construction, and 00:35:15.572 --> 00:35:16.958 - build more quickly. 00:35:17.538 --> 00:35:23.736 - Manufactured housing, modular construction, and other off-site production methods can provide alternatives 00:35:23.736 --> 00:35:29.586 - to traditional site-built housing, particularly in markets experiencing labor shortages. It's really 00:35:29.586 --> 00:35:35.609 - hard for us to find licensed contractors here. Land constraints, another problem here, or affordability 00:35:35.609 --> 00:35:41.401 - challenges. By encouraging innovation and examining opportunities for standardization, policymakers 00:35:41.401 --> 00:35:46.846 - seek to reduce uncertainty and promote broader adoption of efficient construction approaches. 00:35:46.946 --> 00:36:00.163 - These strategies may support greater housing availability, especially when combined with other reforms 00:36:00.163 --> 00:36:10.814 - that address land use permitting and financing. I think I might have gone too far. 00:36:34.146 --> 00:36:41.684 - Just one. That's all right. Okay. Title 10 includes provisions aimed at preserving homeownership 00:36:41.684 --> 00:36:49.767 - opportunities for individual families by limiting specific purchases of newly constructed single-family 00:36:49.767 --> 00:36:56.606 - homes by large institutional investors. I know you've probably all heard that there are 00:36:57.026 --> 00:37:04.131 - There are out of town, out of state investors coming in and purchasing homes that could easily be turned 00:37:04.131 --> 00:37:10.898 - into affordable single family or duplex housing. The restriction applies to investors that directly 00:37:10.898 --> 00:37:18.071 - or indirectly own at least 350 single family homes. This measure is a way to reduce competitive pressures 00:37:18.071 --> 00:37:24.702 - that can make it more difficult for families to purchase homes in certain markets, ours included. 00:37:25.250 --> 00:37:33.136 - This provision aligns with the broader access theme emphasized throughout the legislation and habitats 00:37:33.136 --> 00:37:41.251 - policy priorities. Expanding homeownership opportunities requires addressing both supply side constraints 00:37:41.251 --> 00:37:48.907 - and market conditions that influence housing affordability and accessibility for households seeking 00:37:48.907 --> 00:37:53.118 - stable housing and long-term economic opportunity. So, 00:37:54.082 --> 00:37:59.820 - This is where the rubber meets the road, right? We need to make sure that it gets implemented in our 00:37:59.820 --> 00:38:05.558 - community. So successful implementation will determine whether the legislation achieves its intended 00:38:05.558 --> 00:38:11.353 - impact. There's still a significant amount of work to be done at the federal level before we will see 00:38:11.353 --> 00:38:17.091 - the effects locally. We will be closely monitoring HUD guidance, grant announcements, implementation 00:38:17.091 --> 00:38:23.454 - timelines, and regulatory updates related to the act. Habitat will continue to engage locally on zoning reform. 00:38:23.906 --> 00:38:29.832 - If you ever want to come spend an evening with us, we will on a regular basis be at city meetings. So 00:38:29.832 --> 00:38:36.164 - come join us. Permitting improvements in planning initiatives. We are working to identify projects involving 00:38:36.164 --> 00:38:41.974 - repair and housing development that align with newly available funding tools and program resources. 00:38:41.974 --> 00:38:48.016 - So trying to figure out where that all fits together to maximize our opportunity. Habitat, as you know, 00:38:48.016 --> 00:38:51.966 - is a trusted housing developer, builder, and leader in Bloomington. 00:38:52.130 --> 00:38:58.605 - We know our efforts to influence change are compounded when we involve local stakeholders and leaders 00:38:58.605 --> 00:39:04.953 - like you. The 21st Century Road to Housing Act provides new tools that align closely with Habitat's 00:39:04.953 --> 00:39:11.427 - mission and policy platform, but long-term success will depend on leadership, inclusive policymaking, 00:39:11.427 --> 00:39:17.775 - collaboration, and sustained commitment. By leveraging these opportunities effectively, we can help 00:39:17.775 --> 00:39:19.870 - more families obtain and sustain 00:39:20.290 --> 00:39:28.597 - safe, stable, and affordable homes. So I wanted you to see some of the beautiful faces that motivate 00:39:28.597 --> 00:39:37.069 - those of us that work at Habitat to keep doing the hard work, to keep fighting the battles that we can 00:39:37.069 --> 00:39:45.294 - to provide more opportunities for people, because policy without a focus on people is pointless. So 00:39:45.294 --> 00:39:49.982 - these are the reasons I get up and go to work every day. 00:39:50.402 --> 00:39:57.114 - These are families, it's a mixture of families who are currently in our program. We're building their 00:39:57.114 --> 00:40:03.694 - houses. There are some that we've completed their homes and they're just waiting to close. And then 00:40:03.694 --> 00:40:10.537 - Valerie down here in the corner closed on her house last week. So lots of reasons to celebrate the work 00:40:10.537 --> 00:40:14.814 - that Habitat is doing in our community. I'm ready for questions. 00:40:20.386 --> 00:40:26.522 - Wendy, I'm going to open up with a question and just ask you, can you tell a little bit more about the 00:40:26.522 --> 00:40:32.777 - three areas that you have, how many houses you're going to have to finish the third one and any thoughts 00:40:32.777 --> 00:40:38.734 - about where the fourth one might go? Maybe you all can help me with the fourth location. That would 00:40:38.734 --> 00:40:45.109 - be spectacular. So our three neighborhoods, one is the first was Cedar Chase, which is out west, southwest 00:40:45.109 --> 00:40:47.134 - of Walmart. So out in the county. 00:40:47.906 --> 00:40:55.735 - trail view, which is just off of 11th and near Opportunity House. And that was completed a few years 00:40:55.735 --> 00:41:03.642 - ago. And then we began building out Osage Place, which is adjacent to RCA Park. And if you know where 00:41:03.642 --> 00:41:07.518 - the power line trail is going in, it will connect 00:41:07.874 --> 00:41:14.366 - RCA Park to Switchyard Park. So just south of that power line trail is Osage Place. We are finishing 00:41:14.366 --> 00:41:20.921 - construction on the houses in phase one. So those will be wrapped up this fall. That is 30 homes. And 00:41:20.921 --> 00:41:27.477 - we have begun construction in phase two on homes that there will be 39 of those total. I think in the 00:41:27.477 --> 00:41:33.905 - next four years, we will need to have purchased, if we're going to do another neighborhood, we will 00:41:33.905 --> 00:41:37.054 - need to have purchased something within the next 00:41:37.250 --> 00:41:45.127 - year and a half, probably, so that we can get through that lengthy planning process and prepare to do 00:41:45.127 --> 00:41:53.158 - infrastructure work and get ready so that in four years we're ready to build the next house. Thank you, 00:41:53.158 --> 00:42:00.881 - Wendy, for your presentation. You mentioned unequal harms in your presentation, and as a preface to 00:42:00.881 --> 00:42:06.750 - that, many of us disagree with some of the diversity, equity, and inclusion 00:42:07.522 --> 00:42:14.134 - changes, which were intended, I think, to re-level the playing field, or marginalized folks were at 00:42:14.134 --> 00:42:20.944 - the benefit of the larger population. So I'm a little bit confused, and maybe you can help me out with 00:42:20.944 --> 00:42:27.688 - that. But it has to do with inclusive policy making, which seems to be the opposite to me. But at any 00:42:27.688 --> 00:42:34.366 - rate, unequal harms meant that some groups benefit at the expense of other groups, and you're trying 00:42:34.366 --> 00:42:35.358 - to avoid that. 00:42:35.906 --> 00:42:43.365 - It seems the population that you're helping are many of the more marginalized cultural and racial groups. 00:42:43.365 --> 00:42:50.543 - So how do you, at the expense of others, which is the majority population, how does that equal out in 00:42:50.543 --> 00:42:57.651 - your mind and through legislation? Yeah, I'm not sure that I think of it as unequal being the larger 00:42:57.651 --> 00:43:01.310 - population, being unequal to the larger population. 00:43:01.410 --> 00:43:07.417 - because there are just so many factors that go into that, right? If you look at the data points of, 00:43:07.417 --> 00:43:13.544 - so for example, homeowners have 400% greater net wealth than renters. It's a fact, it's a data point. 00:43:13.544 --> 00:43:19.551 - If we are making legislation that prevents people from getting into those homeownership situations, 00:43:19.551 --> 00:43:25.618 - that is unequal to that population, which is the marginalized population. So I think it just depends 00:43:25.618 --> 00:43:28.862 - on, you know, it has to be objective, not subjective. 00:43:29.090 --> 00:43:35.949 - And I think a lot of times when people are talking about unequal, they are talking about something that's 00:43:35.949 --> 00:43:42.808 - very subjective. So our focus definitely is on ensuring that those marginalized communities, as we always 00:43:42.808 --> 00:43:49.472 - have done, have the same access, the same opportunities. And if you want to look long-term back in the 00:43:49.472 --> 00:43:56.007 - past, there have been so many things that we have done that have unevened that playing field. And we 00:43:56.007 --> 00:43:58.078 - need to fix it. You're welcome. 00:43:59.970 --> 00:44:06.910 - Two questions. I read a book recently. There is no place for us. And one of the things I talked about 00:44:06.910 --> 00:44:13.715 - was that getting HUD money to build more affordable apartments, but they only had to do that for 13 00:44:13.715 --> 00:44:20.519 - years. Do you know if that has been addressed at all in this legislation? I don't, because that's a 00:44:20.519 --> 00:44:25.758 - rental issue. The HUD money that we receive, it does come with a time limit. 00:44:25.986 --> 00:44:32.769 - If you want to talk about lasting affordability, there is a time limit on those funds. So we are required 00:44:32.769 --> 00:44:39.424 - to sell to a homeowner that meets the HUD requirements for income. But what we do at Habitat is we want 00:44:39.424 --> 00:44:46.207 - to make sure that that does last farther into the future. So we write a first refusal for every mortgage. 00:44:46.207 --> 00:44:53.246 - And that extends for the life of the mortgage. If you're still in your home, still paying back your mortgage, 00:44:53.378 --> 00:44:59.350 - and you need to move out of state for some reason, we want an opportunity to buy it back so that we 00:44:59.350 --> 00:45:05.322 - can sell it affordably to the next homeowner. So I don't know specifically about that. Some of it's 00:45:05.322 --> 00:45:11.354 - rental, some of it is homeownership. It's been typically 15 years has been the affordability period. 00:45:11.354 --> 00:45:17.445 - Second question is, oh, I was talking to someone recently listening with kind of in horror. They were 00:45:17.445 --> 00:45:19.774 - talking about a developer who was, uh, 00:45:20.290 --> 00:45:26.969 - going to build modular homes, but it also had bought a lot of mobile home parks and was going to be 00:45:26.969 --> 00:45:33.647 - removing all of them that looked old, which also meant affordable. And that kind of fitted with the 00:45:33.647 --> 00:45:40.459 - New York Times article talking about developers, just like buying homes, buying mobile home parks and 00:45:40.459 --> 00:45:47.272 - pushing people out. Yeah. One of, I know several Habitat affiliates are doing this. We've looked into 00:45:47.272 --> 00:45:49.342 - it too. Could we replace those 00:45:49.538 --> 00:45:55.802 - dangerous living conditions for people who are in a mobile home. A mobile home in a tornado is not going 00:45:55.802 --> 00:46:01.947 - to survive. And so we want to get people out of those types of living situations. Could we temporarily 00:46:01.947 --> 00:46:07.913 - displace them to replace the mobile homes with a manufactured or modular home? We don't have a good 00:46:07.913 --> 00:46:13.879 - way of doing that locally, but there are other affiliates who are doing it successfully. So there's 00:46:13.879 --> 00:46:18.174 - always going to be somebody who takes advantage of opportunities to the 00:46:18.434 --> 00:46:24.693 - to the detriment of people who are living in those places. Um, but from an affiliate, from a habitat 00:46:24.693 --> 00:46:31.015 - standpoint, you know, we're trying to really just create better, more affordable and more sustainable 00:46:31.015 --> 00:46:37.770 - because mobile homes deteriorate extensively over time. Um, and we want to get people out of those dangerous 00:46:37.770 --> 00:46:44.091 - situations. Thank you so much for your comments. As always, I appreciate what you do, what you all do 00:46:44.091 --> 00:46:45.950 - as a service and how you say, 00:46:46.274 --> 00:46:53.260 - the important things that you say. My question for you is the city recently did an audit of their housing 00:46:53.260 --> 00:46:59.917 - internal processes. Do you think the county, is there any wisdom for the county to do the same? Some 00:46:59.917 --> 00:47:06.771 - of us have talked about that and I would love to get your perspective. Yeah, I think there's definitely 00:47:06.771 --> 00:47:13.494 - an opportunity. I will say that the city processes from habitats perspective are much more cumbersome 00:47:13.494 --> 00:47:15.998 - than what we deal with at the county. 00:47:16.130 --> 00:47:21.941 - partly because we don't have to get the health department involved for septic, right? We're not building 00:47:21.941 --> 00:47:27.475 - on septic systems. We're providing sewer connections. But also you have a great building department 00:47:27.475 --> 00:47:33.231 - and we really like working with the building department. So we would be happy to come in and talk about 00:47:33.231 --> 00:47:38.821 - the challenges that we face for us with the county. The biggest challenge is not being able to build 00:47:38.821 --> 00:47:44.798 - in the county because the density is just not there to make it affordable. You know, a half an acre because 00:47:45.122 --> 00:47:51.446 - and we can get into the, you know, politics of all of that. But when we went through the CDO, there 00:47:51.446 --> 00:47:57.897 - just wasn't an allowance for that density that we need for it to make sense, even on the periphery of 00:47:57.897 --> 00:48:04.411 - the city, to be able to build in the county. So when you talk about land, I think I didn't answer that 00:48:04.411 --> 00:48:06.814 - question. I don't know where the next 00:48:07.234 --> 00:48:14.161 - we're the next building that will happen. But right now we would have to be in the city of Bloomington. 00:48:14.161 --> 00:48:20.954 - And there are just not a lot of opportunities within the city of Bloomington. So Trent, we would love 00:48:20.954 --> 00:48:27.681 - to come talk to you about what we think the county could do to help us. Yeah, thank you. Speaking of 00:48:27.681 --> 00:48:34.475 - opportunities in the city, are you going to be using any of the lots in Hopewell? I was really hoping 00:48:34.475 --> 00:48:36.606 - nobody would ask that question. 00:48:38.210 --> 00:48:44.780 - There are a lot of answers, a lot of questions that still need to be answered at Hopewell. We don't 00:48:44.780 --> 00:48:51.482 - know what the cost of infrastructure is going to be. That will definitely determine whether or not we 00:48:51.482 --> 00:48:58.249 - can build affordably there. I'm never going to pass up an opportunity to build in an area that I think 00:48:58.249 --> 00:49:00.286 - is right for building housing. 00:49:00.386 --> 00:49:07.825 - But right now, there are just too many unanswered questions. I'm also not sure I want to be the first 00:49:07.825 --> 00:49:15.191 - one in. So stay tuned. I mentioned four years before we run out of land at Osage Place. We have been 00:49:15.191 --> 00:49:21.900 - buying infill lots so that we can fill a gap if there is a gap of time where we can't build 00:49:21.900 --> 00:49:25.182 - in a neighborhood. But I have a lot of hope. 00:49:25.314 --> 00:49:33.136 - For Hopewell, it's just been a really large uphill battle. And I think it's been a great example of 00:49:33.136 --> 00:49:41.036 - the challenges within the system as Trent mentioned of working in the city. I have a question that's 00:49:41.036 --> 00:49:49.562 - more general housing related. I heard that in New York City, they're looking at some of the empty commercial 00:49:49.562 --> 00:49:52.926 - spaces that offices no longer use anymore. 00:49:53.314 --> 00:49:59.426 - Is that anything that exists here in Bloomington and is it something that could be utilized? It's been 00:49:59.426 --> 00:50:05.419 - discussed. It is also part of this legislation providing pilot programs for turning those industrial 00:50:05.419 --> 00:50:11.412 - or commercial spaces that are empty into housing. I think generally people are using it for rentals, 00:50:11.412 --> 00:50:17.465 - but I know it's been discussed locally. So I think there's definitely opportunity there because we do 00:50:17.465 --> 00:50:20.254 - have so many commercial spaces that are empty. 00:50:21.666 --> 00:50:30.312 - There is a question online when we have a chance. Let me go ahead and ask a question. This is also a 00:50:30.312 --> 00:50:38.873 - general question. It's about qualification, how you qualify applicants to receive housing under the 00:50:38.873 --> 00:50:47.433 - under the program. I've been delighted as an aside, I've been delighted that I am aware of at least 00:50:47.433 --> 00:50:50.686 - two refugee families that have gotten 00:50:50.850 --> 00:50:57.972 - approved to be habitat, householders, owners. And anyway, I think we would all benefit from knowing 00:50:57.972 --> 00:51:05.095 - a little bit about how you judge fitness for applicants. Thank you for asking that question. So all 00:51:05.095 --> 00:51:12.431 - of the applicants have to meet three criteria. They have to have a need for housing. So the place that 00:51:12.431 --> 00:51:19.838 - they're living might be substandard, overcrowded, unaffordable. Substandard is anything from, you know, 00:51:19.970 --> 00:51:27.242 - floors falling in in a mobile home to unsafe electrical insulation that's not performing HVAC systems, 00:51:27.242 --> 00:51:34.444 - things like that. A lot of times, the families that come to us can tick all three of those boxes. You 00:51:34.444 --> 00:51:41.717 - would be amazed at the living conditions that are also unaffordable for people. They also have to have 00:51:41.717 --> 00:51:49.342 - an ability to pay. So every Habitat House we build, the homeowners close on an affordable mortgage with us. 00:51:49.442 --> 00:51:56.022 - We base that on their income, not what it costs us to build the house, not what it appraises for. 00:51:56.022 --> 00:52:02.937 - Right now, our houses are appraising two, we build two-bedroom to five-bedroom. They're appraising for 00:52:02.937 --> 00:52:08.510 - $235,000 and up. So that's indicative of the supply shortage that we talked about. 00:52:08.610 --> 00:52:14.122 - And then the third thing is they have to have a willingness to partner with us. So it's really important 00:52:14.122 --> 00:52:19.371 - to us that they volunteer their time helping other families. They're getting those money management 00:52:19.371 --> 00:52:24.935 - classes that I talked about. They're getting homeownership classes, how to do indoor maintenance, outdoor 00:52:24.935 --> 00:52:30.814 - maintenance, avoid predatory lending, things like that. So they are in classes for a solid year, twice a month. 00:52:30.914 --> 00:52:37.015 - And then after that time, we have classes just to kind of keep them engaged. But they're also working 00:52:37.015 --> 00:52:43.116 - on the construction site. They're volunteering at ReStore. So every adult in the household that's not 00:52:43.116 --> 00:52:49.277 - a dependent has to contribute at least 250 hours of sweat equity. So when you think about having a job 00:52:49.277 --> 00:52:55.319 - or two, children, it's a big lift and people have to be really committed to successfully get through 00:52:55.319 --> 00:53:00.702 - our program. The income level that we're serving is 35% to 80% of the area median income. 00:53:02.242 --> 00:53:10.256 - Want to get that question online? Sure. Wendy, this question is from Jeff Richardson. He asks, is there 00:53:10.256 --> 00:53:18.116 - any concern about the possibility of the new jail being located on the Thompson site that is close to 00:53:18.116 --> 00:53:25.822 - usage? I'm not sure I'm pronouncing it. Homes that you referenced earlier. Yes, we do have concern. 00:53:26.786 --> 00:53:33.994 - The families there have concern, mostly from a standpoint of feeling marginalized if the jail were to 00:53:33.994 --> 00:53:41.202 - be placed there. We've moved them to a place that they see as a place of opportunity. They have great 00:53:41.202 --> 00:53:48.410 - amenities nearby. And the homeowners that I've spoken to just express concern about, again, being the 00:53:48.410 --> 00:53:56.254 - people that are being marginalized in our community. So there is some concern. There will be a decent distance 00:53:56.706 --> 00:54:04.344 - I based on what we have hit as we've done infrastructure work, I think it'll be really challenging to 00:54:04.344 --> 00:54:11.682 - build something there from a geotechnical perspective. But yes, there is some concern. Thank you. 00:54:11.682 --> 00:54:19.694 - Thank you. Thank you, Wendy. In honor of your wonderful presentation, we'll be doing $100 quarter donation 00:54:19.694 --> 00:54:25.534 - to see jam. So appreciate that. I have one quick announcement somebody left a 00:54:25.730 --> 00:54:33.045 - Validated parking ticket up front. OK. We won't call out names. I'll give it to you. I'd like to thank 00:54:33.045 --> 00:54:40.501 - all our volunteers today. Our greeter, Lynn Schwartzberg. Guest introductions, Winston Schindel. Speaker 00:54:40.501 --> 00:54:48.029 - introduction, Mike Wade. Zoom host, Joy Harder, back fresh from Alaska. Good to see you. Reporter, Glenda 00:54:48.029 --> 00:54:55.486 - Murray. Camera and mic operator, Michael. What's wrong? Oh, OK. Not my best view. I'm just going to say. 00:54:57.218 --> 00:55:03.519 - photographer. Did anybody take pictures today? Did we get that? Ah, thank you, Dave Meyer. All right. 00:55:03.519 --> 00:55:10.005 - And then Jill, our executive assistant, and then our wonderful, very active today, Tyler Martin Nichols. 00:55:10.005 --> 00:55:16.245 - Our next meeting will be here in the Georgian Room on 8-4. Steve will be running the meeting as Vlad 00:55:16.245 --> 00:55:18.654 - and I are going to Denver to see Luca. 00:55:18.850 --> 00:55:25.191 - And then Melanie Cooper Pennington is going to be presenting. She has done the statue for Alfred Kinsey 00:55:25.191 --> 00:55:31.349 - and Ryan White here in the Union, if you have not seen them. I'm so disappointed I'm not going to be 00:55:31.349 --> 00:55:37.569 - here for that because our kids are actually great friends and I've not met her yet. Now, if you could 00:55:37.569 --> 00:55:43.544 - put the slides up and if you're able, please stand for the four-way test. Of the things we think, 00:55:43.544 --> 00:55:47.934 - say or do, first, is it the truth? Second, is it fair to all concerned? 00:55:48.322 --> 00:55:55.215 - Third, will it build goodwill and better friendships? Fourth, will it be beneficial to all concerned? 00:55:55.215 --> 00:55:56.702 - And fifth, is it fun?