Vice Chair Willie Davis presided over the Housing and Affordability Committee meeting in the absence of Chair Tiffany Thomas. The committee heard presentations on housing and community development programs, including funding amendments for AIDS housing assistance, job training for individuals with disabilities, a multifamily rehabilitation loan, and a tax credit resolution. Staff also provided updates on disaster recovery, the 419 Emancipation shelter, and new affordable housing developments. Public comments were received from county and community representatives.
All right, welcome. Good morning to all of you that are with us joining us. We are here to um have our housing and affordability committee. It is exactly 2, I mean 10 a.m. And we're going to get started in the absence of our chair, uh, councilmember Tiffany Thomas, um, vice chair Willie Davis, and we're going to move forward in our agenda this morning. Uh, hope all is well with everyone, and uh, we're going to have our housing community development department make some presentations. Um, our public service represented by assistant director Melanie Barr. Uh, and I think this is not Melanie Barr, I'm sure. So uh give us your name. Uh Alfonso Lopez, admin manager for public services. Very good. And then we will be followed by our multifamily, presented by Deputy Assistant Director Ryan Bibbs, and uh our director's comment uh in the absence of Mike Nichols is gonna be coming from Derek Sellers, and then we will proceed with our public comments, and uh, and we will certainly welcome all of those. So let me start by identifying those who are here with us. We are happy to have joined with us our uh mayor pro Tim, uh Martha Castex Tatum, uh Vice Mayor Pro Tim Amy Peck, and as well as our uh at large councilmember Julia Ramirez, and then we have representatives from District B, District C, uh, District L, uh H, and uh also at large three and at large five. We will have those who are here with us, and uh certainly we'll welcome all of them that are gathered. So, with that being said, we are ready. All right, good. Sure. Good morning, Vice Chair Davis, Councilman. Good morning members, uh members of the staff for different council members, uh, Director Nichols, uh, Deputy Director Tamika Jones and Assistant Director Melody Barr, all three at a Houston Harris County homelessness event today. So they weren't able to join us. Uh but we have a few items we're gonna run through and uh get let you know about what we have going on in the department for our first two items related to public services. Alfonso Lopez, administration manager in our public services division is going to present those two items. Good morning, everyone. So just to give you a quick recap, um today we are presenting two projects that contribute to serving the needs of our community through very specialized projects and provide uh provide life-changing opportunities and services. So, item 2A the Department is presenting a First Amendment to the sub-recipient agreement with El Centro de Corazon, providing an additional two million dollars in housing opportunities for persons with AIDS, commonly known as HAPWA, for housing assistance and supportive services to Hapua eligible households living with HIV AIDS. The program will serve a minimum of 130 households, including 80 households receiving tenant-based rental assistance, referred to as TBRA, and 50 households receiving short-term mortgage and utility assistance also referred to as streaming. El Centro will also provide supportive services, including case management, mental and behavioral health services, and other supportive services to a minimum of 80 households. The amendment will extend the term of the agreement, which started October 15, 2025 through September 30, 2027. El Centro de Corazon has uh received various funding from the city since 2007. Uh during the initial agreement at Centro de Corazon has served 93 households meeting 100 percent of its goal and had no findings in their most recent compliance monitoring. Today we have Joe Fuentes, Chief Integration Officer, and Yvonne Benmar, our housing the housing director here with us. Um would you like me to continue? Do you have any questions for this item? Go ahead. Go right ahead. Thank you. So for item 2B, the Department is presenting a third amendment to the sub-receiving agreement with educational programs inspiring communities, Inc. for the housing entrepreneurship and readiness training program, commonly referred to as the HART program, providing an additional $90,000 in community development block grant CDG funds. With this amendment, the HARP program will provide job training and employment opportunities to 45 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through its bending and concessions program and CBS health job training program. Participants will receive classroom and hands-on retail training to prepare for CBS internships and future employment. This amendment will extend the term of the agreement, which started September 1, 2023 through January 31, 2027. HART has received funding from the city since 2005 and had no findings in their most recent compliance monitoring. As of July 2026, HART has served 100% of its goal and use approximately 88% of their allocated funds. The organization's mission is to promote structured independence for individuals with developmental disabilities by providing innovative education, training, housing, and employment programs. Today we have Sheila Turner, Interim Director, Jane Berkoff, Chair of the Board of Directors, and a few of the interns here with us. And that concludes my presentation. Welcome. Open for any questions. Okay.