BOISE, Idaho — The City of Boise continues to look for ways to get more people into affordable housing. City leaders just applied for a multi-million dollar grant that would do just that. But it's not the first time they've applied, and the last application got the City nothing.
"The experience of Boise residents continues to be one that where housing is a huge pain point and is incredibly stressful," says Nicki Olivier Hellenkamp, Boise's Director of Housing and Homelessness Policy.
She also says the city is doing whatever it can to alleviate housing pain. Just days ago, Boise applied for up to $6.5 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. The money would support the development but also the preservation of affordable housing projects.
Hellenkamp said, "the reality is that many affordable homes in our community, they have an affordability period that the rents or the cost there is guaranteed to be kept at a certain level for a certain number of years, whether that's 30 years, 50, or 75 years. At the end of that affordability period, there is the risk that the housing costs for those households will increase, because there's no longer a requirement that they be held at a certain level. So, the preservation of those homes is also a really high priority, in addition to producing new homes for additional families to be able to have an affordable place to live."
Hellenkamp adds that, if selected, the HUD money would go into a revolving loan fund. Payments on those loans would be returned to the fund, allowing for affordable housing investments years into the future. "There aren't very many sources of funding for affordable housing here in Idaho. So having one that revolves and can go on, kind of, in perpetuity, is something that would be really beneficial in the long run for our community."
But that's only if the City of Boise is selected. Boise tried this in the first round of the competition back in 2023. HUD got more than 175 applications and chose just 21. Boise was not one of them. In this second round, HUD is giving out even more, though, $100 million total.
Hellenkamp said Boise has a much better shot this time around, because they used feedback from HUD, the community, and partners to refine their application,
"The feedback that we received, we think, will absolutely help us to have a better chance this time. And the reality is that it will continue to be very competitive, is what we expect. But we absolutely know that this is such a high priority for Boise and for our residents that we need to be going after any source of funds, any kind of help that we can," Hellenkamp said.