Terminology
Affordable housing:
A term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the concept is applicable to both renters and purchasers in all income ranges.
In the United States and Canada, a commonly accepted guideline for housing affordability is a housing cost that does not exceed 30% of a household's gross income. Housing costs considered in this guideline generally include taxes and insurance for owners, and usually include utility costs. When the monthly carrying costs of a home exceed 30–35% of household income, then the housing is considered unaffordable for that household.
Career building skills:including group trainings on résumé writing, interviewing skills, basic computer skills, and how to explain a criminal conviction in an interview or résumé, as well as other services.
Chronically homeless:
In general, persons who remain homeless for long periods – typically, months or years. By the HUD definition, chronically homeless means an unaccompanied adult with a disability from substance abuse, severe mental illness, HIV/AIDS, or who has a physical disability, and who has been on the street or in an emergency shelter for at least 365 consecutive days or at least four different times in the past three years.
Housing first:
The "Housing First" approach emphasizes placing people experiencing homelessness in affordable housing as quickly as possible, rather than having them live for long periods in emergency shelters or other temporary housing. "Housing First" represents a change from the widespread practice of expecting people experiencing homelessness to attain sobriety or employment, or to agree to medical or mental health care, before they can be considered for permanent housing. It promotes the idea, supported by leading researchers, that housing is essential for people experiencing homelessness to attain stability and should not be used as a reward for achieving stability.
Housing plus:
To remain housed, many people experiencing and at risk for experiencing homelessness need help finding jobs or accessing other support services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, or government-subsidized childcare. The "Housing Plus" approach calls for matching affordable housing for extremely low-income people with appropriate support services. This approach is also known as supportive housing.
Legal services: including assistance with public benefits appeals, landlord tenant disputes, information about the rights of students through the McKinney-Vento Act, etc.
Mainstream resources/public benefits:
Publicly supported benefits, such as Social Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), food stamps, Section 8 housing vouchers, and subsidized childcare.
Marion County Low Income Housing Trust Fund:
The Marion County Low Income Housing Trust Fund (HTF) was established by the state legislature in 2000 to make affordable housing available to persons of low and moderate incomes. Housing trust funds often represent the most flexible funding source available to a municipality and can serve as the additional dollars needed to make affordable housing projects feasible. Trust fund dollars help to supplement and leverage, not supplant, other public and private funding sources.
The uses for the HTF are: (1) providing financial assistance to those individuals and families whose income is at or below eighty percent (80%) of the county's median income for individuals and families to purchase or lease residential units within the county; (2) paying expenses of administering the fund; (3) making grants, loans, and loan guarantees for the development, rehab, or financing of affordable housing for individuals and families whose income is at or below eighty percent (80%) of the county's median income for individuals and families, respectively, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, and homeless individuals and families; and, (4) providing technical assistance to nonprofit developers of affordable housing. At least fifty percent (50%) of the dollars allocated for production, rehab, or purchase of housing must be for units to be occupied by individuals and families whose income is at or below fifty percent (50%) of the county's median income for individuals and families respectively.
Panhandling:
Defined as any solicitation made in person upon any street, public place or park, in which a person makes an oral request for an immediate donation of money or other gratuity. Panhandling is illegal at certain times (after sunset), and regardless of time in certain places (such as at a bus stop or near an automated teller) or when accompanied by certain conduct (such as touching or blocking someone’s path).
Passive solicitation:
Does not involve an oral request and is not “Panhandling.” Passive solicitation includes passively sitting or standing, singing or otherwise performing, “while displaying a sign or other indication (such as a cup or hat, holding one’s hand out or ringing a bell) that a donation is being sought.” Passive Solicitation is not illegal at any time, although it may violate other laws depending on where it is occurring (such as on private property, in a public right of way designed for vehicular traffic, and so on).
Recidivism:
The act in which people who exit homelessness become homeless again in the next two years.
Self sufficiency standard:
In general, it measures how much income working families need to meet their basic costs without public or private assistance. Specifically, it is a level of income based on a combination of household size and local cost of living. A detailed calculation is available on the Web at http://region4workforceboard.org/calculator/. A widely accepted substitute for a detailed calculation is an amount twice the federal poverty threshold.
Supportive housing:
Supportive housing is permanent rental housing linked to comprehensive social, medical, educational, and employment services. By linking a decent affordable place to live with access to needed assistance, people who have been homeless for years have regained hope and become productive members of the community.
