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63 <br /> <br /> Ms. Peacock said that in response to questions from Councilors, the City provides <br />$32,130 for housing counseling and there is collaboration with CRHA. Ms. Peacock said <br />it is unlikely that CRHA will provide funding as no new revenues are generated by the <br />program. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox asked if other agencies are doing similar counseling, and Ms. Peacock <br />said that MACAA does some, but it is not the same sort. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox said his inclination is to wholeheartedly support the housing counseling <br />for Piedmont Housing Alliance, especially if no one else is doing it, and Mr. Lynch <br />agreed. Mr. Cox said it may be worth raising the bar even further. <br /> <br />Mr. Caravati said he would like to see more partnership with CRHA. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox said that participants in the self-sufficiency program get sent to Piedmont <br />Housing Alliance. <br /> <br /> Mr. Toscano asked what happens if the program is not funded, and Mr. CoX said <br />we set ourselves up to fail. Mr. Cox said he likes the idea ora challenge match, with the <br />City contributing $10,000 and asking PHA to find an additional $10,000. <br /> <br /> Mr. Toscano asked if it would be possible to pay for service as service is rendered <br />when a person gets their house. <br /> <br />Mr. Lynch suggested sunsetting the funding based on next year's performance. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell noted that the City currently funds this position and this will shift <br />funding for PHA to elsewhere. <br /> <br /> Mr. Stu Armstrong, Director of PHA, said that while 100 participants may sign <br />up, only 20 may go through the program this year. Mr. Armstrong noted that PHA has to <br />borrow substantial funds for mortgages to make the program work. <br /> <br />Mr. Cox suggested providing $10,000. <br /> <br />Mr. Lynch said he would be willing to provide $20,000 and Mr. Cox agreed. <br /> <br /> Mr. Toscano said he cannot argue with the concept, and while this proposal was <br />made outside of the budget process, it did go through the CDBG process. Mr. Toscano <br />expressed concern about the amount of money needed to make this work. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said he is a not optimistic about the success of the program and feels <br />that the CDBG Task Force and CRHA should have more to do with this. Mr. Caravati <br />said he is willing to provide $10,000. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox agreed to the $10,000 with a friendly challenge to PHA to leverage more <br />funds for next year. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said that this program should go through a agency review with just <br />City stafi~ but Ms. Peacock said she is not sure that results will be seen after only one <br />year. <br /> <br />Mr. Toscano said he feels Council is committing to multi-year funding. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards agreed that CRHA and CDBG Task Force are important <br />components. <br /> <br /> Councilors agreed to provide Piedmont Housing Alliance an additional $10,000 <br />for housing counseling. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards said that paying rent has been a major strain on Computers 4 Kids, <br />but she is not sure that there will be a continuing reliance on City funding. <br /> <br /> <br />