Latest / ChangeMakers with Katie Goar / Episode 111 | Part Two: Marion Mollegen McFadden, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, HUD

Transcript

Episode 111 | Part Two: Marion Mollegen McFadden, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, HUD · ChangeMakers with Katie Goar

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is change Makers with Katie Gore finding the right
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: solutions for the affordable housing community.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Welcome back. We're here again with Marian McFadden, who has
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: shared her journey into disaster recovery work following nine to
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  Speaker 2: eleven and how that experience shaped her passion for rebuilding
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  Speaker 2: resilient communities. Marian, you oversee a broad portfolio at HUD,
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  Speaker 2: everything from homeless prevention to affordable housing creation, disaster recovery
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  Speaker 2: and continuum of care programs. Could you give us a
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: dashboard view of HUD's key programs and recent accomplishments. We've
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  Speaker 2: seen significant funding allocating to these initiatives. I'd love to
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  Speaker 2: hear more about it.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely. I have fun playing Ed McMahon. Folks remember the
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  Speaker 3: big check days of the publisher's clearing outs going out
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  Speaker 3: to communities, and we really do the corny but so
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  Speaker 3: fun exercise of giving out the cardboard big checks to
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  Speaker 3: celebrate communities that have worked so hard in using their
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  Speaker 3: grant dollars to do things like en veteran homelessness in
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  Speaker 3: their communities or to really increase their supply of affordable
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  Speaker 3: housing and to build disaster resilient housing and provide support.
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  Speaker 3: So We've had some great opportunities to support communities through
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  Speaker 3: our formula programs. Year over year, we do a very
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  Speaker 3: large competition. I've heard it's the largest competition in the
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  Speaker 3: federal government for homelessness resources, which is three point five
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  Speaker 3: billion dollars this year. So we are working with communities
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  Speaker 3: and thousands of grantees all across the country so that
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  Speaker 3: they have the supports that they need to really tackle
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  Speaker 3: those really difficult challenges. And one of the programs that
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  Speaker 3: I'm really excited about is our pro Housing program, where
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  Speaker 3: we did something different. We had competitive funds to allow
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  Speaker 3: communities to come forward to identify their own barriers to
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  Speaker 3: increasing their housing supply, and we loved getting applications from
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  Speaker 3: all over the country. We thought, well, we probably won't
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  Speaker 3: just hear from high cost cities, but we had no
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  Speaker 3: idea how many communities would take the time to engage
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  Speaker 3: in a process of working with their community to identify
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  Speaker 3: their barriers and knock them down. Congress pointed us at
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  Speaker 3: working with communities that are already were taking some steps
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  Speaker 3: to address their challenges to get them to the next place,
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  Speaker 3: and we had an excellent range of applications that came
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  Speaker 3: in we're oversubscribed by a factor of thirteen to one.
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  Speaker 3: People asked for thirteen dollars for every one we had available.
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  Speaker 3: We were quick to let Congress know how oversurprised the
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  Speaker 3: program was, so first year we got eighty five million
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  Speaker 3: dollars and the second year of Congress gave us a
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  Speaker 3: raise to one hundred million dollars. There, I think it's
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  Speaker 3: the federal government doing our job best of not telling
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  Speaker 3: communities what to do, not saying here in Washington, we
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  Speaker 3: know the answers, but saying we're going to ask the
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  Speaker 3: right questions and use competition to drive innovation to get
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  Speaker 3: communities thinking about what they're doing. We're also using technical
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  Speaker 3: assistance to work with all the communities across the country,
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  Speaker 3: not just the ones that won the competition, to share
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  Speaker 3: what we've learned about what works to increase affordable housing supply.
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  Speaker 3: So communities came in talking about things like reducing their
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  Speaker 3: parking minimums, changing their zoning requirements, addressing the challenges that
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: climate change has posed for their communities. The answers that
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  Speaker 3: they offered to the questions we posed were really different
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  Speaker 3: depending on the size of a community, income of a community,
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  Speaker 3: the location, but the commonality was a real need to
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  Speaker 3: make better efforts to support affordable housing. After the first
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  Speaker 3: round of the competition, we saw how much need there
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  Speaker 3: was and how much creativity there was out there. Our
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  Speaker 3: Acting Secretary, Adrian Toddman issued a legacy challenge to the
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  Speaker 3: governors and mayors who receive our annual CDBG funding and said,
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  Speaker 3: we're going to put aside two hundred and some million
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  Speaker 3: dollars in affordable housing loan guarantees, so really low interest
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  Speaker 3: loans for them to increase their housing supply through doing
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  Speaker 3: things like adaptive reuse of non residential properties turning them
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  Speaker 3: into homes. So we're doing everything we can think of
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  Speaker 3: trying to find every coin in the couch cushion to
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  Speaker 3: get communities moving at even greater pace to address their
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  Speaker 3: housing challenges.
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  Speaker 2: This program generated a lot of chatter because it really
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  Speaker 2: was a good chance to allow the local flexibility like
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  Speaker 2: you mentioned, but it also allowed in and problem solving
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  Speaker 2: in a real localized setting, exactly what you said, and
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  Speaker 2: really to have that much innovation with the parameters, right,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it had to accomplish the goals and stuff,
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  Speaker 2: but it really set the industry. It really invigorated the industry.
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  Speaker 2: I think I could summarize too.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, in the old days, we used to
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  Speaker 3: joke that at HUD we can find the no and innovation.
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  Speaker 3: But we're not making that joke anymore because truly, we
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  Speaker 3: are so fortunate to have all these great ideas in
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  Speaker 3: communities and an incredible team here. I lead the Office
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  Speaker 3: of Community Planning Development, where we have more than nine
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  Speaker 3: hundred people working in forty three offices across the country,
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  Speaker 3: and we've done some reorganizations of the way our teams
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  Speaker 3: work to really unlock everyone's ability to be problem solvers
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  Speaker 3: in partnership with communities. So that pro Housing program was
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  Speaker 3: just a start for how we're working with communities. We
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  Speaker 3: also had a really unique opportunity to focus on something
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  Speaker 3: that I think was a little bit of a blind
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  Speaker 3: spot of the affordable housing industry, which is the support
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  Speaker 3: needed for manufactured housing communities. We see in rural areas
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  Speaker 3: in particular, about fifteen to seventeen percent of the population
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  Speaker 3: is living in manufactured housing, and they people have not
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  Speaker 3: gotten the benefit of rehab and modernization funds the way
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  Speaker 3: people who live in an apartment or a stick built
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  Speaker 3: house have. So with what we called the price program.
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  Speaker 3: We were able to do a competition that we're reading
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  Speaker 3: the applications now for two hundred and thirty five million
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  Speaker 3: dollars to support residents living in manufactured housing, including in
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  Speaker 3: manufactured housing communities. And you know, we've seen properties that
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  Speaker 3: haven't had upgrades to their water and their sewer systems,
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  Speaker 3: their lighting, and communities that just need to replace some
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  Speaker 3: really old homes. So we're excited about the opportunity to
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  Speaker 3: announce those grants later this year.
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  Speaker 2: I'm glad you mentioned that because in the past there
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  Speaker 2: has been some predispositioned about manufactured housing or even tiny
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  Speaker 2: homes or ADUs, whatever you're calling it. But with the
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  Speaker 2: affordable housing crunch, HUD is at the table promoting and
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  Speaker 2: being innovative with the communities who need to have housing.
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  Speaker 2: Look differently, if you would say so, this is a
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  Speaker 2: good step forward for overall affordability.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely. I mean, if folks aren't paying attention to the
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  Speaker 3: affordable housing industry around manufactured housing, courage you to take
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  Speaker 3: a look at the kind of housing that's available today.
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  Speaker 3: There is beautiful housing that's being manufactured in factories, and
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  Speaker 3: we see multi story properties now that can get access
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  Speaker 3: to HUD mortgage insurance that are manufactured housing, so we're
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  Speaker 3: not talking about trailers like the old days of the seventies,
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  Speaker 3: So those are some of the homes that need to
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  Speaker 3: be replaced that at wheels on them. But now things
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  Speaker 3: have a permanent foundation and are good quality homes. So
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  Speaker 3: we're excited to be able to support housing whatever type
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  Speaker 3: of housing folks are living in. I will say it's
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  Speaker 3: been great for me to have the opportunity to travel
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  Speaker 3: around the country and see the innovative things communities are
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  Speaker 3: doing with casitas or accessory dwelling units, granny flats, different
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  Speaker 3: ways of taking a single family home and increasing the
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  Speaker 3: number of homes there, right, so converting a garage into
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  Speaker 3: an apartment, putting a separate unit in the backyard, whatever
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  Speaker 3: it is. People are finding that that's a great way
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  Speaker 3: to make more housing available, whether it's for extended family
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  Speaker 3: or for neighbors to be able to establish their own homes.
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  Speaker 3: Given the housing crunch nationwide.
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  Speaker 2: You mentioned rural housing, and there are definitely unique barriers
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  Speaker 2: that rural communities face in terms of affordable housing, and
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  Speaker 2: HUD often partners with USDA. What else about the rural
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  Speaker 2: planning process or the access to federal resources is HUT
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  Speaker 2: involved in. I'm specifically thinking of the Rural Prosperity Coordinating Council.
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  Speaker 2: Can you talk a little about that.
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  Speaker 3: President Biden has tasked us with working with rural America
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  Speaker 3: and meeting the expectations of folks in rural America, not
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  Speaker 3: making them learn everything we do. I say, I really
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  Speaker 3: love working with anyone who's doing affordable housing in rural
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  Speaker 3: America because they're doing lots of other things too, right.
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  Speaker 3: That's the reality of living in a small community. You
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  Speaker 3: have to wear a lot of hats. So through the
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  Speaker 3: Rural Prosperity Coordinating Council and other ways that we're working
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  Speaker 3: with USDA and White House and our federal partners, we're
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  Speaker 3: doing as much as we can to cut the red tape,
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  Speaker 3: to try to put things in plain language, to provide
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  Speaker 3: technical support to communities so that they can better use
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  Speaker 3: the annual resources that we're providing and be able to
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  Speaker 3: compete for the competitive funds that are out there. It's
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  Speaker 3: really inspiring to see how hard folks are working in
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  Speaker 3: rural America to increase their affordable housing supply. We talk
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  Speaker 3: with communities where there's been no construction for decades, and
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  Speaker 3: we know that there's a real backlog of meat.
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  Speaker 2: So, Marian, as we close out here, is there any
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  Speaker 2: other program or initiative that you're really excited about. We've
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  Speaker 2: talked about some really good ones here so far, but
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  Speaker 2: is there anything we didn't cover that you'd like to
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  Speaker 2: close us out on.
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  Speaker 3: Something that I'm really proud of that we've been working
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  Speaker 3: on is increasing the voice of young people in our
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  Speaker 3: programs for addressing homelessness. So we have the Youth Homelessness
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  Speaker 3: Demonstration Program where we've made multiple rounds of funding for
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  Speaker 3: communities that are lifting up the role of young people
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  Speaker 3: in addressing how the resources are used. You've got to
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  Speaker 3: go to the source to know how to solve the
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  Speaker 3: real challenge. So working with young people who are experiencing
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  Speaker 3: homelessness or who have been housing insecure is the best
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  Speaker 3: way to understand how to get to the next round
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  Speaker 3: of young people who need support and getting in housing.
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  Speaker 3: So through our Youth Homelessness Systems Improvement Grants and our
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  Speaker 3: YHDP grants, we've been doing that. We've been giving young
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  Speaker 3: people the power to influence the spend of the money,
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  Speaker 3: and those kids certainly haven't disappointed us in showing us
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  Speaker 3: what needs to be done and how we can be
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  Speaker 3: more flexible.
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  Speaker 2: An excellent point here, because this is not necessarily a
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  Speaker 2: problem that has always been on a HUD's radar or
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: even communities radar. So this is a new development in
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  Speaker 2: homelessness that we're still having to learn how to address.
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  Speaker 2: So obviously we need to make sure the programs and
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  Speaker 2: initiatives meet the needs, but we need to know what's
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  Speaker 2: going on. So I'm glad you bring that up because
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  Speaker 2: that's an evolving dynamic that many of us have been
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  Speaker 2: confronted with.
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  Speaker 3: It's really been a challenge in a lot of communities
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  Speaker 3: that they're seeing more and more young people living on
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  Speaker 3: the streets. It's not a hidden problem like it was previously.
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  Speaker 3: You know, it's just heartbreaking to see anyone living on
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  Speaker 3: the streets full stop. It's exciting to be able to
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  Speaker 3: work with young people and help them see new pathways
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  Speaker 3: for their futures and to provide the support they need
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  Speaker 3: in the short term so that they can focus on
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  Speaker 3: their education and their employment goals for the future.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Marian, thank you so much for taking the time.
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  Speaker 2: We've covered a lot of ground here, a lot of
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  Speaker 2: work to be done. But we are glad that you
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  Speaker 2: and your nine hundred team of professionals are making headway
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  Speaker 2: in this crucial times. Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks for the opportunity to talk about the work. Appreciate it.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to change makers with Katie Gore. To
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: find out more about Katie, go to quad L dot com.
• 13:20
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• 13:24
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