The Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors, Wednesday, approved a total of $7.4 million in grants to 25 Local Housing Trust Funds to support local affordable housing initiatives which will assist more than 2,600 Iowa families. The funding is provided from the State Housing Trust Fund’s Local Housing Trust Fund program.

The grant funds will be used for initiatives such as preserving aging housing stock, subsidizing local down payment assistance programs, providing low-interest loans or grants to assist Iowans in home rehabilitation, financing construction of new single-family housing for low-income Iowans and supporting housing for persons with disabilities and homeless assistance programs.

In our area:

• The Council Bluffs Housing Trust Fund, Inc. received a grant amounting to $168,345.
• Council of Governments (COG) Housing, Inc. (Serving Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Greene, Guthrie and Sac Counties), received a $262,007 grant.
• The Dallas County Local Housing Trust Fund, Inc. received $204,203 for the Dallas County area.
• The Southern Iowa COG Housing Trust Fund was awarded a $253,673 grant for their service area, which includes Adair, Adams, Clarke, Decatur, Madison, Ringgold, Taylor and Union Counties.
• The Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund, Inc. was awarded $331,727 for their service area, that includes: Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie (excluding the city of Council Bluffs) and Shelby Counties.

The State Housing Trust Fund was created by the Iowa Legislature in 2003. Since its inception, the program has provided $63 million in affordable housing assistance that has benefited nearly 23,000 Iowa families. This funding has leveraged another $152 million in other funds or $2.42 for every dollar of State Housing Trust Fund investment.

The State Housing Trust Fund helps ensure decent, safe and affordable housing for Iowans through two programs. The Local Housing Trust Fund Program receives at least 60 percent of the SHTF allocation to provide grants for organizations certified by the Iowa Finance Authority as a Local Housing Trust Fund. The remaining funding goes to the Project-Based Housing Program, which aids in the development of affordable single-family and multifamily housing. The Iowa Finance Authority administers both programs and provides technical assistance to housing-related organizations.