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• Community Resources for Independent Living (CRIL) will receive funds to provide housing services (counseling, referral, etc.) for persons with disabilities. Abode Services (formerly Tri-City Homeless Coalition) will receive funds for monthly rent subsidies (through HOME) and case management services (through CDBG) for clients of the Tri-Valley Housing Scholarship Program who receive temporary monthly rent subsidies while enrolled in job training programs. Several local nonprofit agencies will receive small grants to provide important services to low-income households and individuals in the community (e.g., seniors, uninsured families, mentally and developmentally disabled, low-income youth, etc.). A summary of all funding and a brief description of funded projects is included in Attachment 2. A summary of projects not funded included the following: Community Housing Consortium Community Housing Consortium (CHC) is a new agency that was recently formed to provide housing rehabilitation services. CHC has submitted an application for $412,125 to administer the City's Housing Rehab Program. The Housing Rehab Program is currently administered via a contract with Neighborhood Solutions (NS). Staff has several concerns with this application. First of all, the Housing Rehab Program is currently operating efficiently with no major issues or concerns. The current operator (NS) has been very successful in utilizing the funding that has been allocated to the program to the extent that a lack of funding for the program has led to a waiting list of eligible applicants. Staff is not aware of any compelling reason to change contractors at this time, and it does not make sense to have two contractors working on the same program. Secondly, the process of changing from one contractor to another is sensitive and requires forward planning for a smooth transition. As the Commission may recall, the City made such a change four years ago when it decided to end the contract with Alameda County Housing and Community Development (HCD) and utilize the services of NS. The latter agency applied for three consecutive years before the City finally decided to change contractors due to a general lack of satisfaction with HCD's performance (as noted above, staff is satisfied with the current operator's performance). Finally, as a new agency, CHC does not yet have a proven track record. The agency has plans to market its services to other cities but does not yet have significant commitments. The amount requested in the application ($412,125) is significantly more than the City has available to allocate through CDBG without supplements from other funding sources (e.g., HOME or the Lower Income Housing Fund). In summary, while it is encouraging to see more than one contractor interested in providing housing rehabilitation services, staff is not recommending the replacement Page 6 of 15