RENO, Nev. (KOLO) -“Affordable housing and the challenges we face and the solutions that need to come are for everyone to tackle and to solve,” said Katie Coleman with Nevada Rural Housing.
State representatives, developers and community members from across the state are collaborating at the Nevada Housing Coalition Conference. “Digging in is about rolling up our sleeves,” said Maurice Page, the Executive Director of Nevada Housing Coalition. “Finding solutions. Putting them into action and making sure that everybody has a home in Nevada.”
Over the last few years, that state received $500 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. “We’re able to build 2,800 new units over the next few years. Some of which are already under construction right now. We were also able to preserve hundreds of units as well,” stated Page.
That funding is expiring soon and the state needs more supply to handle the high demand. “National statistics will show, as a state, Nevada is short by almost 100,000 units,” said Page. “In particular, in Northern Nevada, we are roughly at about 30,000 units short of where we need to be.”
“We have a challenge in our state with rental vouchers. We don’t have enough vouchers to be able to serve everyone who needs access to those subsidies,” added Coleman, who is calling for solution-oriented thinking to overcome challenges like funding, land, labor and resource costs.
“Well of course you have to talk about the Land’s Bill that is out there. Talking about how we can free up more land and get the federal government more involved. So that this way we can hopefully develop more housing for our folks in Northern Nevada. Number two is, increasing our labor force,” said the Executive Director. “Bringing the cost of lumber down. If we can handle those and take on those issues then we can definitely start building.”
Many Nevadans are battling homelessness or fighting inflation on a fixed income. Affordable housing advocates are pushing for Assembly Bill 310, the Nevada Supportive Housing Development Fund. “We are at the bottom field when it comes to healthcare, homelessness, and providing those resources. What that bill will do is provide all of the support services needed for new development projects that are coming online. Once we put people in housing, those services will be given to them so that they will be able to go out and maintain their housing,” added Page.
Panelists are discussing innovative, sustainable and energy-efficient homes. There is more work to be done and the Nevada Housing Coalition wants to hear from community members. More information can be found on NVHousingcoalition.Org.
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