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Giving to Those in Need: Annual PATH Luncheon for St. Francis Center

Last week, the St. Francis Center hosted its annual PATH luncheon fundraiser at the Temple Emanuel in Denver. The St. Francis Center is a Denver-based nonprofit whose aim is to provide a place of transformation to people in who face homelessness. The annual luncheon serves as a way to raise money for those in our society who are the most in need, and it is always wonderful to see so many people in support of the St. Francis Center’s mission.

Commencement

The program commenced with a speech from Tom Leuhr, the exiting Executive Director for St. Francis, who spoke on the challenges that many homeless people face in their day-to-day lives. Tom was also joined by several other guest speakers, including Andrew Spinks, the Chief Development Officer for St. Francis, Elisabeth Francis, the Director of Street Outreach, and Dr. Ed Farrell, MD, each of whom offered their own insights into the homeless problem and the extraordinary work of the St. Francis Center.

 

Dr. Ed Farrell describing the challenges that many on the street are facing

 

Each speaker helped illustrate how the center’s compassionate services had provided a lifeline for many individuals and families, fostering empowerment and offering a pathway to a brighter future.

The speakers offered powerful speeches that shed light on the extraordinary work of the St. Francis Center. Speakers shared stories of transformation, resilience, and hope, reminding everyone of the strength exhibited by those facing homelessness.

The luncheon was also an occasion to acknowledge the dedication and generosity of the many volunteers, donors, and supporters who have played a vital role in the success of the St. Francis Center.

Welcoming Nancy Burke to St. Francis

This event served as a passing of the torch from Tom Leuhr to Nancy Burke, the incoming Executive Director for St. Francis Center. Nancy brings with her more than 30 years of experience in the nonprofit sector to St. Francis Center.

 

Nancy Burke speaks as the incoming Executive Director for St. Francis Center

 

By coming together, attendees were able to not only celebrate the center’s achievements, but also reasserted their mission to creating a city where every person in need has access to safe and stable housing. The event provided a powerful reminder that collective action can bring about transformative change. As a Marble Sponsor for this event, ProLink Solutions was more than happy to be a part.

 

ProLink team members with incoming Executive Director, Nancy Burke

 

About the St. Francis Center

St. Francis Center provides comprehensive services to people experiencing homelessness. The organization operates a variety of programs and services, including:

  • Day Center Services
  • Permanent supportive housing
  • Employment services and placement
  • Mental health and substance abuse treatment
  • Street outreach and safe outdoor spaces management

 

Please consider donating to the St. Francis Center if you are able to. You can learn more about how to donate to the center here.

 

Highlights from ProLink Technology Live 2022

This year, ProLink Solutions held an all-virtual conference, ProLink Technology Live 2022. The conference featured a number of guest speakers from all areas of the affordable housing industry and was split into two separate tracks, one for ProLinkHFA (multi-family) and one for ProLink+ (single-family). In total, 20 affordable housing organizations were represented in the audience. Our speaker lineup consisted of 6 employees from ProLink Solutions, as well as 8 industry experts from various affordable housing organizations.

Keynote – Washington Update

We started the conference with a special keynote from Jennifer Schwartz, the Director of Tax and Housing Advocacy at the National Council of State and Housing Agencies (NCSHA). Jennifer provided an update on Washington, and also touched up on a variety of topics including:

  • FY 2023 HUD Budget Appropriations
  • IRS’ final ruling on Average Income Test (AIT) in October 2022
  • The IRS extending the Housing Credit Placed-In-Service and other deadlines at NCSHA’s request.

You can watch the session recording here.

Panel on 8823 Updates and Average Income Test

Kelly Encinias, the HFA Senior Product Manager at ProLink, was joined by several industry experts for a panel discussion on 8823 compliance and AIT final regulations released by IRS in October 2022. As part of this panel discussion, Virginia Housing’s Erica Etterling presented how the AIT final ruling is going to affect Virginia’s Average Income Guidance currently in place, including how property owners’ AIT reporting to the state is going to change.

You can watch the session recording here.

Procorem Use Cases Panel

Ryan Kim, VP of Sales & Marketing at ProLink, was joined by panelists representing different industry roles to discuss  a number of different Procorem use cases. Danny Escuder with Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) presented how the agency is utilizing Procorem to support the agency’s Multifamily Application submission process.

You can watch the session recording here.

In addition, we had six other software training sessions tailored to ProLinkHFA and ProLink+ products. You can access all session recordings here.

What to Expect from ProLink in the Coming Year

In 2023, ProLink plans to host a brand-new webinar series beginning in February. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with the latest news from ProLink as well as news about the affordable housing industry.

 

 

Join Us for ProLink Technology Live 2022!

We are excited to announce ProLink Technology Live 2022! Join us for our annual user conference on November 9 and 10. Registration is now open with additional details available on the registration site. This event is open to all public agencies nationwide. It’s a two-day virtual event with multiple tracks:

  • Track 1 – ProLinkHFA Multifamily is a 2-day track filled with software training as well as two panels featuring industry experts, one on 8823 updates and the Average Income Test and the other on Procorem use cases. Open to all public agencies.
  • Track 2 – ProLink+ HAF is a single day track (November 9) focused on Homeowner Assistance Fund implementation. Open to all public agencies. Learn how ProLink+ uses DocuSign and Amazon Quicksight to assist in the HAF application process.

On November 9 at 11AM Eastern, we will kick off the conference with a special keynote from Jennifer Schwartz, Director of Tax and Housing Advocacy with the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA), who will be providing affordable housing industry updates from Washington!

All session and speaker information can be found in the registration site.

The event is free. Check out the site and register today!

Loss Mitigation, a Hot Topic with the Treasury

Most states have submitted their Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) plans to the U.S. Treasury in August. As of the publication of this blog, various states are engaged in active dialogues with the Treasury regarding their HAF plans. A hot topic of the discussions is the issue of integrating HAF into loss mitigation options that are already in place.

In a recent webinar hosted by the Urban Institute, panelist Stockton Williams, Executive Director of the National Council of State Housing Finance Agencies (NCSHA) explains, “Homeowner Assistance Fund really shouldn’t be seen as a stand-alone thing. It’s really a part of a suite of tools that are going to be available.” Williams was referring to loss mitigation options that are already available to homeowners who have mortgages with the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), or the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

William Corbett, Senior Advisor at the Treasury, concurs with Stockton’s view. William said, “You have much better and, in some cases, very streamlined federal loss mitigation options that are available to homeowners. That won’t work for every homeowner… There will be some homeowners who will be able to get success from that…and homeowners that might not be able to get success from that. That’s one area where housing counselors can assist.” You can find a recording of the webinar on the Urban Institute’s website here.

At the upcoming industry event, ProLink Technology Live 2021, ProLink Solutions is hosting a panel with industry experts to discuss the latest HAF implementation issues including loss mitigation. The event is free and is open to all public agencies.

All session and speaker information can be found in the registration site.

Check out the site and register today!

Announcing ProLink Technology Live 2021!

ProLink Solutions is opening our annual user conference to all public agencies nationwide this year. Join ProLink Technology Live 2021 on November 9 and 10. It’s a two-day virtual event with multiple tracks:

  • Track 1 – ProLinkHFA Multifamily is a 2-day track filled with software training as well as an 8823 Compliance panel made up of industry experts. Open to all public agencies.
  • Track 2 – ProLink+ HAF is a single day track (November 9) focused on Homeowner Assistance Fund implementation. Open to all public agencies.
  • Track 3 – ProLinkAIM is a single day track (November 10) and open only to ProLinkAIM users in the LIHTC syndication and investment space.

On November 9 at 11AM Eastern, we will kick off the conference with a special keynote speaker Jennifer Schwartz, Director of Tax and Housing Advocacy with the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA), to provide affordable housing industry updates from Washington!

All session and speaker information can be found in the registration site.

The event is free. Check out the site and register today!

Tackling the Digital Divide in Urban and Rural Colorado

Five percent of Colorado’s K-12 students lack access to affordable and reliable internet at home according to the study published by Colorado Futures Center (Access the full report here: https://www.coloradofuturescsu.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/colorado-remote-learning-impact-region-final.pdf). Housing Colorado, a non-profit organization in Colorado with a mission of promoting the preservation and production of quality affordable housing statewide, is hosting a webinar on September 21 to address the issue of the digital divide in urban and rural Colorado.

Ryan Kim, ProLink Solutions’ Director of Product Marketing, will be moderating the panel with two speakers, Jesse Burne with Denver Housing Authority and Josh Wehe with Jade Communications. “Since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year, many of us conduct our day-to-day business virtually and take our access to high-speed internet for granted. Imagine if you or your kids didn’t have access to internet. How would you effectively compete whether at work or at school?” says Ryan.

In the webinar, the panelists will share their success stories in filling the digital gap. Denver Housing Authority has run a program called ConnectHome Denver, which tackles the issue in the urban area by creating local partnerships encompassing government agencies and multiple Internet Service Providers (ISP). Jesse Burne, Strategic Initiatives Manager with the Housing Authority, will tell the story. Josh Wehe, Operations Director with Jade Communications, a smaller ISP in Southern Colorado, will provide a rural counterpart presentation. Jade Communications has assisted half a dozen school districts in low-income communities in the San Luis Valley region.

The webinar is scheduled for September 21 at 1 p.m. Mountain Time. Register here:
https://www.housingcolorado.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1548714&group=#