Belmont Shelter Corp.
1195 Main St
Buffalo, NY - 14209
(716) 884-7791
About Belmont Shelter Corp.
Belmont Shelter Corp. has just completed its twenty-fifth year of working to meet the need for quality, affordable homes for lower income families, seniors and those with special needs. To accomplish that mission, we continue to focus on rental and homeownership assistance programs, housing counseling and housing-related educational programs, developing new and preserving existing housing and educating the public about the benefits of and need for affordable shelter and fair housing opportunity. Our efforts to achieve these goals are strengthened by many valuable assets. We are unique in our highly specialized knowledge and training in the housing field and the scope of the services we provide. We benefit from a proven track record, a high degree of fiscal responsibility and an excellent working relationship with our supporters. In 2002, we received 3,700 applications for rental assistance; averaged 100% utilization of available rental assistance vouchers and conducted 75-80 Housing Quality Inspections per day. We launched the Step Up Home Ownership Program, enabling households to utilize their Section 8 assistance to purchase a home. We developed and sold 11 single family homes. We were the first area organization to take advantage of HUD s new Dollar Home Program and submitted 8 funding applications for multi-family housing, the largest of which is funding the construction of our newest residential development, the 100-unit senior housing complex Southwind Landing. In Property Management activity in 2002, we opened three new housing complexes and fully rented them in record time. We also hired a Service Coordinator to enhance the services available to residents of our managed properties. We identified two low-income populations as the most difficult to reach: those living outside of Buffalo and first ring suburbs, and the Hispanic population. To improve outreach and services to these populations, we opened our first full-service satellite office, in the Village of Hamburg, began advertising in Spanish, and took steps to ensure the availability of translation services at our central office. We greatly expanded our educational services to include monthly training for property owners and their staff on how to work safely with lead-based paint; a new certification program, The Renters Edge, designed to teach what it takes to be a successful, desirable tenant; and a community education workshop called Taking Care of the Basics, which offered the public access to a wide range of housing-related information and organizations. Financially, we expanded our sources of revenue for services through the generosity of private sources, notably HSBC Bank and the Federal Home Loan Banks of New York and Cincinnati, as well as through bonding from the NYS Housing Finance Agency and with equity funds raised through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. To continue a high level of service, we will look for ways to increase access to private funding to supplement, and in some cases replace, government funding. Moving into the future, we anticipate modest growth in staff and services as we continue our commitment to our organization s values and goals. Related to this growth is the fact that we have already effectively outgrown our present offices, a situation for which we will need to find cost-effective solutions during the coming year. The need for affordable housing remains significant, particularly for the growing senior population. At the same time, competition for the resources to meet that need is also growing. We will continue to rely on the many talents and devotion of our staff to meet these challenges.
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