Our goal is to help people who, by HUD statistical definitions, are low or very low income and have reliable income but who cannot qualify to purchase a home and in most cases cannot even afford a decent rental home at market rates. In other cases the home they could afford would not be in a safe neighborhood. We acquire reasonable, safe and sustainable housing units either through donations from property owners, direct purchase of distressed properties or from HUD and other agencies. Ideally these homes will offer access to social services and support groups. There is an application process and financial suitability testing for people that are interested in participating in the program. We rely and partner with other approved 501c3 organizations and governmental housing agencies to source and screen potential renters.
This collaborative program between HUD and VA combines HUD housing vouchers with VA supportive services to help Veterans who are homeless and their families find and sustain permanent housing.
In carrying out the exempt purpose of Haven for Hero's, Inc., our organization is dedicated to providing a pathway to affordable housing for the poor, distressed and economically disadvantaged. We strive to serve low income veterans and less fortunate families primarily in Virginia and expanding nationally. There are three specific target groups we have identified: 1. Veterans that qualify under HUD's low and very low-income guidelines and published standards. 2. Veterans who have recently become unemployed and meet federal poverty level guidelines. 3. Veterans suffering extreme hardships on a case by case basis. Our goals include providing rental and permanent housing opportunities within a 200- mile radius of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Many of the veterans we serve only know crime ridden neighborhoods with overcrowding, high racial imbalance, tensions and unsafe living conditions. Haven for Hero's, Inc. seeks to provide relief to the disadvantaged by providing access to clean, comfortable and low-cost housing. Housing insecurity is a growing threat as a shortage of affordable housing in our area and within the surrounding communities of Washington, D.C. have experienced property values increasing to record highs, thereby displacing veterans who can no longer afford their old neighborhoods. Haven for Hero's, Inc. intend to acquire homes in areas that could use improvement or would qualify for community development. Our goal is to fix them and rent them to veterans on a long-term basis. We intend to instill in our residents a sense of ownership and pride in their place of residence. If, over time a family can qualify for VA or FHA financing, they will have the opportunity to purchase the property from the organization at below fair market value. Our organization intend to partner with other social service organizations to sponsor workshops where people can learn skills in basic home repair. These will be taught by volunteers who have expertise in these specialties. Coordination with city and county officials should insure that any major improvements meet standard code practices. The organization will not only facilitate education, but will facilitate access, on a need basis, to materials and equipment obtained through donations. The residents of our properties will receive volunteer help for approved projects. Financially and credit challenged veterans would be eligible to participate in the rental program. They will also be encouraged to "pay it forward" and help others within the community. Our goal includes fighting community deterioration and racial discrimination while turning neighborhoods around and teaching people how to take care of themselves and acquire skills that will not only benefit themselves in self-esteem, but also as vested renters and potentially home owners. Our vision is to create a community of veterans that are connected and supportive of each other. Our goals include combating community deterioration by providing a clear path for renters or transitional tenants to become owners, thereby encouraging pride of ownership through property up-keep consistent with Rev. Rulings Guidlines. Haven for Hero's, Inc. also strives to lessen neighborhood tensions by focusing on areas that suffer from overcrowding in lower income areas that lack accessible and affordable housing. Our initial fundraising efforts will include: • An awareness and educational campaign that encourages individuals and local business owners to participate through volunteerism and individual donations. • Applications to agencies that award grants to affordable housing providers. • Leverage our professional relationships within the communities of Fredericksburg. • Seek support in the form of non-cash donations (construction materials, for example) from local businesses. Part VI, Question #1 b: To further the exempt purposes of Haven for Hero's, Inc., the organization's goal is to partner with other like-minded 501 (c) {3) organizations. Our plan is to work with other outstanding community housing leaders, government housing agencies and nonprofit organizations that focus on issues related to eliminating the affordable housing crisis; making a difference for veterans, their families and communities by providing low cost housing to those in need.
How many homeless veterans are there?
Although flawless counts are impossible to come by – the transient nature of homeless populations presents a major difficulty – the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that 40,056 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness. Only 7% of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly 13% of the homeless adult population are veterans.
The number of homeless veterans has decreased by about 50% since 2009, according to HUD’s Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress (AHAR).
Combat veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and the Global War on Terror who need help – from mental health programs to housing, employment training and job placement assistance – are beginning to seek help from the nation’s community-based homeless veteran service provider organizations. Already stressed by an increasing need for assistance by post-Vietnam-era veterans and strained budgets, homeless service providers are deeply concerned about the influx of combat veterans who will eventually be requesting their support.
Approximately 12,700 veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation New Dawn (OND) were homeless in 2010. The number of young homeless veterans is increasing, but only constitutes 8.8% of the overall homeless veteran population.
Why are veterans homeless?
In addition to the complex set of factors influencing all homelessness – extreme shortage of affordable housing, livable income and access to health care – a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse, which are compounded by a lack of family and social support networks. Additionally, military occupations and training are not always transferable to the civilian workforce, placing some veterans at a disadvantage when competing for employment.
A top priority for homeless veterans is secure, safe, clean housing that offers a supportive environment free of drugs and alcohol.
What services do homeless veterans need?
Homeless veterans need a coordinated effort that provides secure housing and nutritional meals; essential physical health care, substance abuse aftercare and mental health counseling; and personal development and empowerment. Veterans also need job assessment, training and placement assistance. NCHV strongly believes that all programs to assist homeless veterans must focus on helping veterans reach the point where they can obtain and sustain gainful employment. If not, clients will be unable to find and maintain safe, decent, permanent housing.
What are some of the risk factors for veteran homelessness?
In May 2012, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released a report titled “Incidence of Homelessness among Veterans and Risk Factors for Becoming Homeless in Veterans.” The report presents findings from a study of roughly 500,000 men and women who separated from military service in 2005 and 2006 and were tracked through Sept. 30, 2010. These veterans had not experienced any episodes of homelessness before their separation from active duty, and utilized DoD (including TRICARE) or VA health care after their separation.
OEF/OIF and women veterans experienced higher homeless incidences after military separation. At 5 years after separation from the military, 3.7% of the veterans experienced an initial episode of homelessness (the newly homeless). OEF/OIF and women veterans experienced higher incidences of homelessness than their non-OEF/OIF and male counterparts. Among the veterans who became homeless, the median times to the first episode of homelessness were close to 3 years, indicating half of new homeless episodes occurred 3 years after discharge from active duty. OEF/OIF homeless veterans encountered their first homeless episode slightly sooner than their non-OEF/OIF counterparts after discharge from active duty.
Veterans who experienced homelessness after military separation were younger, enlisted with lower pay grades, and were more likely to be diagnosed with mental disorders and /or traumatic brain injury (TBI) at the time of separation from active duty. At discharge from active duty, 79–84 percent of homeless veterans were under age 35, in contrast to 64–74 percent of domiciled veterans. Most (70–78 percent) of the homeless veterans were enlisted and in the lower pay grades of E1–E4, compared with 39–51 percent of the domiciled veterans. Nearly half or more (from 48 percent for OEF/OIF men to 67 percent for non-OEF/OIF women) of homeless veterans were diagnosed with some mental disorders, about double their domiciled counterparts (from 21 percent for OEF/OIF men to 34 percent for non-OEF/OIF women). The percent of homeless veterans diagnosed with TBI was nearly 2–3 times higher than their domiciled counterparts.
Presence of mental disorders (substance-related disorders and/or mental illness) is the strongest predictor of becoming homeless after discharge from active duty. Nearly half or more (ranging from 48 percent for OEF/OIF men to 67 percent for non-OEF/OIF women) of the newly homeless veterans were diagnosed with some mental disorders prior to discharge from active duty; the rate of diagnosed mental disorders among newly homeless veterans increased to 64–76 percent before becoming homeless.
Homeless veterans, especially women, had received disproportionally higher military sexual trauma (MST)-related treatment than domiciled veterans and the majority of the newly homeless women veterans who received MST-related treatment had received the treatment before they became homeless. The percentages (29 for non-OEF/OIF and 34 for OEF/OIF women, 3 for non-OEF/OIF and 2 for OEF/OIF men) of homeless veterans who had received MST-related treatment were over 3 times higher than those of their domiciled counterparts (5 for non-OEF/OIF and 9 for OEF/OIF women, 0.2 for non-OEF/OIF and 0.3 for OEF/OIF men). Among the homeless women veterans who received MST-related treatment, 60 percent of non-OEF/OIF and 72 percent of OEF/OIF homeless women had received MST treatment prior to their first homeless episode. Among the male homeless veterans who received MST-related treatment, 46 percent of non-OEF/OIF and 53 percent of OEF/OIF homeless men had received the treatment prior to their first homeless episode.
Homeless veteran demographics
13% of the homeless adult population are veterans
20% of the male homeless population are veterans
68% reside in principal cities
32% reside in suburban/rural areas
51% of individual homeless veterans have disabilities
50% have serious mental illness
70% have substance abuse problems
51% are white males, compared to 38% of non-veterans
50% are age 51 or older, compared to 19% non-veterans
Who is helping homeless veterans?
The most effective programs for homeless and at-risk veterans are community-based, nonprofit, “veterans helping veterans” groups. Programs that seem to work best feature transitional housing that offers the camaraderie of living in structured, substance-free environments with fellow veterans who are successfully regaining control of their lives. Because government money for homeless veterans is limited and VA serves less than half of this population, it is critical that community groups reach out to help provide the support, resources and opportunities most Americans take for granted: employment, housing and health care.
There are over 2,100 community-based homeless veteran service providers across the country and many other homeless assistance programs that have demonstrated impressive success reaching homeless veterans. These groups are most successful when they work in collaboration with federal, state and local government agencies; other homeless providers; and veteran service organizations. Veterans who participate in these programs have a higher chance of becoming tax-paying, productive citizens again.
When we have set-apart a house well under market value, we provide our private lenders a chance to fund the purchasing and rehab of the house. They can also earn high interest rates- usually 4 to 5 times the rates you can get on the bank CDs and other traditional investment schemes.
On purchasing a new house it requires renovations. The costs will be allotted for the buying price, renovations, carrying prices, price to resell, and a small buffer too for unexpected expenses.
There are several causes, but the main reason is, time and negotiation leverage. Many of the houses we are buying are in need of an urgent sale within 10 to 14 days. A traditional bank needs 30 to 45 days to close a loan. Also, when we purchase by using cash funds our leverage is far greater. Several traditional house sales fall out of contract due to financing issues, and this permits us to negotiate a much lower purchasing cost and reduce our risk.
Lending guidelines are also regularly changing. New requisites include applications, junk fees, approvals and strict investor guidelines. They also bound the number of investment properties that can be purchased by a company.
We make our money on purchasing. We can pay very high returns, but it permits us to buy 20 to 30% below a retail buyer. That instantly creates thousands of bucks in equity. Apart from that, generally we cut out the middleman in transactions such as commissions, loan fees, mortgage broker fees etc. and our attorney costs are also lesser as there is less work for them to review.
Of course, with your cash funding we can offer something, which very few buyers can. We can buy on their timeline in as little as 10 to 14 days. Knowing that we are going to renovate the house and purchasing as-Is condition is a very significant factor for most sellers of distressed property and they will not have to pay any additional fees too.
It is a good question and a valid concern. However, our strategy is not to invest 3 years down the road. Our objective is to buy quickly and sell even faster. Mostly our projects complete in 1 to 2 months and sold in 4 to 5 months. The market does not tend to change over dramatically in a matter of months - actually it is a longer process for an area to decline. Remember, we are purchasing in those strategic areas where inventory is already low and demand is high; which minimizes our risk significantly.
Currently we pay 4 to 5 times what a typical bank CD is paying. Our rate fluctuates very little depending on the purchase price and rehab involved. Almost all of our lenders are paid from 10%. The lower the buying price, sometimes we may afford to pay a little higher rate to ensure our lenders make it worth their time.
Most of our loans are set up on an 8 to 12 month note, but it depends on the project size. If we are doing a pull down and rebuild then we will have to wait on the county inspectors for approvals. This can cause delays. But, we have a tendency to account for all of these details upfront and provide you estimated time frame for the return on your investment.
It is very important for us that we don't waste your time. However, sometimes, situations may occur where we find a buyer immediately. In this situation, we give you two options: either we can move the note to another property, or give you a minimum of 3 months interest. At that point most investors see the strength of our purchasing ability, and simply move the note to another property.
Generally, we pay a large lump sum amount at closing on a short term note. It is much easier to manage for both of us, particularly if we are working out of a retirement account. On a longer note, we pay monthly, just like a usual mortgage.
No, there’s no government supported guarantee on such privately held real estate notes. You are getting protection from the equity in the real estate. If at any time we default on the note then you have legal right to take the house (basically foreclose on us). Many investors laugh about it and say, “I hope you are a day behind on payments and I’d gladly take this one back”. You have to keep in mind that we plan for the worst, and our houses have thousands of dollars of equity in them; and in worst case scenario, frequently we don’t make “as much” as we expect for.
Yes, there are established tax guidelines in this regard, and it is completely legal. However, we always advocate the services of a custodian to invest retirement funds tax deferred or tax free.
We purchase, we pay for a title search as well as a title policy on the house, simply as we do in a typical transaction.
If we buy a renovation, we buy a builders risk policy i.e. Vacant Dwelling Policy. In case of any damage, insurance distributions would be used to repair or rebuild the property, or it can used to pay you off.
This is our policy to pay for all the closing costs so that all your investment goes to work for you. We shall pay for the closing agent, notary fees, document preparation fees, overnight mail fees, bank wire fees and recording prices. We do not charge any commission or fees from our private lenders.
No, we don't pool your funds. Your funding will be tied to at least one piece of property secured by a deed of trust.
In such unlikely scenario, we would just transfer ownership of the property to you, if possible. For any reason if we didn't (or could not) transfer, then you will have all the legal rights of a secured lender. In case of default, the best way to legally protect your interest would be to hire an attorney. They generally would try to get your investment back, any collection costs, any unpaid interest, and all your attorney fees and perhaps even more. A legal representative could advise you if it is sensible to foreclose or seek ownership of the property to guard or recover your investment.