MHA Fast Facts

MHA is funded by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and is administered in collaboration with the Nebraska Housing Developers Association.

    Who is eligible?
  • Applicants who experience a physical or mental impairment which limits their ability to live independently (Documentation may be required regarding the applicant’s disability)
  • Applicants who own the home that will be made accessible
  • Applicants who have an income that meets the eligibility requirements for specific funding sources
    What does the loan require?
  • Homes must meet minimum standards for rehabilitation as determined by specific funding sources
  • Properties must be current on taxes, special assessments, and insurance
  • A home assessment must be conducted to identify barriers and solutions that:
    - Meet the needs of the homeowners
    - Are cost effective
    - Are eligible according to program
    guidelines
    - Review of funding sources to de-
    termine that all applicable resourc-
    es have been utilized by the ap-
    plicant
    - Prior written approval (Modifica-
    tions started or are already com-
    pleted are not eligible)
    More Facts
  • MHA has limited funding and not all requests can be funded
  • Eligibility does not guarantee funding of the request, and the program reserves the right to reject any or all requests
  • Other standards and guidelines may apply dependent on eligibility for other housing resources
  • The loan application process may take up to six months or more

Visitability feature - Zero Grade Entry, picture from Concrete Change
VISITABILITY
The Assistive Technology Partnership has been involved with retrofitting and making homes accessible for 10 years, and has seen first hand that retrofitting and making inaccessible homes accessible is expensive despite change and promising practices that drive down the costs of equipment. Zero-step entrances, wide interior doors and accessible bathrooms can be cost effective if planned in advance. (See Cost Comparison Chart, page 6.)
In 2005 ATP took the lead in increasing the use of a visitability design standard for publicly funded housing in Nebraska. By 2006 ATP developed language for program standards that were added to the Nebraska Department of Economic Development’s (DED) HOME and the Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust Fund (NAHTF) administrative manuals as well as to Nebraska Investment Finance Authority (NIFA) Low Income Housing Tax Credit
(LIHTC) information. Both HOME and NAHTF programs provide grants to nonprofits and local governments to develop affordable housing. According to DED, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires that 20% of all new construction must be built accessible/visitable.
Visitability first surfaced in the U.S. over twenty years ago by Eleanor Smith, Founder of Concrete Change. Concrete Change is an international effort to make all new homes visitable.
A visitable home must have at least one zero-step entrance, wide interior hallways and doors and a wheelchair accessible bathroom on the first floor.
Additional visitability features include reinforcement in bathroom walls to permit future installation of grab bars and modification in the location of light switches, electrical outlets and environ

mental controls. These additional visitability features benefit not only people with physical disabilities, but those that may develop a physical disability or a decreased state of ability, the homeowner, any house visitors despite ability, and overall the communities we live in.
Reactions from rehab and new construction grant applicants were not always the best. However, it has gotten a lot easier, said DED Housing Specialist, Paula Rhian. It is something they fought at first, but now they realize it doesn’t hurt marketability, she said. In fact, visitability widens the market for the builder and for the owner at resale. In addition visitability is inclusive, adaptable, easier to maneuver in, beneficial to everyone, and welcoming to all friends, family and visitors regardless of age, size or physical ability.
Over one year and two rounds of applications, NIFA and DED in their joint LIHTC and HOME application process had a total of 28 applications requesting a total of $8 million in funding. Of $3.4 million in funding available, nine projects were awarded funding. One round of funding resulted in 146 total housing units built and of those 68 units were either visitable or fully accessible.
Robin Ambroz, NIFA LIHTC CROWN (Credits to Own) and CRANE (Collaborative Resource Allocation for Nebraska) manager, described, “I think the impact of adding this (visitability standards) to the application has created an incentive for developers to construct projects that have at least 20% of the units meeting the visitability standards. I think it not only benefits the tenants, but also guests who may be visiting the tenants, and also the owner because this can increase the marketability of the unit.”
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