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Help for Individuals
The Housing Assistance Council does not
offer direct financial assistance to individuals.
HAC's loans and other services are directed
to local groups that construct affordable rural housing. Individuals
are welcome to purchase HAC's publications or attend trainings
and conferences, if they wish, but these are targeted to local
government and nonprofit developers and therefore may not be of
much use to someone who is trying to find housing rather than
build it.
In general, national organizations help state
and local groups, not individuals. Local groups are best suited
to helping individuals because they understand the unique characteristics
of their communities. National groups may be able to provide you
with referrals to local groups or other national groups. They
may have mailing lists, lists of groups they work with, a membership
list (not all national groups have members), or some kind of directory.
Some national groups are very large and do help individuals; they have branch offices or representatives to administer the programs. Christmas in April and Habitat for Humanity are two well-known organizations that operate in this way. The national office of an organization like this would probably give you information about their programs and a referral to their branch nearest to you.
Besides asking national groups, you can also find out about local groups by looking in the telephone book, libraries, and career information centers. Personal contacts are often good sources of information--ask family, friends, co-workers, anyone you know if they know of any housing programs in the area. Churches and other religious organizations often have connections with housing programs or even run their own.
Once you have a few names of local organizations, you can ask them for referrals to other local groups. If you call a group and are told that they have no program to help you, always ask if they know of any other organization that might be able to help you.
It may turn out that there
is no program in your area that can help you in exactly the way
you want. In this situation you could take advantage of
the programs that are available; for example, instead of getting
a rental subsidy, you might get into a self-help housing program
or a tenants' rights group or a job training program.
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Below are links to websites that may be helpful
to you.
National Organizations and Federal
Government Offices
State Housing Agencies
Community Action Agencies (searchable
by state)
Disability Related
Native Americans
Mortgages
Other Helpful Sites
Other Resources (by state)
Jobs with Nonprofit Organizations
Volunteer Opportunities
Legal Aid
This list should help you find appropriate information
that meets your needs. You may have to do a lot of searching,
but remember the end result will be worth it. This list is not
a comprehensive listing of all available resources, especially
for individual states and local areas. The Housing Assistance
Council claims no responsibility for information on any of these
sites.
The Housing Assistance Council is located in Washington,
DC. There are a couple of other housing organizations with similar
names that are not connected with us. You might be looking for
one of the following:
If you have suggestions about additional resources
to include on this list, please send an e-mail to hac@ruralhome.org
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