We guide community planning processes that incorporate comprehensive community outreach and build on community strengths. Our planning work has included Housing Elements, HUD Consolidated Plans, Homeless Plans, and Permanent Local Housing Allocation Plans.

Housing Tools offers expertise in planning and implementing solutions to homelessness, including planning, grant writing, CoC coordination, Point-In-Time counts, Coordinated Entry, Homeless Management Information Systems, program evaluation, and permanent supportive housing development.

Housing Tools has developed a public outreach approach that is guided by inclusion, transparency, and constructive problem-solving. We have found this process fosters community interaction and education in a way that builds consensus and community capacity to achieve common goals. Our community engagement work has been implemented for the development of Homeless Plans, Housing Elements, Consolidated Plans, and Specific Area Plans, as well as emergency shelters and housing projects.

We will keep you up to date on the latest developments with federal and state funding sources for housing and community development, and we have experience completing a wide variety of funding applications for counties and cities, including CDBG, HOME, PLHA, NPLH, AHSC, IIG, and TOD.

Our firm employs an efficient workflow to administer your grants. In particular, we have experience ensuring compliance with HOME and CDBG, including project set up, on-site monitoring and timely submission of reports.

We have completed affordable housing site feasibility studies for a number of counties and cities. These studies have ranged from a focus on one particular site, to analysis of 3-4 sites, to a survey of potential sites throughout an entire county. They incorporate a preliminary investigation of physical features, environmental impediments, policy and zoning framework, proximity to amenities, community integration, and financial feasibility. Housing Tools has developed a uniform system to compare and evaluate multiple sites by development feasibility, financial feasibility, community benefit, and neighborhood integration.

Housing Tools has developed a Compliance Reporting System to help cities monitor their affordable housing loan portfolio. We have customized Smartsheet cloud-based project management software to facilitate report completion and tracking so that you can maintain compliance with California Health & Safety Code, federal HOME, and local inclusionary ordinance requirements. This system incorporates calendar reminders and monthly reports so you can stay on top of deadlines, and organizes your data so that it’s easy to access and update. We also provide technical support and training for property managers using this system to ensure successful adoption.