Mary Mayfield, Executive Director

1. DeSoto Parish Police JuryOffice of Community ServicesandHousing & Urban DevelopmentYear in Review Mary Mayfield, Executive Director

3. Each family averages $344* in first-year energy savings. *Calculated 2009 based on 20-year EIA annual price projection discounted to present value.

4. Our Mission, Our Vision Our mission is to identify the needs, causes, and solutions to immediate and long term self-sufficiency through direct services and referrals for our clients in DeSoto Parish. Help families become self-sufficient against poverty by encouraging education, morals, family pride, and crime prevention. To help families obtain social and economic independence for the benefit of present and future generations. Our vision is to improve our community as a whole, improve agency image and customer pride through assessing their needs in becoming more self-sufficient and productive. We hope to accomplish this with more support from organizations and other support groups throughout DeSoto Parish.

5. Shelter for the homeless, battered & Abused Emergency Shelter Grant Program (Housing & Urban Development Grant) ESGP is a critically important “transitional shelter” program for those facing homelessness and has a 2-3 month term limit per family during which wee help them obtain permanent housing. We operate one single family shelter in DeSoto strictly for DeSoto residents who qualify by meeting certain factors: • Burn out victim • Domestic violence victims • Foreclosure or eviction • Natural disaster Because there are more clients in need than we can serve with only one shelter, we are seeking funding to build a shelter in each school district. In 2012 we will obtain our 501-C-3 Status to increase our ability to leverage additional funding.

6. Homeless Prevention Rapid-rehousing Program • HPRP (Department of Children & Family Services, Crisis Intervention Section grant) • This past year, we succeeded in preventing 34 families ( from becoming homeless. A candidate for this program will be below 50% of Area Median Income, be homeless or at risk of homelessness, have no appropriate subsequent housing options, lack financial resources/support networks needed to resolve the housing crisis (household will become /remain homeless without HPRP assistance). • Determining whether a household can be assisted by the HPRP program depends on a number off factors. The case manager considers the household’s immediate housing situation, vulnerability factors, and financial or practical barriers to housing.

7. OCS REVENUE & EXPENSE

8. Major Accomplishments….…...It’s all about the PEOPLE We served over 9,000 POPLE…….… In July, our Weatherization Program was showcased one of the TOP 5 Premiere Operations in Louisiana to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Project Officer, Katherine Foote who said “the operation is excellent, the staff top-notch and well-trained”. We weatherized 218 family homes, 523 PEOPLE Utility Assistance Programs: LIHEAP, Atmos Share the Warmth, CLECO Cares , CSBG, HPRP & FEMA combined to form the fuel to keep our most vulnerable citizens from being without power during the hottest and oldest times and this year we have helped over 1600 families and more than 6,500 people. Rent/Mortgage Assistance Programs: number of families helped: CSBG -27, HPRP-30, ESGP-4 total 186 PEOPLE Prevention Homeless - We helped 34 PEOPLE on the verge of becoming homeless, obtain/maintain suitable housing by combing our ESGP, HPRP, CSBG and FEMA resources. Employment: We helped 30 PEOPLE obtain/maintain employment for 90 days or more. Education: We helped 6 PEOPLE with tuition costs and each graduated from a post secondary program. Additionally, we supplied 48 low income CHILDREN with required school supplies and uniforms. Emergency Foods, temporary shelter, clothing & other critical needs 31 families /approx 129 PEOPLE In 2011, we held our first Annual Softball Tournament to raise money for our Emergency Services Fund which …..helped 20 families , 67 PEOPLE obtain food and address other critical needs. With the help and ingenuity of DeSoto Sheriff’ Rodney Arbuckle, we joined together to improve our homeless …..shelter by engaging the local prisoners to paint the interior and improve the landscaping. We incorporated the Section 8 HUD program into our department and serviced a total of 318 families! Currently we have 184 families in homes with over 150 yet to get settled in. The Haynesville Shale has had both a positive and negative on our area: the downside is that housing is at a premium and scarce. We strive to use the Section 8 Program as a hand-up and out of the world of assistance programs.

9. Contracts: • CSBG (Community Services Block Grant, Louisiana Workforce Commission ) Original grant amount for 2011 was 101,903, but with enormous effort we succeeded in elevating our standards and increasing our award to $121,983.00, which resulted in 4 DeSoto Parish residents attending college level classes and became gainfully employed, as well as assisting families with other needs such as rent or mortgage help, emergency food, clothing and utility needs. • LIHEAP (Low-income Housing Energy Assistance Program, Louisiana Association Community Action Partnerships) LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) Funds are distributed by allocation factors derived from the most recent census data for each parish.  Households are eligible under federal standards if incomes do not exceed the greater 150 percent of the poverty level or 60 percent of the state median income.  The law requires benefits to be targeted to households with the highest energy costs in relation to income and household size.  You are eligible to apply for LIHEAP once every six months if funding is available.  DPPJ-OCS Receives funding periodically throughout the year; such funding each period is deemed a “period allocation”. Each allocation is split by parish and further split by direct service and fees for administering the program. (The award amounts vary per allocation and are based on the funds our contractor, LACAP, is awarded.) • ESGP Emergency Shelter Grant Program - Transitional Shelter In order to qualify for this program a family has to be in transition, i.e., they can only live in the shelter for 2 to 3 months while seeking permanent housing. This can include factors such as the family home burning, domestic violence, foreclosure (eviction), natural disaster and other special mitigating factors.

10. … more contracts • HOMELESS PREVENTION (HPRP) • QUALIFICATIONS • Have an initial consultation with a case manager or other authorized representative • Be at or below 50% of Area Median Income • Be homeless or at risk of homelessness AND have no appropriate subsequent housing options • Lack financial resources/support networks needed to resolve the housing crisis (household will become /remain homeless without HPRP assistance) • Determining whether a household can be assisted by the HPRP program depends on a number of factors. The case manager considers the household’s immediate housing situation, vulnerability factors, and financial or practical barriers to housing. • Household situations in which HPRP assistance might be particularly appropriate: • Facing eviction within 2 weeks • Facing discharge within weeks from institutional stay of 180 days or more • Residency in condemned housing • Sudden and significant loss of income • Sudden and significant increase in utility costs • Pending foreclosure of rental housing • Exceeding health and/or safety standards for housing unit size

11. WEATHERIZATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (WAP) To receive weatherization services, household income AND the dwelling must meet guidelines.  Applications are entered into the State database.  Clients are put on the waiting list if their household income falls within the guidelines.  Each application receives points based on several factors.  The State database assigns these points and ranks the clients on the waiting list.  When our auditors go to a parish to inspect homes, the applications at the top of the waiting list with the most points are selected to inspect.  If the dwelling meets the guidelines, the auditor selects the home for weatherization.  If it does not meet the guidelines, it is denied for weatherization services, and we refer them to other available programs, if applicable.  Each parish we serve has its own waiting list – we do not combine applications for all ten parishes. • Points are awarded on these factors: • Family member’s age • A disabled family member • Number of occupants in the dwelling • The waiting time of the application • High Use and High Burden Energy Usage • Poverty Level Group • LA WAP Rank Algorithm as of December 20, 2010 •  Related factors:    Family members' Age, Disability     Occupants    Waiting Time    Poverty Level    Energy Usage (High Use and High Burden) • ..still more contracts

12. Where are we? • We cover 8,055 Square miles..The DPPJ Office of Community Services provides support to all DeSoto Parish residents for all of our programs. In addition, we support Red River and Sabine Parishes in our Utility Assistance programs. Our Weatherization Program covers not only DeSoto, but also Moorehouse, Webster, Bossier, Bienville, Claiborne, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, and Union Parishes. Our main branch is in Mansfield, LA and our secondary office is in Bossier, LA. • OVER 9,000 PEOPLE • OVER 8,000 SQUARE MILES. Where are we? We’re close, that’s where!