(Compiled in part from the glossary of the Interagency Council for Coordinating Homeless Programs)

Abatement - Any set of measures designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, asbestos, or other hazards in accordance with federal standards. See also Lead-Based Paint Hazard

Affordable Housing - Housing for which the occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of gross income for total housing costs, including rent, mortgage payments, condominium fees, utilities, taxes, and insurance, as applicable for rental or owned housing units.

APR – Annual Progress Report – required by HUD on a yearly basis for any program receiving HUD funding.

BMIR - Below Market Interest Rate

CDBG - Community Development Block Grant - Distributed by the Department of Housing and Urban Renewal in Washington, DC. Larger cities in North Carolina receive CDBG money directly, while the Division of Community Assistance in the NC Department of Commerce distributes funding to smaller cities.

Chronically Homeless – A chronically homeless person is defined as an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more OR has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years. 

CoC or COC – Continuum of Care – Agencies that receive HUD funding through the annual competitive process, as well as other self-identified stakeholders. Most Continua include a majority of the nonprofit and faith-based homeless service providers in a community, or region, but may also include law enforcement, primary care hospitals, local colleges and universities, local government, churches, etc. The Continua structure is required by HUD as the entity that submits federal grant requests for HUD’s competitive homeless funding.

Community Development Corporation (CDC) - A nonprofit corporation whose activities and decisions are initiated, managed, and controlled by its constituencies, and whose primary mission is to develop and improve low-income communities and neighborhoods through economic and related development. Community development corporations were enabled by Title VII Special Impact of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.

Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) - A nonprofit with demonstrated capacity to successfully carry out the development and management of affordable housing that maintains significant accountability to the low-income residents of their communities.

CRA - Community Reinvestment Act

Disabled Individual - A person with a physical, mental, developmental, or emotional impairment that is expected to be of indefinite duration, that substantially impedes his or her ability to live independently, and that is of such a nature that the ability could be improved by more suitable housing conditions.

Discharge Planning Work Group – A workgroup of the ICCHP. The DPWG is drafting a statewide discharge policy strategy aimed at reducing the number of persons discharged from public funded systems (e.g., state psychiatric hospitals, jails, prisons, foster care) into homelessness.

Doubled Up – a situation in which persons are living with relatives or friends, on a temporary basis, for economic reasons, and they have a host/guest relationship. These persons are not on a lease or mortgage and could be asked to leave at any time. This does not include legal arrangements such as foster care.

ESG – Emergency Shelter Grant -- federal dollars funded through the McKinney-Vento Act. These dollars are a block grant and are administered by the Office of Economic Opportunity within the NC Department of Health and Human Services.  The funds may be used for operating expenses, services, and homelessness prevention.

Existing Homeowner - An owner-occupant who holds legal title to residential property and used as his/her principal residence.

FMR – Fair Market Rent – How much HUD is willing to pay for a rental unit. It’s based on the average rent for a region, though it’s less than the average. Fair Market Rents includes the cost of utilities (excluding telephone), ranges and refrigerators, and all maintenance, management, and other services that would be required to be paid in order to rent privately owned, decent, safe, and sanitary rental housing of a modest nature with suitable amenities in a given market area. Landlords within an urban setting may feel that the fair market rent is too low, because the region would include rural areas surrounding the urban area, and the average in those communities might be lower, which would pull down the regional average, The fair market rent is set by HUD and published in the Federal Register.

FDIC - Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

FMHA - Farmers Home Administration, now called Rural Development and part of USDA.

FY - Fiscal Year

Gaps Analysis – a community’s analysis of its homeless service delivery system  - what housing and services are available, what’s needed, and what the gaps are in that system. The gaps analysis is usually completed by the Continuum of Care, and is part of the annual competitive application for federal HUD dollars.

Harm Reduction Model -  A model of services better known in Europe. The Harm Reduction Model focuses on minimizing damage that occurs to an individual while they are homeless so that when their circumstances change it is easier to make a transition back into the mainstream. This model is particularly used with persons who are in active addiction, or who have a mental illness with symptoms that lead an individual away from treatment. Many street outreach programs are harm reduction projects.

HAMFI - HUD Adjusted Family Median Incomes are estimated incomes for a family of four. They vary by family size and by metropolitan area or by non-metropolitan county. The income for the non-metropolitan part of the state is used instead of the non-metropolitan county, where the state income is higher. The income figures are adjusted for high rent and low income areas. The income figures were based on the same period, on the same period of time, and same metropolitan area definitions as were used in the 1990 Census.

HECM - Home Equity Conversion Mortgage

HMIS – Homeless Management Information System – a system communities use to determine an unduplicated count of persons being served within the homeless service network. HMIS can also be used to provide aggregate information about homeless persons and homeless services to assist in policy development. HMIS can also be used to facilitate streamlined case management and information & referral between agencies working with the same program participant(s).  HMIS is a congressional mandate that has no designated funding source, though communities may choose to use service dollars available from HUD to pay for their HMIS.

Homeless – The HUD definition is (a) an individual or family which lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; or
(b) an individual or family which has a primary nighttime residence that is:

(1)   a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for persons with mental illness);

(2)   an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or

(3)   a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

(4)   The term does not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an Act of Congress or a State law.

In addition, the HUD definition includes persons who will be discharged from an institution, such as a jail or mental health hospital, within 7 days, yet that person does not have an identified place to live upon discharge.

The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services include being doubled-up in their definition of homelessness. HUD only includes double-ups in the case of families fleeing domestic violence.

HOPWA – Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS. These dollars are administered through the NC AIDS Care Office. They are competitively awarded to regional consortia to provide housing assistance to persons who are HIV+ or who have AIDS.

Housing First, Housing Plus -  A new model of homeless services that involves moving persons directly from the streets and placing them into permanent housing accompanied by intensive services. Initially a research project, this model has been shown to be very effective with chronically homeless persons and cost neutral to communities. This model has also been shown to work well with homeless families and with homeless young adults.

Housing Problems
Households with housing problems include those that lack complete plumbing or kitchen facilities, are overcrowded (i.e., with more than one person per room), and/or pay more than 30 percent of gross income for total housing expenses.

HUD – United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

ICCHP – Interagency Council for Coordinating Homeless Programs. This council has been appointed by the Governor since 1992. The Council is to advise the Governor and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on issues of homelessness. The Council’s members include representatives from various state agencies as well as state legislators, homeless service providers, formerly homeless persons, local government representatives and advocates. The Council is currently developing the NC 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness.

IHA - Indian Housing Authority

ICH – the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. The federal Interagency Council coordinates the efforts of its 20 federal member agencies. The ICH was re-energized under the current administration and is challenging states and communities to develop 10 year plans to end homelessness. The ICH has also focused specific attention on discharge planning as homelessness prevention as well as Housing First, Housing Plus as a successful program model for working with chronically homeless persons.

In-kind Services – When program participants, or residents, of Agency A receive services from Agency B, and Agency B is not charging Agency A to provide the services, those services are called In-Kind Services. The value of those services can be used as matching resources for some federal and community grants. In-kind services may also be provided by individual volunteers.

Lead-Based Paint Hazard - Any condition that causes exposure to lead from lead-contaminated dust, lead-contaminated soil, lead-contaminated paint that is deteriorated or present in accessible surfaces, friction surfaces, or impact surfaces that would result in adverse human health effects. See also Abatement

Leveraging Funds – If a grant, say from HUD, is used to partially fund a project or program, the remaining dollars used to fund that project or program are called leveraged funds.

LIHPP - Low-Income Housing Preservation Program

LIHTC - Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

Low-Income Households - Households whose incomes do not exceed 80 percent of the median income for the area as determined by HUD. See also Median Income

Matching Funds – These are leveraged funds that are required for certain grants. It is not uncommon for a grant to require 20 – 25% matching funds.

McKinney or McKinney-Vento –  The federal funds for homeless programs. The McKinney-Vento act was passed in 1987. Funding is administered through five federal departments. Some funding goes through states, but most of it, especially the HUD funding, goes directly to local communities through nationally competitive grant applications.

Median Income - That income level at which an equal number of families/households have incomes above the level as below. The median income is based on a distribution of the incomes of all families/households including those with no income.

Moderate-Income Households - Households whose incomes are between 81 and 95 percent of the median income for the area. see also Median Income

MRB - Mortgage Revenue Bond

MSA - Metropolitan Statistical Area

NAEH – National Alliance to End Homelessness, a national advocacy group that has been the driving advocates force behind the 10 year plans to end homelessness.

NAMI – National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, a national advocates group with a state chapter and local chapters throughout our state.

NC HMIS Collaborative – An ICCHP-facilitated statewide HMIS collaborative designed to assist communities that have not yet been able to comply with the federal mandate for an HMIS system.

NCCEH – North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, a NC advocacy and public education organization that has been championing the NC Plan to End Homelessness.

NCH – National Coalition for the Homeless, another national homeless advocacy organization that has been very supportive of North Carolina, participating in almost all of our homeless conferences.

NCHFA – North Carolina Housing Finance Agency – a quasi-governmental agency that administers some federal dollars, the state’s Housing Trust Fund, mortgage bond programs, and both federal and state tax credit projects.

NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard – the opposition that many affordable housing projects face when siting a development. This energy intensifies if the persons to live in the development have any disability, special needs, or criminal history.

NOFA – Notice of Funding Availability – an announcement that funders send out to let communities know about available funds. The NOFA includes the application and other information that communities need to know about how to apply for funds. Federal NOFA’s are published in the Federal Register.

OEO – Office of Economic Opportunity, within the NC Department of Health and Human Services. The Office of Economic Opportunity administers the federal pot of money called Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG).

PATH – Projects for Assistance in the Transition from Homelessness – another funding stream of the McKinney-Vento act targeting assistance to homeless persons. These dollars are administered by the Division of Mental Health within the NC Department of Health and Human Services. Grantees have been area mental health programs.

PIT – Point-In-Time Count – A community’s effort to determine how many people are  homeless on a given night. The Point-in-Time count usually includes, at a minimum, the number of persons who are staying in residential programs on that night but frequently also includes some attempt at a street count. Since the count is done on one night, there is a guarantee of no duplication.

PHA - Public Housing Authority

Property Based Vouchers:  These housing assistance vouchers provide rental assistance to qualified households living with a housing complex. All qualified renters within that complex would pay only 30% of their income for housing and utility costs. The voucher would cover the remaining housing expenses.

Rental Assistance - A subsidy covering the difference between Fair Market Rent and 30 percent of an eligible household's income. See also Fair Market Rent

RMC - Resident Management Corporation

Safe Haven:  A facility that provides shelter and services to hard-to-reach homeless persons with severe mental illness who are on the street and have been unable or unwilling to participate in supportive services. Safe Havens usually follow a “harm reduction” model of services.

Section 8 Vouchers: These are vouchers that provide rental assistance. A household with a voucher usually has to pay only 30% of their income for rental and utilities. The voucher covers the remaining housing costs. This program is funded by HUD and usually administered by local housing authorities. The average waiting list, nationally, is 2 years.

SPMI – Severely and Persistently Mentally Ill – persons who have a mental health diagnoses that meets the criteria for disability.  For the most part, but not exclusively, these are psychotic mental illnesses.  These are mental illnesses that significantly interfere with an individual’s ability to negotiate daily living functions.

Shelter – Housing, usually with services, for homeless persons. Emergency Shelter is usually thought to last for 6 months or less, although among the chronically homeless population, there are some persons who reside in “emergency shelter” for years.

S+C – Shelter Plus Care – This is a specific program that is part of the HUD McKinney-Vento funds. It is rental assistance for persons with disabilities. The rental assistance allows individuals to live in permanent housing, and the match for the rental assistance is provided in services to the residents. In NC these funds have primarily been used to assist homeless persons with mental illness or homeless persons who are HIV+.

Special Needs - The primary populations include the elderly, persons with severe mental illness, the developmentally disabled, the physically disabled, persons with alcohol and/or drug addiction, and persons with AIDS/HIV.

SSI – Supplemental Security Income ­– Monthly financial payments to persons with disabilities. Currently, the benefit is $552 per month. For most persons on SSI, this is their only source of income, and thus, severely limits housing options.

SSDI - Social Security Disability Insurance

Subsidized Housing: Housing that has financial support to make it more affordable to lower income households. That financial subsidy may come in the form of funds to off-set development or pre-development costs, or assistance to pay for rental or operating subsidies.

SuperNOFA – HUD’s yearly Notice of Funding Availability, announcing the annual competitive funds available for programs serving homeless persons. These funds include Shelter Plus Care (rental assistance for persons with disabilities), Supportive Housing (permanent or transitional housing development for families or persons with disabilities) and SRO Moderate Rehab (rental assistance to assist with financing renovation of facilities to be used for single room occupancy units). North Carolina drew down roughly $11 M in these funds last year.

Supported or Supportive Housing -  Permanent housing with services. The type of services depends on the needs of the residents. Services may be short term, sporadic, or ongoing indefinitely. The housing is usually “affordable”, or intended to serve persons who are on an SSI income – which is $552/month.

Supportive Services
Services such as case management, medical or psychological counseling and supervision, child care, transportation, and job training provided for the purpose of facilitating the independence of residents.

SRO – Single Room Occupancy – Permanent housing, usually in efficiency apartments. Similar to old style boarding houses, though usually with services available. (Bathrooms and kitchen facilities may or may not be shared.) Is frequently a successful housing model for single persons. 

Substandard Housing
Housing units that lack complete plumbing, kitchen facilities, or has at least five basic maintenance problems, as defined by the US Bureau of Census.

TA - Technical Assistance

Tenant Based Vouchers:  These are housing vouchers that travel with the household. A household with a tenant based voucher can use that voucher in any qualified rental property with a willing landlord.

Transitional Housing – Usually thought of as temporary supported housing – housing with services – where individuals or families live for between 6 months and 2 years. During that time they receive intensive case management services that prepare the household for independent living.

US Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) The federal agency which administers the majority of federal housing programs and which develops national housing policy.

Very Low-Income Households
Households whose incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the median family income for the area, as determined by HUD.