Housing Development

For the past eight years, the Parish Social Ministry Department has sought a solution to the pressing need for affordable housing for seniors in our community. It is a simple, yet ingenious process. We have a dedicated staff member who facilitates partnerships with parishes. While assisting them with their mission of service, we develop and/or renovate vacant land and existing facilities for new use.

To make this a reality, Catholic Charities utilizes the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 202 program. HUD provides interest-free capital advances to private, nonprofit sponsors to finance the development of supportive housing for the elderly. The capital advance does not have to be repaid as long as the project serves very low-income elderly persons for 40 years.

The parish’s involvement centers on what to do with a specific piece of their real estate. We propose the recycling of that property into a new and important service – affordable, safe and decent housing for our seniors. The need is large and continues to grow daily. For more information about our Housing Development Program, please call (502) 637-9786.


Marion Manor I

Christ the King

Questions and Answers about Catholic Charities Housing Development Program:

How does Housing Development benefit the parish?

  1. It allows the parish to continue to serve the community by changing the use to housing.
  2. It relieves the parish of the expense of a building—insurance, utilities and maintenance.
  3. It brings money into the parish through the sale of the property.

How is this done?

The parish and Catholic Charities enter into an agreement to work together (see detailed agreement). The parish gives Catholic Charities an option to purchase the property at an agreed price for a stated period. This allows Catholic Charities to begin the application process for funds.

How does Housing Development benefit Catholic Charities?

  1. We are by mission a service agency of the Catholic Community, or Parish, to do the work of Justice. Or you could say that we work for you.
  2. Depending on the financing, we receive some development fees. In other cases, we generate no income for Catholic Charities but money for the parish. In those cases we bill the parish for $2,000 consultant fee.

What is the source of funding?

There are two principle strategies that we use. One is the HUD 202 and the other is the Federal Affordable Housing Tax Credit program. We can even use them together. Each requires an extensive application—HUD being much larger in size. Neither vehicle by itself provides sufficient funds for rehab because of the cost. This requires additional funds from the Federal, State or local government. We seek funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, Kentucky Housing Corporation, City of Louisville Housing Department and Federal Historic Tax Credits to secure funding for the project. The HUD 202 and the Tax Credit programs are competitive. The applications receive points based on a wide range of criteria.

How long does it take?

In every case there is a need to rezone and re-plat the property. The rezoning process is increasingly tedious and requires a year. So if you decided today to do it, you are at least two years away from completion.

Why not a private developer?

Working with Catholic Charities is working within the family. The parish will always have an element of control or actually be a part of the new corporation. Again, depending on financing, the option of Catholic Charities buying the project after a 15 year period exists for tax credit projects. We partner with a list of top quality professionals: The Housing Partnership Inc., Franklin Assets Management, The Phares Company, Hughes Architecture, Inc., SOCAYR, Inc. and Pleasure Valley Construction, to name a few principle partners.

For more information about Catholic Charities Housing Development, please contact David Dutschke (502) 637-9786 or email ddutschke@archlou.org