Applicants are being sought to serve on the Housing Opportunities Trust Fund Advisory Committee, which will assist in the oversight of the fund. The committee will meet up to six times a year, and applicants should have housing experience and familiarity with financial statements and development budgets.

County Executive Ball provided $5 million in funding to launch the Trust Fund in his FY23 budget, which was approved by the County Council. The Trust Fund, the first of its kind in Howard County, is intended to provide additional forms of rental and home rehabilitation assistance and support housing for populations in need. Homeownership opportunities for first-time homebuyers will be increased, existing affordable housing can be preserved and rehabilitated, and new units can be developed, in particular, to serve residents with low incomes and disabilities.

County Executive Ball said that county programs that assist with rental unit preservation, homeownership, and rehabilitation efforts will receive a boost from the fund. The County’s rehabilitation loan program provides low interest loans to existing homeowners to make improvements that allow them to safely remain in their homes and improve the neighborhood around them.