Mercy Housing Northwest-Idaho Inc

In 1982, Mercy Housing Inc. (MHI) established its first regional housing development office in Idaho, since that time we have provided affordable housing services to the communities of Idaho.  In that course of time, we have developed and currently manage 514 units and serve over 700 adults and 275 children who lack the economic resources to afford decent, safe and quality housing opportunities at below market rates.  

Mercy Housing Northwest-Idaho is working to create a more humane world where poverty is alleviated, communities are healthy and all people can develop to their full potential. We believe that affordable housing and supportive programs improve the economic status of residents, transform neighborhoods and stabilize lives. With our mission to create stable, vibrant and healthy communities and by developing, financing and operating affordable, program-enriched housing for families, seniors and people with special needs who lack the economic resources to access quality, safe and decent housing opportunities, we at Mercy Housing Northwest–Idaho are delivering and fulfilling our mission and commitment to those in Idaho. 

Affordable Housing Rental Properties: Statewide, Mercy Housing Northwest – Idaho manages 240 family units, 261 senior units, and 13 special needs units. Our newest development, 12th & River was completed in August of 2012.

This development serves low-to-moderate income seniors in downtown Boise and is the first development for the senior demographic in the area in over 4 years. Over 700 adults and 275 children are able to access quality, safe and decent affordable housing through the services Mercy Housing Northwest – Idaho provides. In 2014, we will purchase a site to build a new development to mirror 12th & River.

Resident Services Programs: Providing a supportive environment of targeted programs helps our residents find and access services that foster positive outcomes. Mercy Housing Northwest-Idaho provides property-based resident services programs at our 4 family properties, 3 senior properties, and 1 property for the developmentally disabled in Idaho. Our on-site Resident Service Coordinators help to identify resident goals, develop strategies to link residents with services and overcome barriers that impede access to those services, bring services on site for high-priority tenant goals, and monitor the outcomes of services. We accomplish these goals through a dedicated and highly-motivated staff, extensive community partnerships, a network of caring volunteers and generous community support. Services currently provided at our larger family properties include: After school programs, emergency food distribution, financial literacy classes, rental and utility assistance, workforce development, crime and safety classes, parenting classes, computer comprehension classes, health & wellness instruction, domestic violence awareness classes, and various life skills classes for adults. Mercy Housing Northwest - Idaho believes that safe and stable housing represents a critical first step for individuals and families in achieving self-sufficiency and breaking the cycle of poverty. 

Homeownership Programs: Because foreclosed housing is at the root of the nation’s economic problems, Mercy Housing Northwest-Idaho focused on the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) and the HOME program for the past 4 years. NSP/HOME targets neighborhoods that have an extraordinary amount of foreclosures and are threatened with severe housing price decline and neighborhood deterioration. The goal of this program is to preserve existing homes and neighborhoods for the low-to-moderate income population. Through this program, we have been able to purchase foreclosed homes and then rehabilitate the property to make it more habitable and highly energy efficient and then sell them to families at or below 120% of current area medium income. However, the majority of our homes have been sold to families at or below the 50% of area medium income. We have rehabilitated, sold and closed 40 homes under the NSP/HOME program to date. Currently there are 10 homes in our stabilization program pipeline. Within that pipeline, there is a variety of activity going on, which includes new purchases, rehabilitation, and listing/re-sale activity to new homebuyers. By year end of 2014, we will have completed 50+ homes since the beginning of 2010. The impact of NSP/HOME is multi-faceted as the revitalization has removed blight, created jobs; fed families of those employed for the rehabilitation, improved the appeal of the neighborhood and renewed community pride.