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Outcome : Resources are developed to provide educational and financial assistance for residents to repair and preserve their homes.

Strategy H 1.1: Promote the repair and reuse of existing structures.

Action Item H 1.1.1: Promote local resources that are available to assist homeowners in making repairs to their homes through targeted community outreach efforts.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, Tallahassee Urban League, Mount Olive CDC, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience)

Action Item H 1.1.2: Develop and implement a comprehensive housing rehabilitation program that provides grants and loans for interior and exterior home repairs/improvements. Funding for interior repairs should be limited to owner-occupied homes. Consider including incentives/protections for tenants as a criterion for landlords to receive funding from this program.

Potential Partners: City of Tallahassee (CRA; Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Affairs), Frenchtown Community Action Team, Tallahassee Urban League, private and nonprofit developers

Action Item H 1.1.3: Solicit pro-bono services from architects, including landscape architects and designers, to offer residents design services, where needed, for housing rehab and facade improvements.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (CRA; Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Affairs), Florida Association-American Institute of Architects, American Society of LandscapeArchitects – Florida chapter, local architects and landscape architects

Action Item H 1.1.4: Establish a tool library in the neighborhood to lend tools to residents to make home repairs.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, local home repair stores, City of Tallahassee (CRA; Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Affairs)

Action Item H 1.1.5: Host special events, periodically, in the neighborhood to connect homeowners to volunteers who are willing to assist with minor home repairs and maintenance. (Ex: Operation Curb Appeal, Do Something Day)

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Affairs), A New Directions Inc., local home repair stores, churches, nonprofits

Action Item H 1.1.6: Develop and implement a program that connects homeowners with volunteers who can assist with landscaping and minor home repairs/maintenance on an ongoing basis. Program volunteers/participants could be offered ongoing training to develop their own skills.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Affairs), Frenchtown Community Action Team, A New Directions Inc., local home repair stores

Action Item H 1.1.7: Host home maintenance, landscaping and tree safety workshops in the neighborhood.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Affairs), local home repair stores, local landscaping businesses, and tree specialists

Strategy H 1.2: Promote voluntary compliance with City codes

Action Item H 1.2.1: Educate residents through workshops and social media messaging on what qualifies as a code violation and ways to report them.

Potential Partners: City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience), Frenchtown Community Action Team

Action Item H 1.2.2: Support and promote the City’s code enforcement amnesty program that waives liens for property owners who address violations.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Affairs), local nonprofits

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Outcome : The availability of funding for and the construction of new single-family homes in Frenchtown.

Strategy H 2.1: Develop vacant lots and abandoned homes into new housing.

Action Item H 2.1.1: Maintain an inventory of all vacant lots and dilapidated homes within the neighborhood.

Potential Partners: City of Tallahassee (CRA; Housing and Community Resilience), Frenchtown Community Action Team, private and nonprofit developers

Action Item H 2.1.2: Work with the City’s Department of Housing and Community Resilience to get dilapidated and hazardous homes demolished in a timely manner.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience)

Action Item H 2.1.3: Assess, acquire, and develop vacant lots and abandoned homes with workforce and affordable housing. Focus these housing interventions first on Dent, Dewey, Dover, Dunn, Dean, Dade and Delaware Streets for increased impact.

Potential Partners: City of Tallahassee (CRA; Real Estate; Housing and Community Resilience), Frenchtown Community Action Team, private and nonprofit developers

Action Item H 2.1.4: Advocate that the City/Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) develop and adopt of a policy to purchase vacant and abandoned properties when the amount of city liens and of the cost of abatement exceeds the value of the land and all other resources are exhausted, including the Neighborhood First Plan.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (CRA, Housing and Community Resilience)

Strategy H 2.2: Create a dedicated funding source for the development of single-family homes.

Action Item H 2.2.1:Work with the City to identify funding sources that can be dedicated for the sole purpose of building new single-family homes in the neighborhood. Develop a revolving loan fund specifically to finance new construction and major housing rehabilitation projects in Frenchtown. Projects funded through this program should be required to provide incentives for local residents to purchase these homes, ensure that the homes fit within the character of the neighborhood, and are high-quality and energy efficient.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (CRA, Housing and Community Resilience), Housing Trust Fund, private and nonprofit developers

Action Item H 2.2.2: Focus construction of new single-family homes first on Dent, Dewey, Dover, Dunn, Dean, Dade and Delaware Streets for increased impact.

Potential Partners: City of Tallahassee (CRA, Housing and Community Resilience), private and nonprofit developers, Frenchtown Community Action Team

Action Item H 2.2.3:Provide guidance to the Tallahassee Lenders’ Consortium in the development and implementation of the Community Land Trust model in Frenchtown.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, Tallahassee Lenders’ Consortium, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience)

Action Item H 2.2.4: Work with the City to promote incentives for developers to construct affordable housing. 

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience), private and nonprofit developers

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Outcome: Families that inherit homes in Frenchtown can access resources to obtain clear title and make needed repairs to their homes.

Strategy H 3.1: Assist families that have inherited homes in the neighborhood to obtain a clear title and preserve the home

Action Item H 3.1.1: Work with community partners to provide affordable legal services to assist families to obtain a clear title to their inherited homes and to draft wills and/or legal instruments that pass their properties on to their heirs.

Potential Partners:Frenchtown Community Action Team,Legal Services of North Florida, Legal Aid Foundation

Action Items H 3.1.2: Develop a funding pool to assist heirs’ properties owners with rehab and repair of their homes. Develop a list of homes that would be good candidates to refer to the program.

Potential Partners:Frenchtown Community Action Team, Legal Services of North Florida, City of Tallahassee (CRA; Housing and Community Resilience), local nonprofits

Action Item H 3.1.3: Develop and implement a program that assists neighborhood seniors with payment of back property taxes.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team
City of Tallahassee (CRA; Housing and Community Resilience), Leon County Property Appraiser, Leon County Tax Collector

Action Item H 3.1.4: Advocate that the CRA establish a policy that allows the CRA to actively participate in tax deed sales for the purpose of acquiring properties for the creation of affordable housing.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (CRA, Housing and Community Resilience)

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Outcome: Frenchtown residents receive messaging and education about the importance of homeownership and home maintenance on a regular basis.

Strategy H 4.1: Host regular, frequent workshops to educate Frenchtown residents about the importance of homeownership and home maintenance

Action Item H 4.1.1: Incorporate age-appropriate financial education with concepts of homeownership included at neighborhood schools.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, Junior Achievement Big Bend, Leon County Schools, City of Tallahassee (Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs)

Action Item H 4.1.2: Host regular workshops about the importance of homeownership as a pathway to wealth in the neighborhood. 

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs), Tallahassee Lenders Consortium, financial institutions

Action Item H 4.1.3: Find key community leaders (faith leaders, nonprofits, etc.) to deliver messages to neighborhood residents about the importance of homeownership.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, local churches and nonprofits

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Outcome: Frenchtown residents are connected to resources for homebuyer and home maintenance education, credit building and down-payment assistance.

Strategy H 5.1: Increase services that prepare residents for homeownership in the neighborhood.

Action Item H 5.1.1: Distribute information about existing homebuying assistance resources at various venues throughout the Frenchtown community (churches, non-profits, businesses, etc.).

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs), Tallahassee Lenders Consortium, other nonprofits

Action Item H 5.1.2: Conduct homeownership and credit building workshops in the neighborhood.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs), Tallahassee Lenders Consortium, financial institutions

Action Item H 5.1.3: Develop a homebuying program for Frenchtown residents that incorporates homebuyer and home maintenance education, credit counseling, down payment assistance, after-purchase coaching and an after-purchase emergency fund.

Potential Partners:Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs), Tallahassee Lenders Consortium, other nonprofits

Action Item H 5.1.4: Pilot a program modeled on the City of Gainesville’s Legacy Grants/ “Welcome Back” program, which offers grants to people looking to move back to Frenchtown - the community in which they grew up - to buy a home.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience), private and nonprofit developers

Action Item H 5.1.5: Develop and maintain a list of property owners that might be willing to sell to their tenants. Refer tenants to homebuying program.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs)

Action Item H 5.1.6: Distribute information on existing services that help renters in the neighborhood to remain in safe, affordable, and stable housing.  Provide information on available rental assistance programs, landlord/tenant mediation
programs and legal services.

Potential Partners: Frenchtown Community Action Team, Legal Services of North Florida, Legal Aid Foundation of Tallahassee, City of Tallahassee (Housing and Community Resilience; Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs), Big Bend Continuum of Care, United Partners for Human Services.