500 in 500: Allegheny County officials announce new affordable housing program

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — Allegheny County officials announced a new program to move people from shelters to affordable housing.

On Thursday, County leaders along with state and city officials announced a new program, called “500 In 500,” a collaborative effort aimed at addressing homelessness by identifying 500 units of deeply subsidized affordable housing within the next 500 days.

The new program will provide affordable housing to people who have nowhere to live.

For example, residents from the Second Avenue Common Shelter who were displaced after a fire are now waiting to receive a bed at the Convention Center a temporary resolution.

“The building is uninhabitable at this moment we will be getting more information in the coming days and weeks on the cost and timeline is going to be,” County Executive, Sara Innamorato.

But during the press conference, Innamorato shared that with this new program instead of moving people from temporary shelter to shelter, displaced residents would now become eligible to receive a home instead of a cot.

Pam Steimer lived at Second Avenue Commons, now because of this program she has a place she calls home.

“I stayed at Second Avenue Commons for three months times I was ready to give up. [But] this past month I moved into an apartment in Brentwood, and I love it. I can cook meals in my kitchen, and sleep in my own bed,” said Steimer.

So how will it work?

County Departments including the Department of Human Services, Allegheny County Economic Development, the Allegheny County Housing Authority, additional government partners at the city and municipal level, developers, and foundations with the help of federal dollars will identify landlords and developers with available units that they can set aside for affordable housing; the facilities will range from repurposed motels to traditional apartment units.

“We already have the demand we know that we have the people that we want to move into these units. It’s going to be a matter of really engaging with property owners’ developers on getting those units online to move people from that list,” Innamorato said.

Affordable housing units will be identified via the following efforts:

• Working with the Allegheny County Housing Authority (ACHA) to greatly increase the number of public housing units available to those currently living in shelters. In 2023, only 20 people moved from a homeless shelter into a public housing unit. With the new partnership, ACHA identifies units and DHS matches people to those units. Since we started a few weeks ago, we’ve already housed 21 people.
• Deploying American Rescue Plan funds in partnership with nonprofit developers to initially create as many as 39 new homes for formerly homeless individuals.
• Coordinating with developers of Low Income Housing Tax Credit developments to commit to making 10% of their units available to formerly homeless individuals.
• Targeted acquisition of existing buildings (nursing homes, hotels, former convents) that can easily be converted to new housing units for people exiting homelessness.
• Acknowledging that everyone needs help after moving in, DHS is providing support to ensure that tenants, property managers, and landlords all have the support they need to be set up for success.

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