About Belmont Housing Resources for WNY

Mission/Vision

Our mission is to expand affordable housing opportunities throughout Western New York. We share a vision of the positive impact our organization can have on the community. By successfully implementing our plans and achieving our full potential, we are able to:

• Provide products and services that meet a basic need
  and improve quality of life throughout the community;
• Create quality housing that is accessible to those
  with limited resources;
• Promote fair housing and racial justice;
• Combine our talents with other resources to
  expand affordable housing opportunity;
• Serve all of our clients in a compassionate
  and non-judgmental manner;
• Attract and retain expert staff; and
  
• Utilize all funds, resources, programs,
  and technology fully and efficiently; and

Help That Makes a Difference

Founded in 1977, Belmont Housing Resources for WNY is a leading advocate for quality affordable housing. In addition to administering rental assistance programs, we offer a variety of housing-related programs and services promoting home ownership, educating renters and landlords, improving existing housing stock, and developing and managing affordable housing. Building on our years of experience and technical expertise, we consult and partner with others to achieve our mission.

Currently, we:

• Provide direct services to more than 13,000 low-income households annually;

• Generate rental assistance payments to property owners in excess of $24 million per year;

• Leverage an average of $10 million in affordable housing development funds per year;

• Administer $8.10 million of community development programs; and

• Manage over  $73 million of assets.

Belmont's Housing Resource Center offers practical information for property owners, renters and those interested in homeownership. To assist those looking for rental housing, the Center offers:

• One-on-one assistance in locating housing.
• Lists of affordable rental units throughout WNY, available units
  by bedroom size and location, and current newspaper/rental
  magazine listings
• Demographic information for Erie and Niagara Counties
• Computers and telephones 

The Housing Resource Center is also available to others who
provide service to the community. Check our Calendar for details.

Our programs and services are also available through regional
offices in the Southtowns and Northtowns.

Read more about our impact in our Annual Review.

More Choice in Quality Housing

Collaborating with partners from both the public and private sectors, Belmont Housing Resources strives to preserve the existing housing resources in area communities while developing new affordable housing opportunities in WNY.

Belmont works closely with Erie County, the cities of Buffalo and North Tonawanda, and the towns of Amherst, Cheektowaga, Hamburg and Tonawanda to achieve a variety of important goals.

These include fully-utilized rental assistance programs; rehabilitating existing housing stock; building affordable new single-family homes; providing pre-purchase, post-purchase and rental counseling in the community to promote tenant-landlord cooperation and encourage home ownership.  

Accolades/Increased Opportunities

• Recipient of HUD's Sustained Performance Award for
  exemplary management in the day-to-day administration
  of the Section 8 program;
• Recipient of YWCA Racial Justice Award;
• HUD High Performer in the Section 8 Management
  Assessment Program;
• HUD-Certified Housing Counseling Agency;
• HUD-Certified Reverse Mortgage Counselors;
• Certified CHODO;
• HUD-sponsored Dollar Home Program;
• Section 8 demonstration programs: Veterans Administration
  Supportive Housing (joint venture with Buffalo VA's Healthcare for Homeless Veterans),
  Family Unification Program (in cooperation with Erie County
  Social Services Child Protection Unit), and Mainstreaming
  People with Disabilities and Non-Elderly Disabled Persons;
  
• Step Up: Our Section 8 Home Ownership Program;
• Family Self-Sufficiency Program;
• Section 8 set-aside to prevent homelessness
  (in cooperation with various supportive services agencies.)

Organization

Belmont Housing Resources for WNY, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization. Our 990 is available at www.guidestar/org.

We are organized into five departments:

Finance and Accounting Department
Audited regularly, this department supports other departments by ensuring compliance with financial rules and regulations, safeguarding our assets, compiling and analyzing financial information, and making timely housing assistance payments for the Section 8 program.

Housing Development Department
This department is responsible for creating new multi-family and single-family affordable housing in WNY, rehabilitation of existing housing, lead paint abatement, and construction services in support of municipal housing programs or other non-profit agencies.

Housing Programs Department
Our largest department, Housing Programs encompasses our Housing Resource Center, Section 8 renter assistance program administration, home ownership counseling and financial education, family self-sufficiency programs, landlord education, foreclosure prevention, and Section 8 home ownership.  This department also participates in the Free Tax Preparation Network services and administers Individual Development (IDA) accounts in collaboration with other service providers.

Office of the President
This department exists primarily to maximize the organization's ability to secure the resources needed to fulfill our mission, to keep us focused on implementing our strategic plan, and to promote public understanding and support for our mission.

Property Management Department
It is this department's responsibility to professionally manage, maintain and market affordable housing so that it is an asset to the community. Although we hold NYS Real Estate Broker and Sales licenses and sometimes manage property for others, our services are used primarily for properties developed and owned by Belmont.

Our Board of Directors

Our Advisory Council

Management Team

The Support That Makes It Possible

Belmont Housing Resources for WNY partners with a variety of federal, state, local and private funding sources, all of whom share our strong commitment to quality affordable housing. Those currently providing financial support for our services include:

U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services and Agriculture.
Federal Home Loan Bank of New York
New York State Divisions of Housing and Community Renewal, Housing Finance Agency, Banking Department, Housing Trust Fund Corp.and Mortgage Agency
County of Erie
Cities of Buffalo, Lockport, North Tonawanda
Towns of Amherst, Cheektowaga, Hamburg, Tonawanda

C.A.S.H. Coalition (includes Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, John R. Oishei Foundation and WNY Women's Fund)

Citizens Bank Foundation

Community Foundation For Greater Buffalo

Federal Home Loan Bank of NY

First Niagara Bank

Garman Family Foundation

James H. Cummings Foundation

John R. Oishei Foundation
KeyBank Foundation
M&T Charitable Foundation

TechSoup Global

United Way of Buffalo and Erie County

WNY Foundation

Inclusiveness

We are committed to the principals of providing equal access to and participation in our organization's programs and services by diverse populations. We believe that an inclusive approach will help us:

• Respond effectively to the various needs of the community members that we serve;

• Ensure that our organization is representative and reflective of the local population;

• Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our programming to provide better outcomes for our clients; and

• Ensure that community members are represented and validated within the various parts of our organization.

Belmont Housing Resources for WNY does not discriminate on any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to, race; color; religion; age; national origin; sex; sexual orientation; gender identity/expression; marital status; military status; familial status; or disability in admission or access to the programs and activities we administer or in the treatment of applicants and participants for those programs, or the general public.

It is the policy of Belmont Housing Resources for WNY to ensure that communications with applicants, residents, employees, and members of the public with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. Belmont Housing Resources for WNY shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services, where necessary, to afford individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, the programs, services and activities conducted by Belmont. For properties managed by Belmont Housing Resources, requests for auxiliary aids and services, along with other requests for reasonable accommodation, may be directed to the Site Manager of that specific property or to one of our Property Managers.

Lynn Augustyniak, Human Resources Manager, is responsible for the coordinating compliance with the nondiscrimination requirements contained in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's regulations implementing Section 504 (24 CFR, part 8 dated June 2, 1988.)

Please note that for USDA Rural Development-financed properties the following statement applies: In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD.)