The primary objective of the Sanford Housing Authority is to provide housing assistance to residents in our jurisdiction. This assistance takes the form of direct federal programs that financially assist in paying rent for family and individuals, and also takes the form of the advocating for and the promotion of more affordable housing in our community.
Historically, the method by which the SHA addressed these objectives was by applying for federal housing programs that either; built developments or provided rental assistance in privately owned apartments in the community. The decline of funding for these more traditional approaches to the affordable housing needs has resulted in a reassessment of the methods that the SHA will pursue in providing these badly needed housing resources.
We have recognized that housing is only one of many problems this our communities face and that there are many other governmental and social agencies in our community, which try to assist with those problems. By promoting better and consistent communications with these other providers, the SHA has good information as to what these other groups do and how we may assist them (and they us) in being more efficient with our resources. This, in turn, has led to many cooperative ventures between agencies like the York County Community Action Program, York County Head-Start, the Caring Unlimited Program, York County United Way, and Goodall Hospital. The SHA has learned that since there is no longer a "recipe" for obtaining federal housing resources, we must be more inventive and open in our approaches to local production of affordable housing and the partnerships formed to do so.