Volunteers of America National Services (VOANS) is division of VOA responsible for the development and management of VOA’s housing and healthcare programs. VOANS is the nation’s largest nonprofit developer of affordable housing for low-income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities. The organization is also a major operator of nursing facilities, assisted-living complexes and medical clinics.

VOANS has developed and continues to manage and operate 225 properties comprising more than 11,000 units, all programs predominately serve low-income individuals who are also typically welfare and Medicaid recipients. Several of the facilities owned by VOANS have been singled out as models for the assisted living industry by federal, state, and local officials. NMTCs make innovative financing products possible.

In 2010, VOANS engaged CBO Financial to assist them in the development of a competitive New Markets Tax Credit application. The purpose of the federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program is to stimulate new investment in low income and oftentimes severely distressed communities that would not otherwise occur.

CBO Financial assisted VOANS with establishing and certifying a Community Development Entity, VOANS CDE, and authored their 2010 NMTC application. In February, 2011, VOANS CDE was awarded $35 million in NMTC allocation. The NMTC allocation will enable VOANS to provide innovative financing products to their affiliated social service agencies for the first time.

VOANS continues to engage CBO Financial’s support in starting up and refining NMTC operations, training staff on the NMTC program and reporting requirements, as well as determining the most effective financing products and options to implement in the deployment of the $35 million NMTC allocation.

The VOANS pipeline of projects, serving low-income persons and communities nationwide, has been generated through years of effort and ongoing success in achieving meaningful results in three priority areas:

PACE Centers: Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) centers are non-profit senior community care centers that will offer an innovative option for senior citizens to obtain a nursing home style of care and services while still being able to remain living in their own homes within their community.

Housing for the Disadvantaged: Approximately 4,000 units of supportive housing projects that will focus on assisting those with special needs, including veterans, homeless, former offenders, those dealing with substance abuse and developmental disabilities - each includes an active social services repertoire.

Social Services Facilities that support low-income residents and communities: Funding for the renovation, expansion, or new construction of over 21 social-service programs that include child care centers, veteran service centers, alcohol/drug treatment programs, domestic violence centers, transitional housing for homeless families, and employment training and education centers.