About Us
The mission of the PottCoHTF is to support and advocate for safe and affordable housing opportunities for Pottawattamie County residents.
The Pottawattamie County Housing Trust Fund (PottCoHTF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization designated by the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) as the certified Local Housing Trust Fund (LHTF) for Pottawattamie County, Iowa. The PottCoHTF received its initial LHTF allocation in 2011 as the Council Bluffs Housing Trust Fund to serve the needs of Council Bluffs residents. In 2019, the service area was expanded to serve all areas of Pottawattamie County.
In Iowa, a local housing trust fund must satisfy several requirements to be certified, including:
- Organizational, governing, and public hearing requirements;
- Designating affordable housing as its primary purpose;
- Identifying continuum of housing needs throughout the area;
- Demonstrating support from local partners;
- Identifying current and future local funding activities; and
- Creating a housing assistance plan that ties all this information together.
The PottCoHTF provides competitive grants annually to a variety of organizations working to provide affordable housing and support services for low- to moderate-income residents of Pottawattamie County. The primary source of funding comes in the form of an annual formula grant from IFA that must be met with matching funds from local sources. Pottawattamie County and the City of Council Bluffs provide the bulk of the match; however, additional funds are secured from local banks, the Iowa West Foundation, and private donors.