Senior citizens living in HUD-assisted housing are safer thanks to a unique partnership between HUD's Houston office, the Housing Authority of the City of Houston, Encore and FirstCapital banks and the nonprofit Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation. The partnership is pulling together to expand the Foundation's Senior Crimestoppers Program.

The Housing Authority of the City of Houston received a commemorative plaque from the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation at the kickoff event. Left to right are Lt. Antonio Nichols, HACH public safety officer; Charles King, president of SHCPF; Al Calloway, chief of staff, HACH; and Donna Derryberry, SHCPF facility coordinator.

The goal is to create safe, secure and crime-free environments for senior citizens living in over 600 units of HACH-owned and operated housing. Another 3,500 senior citizen-occupied units throughout Houston and Harris County are planned.

The Foundation offers an effective tool for banks to use in meeting their Community Reinvestment Act requirements, directed towards benefiting low-to-moderate income individuals, while supporting the unique needs of senior citizens.

Participating banks invest funds with the Foundation, using risk-free, fully collateralized accounts, and agree to share the yields from the investments to provide funding for the Foundation.

The Foundation then uses its share of the income to equip each housing unit with a personal lockbox to protect the resident's valuables. In addition, the Foundation provides ongoing education on crime prevention for both residents and management staff, access to a call center to report incidents or anonymous tips and offers a cash reward program for any crimes that do occur.

Through a $2.7 million CRA investment/loan to the Foundation by the two banks, HUD and HACH have initiated the program in three HUD-assisted senior housing properties, the Bellerive, Lyerly and Telephone Road. The long-term objective is to add more banking partners so that all 53 HUD-assisted multifamily properties in the area can participate.

Lt. Antonio Nichols, public safety officer for the Housing Authority of the City of Houston, demonstrates the operation of the Senior Crimestoppers Program-supplied lockbox for the news media. Each resident will be able to store valuables in his or her unit using the lockbox.

The Houston effort improves the quality of life for needy seniors while assisting participating banks in fulfilling federal legal requirements and making an important contribution to the community. Learn more about the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation and the Senior Crimestoppers Program at www.seniorcrimestoppers.org.