2000 Best Practice Awards

2000- 692 Lakeside Village Saginaw

Lakeside Village is a HUD insured 100% section 8 property located in Saginaw MI. The project was insured under section 221(d)4 of the National Housing Act. The project has 200 units which include an elderly building and townhouses.

2000-232 Gun Buy-Back
Flint, Michigan
Contact: Christopher Gill (810) 736-3050

Flint Housing Commission recently held its first gun buy back since 1998. The buy back was held over 2 days, Saturday April 29, 2000, and Monday, May 1, 2000, at 2 different public housing complexes and 2 fire stations. Included in the gun buy back was a buy back for toy guns. In exchange for the toy guns, gift certificates to a local fast food restaurant were given.

2000-2929 Bay City Housing Commission
Bay City, Michigan
Contact: Douglas Rise (517) 892-9581

Riverbanks Neighborhood Townhomes is an example of how public investment can be used to spur the rejuvenation of an established urban neighborhood. The project specifically addressed the exterior facade improvements and related site work for twenty-nine existing scattered site duplex and single family public housing units. "Neo traditional" architectural forms and detailing were introduced as a means of visually connecting the homes to their surrounding historical neighborhood. The results exceeded all expectations.

2000-3031 Community Partners
Flint, Michigan
Contact: Tracy B. Atkinson (517) 372-6001

The Community Partners in Action project was born out of the need to develop community programs that increased parents and K-12 student’s value and access to education. The Community Partners in Action project is committed to include all stakeholders from the community and is assisted by an advisory team that consists of, K-12 administrators, University of Michigan administrators, block club coalition members and community members the Community Partners Advisory Committee.

The Community Partners in Action group consists of The Parent Advocacy group which works to voice concerns and increase parental/residential involvement with the educational process in their community. In addition to educational involvement, parents and residents maintain a community database that showcased community resources including community development projects, small business, person service enterprises, mentors, and churches.

The Community Partners in Action Advisory Group sought to create University of Michigan-community school projects that develop into academic service learning courses. University of Michigan’s education majors have participated in special classroom projects for K-12 students in an on-going basis.

2000-1603 Legal Services of Eastern Michigan (LSEM) Flint/Genesee County Fair Housing Center
Flint, Michigan
Contact: Edward J. Hoort (810) 234-2621

Legal Services of Eastern Michigan not only provides legal services to the low-income, but also heads the Flint/Genesee County Fair Housing Center in Flint Michigan. The Analysis of Impediments for the Flint/Genesee County Partnership, authored by Dr. Joe Darden of Michigan State University, identified that there was a need for a fair housing center in the Flint area. Initially, LSEM applied to the Mott Foundation in Flint, MI. They now receive funds from a grant in 1998. The City of Flint and Genesee county are now assuming the funding for the program. This is the first time that the Flint area has had a comprehensive fair housing program. LSEM also has satellite offices in Saginaw, Michigan and a sister agency, Center for Civil Justice.

2000-2293 Third Annual Flint Area Conference on Small Business
Flint, Michigan
Contact: Bobby Wells (810) 239-5847

The "Conference on Small Business" is an event designed to bring first hand information to minority and women business owners and prospective start-ups. The program consisted of the following topics: Customer Service; Doing Business with HUD & Section 3; Business planning; Packaging a Loan Proposal; Starting a Business; Contract Bidding and Business Certification as a MBE. Several of the participants have started the process of starting their own business. Approximately 2 have and are looking into doing business under section 3. Approximately 10 who were already in business received information that they said was instrumental.

2000-2748 Mission of Peace Homeownership Center
Flint, Michigan
Contact: Elmira S. Vincent (810) 232-0104

Mission of Peace (MOP) has a "one stop" center for potential homebuyers. They have realtors, counselors, lenders and a car-buying club all in one place. It is the first of its kind in our area.

2000-2813 Flint HUD Office Lunch and Learn Forum
Flint, Michigan
Contact: James N. Sutton (810) 766-5108

The Lunch and Learn Forum features guest speakers who discuss topics that have relevance to HUD and its partners. The forums are open to the public and the Flint Area Office makes a concerted effort to bring in as many groups as possible (e.g., fair housing advocates, community-base organizations, private sector partners, etc). The forums have ranged in size from 20 to over 100 people and are held in the HUD office.

2000-2824 Flint Human Relations Commission/Public Education and Outreach
Flint, Michigan
Contact: Cleora Magee (810) 766-7430

HRC established a Fair Housing Committee to ensure service, delivery and to promote Fair Housing. The Mission of the Fair Housing Committee is to facilitate and promote neighborhood harmony, to ensure that Federal and Michigan Statutes relating to equal housing opportunities are enforced, and to provide activities which increase the education and awareness of the Fair Housing Law. Flint housing has been historically segregated and large sections of the city continue remain isolated and segregated. To address these segregated housing patterns the racial steering in that was taking place in Genesee County, the HRC has served as the focal point for all fair housing activities occurring within the Greater Flint area.

2000-2880 Fair Housing Fair Lending and Analysis to Impediments to Fair Housing
Flint, Michigan
Contact: James N. Sutton (810) 766-5108

The project was a seminar that included the following elements:

• In the analysis of impediments to fair housing, racial barrier is the most resistant and the most important barrier that must be overcome if fair housing is to be a reality in Genesee County. The second barrier is handicap status, followed by income, family status, age, sexual orientation, and transportation.
• Speakers discussed current developments in fair housing and fair lending law and practice, including the Analysis of Impediments to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing, which is required of HUD entitlement communities.
• The program is of particular interest to every person who is concerned about eliminating discriminatory practices in housing, lending, and community planning and development.

2000-108 SEDC small Business Lending Program

The Saginaw Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) is an economic development nonprofit that carries out small business lending with CDBG funds. CDBG funds are leveraged at a 3 to 1 ratio. SEDC lends money to businesses for startups, equipment, inventory, and real estate. Job creation is a primary goal of the agency. 72 full time low/moderate income jobs have been created in the last five years. Business counseling is also provided and seminars are conducted every six weeks.

A variety of longevity tracking is maintained for jobs, loan servicing and business monitoring. Logs are maintained to track job creation. A complete loan servicing software program is also used to track loans. Annual monitoring of each business is also conducted to track business prospects, check on collateral, check sales, check licenses and so on.

2000-2840 Untangling the Funding Jungle
Lansing, Michigan
Contact: Christine Helbig (517) 759-1541

Rural Housing and Service Development Workshop for Community Faith-based Non Profits and Community Action Agencies Workshop for those in the faith-based and non-profit organizations looking to develop or acquire housing, or homeless service programs for their communities.

2000-1259 Saginaw New HOME Construction
Saginaw, Michigan
Contact: Robert T. Brown (517) 759-1530

A track built subdivision of new single family homes is being built in the city. It is the first track built subdivision in forty years. There is a tremendous need for new construction in the City of Saginaw. For two decades the city has been demolishing 100 +/- homes per year, which has resulted in thousands of vacant lots. In the prior decade only one or two new homes per year were being built by the private sector.

2000-1997 Shelter of Flint
Flint, Michigan
Contact: Duane M. Elling (810) 238-4711

Poverty and its accompanying homelessness continues to be of significant concern in Genesee County and particularly in the city of Flint. According to a 1997 report by the Flint Area Supportive Housing Consortium, the 1990s found more than 27% of all Flint families living in poverty, a significant increase over the 15% reported in 1980. Even more distressing is the 1997 finding that almost 71% of single female-headed households in Genesee County with children under five years of age live in poverty (Priority ‘90s, A Community Roundtable). Homelessness is an all too common outcome of this local tragedy, exacerbated by a weakened local economy, the prevalence of substance abuse and domestic violence amongst the population, and a lack of available safe, affordable housing. For many of these persons, finding their way out of homelessness is a seemingly impossible task. Individual efforts to achieve economic and family stability end in failure, anger and frustration.

Shelter of Flint has formed its own array of programs and services, including the agency's "Outreach Program", all of which are critical to effectively addressing the issue of homelessness in Genesee County. Indeed, it is the Shelter of Flint's mission to help our clients not only secure safe, affordable housing, but also to establish the security and stability necessary to becoming strong and independent families for years to come.

Content Archived: April 20, 2011