2000 Best Practice Awards

2000-658 OGC/FHEO Joint Training Conference in Mesa, AZ
Atlanta, Georgia
Contact: Sherri R. Smith (404) 331-5001

Sherri Smith, a civil rights attorney in the Office of the General Counsel in Atlanta, in conjunction with the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO), the HUD Training Academy and a private fair housing attorney, completed an extensive project designed to further a variety of fair housing initiatives and enhance the Department’s fair housing investigative and enforcement efforts by creating and implementing an advanced fair housing training program module for FHEO investigators and case managers, HUB Directors and Office of General Counsel (OGC) attorneys assigned to handle and supervise fair housing cases.

The module is also designed for use in training a diverse audience outside of the Department - individuals seeking to learn about their civil rights, industry and trade associations seeking to learn about and better execute their civil rights responsibilities, Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys, Assistant United States Attorneys from the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO), state and local fair housing agencies and their intake specialists, investigators, attorneys and hearing officers who partner with FHEO to enforce the Fair Housing Act and related civil rights statutes.

The module is a significant portion of a four-day training course. The module is designed to provide training to a class of no more than 100 people, in a one or two-day program through the use of a panel of instructors or one instructor who presents case reviews, topics for discussion and caselaw/statutory updates.

The Training course is designed to help the course participants; 1) identify practical problems FHEO and OGC staff face in processing, investigating, litigating and otherwise managing fair housing cases, 2) learn up-to-date case management, investigation and litigation tips and strategies, 3) formalize a workable methodology for addressing the myriad of issues that arise in the fair housing arena and 4) increase and enhance their use of all available Departmental tools, processes and technology to better handle fair housing cases.

Result: A well-attended and successful joint FHEO/OGC training conference that was the first of its kind in over twenty years and comprehensive training materials that can be updated and reused on an annual basis.

2000-772 Neighborhood Leadership Academy
Columbus, Georgia
Contact: Lynnette Gross (706) 653-4488

The City Manager has developed a Community Improvement Program, whereby, the various departments within the City provide intense services in an identified area for a 60 to 90 day period. What was discovered was that while the City was involved, citizen participation was lacking. The program also found that when the City was complete with its intense "clean-up", the area almost immediately went back to its original state due to lack of citizen participation and involvement. The program needed to find a way to involve the citizens and help them take ownership of the neighborhood. The Neighborhood Leadership Academy was developed to address this need.

The project is an 8 week 16 course lesson in City Government. It is designed to empower the citizens (within an identified community/redevelopment area) with the knowledge of city services that are available. Citizens attend classes to learn how each city department functions, what services are available, who to contact to access these services and finally, when it is appropriate to request assistance. Additionally, there are classes on Leadership skills to include how to run an effective meeting. The goal of the program is to promote Community Partnerships and this is best accomplished by the citizens, business community and the City taking "ownership" of the neighborhood. The program wants to ensure that the citizens of the community are provided the knowledge to make informed decisions about issues concerning their neighborhoods, and the City.

2000-1323 Cobb Microenterprise Council
Kennesaw, Georgia
Contact: Patricia Harris (770) 499-3228

The Cobb Microenterprise Council was created January 1998 with the forming of a community collaborative partnership between Kennesaw State university, Small Business Development Center, Cobb Family resources, YWCA of Cobb, and United Way in Cobb county with a mission to serve poverty and low to moderate income women and minorities in Cobb County and surrounding communities in the attainment of self-sufficiency and economic development through microenterprise development, employment and access to capital through a micro loan fund. This initiative has conducted four 12-week training cycles since February 1999. The Cobb Microenterprise Council (CMC) has a holistic approach to achieving economic self-sufficiency and empowerment in communities.

2000-1549 Pathways Community Network
Atlanta, Georgia
Contact: William Matson (404) 584-6591

Pathways Community Network is a collaboration of 28 social service agencies, working together with other non profits and local governments to: Help consumers connect with and receive human services they need Make sure that services consumers obtain are appropriate and effective, and Monitor the long-term impact of services that consumers receive. Pathways operates a secure, Internet based consumer database/communications system. The product of a two year collaborative planning process, the system has been recognized by PC WEEK magazine as one of the best new intranet applications of the year. It is the only homeless client information system that incorporates the same technology that is used by the world's busiest and most secure web sites. The system is currently in use in Atlanta, and will be implemented in other communities beginning in July.

2000-1634 Community Case Management for Women
Columbus, Georgia
Contact: William B. Cole (706) 323-5518

In June, 1998, Open Door Community House, Inc. was awarded a HUD Supportive Housing Program grant through the Columbus Continuum of Care to provide general case management and supportive services to homeless women and children. The program "Community Case Management" (CCM) utilizes a basic model of a client-driven case management system with a full range of supportive services and community collaboration. The overall goal of the Community Case Management Program is to provide homeless women and children with the resources that will empower them to seek, gain and sustain permanent housing and self-sufficiency.

2000-1726 Neighborhood and Community Revitalization
Atlanta, Georgia
Contact: Carol Naughton (404) 892-4700

Neighborhood and community Revitalization - The initial development of Techwood/Clark Howell Homes and its subsequent redevelopment and rebirth as "Centennial Place" is representative of the public housing movement in the United States during the last century. Originally constructed in 1936, Techwood Homes was the first federally funded housing project in the United States. The project was conceived in response to an unprecedented need for slum clearance, construction employment and adequate housing for working classes on a national scale during the Depression. After experiencing many of the challenges facing public housing nationwide, Techwood was demolished and redeveloped as Centennial Place in the mid 1990's under HUD's HOPE VI initiative. As a master planned community, Centennial Place incorporates various design elements to create a fully functioning community with numerous amenities to attract residents from diverse income groups. Utilizing the principles of New Urbanism, the development combines historic renovation, natural resource conservation, contemporary residential design, street grid restoration, and infrastructure improvements to create a highly desirable living environment where public housing is indistinguishable from market rate housing. Upon completion, Centennial Place will be a 900 unit mixed income community, which integrates market rate families, tax credit eligible families, and public housing families in one development. Additional components of the plan include: · Development of a new K-5 magnet elementary school, state of the art YMCA Family and Children Center, and mini police precinct; · Restoration of the historic Carnegie Library and Cupola buildings for educational and commercial uses; · Renovation of the existing Community Center for use in the delivery of various social service programs; and · Development of a Neighborhood Retail Center, anchored by a national chain grocery store.

2000-1731 Increasing Affordable Housing and Homeownership
Atlanta, Georgia
Contact: Mike Proctor (404) 892-4700

Over the past 3 years the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) has privatized the management of sixteen (16) of its forty-two (42) communities (representing approximately 50% of its total unit count) which has lead to a dramatic improvement in the physical condition of AHA’s property as well as client satisfaction level. By design in 1996, AHA created an environment of managed competition among its Private Management Companies (PMCos) and its conventionally managed properties. As AHA had been a "troubled" agency for many years, AHA decided to use the naturally evolving competition between the management companies and the conventional properties as a tool toward recovery. AHA has learned that many PMCos are accustomed to working with apartment communities that were built in previous real estate cycles and that many PMCos are capable of converting challenging properties into more livable communities. The community transformation is completed through the PMCos increased expertise/capacity level, their ability to work with private sector contractors (which expedites the construction/improvement jobs -- resulting in less expensive cost and higher quality of work) and by adding enhanced livability factors such as play areas, sidewalks and landscaping.

2000-1751 Choice Based Relocation Process
Atlanta, Georgia
Contact: Douglas S. Faust (404) 685-4396

The Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, Georgia (AHA) has revitalized some of its housing stock, much of which is more than 40 years old. The revitalization process included the creation of new communities with real opportunities for the residents.

AHA undertook the temporary relocation of residents during revitalization. AHA recognized the need to exercise great sensitivity in the relocation process, as many fears and concerns surround the relocation process. AHA helped each resident during this transition period. AHA remained committed to resident consultation to form relocation plans for each community. Generally, AHA met weekly with a Planning Committee formed from resident leadership and concerned residents. AHA’s goal was to respond effectively to resident concerns through education, participation, real housing choice and follow-through on service delivery.

After a relocation strategy was developed, AHA provided materials to educate the residents on the relocation process. AHA’s approach was to give each resident thorough information to enable the resident to choose the form and type of relocation best suited for his or her family. AHA then sought to carry out the choice made by each resident. The choice-based process was much more challenging, but AHA recognized the need to serve the resident in the manner most meaningful to them. The ability to choose the relocation type allowed the resident to be engaged in the solutions to his or her housing needs.

AHA served each resident in the process by providing viable housing options which generally includes; 1) Section 8 Housing, 2) transfers to other AHA Public Housing, or 3) remain on-site in consolidation areas, where feasible. AHA provided information and transportation to secure real housing choices. Finally, AHA was responsible for the reasonable relocation costs. After completion of the redevelopment, each resident chose to return to the revitalized community or retain his or her relocation housing as permanent. Residents who elected to return completed the application process for the community.

2000-1754 Olympic Legacy Program
Atlanta, Georgia
Contact: Carol Naughton (404) 892-4700

AHA created the Olympic Legacy Program in the fall of 1994 in order to leverage the opportunities created by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) HOPE VI Program in order to reposition AHA’s severely distressed housing stock. As the recipient of a 1993 HOPE VI grant for the revitalization of Techwood Homes and Clark Howell Homes, AHA was challenged by HUD to create a new and better way to deliver the public housing resource for families living in those two communities. In order to be successful, the model would need to address fundamental issues faced by residents of public housing such as stigmatization, isolation from the larger community, aging infrastructure, buildings beyond repair, crime and the challenge of moving residents from welfare to work. AHA established five goals for the redevelopment of Techwood/Clark Howell: 1) Public housing residents must be economically mainstreamed into the larger community ·2) Resident programs must focus on self-sufficiency programs centered on jobs, job training and education, as well as appropriate recreation for seniors and youth 3) The redevelopment must leverage precious Federal dollars in order to get the most "bang for the Federal buck" 4) The redevelopment must create an income stream for AHA separate and apart from Federal operating subsidies -- AHA demanded both a return of and a return on its investment 5) The redevelopment of Techwood/Clark Howell must be accomplished in a way that would be a benefit to the larger community and the City of Atlanta. After evaluating all options, AHA became convinced that the best way to achieve these goals was to revitalize Techwood/Clark Howell in partnership with a private sector developer who could leverage conventional financing sources to create a new community in which public housing reserved units would "float" within a market rate apartment complex. AHA would lend its money into the transaction, and that loan would be repaid with interest.

2000-2081 Norcross Partnership for Children and Youth
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Contact: Craig P. Lowayne (770) 822-7870

The Norcross Partnership for Children and Youth is a project representing the best collaboration of the private and public sectors. The project involves the joint development of a 37,000 square foot building serving predominantly low- and very-low income children and youth, ages six-weeks to 18 years. The building, located in Norcross, Georgia, houses both the A. Worley Brown Norcross Boys and Girls Club [25,000 square feet] and the Sheltering Arms Child Development and Family Support Childcare Center [12,000 square feet]. The new building was constructed on real property purchased with Community Development Block Grant [CDBG] funds [$500,000] awarded to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Atlanta by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners. The Boys and Girls Club building, and the overall building shell, was constructed with private donations and private foundation support totaling over $2.6 million. Sheltering Arms will construct its childcare center for low- and very-income infants and children in the lower level of the new building, using Gwinnett County CDBG funds [$500,000] and private donations and foundation support totaling $700,000. The investment of $1 million from Gwinnett County CDBG funds is combined with over $3.4 million from private sources to complete this new center for children and youth.

2000-2193 Hampton East - City of Albany, Georgia
Albany, Georgia
Contact: Rudolph Goddard (912) 430-5283

Hampton East is an 87-acre development within an Enterprise Community target area in Albany, Georgia that we feel is a model for mixed-use subdivision development. This planned community includes three phases of housing construction. Phase one is comprised of 54 three-bedroom duplex units that are available for sale. Phase two contains 70 new single family home sites made available for qualified applicants to select a home plan and have it constructed with financing being provided by local banks and the City of Albany's Affordable Home Ownership Program. Phase three consists of 64 multi-family townhouse style rental units. In addition, the development includes a 12,000 square foot shopping center, daycare center, and recreation area.

2000-2244 Genesis Shelter
Atlanta, Georgia
Contact: BreNita Jackson-Brown (404) 892-1631

Genesis provides a home for families of homeless newborns. Genesis Shelter seeks to provide an environment that allows homeless newborns to grow and develop in a nurturing and healthy surrounding. Genesis enables homeless families to remain together and creates a participatory community in which parents have the opportunity to live with their children in privacy and with dignity. Genesis Shelter provides room and board to 12 families of homeless newborns at a time. The program also provides three nutritious meals a day, along with snacks, and distributes clothes, furnishings and equipment from its support of donated goods. The shelter is open 24-hours a day, 7 days-a week, and is usually filled to capacity. Families stay in the shelter for 90-120 days at a time. The shelter has four goals: (1) To provide at all times a Secure, Homelike Environment dedicated to the care of the newborn and their families. (2) To provide Child Development programs with nurturing on-site services designed to meet the emotional, psychological and developmental needs of each child from birth to 12 years of age. (3) To break the cycle of poverty by offering Case Management to clients who reside at Genesis, those who have been discharged, and those who are referred to Genesis from other agencies. Case Management focuses on employment retention to insure financial stability; family stability; with an emphasis on children receiving proper developmental, emotional, medical/dental and recreational services through the public school system and the child development center; and life skills that include in-house literacy training, money management, stress management, household maintenance as well as access to schools, social services, banking and health systems. (4) To provide an Intensive After-Care program which assists families after departure from the shelter to maintain their independence.

2000-2282 Metro Fair Housing Services, Inc.
East Point, Georgia
Contact: Corbin Foster (404) 765-3985

For more than a decade, Metro fair Housing Services, Inc. (Metro) has administered a joint venture in Fair Housing Programs in Atlanta MSA with the City of Atlanta and Fulton and Dekalb Counties. This joint venture project is conducted with CDBG funding. During this year Metro won a private grant award from the Community Foundation to add Clayton County to the Joint Venture in Fair Housing roster. Under HUD's FHIP program, Metro has been able to expand its fair housing services to unfunded areas throughout the State of Georgia. The primary fair housing activities conducted by Metro include complaint intake and processing, and the subsequent investigation to identify bona fide fair housing complaints. These complaints are then referred to HUD or the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity (CEO) for further investigation, conciliation and/or litigation. Over the past year education and outreach has been a strong component of Metro's overall fair housing activities; especially in Georgia's Hispanic communities. Metro currently employs a full-time Hispanic Outreach Coordinator who has, over the past year, reached out to Hispanic communities in and around Atlanta in an effort to establish and build the trust, and educate this group of people about their rights under the fair housing law. Metro has worked with Hispanic advocate organizations and community leaders to help bring about change in the mentality of those who are fearful of ascertaining their rights for fear of retribution. Another facet of Metro's education and outreach activities, although not covered under the Fair Housing Act, is to partner with and provide resources to Atlanta Legal Aid Society to investigate predatory lending practices of subprime lenders, many of which are subsidiaries of prime lenders, in the Atlanta area. Just as in processing calls that are primarily tenant/landlord complaints where there may also be an element of a fair housing violation, predatory lending practices has become a method of displacement of low income homeowners that are both minority and elderly. These calls should be processed with the same scrutiny to discern whether or not homeowner's rights have been violated. Also during the last year Metro partnered with CEO to provide training to educate plaintiff attorneys about fair housing law and effective litigation and conciliation techniques.

2000-2380 Tapestry Youth Ministries, Inc.
College Park, Georgia
Contact: Rutha M. Greene (404) 767-5580

Tapestry Youth Ministries provides a safe, structured and caring transitional living facility for teen mothers between the ages of 14-17 and their infants who are at risk of becoming homeless. Tapestry Home is the only licensed transitional living facility in the Atlanta metropolitan area for this population. Tapestry Home provides residential services, intensive case management by a licensed clinical social worker and development childcare. The home was licensed in May 1999 and accommodates four young mothers and their infants.

2000-2495 The Villages at Castleberry Hill
Atlanta, Georgia
Contact: Herman J. Russell (404) 330-1010

Lead by the vision for public housing to eliminate blighted slum communities John Hope Homes named in honor of, former president of Morehouse College, an educator and advocate for public housing John Hope Homes was completed in 1940. It was the second public housing development in Atlanta for African Americans. Sixty years later Herman J. Russell, Sr. has the same vision in mind for The Village at Castleberry Hill. The 587 units of the John Hope Homes development located in downtown Atlanta adjacent of Spelman College and to University Homes, a 500 unit public housing development has been demolished and replaced by a 425 mixed income luxury units catering to professors, business executives, students and families in need of subsidized housing. The revitalization of John Hope Homes was initiated as part of the Olympic Legacy Program which was a strategic plan developed by the Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, Georgia (AHA) under the direction of their foresighted Executive Director Rene Glover. The Olympic Legacy Program is part of AHA's overall strategy to reposition their housing stock to be competitive with the private sector providers of housing.

2000-2565 S.T.A.R. (Striving To Achieve Results) Program
Brunswick, Georgia
Contact: Edwin D. McGlamory (912) 265-1334

The Star Foundation has provided computer based learning and other resources to residents of the Brunswick Housing Authority since January 1997. This program is designed to serve participants who have been neglected in terms of specialized technology assistance. The STAR instructors have designed an individualized curriculum which enables each student to learn to use the computer as well as to become as self-sufficient as possible. With the assistance of the Brunswick Housing Authority and other service providers, the program assists the participants with job search, resumes, interviewing skills, business dress and life skills training. A key component of this program is to focus on community service. Star encourages participants through incentives to become involve in resident meetings, assisting local non-profits, neighborhood watch, etc.

2000-2856 Disability Connections
Macon, Georgia
Contact: Jerilyn Leverett (912) 741-1425

The Middle Georgia Center for Independent Living d/b/a Disability Connections sponsors Home Access, a program that provides grants to low-income disabled homeowners who need home modifications due to their condition. The purpose of the Home Access Program is to enable citizens with disabilities to safely enter, exit and maneuver within their homes. Services include but are not limited to installing wheelchair ramps, widening doorways, installing visual aids for hearing impaired, installing grab bars, installing handrails, and performing kitchen and bathroom modifications. To be eligible for assistance, clients must demonstrate the presence of a disability and provide household income information. Once Disability Connections receives the application, a home modification coordinator and Contractor visits the proposed site, develops plans for modifications, including preparing a cost estimate. All modification plans comply with the Georgia Building Code and the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). The cost estimate identifies materials that will be needed for project completion. The coordinator then reviews the plans with the applicant. The home modification project is contracted out to contractors (or volunteers, if labor is donated by individuals or organizations). Disability Connections’ staff and the homeowner oversees the construction.

2000-3091 City of Atlanta Gun BuyBack Initiative
Atlanta, Georgia
Contact: John H. Spillers (404) 817-7378

The City of Atlanta, Georgia under the leadership of Mayor Bill Campbell is one of many cities across America supporting and making an efforts to make communities safe from gun violence. In April 2000, The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a nationwide effort to buy as many guns as possible and remove them permanently from the streets of America. In collaboration with Atlanta's Mayor Office of Community Affairs, The Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, Georgia, with support and approval of the Department of Housing and Urban Development utilized Drug Elimination Program Grant Funds to y guns from the streets of Atlanta and its surrounding communities. This Gun Buyback Initiative was the second such event held in the City of Atlanta during the past six months. The first Initiative held in November 1999, resulted in the purchase of 515 guns. On April 28, 2000, with the support of the Mayor's Office of the City of Atlanta, the Atlanta Police Department, community leaders, civic groups, and The Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, Georgia, 837 handguns, including shotguns and illegal firearms were turned in at a cost of $50.00 each.

Content Archived: April 20, 2011