2000 Best Practice Awards

2000-1732 Fair Housing Partnership between HUD and Arkansas State Realtors Association
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: Andy Schaus (501) 225-2020

The State-wide Fair Housing Partnership with the Arkansas State Realtors Association was signed October 1997. The agreement states the Association will partner with HUD to promote Fair Housing.

2000-2708 Homebuilding/Sale Program
acksonville, Arkansas
Contact: Frank Rowland (501) 982-6702

Homes are built on land that is donated or acquired by the City of Jacksonville. Phases of the bidding are subbed out to contractors making the cost passed on to the future homeowner considerably cheaper because there is no general contractor. While the are being built the potential homebuyers are taken through the process of obtaining a mortgage loan.

2000-2625 Housing Authority of the City of Pocahontas, Arkansas
Pocahontas, Arkansas
Contact: Bob Ignico (870) 892-9278

Offers affordable housing and child care for welfare to work participants.

2000-2585 Housing Authority of the City of Imboden, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: Michael E. Dove (501) 324-5936

The Housing Authority of the City of Imboden, Arkansas (IHA) is a 40 unit rural housing authority which is a Public Housing Management Assessment (PHMAP) "High Performer" offering safe, sanitary & Affordable housing to its residents. The IHA staff excels in its mission to provide decent, safe and affordable housing for 40 low income families, elderly and persons with disabilities.

2000-2577 Jacksonville Business Incubator Program (JBIP)
Jacksonville, Arkansas
Contact: Frank Rowland (501) 982-6702

The Jacksonville Business Incubator Program (JBIP) provides six weeks of concentrated business training classes and seminars for enrolled individuals and technical assistance for a two-year incubation period during the start up of small businesses.

2000-2547 The Housing Authority of the City of OSCEOLA, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: Michael E. Dove (501) 324 5933

The Housing Authority of the City of OSCEOLA, Arkansas (OHA) wanted to improve their performance and re-establish itself in the Community by offering safe, sanitary & Affordable housing to its customers and to project a professional image as a responsible community partner.

2000-2105 Homebuyer Assistance
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Contact: Donald Sampson (870) 543-1820

The Homebuyer Assistance Program is designed to assist low-to-moderate income families and individuals wanting to purchase homes on the open market. This program is a citywide activity that is designed to reduce the concentration of low-income population to targeted low-income areas, while offering opportunities for homeownership that otherwise would not be available. Persons interested in this program must have incomes that does not exceed 80% by family size of adjusted median income for Pine Bluff. Persons participating in this program may receive assistance in the form of $2,000 for down payment and up to $1,000 on closing cost. The homebuyer is responsible for all closing cost over $1,000. Also a minimum of $500 toward down payment from the buyer is mandatory and they must attend a Housing Counseling Class offered and paid for by the City of Pine Bluff. The Housing Counseling Class was a needed process that begun in the spring of 1999. The basic purpose of the class is to prepare the potential applicant to get additional bank financing and to broaden their awareness of the responsibilities of a homeowner. The buyer must purchase within the Pine Bluff city limits and the home must meet minimum city housing codes. The city maintains a mortgage through a deferred loan at 0% interest on the property for five years as long as the terms and conditions of the loan are met.

2000-2959 Housing Authority Of The City Of Little Rock Section 8
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: Shirley Whitten (501) 340-4708

Section 8 Existing Certificate and Voucher Program wanted to improve their performance and re-establish itself in the Community by offering safe,sanitary & affordable housing to its customers, promote self-sufficiency and to project a professional image. The LRHA section 8 program Board of Commissioners and Staff administer 1516 section 8 certificates and vouchers, including Shelter Plus Care Program, Family Unification Program, VASH, and VOA. The LRHA Section 8 Staff excels in its mission to provide decent, safe and affordable housing for low income families, senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

2000-1748 UALR, The Oak Forrest Initiative
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: Joni Lee (501) 569-3186

The Oak Forrest Initiative is a coalition of four neighborhood associations in the Oak Forrest neighborhood in central Little Rock, Arkansas. The Oak Forrest neighborhood is predominantly African-American with housing stock from the 1950s with around 25% of the population below the poverty level. The Initiative includes the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the City of Little Rock, as well as representation from various community organizations as activities warrant their participation. The Initiative represents an approach of the university to work in a prescribed area to help create systemic change; therefore, the activities of the Initiative are not singularly focused on one issue. Rather, the Initiative is addressing all aspects of community revitalization: leadership development, physical infrastructure improvements, housing construction and rehabilitation, youth activities, and economic development.

2000-2075 The Village of Seven Mornings; 1400 Harkrider Street
Conway, Arkansas
Contact: Mary A. Boyd (501) 327-0156

The Village was developed on land owned by the Housing Authority of the City of Conway since the 1940s. Conark Courts was used for wartime housing fulfilling a real need for housing during and after WWII. Outdated and in need of repair the development was torn down in 1976. The Village of Seven Mornings became a reality February 13, 2000. It consists of 51one- and two-bedroom elderly units, furnished with appliances including washer/dryer. There is also a kitchen and a multi-purpose room that plans are to be used as a health clinic in the future.

2000-1102 HUD processed eight 223(a)(7) projects for Lay Commercial Mortgage Company
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: Mike Wright (501) 324-6316

The private business owners were able to take advantage of the low interest rates to 5.70-6.86% on refinancing of their mortgages on multifamily projects already insured under the National Housing Act. Some of the owners were able to use the savings in mortgage payments to refurbish their projects, thereby restoring the public trust.

2000-1093 TG 101, Inc. d.b.a. Washington Plaza Apartments – Rehab Financing
San Antonio, Texas
Contact: Ronald C. Anderson (210) 270-4601

TG 101, Inc., a community based non-profit, received capital grant funding from the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) through the LIHPRHA program to acquire Washington Plaza Apartments and to partially rehabilitate the property. The 128 unit complex with partial property based Section 8 funding is a garden style multifamily complex. The largest operating system is the central HVAC system. The central system pumps hot water during the winter and cold water during the summer throughout the complex to individual fan coils in each unit. The air handler in each unit then blows the hot or cold air into the unit. Rehab funds available from HUD were not sufficient to renovate the aging central HVAC/utility system. The non-profit owners (Board of Directors) had approximately $700,000 available while the overall project was estimated at over $1,200,000.

The financial advisor (Lucas and Associates) and the sponsoring non-profit (Terra-Genesis Housing, Inc.) recommended to the non-profit ownership Board that they seek other sources of funding for the short fall. They suggested the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) Affordable Housing Program (AHP) using the HUD capital grant for rehab as matching funds. When one FHLB member turned the property down, another (Bank of Northwest Arkansas) was approached by residents and Board members and agreed to sponsor the loan application. The first application was not funded. The second, improved, and enhanced application filed six months later was successful. A fifteen loan/grant for $505,000 was awarded. The no interest funding will be converted into a grant if the property maintains the appropriate low-income resident profile for the fifteen years of the compliance period.

2000-1062 202/811 Workshop
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: Whitson Elsie (501) 324-5937

This activity was a workshop to explain and present new information on the Section 202 and Section 811 Capital Advance Programs. Each discipline involved in the review of these applications was a presenter on the program. In addition to materials provided by HQ, supplemental information was prepared by each discipline to highlight critical information and potential problem areas. Also, a display board was prepared representing successfully completed 202 and 811 projects.

2000-1026 Good Shepherd Ecumenical Retirement Center, Wellness Center
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: Diannia Hall-Clutts (501) 223-9642

On February 5, 1998, the Sponsor of Good Shepherd Ecumenical Retirement Center received a grant from the Daughter of Charity West Central Region Foundation to establish the Wellness Center of Good Shepherd. The goal of the program is to provide services to seniors in the community that prolong active, independent lives by promoting good health and reducing illness and disabilities.

2000-256 Renaissance of a Public Housing Project, Ragon Homes
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Contact: Charles G. Blevins (501) 324-6375

This project involved the total rehabilitation of a blighted 170-unit public housing complex through community partnerships involving residents, the city, the housing authority, and other local agencies and organizations. Once a haven for drugs and gang activities, Ragon Homes had more than a 50% vacancy rate in the early 1990s. With a newly appointed board and the hiring of the current director in 1993, incremental changes were made which depended upon a patchwork of funding and community partnerships. Comprehensive Grant Program funds supported a wide range of property improvements and resident services. Public Housing Drug Elimination grants were used to fund security guards and police sub-stations and other law enforcement initiatives that made police presence visible and effective. A resident council was carefully recruited and developed resident support programs that ranged from day care to employment training, drug programs, education, recreation, youth leadership development, and business enterprise. The city contributed CDBG funds for infrastructure improvements on-site and in the surrounding area, and funded acquisition of buildings that were converted to a thrift store and grocery. These businesses are used to train residents in job skills by providing real-world business experience. The development currently enjoys nearly 100% occupancy.

2000-722 Fair Lending/Arkansas Mortgage Bankers Association
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: Andy Byrd (501) 228-2234

The Mortgage Bankers Association of Arkansas' objective in regards to the agreement that was signed is to increase affordable housing and home ownership by serving as an industry leader in educating the industry on fair housing/fair lending issues.

2000-720 Pine Bluff Community Housing Resource Board
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Contact: Jeannie H. Epperson (870) 536-2074

This initiative was created to stabilize neighborhoods and strengthen the social and economic fiber of Jefferson County and Pine Bluff. It fosters joint, cooperative efforts of public and private sectors involved in the production and distribution of housing in the city and county.

Content Archived: April 20, 2011