2000 Best Practice Awards

2000-449 Nothern Aroostock County Septic System
Madawaska, Maine
Brenda M. Chabre (207) 728-3603

A consortium of 27 northern Maine municipalities plus 9 unorganized townships collaborated apply for and receive a $300,000 Small Cities CDBG project to repair or replace faulty septic systems and wells at homes of LMI residents throughout Northern Aroostook County. Matching funds of $150,000 provided by Maine Department of Environmental Protection. An additional grant application is pending with the USDA Rural Development under the Housing Preservation Grant program. This would bring the total project funding to $469,000. It is anticipated that 60 LMI households will benefit from the well and septic system improvements.

2000-476 Portland Lead Safe Housing Program
Portland, Maine
Roger L. Bondeson (207) 874-8711

Funded by two HUD Lead Hazard Control grants, the City of Portland’s Division of Housing and Neighborhood Services administers a comprehensive program aimed at reducing and preventing the incidence of lead poisoning among Portland’s low-income children. The Portland Lead Safe Housing Program provides loans and grants to property owners for lead abatement and rehabilitation activities and provides education and outreach on lead hazards to landlords and tenants. The City of Portland has partnered with Portland’s Public Health Department and several housing programs to offer a very wide range of services citywide

2000-548 Homeless Youth Demonstration Project
Bangor, Maine
Becky Hayes-Boober (207) 561-4197

The State of Maine Legislature enacted a law establishing the Homeless Youth Demonstration Project to explore services for unaccompanied youths and youths-at-risk. The services were to be traditional and innovative, creative, collaborative and youth-driven. The legislation established 2 project sites in the State and called for Stakeholder's groups to be established to assist in the planning, development, operation and evaluation of the project.

2000-653 First Park
Augusta, Maine
Steven H. Levesque (207) 287-3153

First Park is a hi-tech business park being developed in Oakland, Maine. The park is the result of the joint collaboration of over 20 Central Maine communities. Each of these communities committed taxpayer funds to match HUD Small Cities CDBG funds and EDA funds for the construction of this Class A business park. The Maine Legislature created a regional development authority and empowered it to borrow funds to finance the park.

2000-717 Auburn, Maine Accessible Housing Task Force
Auburn, Maine
Reine L. Mynahan (207) 786-2634

The Community Development Department and the Public Housing Authority of the City of Auburn, Maine convened a task force to assess the availability of accessible rental units in their community. available accessible units, and conducted a survey of families with disabled members to determine their housing needs.

2000-863 Bangor Housing Authority Child Development
Bangor, Maine
Elsie Coffey (207) 942-6365

The Bangor Housing Authority used Comp/Mod funds to construct a Child Development Center on property purchased adjacent to the BHA administrative offices. Funding from several years Comp/Mod allocations was combined to cover the total cost of over $1 million. The BHA partnered with the Head Start program run by Penquis Community Action Program staff to move the whole Head Start operation to the new facility. Services now are provided to over 80 youngsters on a sliding cost scale tailored to their family's ability to pay. The center is a critical component of the Welfare-to-Work efforts of the BHA, and provides state-of-the-art facilities including an amphitheater, nursing services, innovative classrooms that incorporate creative use of color and light, plus extensive secure outdoor recreational opportunities for the children.

2000-866 Augusta Maine Church Meal Program
Augusta, Maine
Timothy Poulin (207) 622-6401

The Augusta, Maine Church Meal Program provides free meals on Saturdays of the month for all. The program has served nearly 3000 free meals to the homeless and LMI population in the greater Augusta, Maine area.

2000-870 College Student Survey
Augusta, Maine
Peggy Schaffer (207) 287-8480

In order to increase citizen participation in the CDBG small cities program, an electronic survey aimed at local college students was developed. The survey will be e-mailed to the students in autumn 2000. Students can respond via e-mail.

2000-871 Smart Growth Forum
Bangor, Maine
William D. Burney, Jr. (207) 941-8159

The Maine and New Hampshire State Offices of HUD, in conjunction with the New England Regional Office of the Environmental Protection Agency, have convened a two-state forum to discuss issues of Smart Growth in light of the re-introduction of passenger rail service to Seacoast New Hampshire and Maine.

HUD and the EPA are two of several partners in New England that have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to institute Federal Agency Livability Agenda announced by Vice President Gore.

A regional forum is planned for June 15th in Saco, Maine. Over 900 local and business officials are invited.

2000-1487 Making Manufactured Home Shows Wheelchair Accessible
Bangor, Maine
Bill Peters (207) 945-0427

Mr. William Peters, HUD Maine State Office, recognized a need to ensure that all Manufactured Home Shows are wheelchair accessible. After visiting several home exhibits, he noted that most were not set up to allow for the disabled to tour them. Mr. Peters took it upon himself to contact several wheelchair lift companies to invite them to show and promote their products at future shows. This is a great idea of thinking "out of the box" and also serving our customers.

2000-2261 Bayview Heights Community Collaborative
Brunswick, Maine
June A. Koegel (207) 373-1140

Volunteers of America National Office with the local Volunteers of America Northern New England affiliate developed a 202 Project in Portland, Maine overlooking Back Bay, one of the most beautiful sites in Portland. It was important to work closely with the community to develop a comprehensive community center philosophy. We purchased the former Jewish Home for the Aged to renovate and build the 202 project. Because of the existing building, we had two kitchens and a bakery center. Knowing we wouldn't have staff for that type of operation we developed a partnership with East End Kids Katering, a non profit agency that provides training in food service to at risk young adults and provides food for head start and local children's programs. East End Kid's Katering moved their entire operation to our 202 site, once built, and now provide meals for the seniors in exchange for their use of the kitchens and basement storage space. The seniors receive a breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday and holiday meals. We also developed a partnership with Stone Soup Kitchen which trains homeless individuals in culinary arts and sells soup at the local public market. In exchange for the space, they provide soup for the seniors. The seniors also participate in the graduation ceremonies for both of these programs. We also worked with the local elementary school next door whose fifth and sixth graders named the project and come over to play bingo, do arts and crafts and interact with the seniors.

2000-2586 The Pratt Section 203k Lead Poisoning
Bangor, Maine
William D. Burney (207) 941-8159

Dean and Cindy Pratt are Section 203k borrowers in Lebanon, ME. Shortly after moving into their 203k home, their two children were diagnosed with acute lead poisoning, a result of rehab work the Pratts did to their property. Their home was tested for lead paint, and the cost to remedy the problems ran to over $40,000. The Pratts could not afford the paint remediation, and were facing default, foreclosure, and possible bankruptcy. The HUD office crafted a solution to prevent foreclosure - The Pratts deeded their property to HUD, HUD contracted for LBP remediation to State standards and placed the Pratts in a HUD REO property during remediation. Following the LBP work, HUD will reconvene the property to the Pratt family under a new mortgage arranged with Norwest. The new mortgage will be structured so that monthly payments will not exceed the payments on the Pratts' previous mortgage loan.

2000-2641 Piscataquis County Cultural Heritage
Bangor, Maine
John Holden (207) 942-6389

Piscataquis County, Maine has been hard hit by job loss and the need to retool from the old economy to the new economy. A group of 45 businesses and agencies has come together to address the problem. Using a HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development grant (note: the funding source is listed as EDI, only because the Rural Housing and Economic Development Program is not listed under HUD programs on the selection list), the Eastern Maine Development Corporation is conducting a complete inventory of home-based businesses. This database will then be used in a marketing campaign to expand the market
potential beyond traditional geographic limits and customer base.

2000-2659 Neighborhood Networks HUB
Manchester, New Hampshire
Susan Gosselin (603) 666-7907

Created a Neighborhood Networks HUB to accommodate several rural projects. Originally designed with a HUB principal, The Housing Foundation I (REMS ID 800009662), the large family property in Orono, was the HUB because they have the largest number of residents, larger space capacity, and are located right behind the University of Maine Orono campus. Seven remotely located senior sites are served by the HUB. The HUB approach allows them to share the resource of a coordinator. The Housing Foundation I's location allows them to share a connection with the University of Maine Internet. Because the properties are so remotely located, it would have been difficult to create a workable NN plan without partnerships. Not only are there partnerships between the properties, but Maine State Housing Authority and the University of Maine at Orono played important roles providing additional funding and Internet services. The Center has been operating for 3 years now, serves over 5,000 residents, including children, adults new to computers, and senior citizens.

2000-2677 Maine State Housing Authority Homework
Augusta, Maine
Thomas M. Donahue (207) 626-4670

Implementation of a standard homebuyer education delivery system in Maine. In 1998, the Maine Homeownership Education Advisory Council identified the goal of establishing a statewide standardized homeownership education program. A curriculum was determined, and a network of providers has been built to deliver the sessions. Classes are available at locations throughout the state year-round. Special emphasis is placed on education to immigrant minorities in the City of Portland and to Native Americans on the five reservations in Maine.

2000-2889 Penobscot Riverfront Development Project
Bangor, Maine
Stan C. Moses (207) 945-4400

After 15 years of property acquisition and clearance, environmental remediation, and public infrastructure improvements along the one-mile Penobscot Riverfront between downtown and the I-395 bridge, Bangor has entered the redevelopment phase for this, the City's biggest redevelopment effort since northern New England's largest Urban Renewal project of the 1960's. The waterfront project involved removal of five former industrial uses which had formed, for a century or more, a barrier between the citizens of Bangor, its businesses, and its visitors, and the city's foremost natural asset, the historic and scenic Penobscot River. Now gone from along Front Street are a leaking petroleum storage tank farm. a closed shoe manufacturing plant, a paper products warehouse which was slowly sliding toward the river, and a coal yard which relied on neither water nor rail to receive and ship its products. In their place are a popular brew-pub and restaurant, landscaped park and open space, parking, and a replica early 20th century rural Maine train station that houses public restroom, the harbor master's office, an available meeting area, an observation deck Landing.

2000-2902 Bates Mill Redevelopment
Manchester, New Hampshire
Nicholas S. Kallan (603) 666-7632

Located in the heart of the City, the Bates Mill Redevelopment Project is a public/private partnership to renovate over one million square feet of abandoned textile mill space. The project began in 1992 when the City took the property for back taxes, and it has become the engine that drives the revitalization of downtown Lewiston.

2000-1278 Community Development Block Grant Certification Program
Manchester, New Hampshire
Nicholas S. Kallan (603) 666-7632

Maine communities receive an average of $16 million annually for community and economic development projects, and communities depend on qualified individuals to help them successfully implement their grant programs. The CDBG Certification Programs provide training and certificates of completion to individuals wishing to serve Maine communities with the implementation of their Small Cities CDBG programs. It is sponsored by the State of Maine Office of Community Development.

Content Archived: April 20, 2011