2000 Best Practice Awards

345 Several HUD - Assisted Multifamily Housing

Project Manager, Joy Howe Williamson, created an inexpensive way to educate, reward, and encourage assisted tenants to maintain the housekeeping of their units. Many residents are young, single mothers, who never learned how to clean an apartment. The poor housekeeping resulted in infestations of rodents and vermin, failing Section 8 Housing Quality Standards. Ms. Williamson hired a welfare-to-work person who gave instructions to the tenants on an individual basis as to housekeeping techniques. After 30 days, Ms. Williamson would re-inspect each unit that previously had housekeeping deficiencies. Each tenant who had maintained their unit in clean condition would be given a framed certificate for "Excellent Housekeeping". The certificate not only was a reward for their accomplishment, but when seen hanging in their apartment, served as a constant reminder to the tenant to keep up their good work. This program resulted in better quality tenants, a better quality of life for their families, fewer units being abated for Housing Quality Standards failures, and a significant decrease in exterminator expenses.

406 Rural On-line Computing Centers

ROCC served as the impetus for the creation of a computer technology partnership between Fayette County Housing Authority, HUD and Penn State-Fayette University. These three entities signed a memorandum of understanding designed to increase access to computers at 14 rural sites throughout Fayette County. Under terms of the partnership all representatives agreed to join forces to bring computer access, training and technology to senior centers, public housing residents and rural community centers. ROCC is funded by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania and operates under the umbrella of PennState-Fayette. ROCC has helped forge a very unique partnership between HUD, the Fayette County Housing Authority and numerous privately managed senior citizen centers and other Multi-family subsidized developments.

419 University of Pittsburgh's Community Leisure - Learn Program

The University of Pittsburgh under the auspices of its Community Leisure-Learn Program administers a National Youth Sports Program (NYSP). The program is supported in part by a grant from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). This unique partnership is designed to expand structural sports opportunities for young people from low-income families between the ages of 10 to 16. Youth participants receive free instructional classes in a minimum of three sports activities (basketball, swimming-diving, personal fitness, gymnastics, karate, personal defense, and racquet sports) as well as classes in good personal health practices, drug prevention and nutritional education. This unique program allows young people from low-income families to benefit from sports-skills, sports competition and improved physical fitness which all plays a role in enhancing their personal and social skills. The National Youth Sports Program/Community Leisure-Learn Program is offered at the University of Pittsburgh’s Oakland Campus, Monday through Friday for five weeks during the summer months. The program utilizes the University’s sport facilities for all program activities. Participants are served a free hot lunch daily at one of the University’s finest dining areas. Each participant receives a medical examination at no cost to the family. The program provides a safe and secure environment for young people to enjoy sports activities and related programming in a college campus setting. This unique partnership has enabled the University of Pittsburgh to open its doors to the community and provide an opportunity for young people that could make a difference in the lives. The University of Pittsburgh’s National Youth Sports Program without a doubt has been a successful model for other NYSP’s across the country.

938 Various Mulitfamily Housing Developments

Housing and Neighborhood Development Service (HANDS), located in Erie, Pennsylvania, developed a letter to applicants that greatly assists those applicants in gaining affordable housing. The letter thanks the applicant for their interest and approves them for HANDS’ housing program. More importantly, the letter gives an estimate of when an appropriately-sized unit might be available, an estimate of the amount of rent and utilities, and an estimate of security deposit needed. The letter also suggests the applicant begin to save money for their security deposit and first month’s rent. HANDS is providing as much information as possible to their applicants in order to allow them to be as best prepared as possible to enter into their new housing.

1116 Forest Green Apartments Day Care Center

With the implementation of Welfare Reform, Site Manager Elaine Limano determined a need for child care on the site of this 100-unit family Section 8 complex, to allow single mothers to gain education and/or employment. In March 1998, 75 children under the age of 6 lived with welfare moms at Forest Green. Without child care, the parents would not be able to get training and employment, and would lose their welfare benefits. Partnerships were formed with the Meadville Kiwanis Club, who paid for the construction of a building on site to house the day care center, with several volunteers who provided electrical work and landscaping, the Meadville Rotary Club who furnished the building's interior, and the YWCA and Head Start for providing assisted child care. Two years later, nearly every head-of-household is either in training or employed. The center can accommodate 14 children ages 0 - 3, and 19 children 4 - 6 years of age.

1254 Miryam's

Miryam’s over the past several years has received four HUD grants. They are a Safe Haven/Day Treatment Shelter Program, Transitional Housing, Next Step and After Care Programs.

1340 Security Patrols and Crime Elimination

Argus is a software package developed by Securities/GCS, a system designed for police tour reporting for individual premises such as ACHA developments. It offers the possibility of assigning names to bar-codes and combining a set of bar-codes into a round file. Bar codes read by a Detex wand are stored in a date acquisition unit (DAU) and then downloaded into a PC to create a Round file. The PC also contains the Master round, which is defined by the ACHA's Chief of Security. One Master file plus one round file are then selected for comparison against each other to create a report. Several report formats are available but all are based on comparisons between the work which has already been carried out (round file) with the work which was planned and redefined (master file). Another important feature of the Argus system is the dial command strip and its ability to download information via a modem connected to the central office. This feature is particularly important to the ACHA given the wide geographical area its housing communities encompass. The strip enables the ACHA to determine the date, time and location of rounds made by the officer in that particular development. In this way, the ACHA is better able to document and ensure that the police officers are making the required tours. In addition to the Argus system, the officers working in our developments are provided with daily report forms to better enable the ACHA's security department to track crime and compare tour reports. If the officer is unable to complete the round, they must indicate the reason on the report. Failure to comply with provisions of the scope of services of the contract results in a deduction of man hours paid to the municipality.

1551 DARE2XL-DREAM ASPIRE REACH & EXCEL PH DRUG ELIMINATION GRANT

The Housing Authority of Beaver County has contracted with Penn State University Beaver Campus to provide a comprehensive program of prevention, intervention, and treatment activities designed to have a positive impact on the public housing communities of Linmar Terrace, Griffith Heights and Linmar Terrace Extension of the City of Aliquippa. Programs are designed to provide activities for school age youth via After School for grades 1-8; a Juvenile Assistance Program for delinquent youth; parent/education and employment training programs; a Family Wellness/Fitness Program and a counseling/treatment component. Many of the activities utilize the excellence/high performance behaviors with specific outcomes designed to improve the academic performance of the participating children.

1665 Fairview/Fairmont Outreach Center

The creation of an interfaith partnership between several churches and the owner/management team of two local housing developments has created a first class partnership which continues to improve and enrich the lives of their residents. The principle purpose of the partnership is to provide on-site social workers and staff to assist residents of all ages with the many issues and problems they face and provide the necessary support and linkages to enable residents to address needs, make necessary changes and when possible, develop the skills and other resources necessary to eventually graduate from subsidized housing or at least improve their own personal situations whenever possible. As a result of the on-site staff, residents are afforded opportunities to discuss problems, helped in identifying resources and services to address needs, assisted with job seeking and retraining/educational skills, provided basic lifeskills education, and a variety of outside resources are encouraged to provide community base programming to meet clients needs. Staff members have been quick and eager to do far more than basic social work and case management activities. They are always exploring new and innovative ways to reach out to residents of all ages. These efforts include orchestration and provision of holiday dinners for all residents, recruitment of Bonner Leaders from the local college to assist with after school tutoring and mentoring efforts. Recruitment of college students to volunteer with fieldtrips and other enrichment activities including literacy training and computer training to better access and use the community's Neighborhood Network. They have also been very active in creating a variety of skills development courses to assist residents in their efforts to acquire or upgrade their employment. This has taken many forms and has included a variety of computer classes geared to a range of levels and ability. Residents have also been encouraged to explore other avenues of education and advancement, always with the support and a prod, if necessary, from the staff. The staff has continued to be aggressive in their efforts to recruit and develop additional partnerships to assist residents and their most recent efforts have developed a rather unique and comprehensive way to enhance their local Neighborhood Network. Under a new collaborative project with the local welfare office, local co-operative extension office and the management, they have been able to develop a long-term computer education project. Under this model, staff have been provided by the extension office to train a core group of adults from the community on a variety of computer skills. These adults, in turn, are required to repay this service by donating some of their time to train young people from the community on the same skills and activities. These youngsters will return the favor by training some of their peers and other younger residents. The ultimate goal of the project is to create a learning and growing computer educational component which will hopefully be the basis for the formation of an on-site 4-H group for the children of the community. The efforts of the social workers has already provided the development of a highly successful and longstanding Girl Scout Troop on-site, lead by several of the residents. Summer efforts include provision of an on-site summer lunch program for the children which is very important to many of the residents. Efforts are made to tie this program to a variety of summer enrichment activities, including a special pre-school component to assist with Head-Start and daycare readiness. This partnership will continue to grow as a result of the staff efforts and the support and nurturing environment provided by all participants and especially fostered by the volunteer board provided by members of the local churches. This board is often there doing hands-on renovations, soliciting needed equipment and/or computer upgrades and always willing to located needed resources or new partners to expand the efforts and effectiveness of the Outreach Center.

1768 Quinby Street Sub-station/Service Center

The City of Sharon, in partnership with the Mercer County Housing Authority and local organizations, has been effective in utilizing their resources to work toward the reduction of crime, community stability and improving the lives of the residents of the Quinby Street Neighborhood. The City of Sharon first identified the need to reduce crime and stabilize the neighborhood with the initial COPS Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Housing Authority donated a vacant building and provided funds for the structural renovations. The City has four (4) beat patrolmen assigned to the sub-station, along with one (1) Sergeant Detective and one (1) D.A.R.E. Crime Prevention Officer. Additionally renovation work remodeled the basement area into a library, reading and learning center. The City (through it's CDBG funds), pays the cost of the Reading Center Coordinator for the building. Other partners include the Sharon Regional Health System, which provided materials for the library (books, computers, learning games, etc.), the Sharon School District provided furniture for the library, student volunteers from Sharon High School provide tutoring, the Shenango Valley Community Library and the Quota Club have provided books, the 4H Club operates the reading center, Minority Health Services provides educational programs, the Primary Health Network provides classes and inoculations, the Mercer County Court provides a Victim/Witness Program, the Urban League offers it job training and counseling program. The Mercer County Housing Authority operates other programs including drug prevention and self-esteem through the Behavioral Health Commission and Sharon Family Center. A counselor is available from the AW/ARE shelter for adult and children who are the victims of domestic violence. These partnerships were first developed in 1994 and been on-going for the past 6 years. This innovative partnership continues with the recent purchase of a community oriented police vehicle for the Quinby Street Sub-Station/Service Center. The City established a "buy-a-Fender" campaign and sold the four fenders for $5,000.00 each for a total of $20,000.00, which covers most of the cost of the vehicle. Local organization and businesses joined the partnership and their names are painted on each fender. The partnership has gone through a formal visioning process. This was initiated under the preparation of a Federal Enterprise Community Application. An advisory council was formed with residents and local social service organization. This group supported the initial COPS Application and subsequently recommended the need to transform the Police Sub-Station into a full-service Community Center, which has now been implemented. Other recommendations included recreational events, community picnics and community pride. These, too, are in place and have become annual events. A Census 2000 assistance center is located in the Service Center for area residents to ensure they are counted during the 2000 Census process. The entire partnership is credited with improving the delivery of social and community services to residents of a neighborhood who were previously without these resources. The community has become more cohesive and the fear of crime has diminished. Residents are able to sit outside and enjoy their neighborhood.

1789 St. Martin's Housing Counseling Program

St. Martin's Housing Counseling Program provides all required housing counseling for all HUD topics: renter, pre-occupancy, post occupancy, pre-purchase, pre-foreclosure/default, rental delinquency and money management. St. Martin's main focus is based on pre-purchase counseling. The program has been very successful in Erie County and St. Martin's is now partnering with the Meadville Redevelopment Authority which is located in Crawford County, PA.

2178 Educational and Cultural Enrichment Program

Over 500 public housing and Section 8 residents in seven Allegheny County, PA communities have participated in the Educational and Cultural Enrichment Initiative developed by ACTION Housing, INC. already with only about one-half of a $50, 000 Community Development Block Grant spent to date. Both adults and children have attended such events as "Toys on Ice". "Pittsburgh Zoo Lights," and the circus. Many families have gotten memberships/subscriptions to the Carnegie Museum/Science Center, Pittsburgh Public Theater and the Pittsburgh Zoo while children have been given dance and music lessons as well as rental fees for instruments. They have had exposure to educational programs at major educational and health care institutions such as the University of Pittsburgh and the Pitt Medical Center, Carnegie-Mellon University, Carlow College and the Community College of Allegheny County. They have also participated in reading programs and attended performances at Heinz Hall and the Benedum Center. Two unique programs the Initiative has funded are art classes taught by Maureen Jones and singing/dancing lessons taught by Walt Maddox. Ms. Jones is an artist, art teacher and psychotherapist, who founded and operates Multi-cultural Arts and Recreational Times (M’ART). She is teaching children ages 5-12 from Burns Heights public housing community in Duquesne, PA how to understand themselves better through nonverbal techniques. Her classes provide a means for participants to experience the power of art and creating a place of clarity, truth, and peacefulness. Ms. Jones firmly believes that the arts can create opportunities to explore the differences and similarities within and among individuals in a creative and positive way and provide avenues to heal many of the ills and solve many of the problems facing society, for both children and adults. At. Burns Heights she is teaching stress reduction techniques through classes in painting ceramics coupled with stories and magic. Children from Hawkins Village public housing community in Rankin, PA are taking classes from singer/musician Walt Maddox. Mr. Maddox’s program, "Wake Up Your Dreams," identifies and develops young talent who are interested in music and dance. Through his classes he hopes to provide performing and recording opportunities for these youngsters.

2252 All of us, dba Habit-tat for Youth and Education

The Caring Habit of the Month initiative at Aliquippa Middle School is dedicated to preventing violence in our school by nourishing the caring fabric of our relationships, our self worth and to develop in us, conflict resolution and other social skills. Our school climate reflects our values and is shaped by our words, actions, and habits. Our purpose is to positively inspire our students and staff with coordinated multi-media materials and to encourage everyone's involvement to practice one caring habit each month. Our systematically repetitive program of monthly habit-building reminders promote the Golden Rule of mutual respect, and create a more caring "habit-tat" for everyone to share. Almost every student is a program creator participant and is enthusiastically in favor of Caring Habits in our school. Since we began our initiative we have together created Caring Habit posters, banners, locker signs, stories, newspapers, poetry and raps. Every month the caring color and theme changes. We have all participated in two Hometown Evenings with Steelers Mark Bruner and KDKA-TV Brenda Waters and "Increase the PEACE" Day with the PA Department of Health and WAMO Radio. We have seen monthly videos, listened to inspiring daily morning announcements and we use our homework planners to help learn organization and planning skills while being reminded of good caring behaviors. We take materials home and out into our community. Detentions and suspensions for violent behaviors are down and our school feels like a calmer more nourishing place where we learn together, how to become caring, productive citizens of the future. The Caring Habit of the Month Adventure is a 100% involvement Youth Violence Prevention initiative, easily replicable to other schools, and with a list of proven outcomes that is growing daily. Everyone within the systematic predictable climate of a Caring Habit School feels included, and enjoys the colorful, nourishing involvement and good ideas of the program. One student commented, "It gives me something to look forward to." Aliquippa Middle School has approximately 550 students in grades 5 through 8 and 40 staff members with 22 home rooms. All students and all staff members are served by the program and receive Caring Habit of the Month reinforcement and reminder messages every day of the school year. The project plans to continue at Aliquippa. What is creative and unique about the Caring Habit of the Month Adventure is it's monthly SYSTEM of colorful "action" message rather than dry character themes, that reach every student every day, over and over again for a month. The system is based on the theory that the negative influences on youth are overwhelming, but the positive messages students hear are fragmented and confusing. Caring Habits presents a unified, "call-to-action" theme for everyone to coordinate their messages, their school activities, and their curriculum around for one entire month It takes a month to build a habit and a minimum of 6 instances of hearing the same message for it to remain in long term memory. Advertisers sell their products based on consistent repetitive messaging campaigns. The shared community begins in the classroom, expands throughout the school, into homes, and then into the larger community. This is possible because every one is learning, doing, and thinking the same positive thoughts at the same time. Caring Habits also organizes physical health reminders into a coordinated plan that fits with the violence prevention reminders. The health reminders are presented on the materials as monthly "Health-Bites". The first day of each month is school-wide Caring Habit Day. There are nine Caring Habits and nine Caring Habit Day celebrations throughout the school year. Several weeks ago, Increase the PEACE Day was celebrated on March's "RESOLVE CONFLICTS" Caring Habit Day. On Caring Habit day, each teacher receives a "Teacher Inspiration Booklet" with a personal letter and daily quotes and ideas for implement the coming month's caring theme. The daily inspirations are also read by students on morning announcements during the rest of the month. Each month, students receive Caring Habit Homework Planners, Caring Habit Bookmarks, Caring Habit pencils, and a "take-home" dinner table tent --each with the monthly theme emblazoned on it. Each teacher receives a 50 page Lesson IDEA Book, color-coded for each month and complete with daily activities, quotes, poems, reading book lists, health tips, vocabulary words, and curriculum related reproducible hand-outs. On September 1, 1999 a School-Wide Caring Habit Pizza Picnic was held in every classroom throughout the school to kick off the 1999-2000 Caring Habit Adventure. The Caring Habit for the month of September is "Do Your Best" and the Caring Color is, "AWARD Gold." The Caring Habit Student TEAM was recruited and now helps put each months' Caring Habit Posters up and down the hallways and coordinates school-wide support activities. A large oil cloth banner is hung in the lunch room. During each month one video related to each month's message is shown school wide. In March, for "Resolve Conflicts," they saw, "Kids Killing Kids." In September for "Do Your Best," they watched, "Rudy." During the special Caring Habit period on the first day of the month, students make posters for the hallways and lunchroom and personal signs for their own lockers to remind everyone to "Do Their Best" during September or "Resolve Conflicts" in March. At least once each week, teachers use their IDEA book to conduct curriculum-related classroom activities. During the month, as students make more posters and locker signs, the printed posters get filled in with student made posters and banners and personal locker signs. In August, just before school started, a teacher in-service was held as a Caring Habit Rally to nourish and inspire teachers to be more caring and considerate of students as well as of one another. Each teacher received a Start The School Year Right Pencil Cup to remind them of their commitment. The cups have inserts that change habits and colors for each month too. The Homework Planner element of the Caring Habit program has social skills and violence prevention vocabulary words, inspirational quotes, reminders to eat a good breakfast, keep your room orderly, avoid study distractions, set limits, snack wisely, be trustworthy, believe in your self, and exercise-your-brain games and puzzles to do at home. The Planner is also a useful personal student tool for improving organizational skills and use of time for studying. The Planner links the parents with the Caring Habit themes with a place for parent signatures. Each night students must take their Planners home and share their work with their parents or guardians. The Homework Planner is proving to be a cornerstone of the model because students carry them, daily and often are found reading them in their spare moments. EVERY STUDENT receives a new Homework Planner at the start of each month. One teacher commented, "I find the program very positive because most of the students use the planner." There are rewards for students who successfully do their Homework such as dress down days and school dances. Doing ones best during September is rewarded and reinforced at every opportunity. Last year CBS-KDKA-TV 2 promoted the monthly message with the "FOR KIDS SAKE" TV spots or "sound bytes," again reinforcing the positive monthly messages. Within Aliquippa Middle School, a Teacher TEAM of 12 and a Student TEAM of 25 manage all of the Caring Habit activities. Other outreach reminders include a 3-inch paper "table tent," color-coordinated with the monthly message that students take home to display on the kitchen table. In August 1999, a Parent/Guardian/Community (VIP-Very Important People) TEAM was recruited to begin the extension of Caring Habits out into the Community. By September 1, 1999, there were nearly 15 community businesses and organizations involved. On that day Aliquippa's Mayor, James Mansueti issued a PROCLAMATION saluting Caring Habits and encouraging all businesses and organizations in Aliquippa to display the messages in their establishments. Now the number of merchants and other participants has more than doubled. They reinforce the school messages by hanging the monthly posters in their windows and giving away bookmarks. Restaurants display the Caring Habit table-tents inside on each table. Places of worship hang the Posters. Police officers carry the monthly message in the form of Bookmarks to distribute in neighborhoods. The entire community focuses on each month's habit-building messages with posters, bookmarks and table tents. In a very short period of time the consistent repetition of the theme is etched in memory and the desired behavior pattern becomes habitual. All of the students, households, and community residents are exposed to the same message at the same time. Everyone is trying out the same idea at the same time and those who initially are somewhat hesitant, begin to go along with the peer pressure. This time, though, the peer pressure is building positive life-long social skills and work habits. Slowly but surely each new monthly behavior pattern is LEARNED. With the new thoughtful caring behaviors comes an increased willingness to learn academic subjects. Students begin to trust the more caring atmosphere where learning is rewarded and the student has learned that he/she is valued by his/her peers, as well as valued by his/her teachers. Adding the repetitive power of positive media messages with printed and visual/auditory materials is proving to be a great way to support non-violence.

2336 HIP - Housing Integrity Program

The Housing Integrity Program (HIP) was set up to deal with rent fraud. Specifically, the program matches tenant-reported income data to IRS, Social Security, and state wage data, to see whether income is underreported, and if so, to encourage tenants to sort this out. The matches have the potential to recover funds in underpaid rent, and may result in criminal or civil actions; as a result, the program serves as a means to detect and deter fraudulent income reporting.

2475 HOME Choice Program - Altoona Housing

In the late 1980's and early 1990's, the number of vacant, abandoned and blighted houses increased to crisis proportions. The depressed state of the local real estate market reduced the appreciable value of older homes creating a disincentive to owners to maintain and improve them. In addition to the number of vacant homes, there was a need in the community to develop opportunities for low and moderate-income families to purchase and own their home. In response to these two issues, the Altoona Housing Authority developed the HOME Choice program. The Housing Authority applied to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for Public Housing Development Funds to acquire and rehabilitate existing homes. The Housing Authority was successful in securing three separate funding awards to purchase and rehabilitate 22, 24 and 14 homes, respectively. Homes were purchased from the City of Altoona's Blighted Property Program, local lenders, realtors, estates and private owners. Once the homes were purchased a local architect developed plans and specifications for the work to be completed. Lead and asbestos containing materials were removed and the houses were completely rehabilitated. Rehabilitation included new plumbing and heating systems, new windows, siding, and floor coverings. The goal was to provide a home that would not create a high maintenance cost for the participants. Most families can afford the monthly payments, but when repairs have to be made they cannot afford the and then have difficulty making monthly payments. The complete rehabilitation of these homes removed that obstacle for participating families. In addition to the funds to purchase and rehabilitate existing homes, the Authority secured Public Housing Development Funds to construct 12 new homes on vacant lots throughout the City. A number of vacant lots existed throughout the City as a result of demolition of existing structures. The City had not been successful in its efforts to market these parcels to private, for-profit, homebuilders. Many applicants to earlier rounds of the program had indicated an interest in purchasing a new home, rather than a rehabilitated property. The 12 homes were constructed to meet these needs. There was tremendous support for the program in the community. Applicants exceeded the number of homes available, many waited several days for the opportunity to apply. The local media has consistently supported our efforts through positive news stories about the program. The Housing Authority developed a Section 5(h) Home Ownership Plan, approved by HUD, that established the guidelines for the leasing and sale of the homes. The participating families lease the property for a period of three years. During the lease period, a portion of the monthly payment is set aside for use as a down payment at the time of purchase. The home is sold, at the end of the lease period, for the appraised value. Monthly payments are collected by a local lender, allowing participants to develop a relationship with the lending community. This gives the participating families an opportunity to establish a relationship with a lending institution. Housing counseling during the lease term is provided by Housing Opportunities of Blair County. A conventional mortgage is secured to purchase the home. The low mortgage rates of the last several years has made it easier for families to purchase their homes without a significant increase in their monthly payment. As of June 1, 2000, 55 of the 72 homes have been purchased, generating $1.9 million in sales proceeds. The sales proceeds will be used to develop additional rental and home ownership opportunities in Altoona.

2504 Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh

The main objective of the Pittsburgh Home Ownership Program (PHOP) is to provide a below market interest rate for a term of 30 years to low and moderate income first time homebuyers throughout the City of Pittsburgh. This program is designed to help stimulate housing investment in the City by providing financial and technical assistance to potential homebuyers for the purpose of purchasing an existing substantially rehabilitated or newly constructed residential unit. The current interest rate is 6.5%. A low downpayment of 3% (which can be a gift or grant) is required. The seller can also contribute up to 6% of the sales price toward the buyer's closing costs. A grant in the amount of $1,000 based on income is provided for the assistance of closing costs or downpayment. The borrower is required to live in the property.

2508 Reviews of Tenant Selection Plans and Waiting Lists by 202/811 Teams

One of Multifamily Housing’s goals is to perform reviews of Tenant Selection Plans and Waiting Lists of assisted housing developments to assure fair housing practices are being met. The Director of the Pittsburgh Multifamily Program Center designated two teams of staff members to concentrate on the management practices of Section 202 and Section 811 housing developments. These teams travel to several housing developments each year, have expertise in that specific program, and perform reviews of tenant selection plans and waiting lists during their visit. As a result, the Pittsburgh Multifamily Program Center, as of April 2000, nearly doubled their targeted goal of these reviews, providing substantial information to the Fair Housing Division.

2800 HOPE Program with Automated System

The automation of the Home Ownership Protective Effort (HOPE) mortgage default program enables Housing Opportunities, Inc. to replicate this highly successful program that since its inception in 1983 has helped over 95% of the families that complete the program to avoid foreclosure and maintain their home. Stable Home Ownership is essential for distressed communities to have a foundation strong enough so that committed partnerships between social service agencies, private sector actors, and government institutions can serve to rejuvenate these areas. Housing Opportunities, Inc. through a state wide contract with HUD as a Multi-State Intermediary Contract has replicated the HOPE mortgage default program throughout Pennsylvania as well as Fort Worth, Texas, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Phoenix, Arizona. Currently, agencies have been selected to provide the HOPE mortgage default program in an additional 9 states and it is projected that by the end of the calendar year the HOPE mortgage program will be offered by housing counseling agencies in 18 states. The HOPE mortgage default program is replicated through existing housing counseling agencies that sign a subcontract agreement to uniformly provide the program in accordance with the methods and standards devised by Housing Opportunities, Inc. Housing Opportunities, Inc. has begun the transition of turning the administration of the HOPE mortgage default program from a paper intensive, time consuming process into an efficient computer based program. The reporting process will be streamlined as information between the network housing counseling agencies and Housing Opportunities, Inc. will be transmitted instantaneously via the internet.

Content Archived: April 20, 2011