2000 Best Practice Awards

Best Practice: Oxford Terrace Apartments "Community of Helping Hands"

Oxford Terrace Apartments "Community of Helping Hands" Empowers Residents and Preserves Affordable Housing for Low-income Individuals

Chula Vista. In Chula Vista, the Community of Helping Hands resident association at the 132-unit Oxford Terrace Apartments relies on a partnership of the property’s nonprofit owner, property management, residents and community partners to empower residents and preserve affordable housing for low-income individuals. Together, the partners provide services to residents that include a computer learning center with Internet connection, an English as a Second Language program for the largely Hispanic-American population, a mobile medical screening and testing program, CPR and first-aid classes, a monthly food distribution program, a resident shuttle service and a partnership with local law enforcement in the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program, a coalition to reduce crime in multi-family residential properties. The resident association works closely to identify and resolve property issues with the management and owner, whose board of directors includes residents. In turn, management staff members involve the resident association in service activities and send tenant leaders to statewide and nationwide conferences and training. Residents have actively helped shape and fill classes. For example, more than 50 residents per month use the computer learning center.

Contact: Robert McElroy, Phone: (619) 542-1877
Tracking Number: 166
Winning Category: Program (Housing - Multifamily)

Best Practice: Clovis, Magill Heights Housing Project

Clovis, Magill Heights Housing Project Provides a Sense of Community for the Neighborhood

Clovis. Clovis, Magill Heights Housing Project provides homeownership opportunities for low-income families, and creates a sense of community in an area comprised mainly of low- to moderate-income households. Partnerships of government agencies, a nonprofit and residents helped revitalize the deteriorated Magill Heights neighborhood. The project relied on creative leveraging of resources through several HUD programs, the California Housing Finance Agency, and the City of Clovis Redevelopment Agency. The effort improved the neighborhood infrastructure by adding cul-de-sacs, building a sound wall near a freeway and installing curbs, gutters and storm drainage. Ten single-family homes were built using the mutual self-help method of construction, in which low-income families work together to build their first homes.

Contact: Ron Leinio, Phone: (559) 242-4292
Tracking Number: 2810
Winning Category: Geographical

Best Practice: City of Coachella Housing Development

City of Coachella Housing Development and its Partners Provide Homeownership Opportunities for Low-income Farm Workers

Coachella. The City of Coachella, HUD and USDA joined in a collaborative effort to provide homeownership opportunities for displaced farm workers. Each partner has invested substantial funding for construction of 44 single-family detached housing units for very low-income farm worker families facing displacement due to code violations. The city’s commitment of $500,000 to fund redevelopment allowed the county to add $1.8 million in HOME funds, followed by $3.6 million in home loan funds from the USDA. A 60/40 percent financing split allows home loans to be provided at a one-percent rate.

Contact: Sylvia Montenegro, Phone: (760) 398-3502 Ext. 223
Tracking Number: 2460
Winning Category: Program (Community Builder)

Best Practice: Growing Jobs

Growing Jobs Allow Immigrant Farm Workers to Not Only Work the Land But to Own it as Well

Fresno. Growing Jobs fosters economic development for immigrant farmers, while protecting valuable environmental resources. It is a unique collaborative effort involving HUD, the nonprofit American Farmland Trust and the local Hmong farming community in Fresno. Lacking access to land and loans, Hmong immigrants struggled to survive using their farming skills. The Growing Jobs collaboration gives farmers low-interest, non-traditional loans through the USDA and access to small plots of land through the American Farmland Trust, which purchased 40 acres in Fresno to be preserved as farmland indefinitely. The Hmong farmers have obtained financing, purchased land and are reaping profits after decades of poverty.

Contact: Toulu Thao, Phone: (559) 487-5033
Tracking Number: 2984
Winning Category: Program (Community Builder)

Best Practice: Long Beach Lead-Safe Affordable Housing Program

The Long Beach Lead-Safe Affordable Housing Program Involves Owners and Lenders in the Plan to Solve Lead Poisoning

Long Beach. The Long Beach Lead-Safe Affordable Housing Program was created to combat the high concentration of lead poisoned children in the state. With limited funds to correct lead hazards in affordable housing, the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services implemented the Long Beach Lead-Safe Affordable Housing Program. This is an innovative approach to reach owners and lenders to leverage the HUD funds and increase the number of lead-abated units. The city partnered with nonprofit organizations, which receive funds from lenders in return for Community Reinvestment Act credits from federal bank auditors. The credits are an incentive for lenders to fund the nonprofit organizations. The organizations, in turn, pass the funds to the city to be used as program income. As of May 2000, the program has collected over $14,000 in owner-cost sharing (10 percent of lead hazard control costs) and $9,500 in funds and standby funds from several commercial banks.

Contact: Don Fast, Phone: (562) 570-4038
Tracking Number: 1870
Winning Category: Program (Office of Lead Hazard Control)

Best Practice: Connecting Points for Housing

Connecting Points for Housing Reference Guide Educates Readers About Lead Poison and the Home

Oakland. Connecting Points for Housing is a reference guide which provides strategies on how agencies can work together to combat lead poisoning in children. The guide educates readers about substandard housing conditions, such as lead-based paint, identifies the missions of agencies that must respond to lead-based paint hazards, and describes who to call, programs and eligibility. The guide was part of a project that includes customized training that helps agencies develop federal regulation compliance procedures. The program has helped train more than 400 individuals. Connecting Points helps raise awareness and forge partnerships among agencies with little to no previous contact to meet the needs of families with lead-poisoned children. Partners collaborating in the project include environmental health agencies, housing authorities, building code and compliance agencies, community development departments, first-time home-buyer programs, weatherization departments, county planning departments, neighborhood development agencies and tenant advocacy groups.

Contact: Carina Kistler, Phone: (510) 567-8233
Tracking Number: 1191
Winning Category: Program (Office of Lead Hazard Control)

Best Practice: Acquisition Rehabilitation, Resale Down Payment Assistance Loan Program

Acquisition Rehabilitation, Resale Down Payment Assistance Loan Program Increasing Homeownership

Ontario. The city of Ontario has used the Acquisition Rehabilitation, Resale Down Payment Assistance Loan Program to increase homeownership opportunities for low-income individuals while reducing neighborhood blight caused by HUD foreclosed properties. With an initial investment of $319,000, the city was able to leverage more than $7 million in private investment. Through this program, the Ontario Redevelopment Agency purchases selected HUD properties in the greatest need of repair. The city then sells the properties to pre-approved contractors to rehabilitate the homes to meet local building standards. Rehabilitated homes are sold to qualified low-income homebuyers. Financial assistance, in the form of a deferred payment "silent" second mortgage, is provided to homebuyers on a sliding scale. In addition, the city has qualified Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs) to work with very low-income families. Since the program’s inception in mid-1998, 64 homes have been rehabilitated and sold.

Contact: Julie A. Bjork, Phone: (909) 395-2307
Tracking Number: 2078
Winning Category: Program (Housing - Single Family)

Best Practice: Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board

Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board Uses Mediation as a Tool to Solve Disputes

Ontario. The Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board proactively encourages homeownership and discourages housing discrimination by enforcing fair housing laws through mediation. The agency is responsible for tenant/landlord mediation and counseling. All staff members are trained mediators. In addition to mediation, the Board uses assertive enforcement as needed and periodically tests programs to identify fair housing issues. The Board’s testing program has focused on housing rentals, sales and real estate lending. All services are provided in English and Spanish. Inland Fair Housing has filed approximately 40 fair housing complaints with HUD and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing in the last two years.

Contact: Betty Davidow, Phone: (909) 984-2254
Tracking Number: 2064
Winning Category: Program (Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity)

Best Practice: The Paradise Ridge Community Resource Center

The Paradise Ridge Community Resource Center Provides Free and Low-cost Services to Paradise Residents

Paradise. The Paradise Ridge Community Resource Center offers a "one-stop" shop of enrichment and support services previously scattered in many cities and helped revitalize downtown Paradise by renovating a dilapidated building from which it provides free and low-cost services to Paradise residents. Services include counseling, public health, family support, emergency food and shelter. Private, public and nonprofit partnering organizations moved into the Community Resource Center to provide services. Revitalization of the building served as the catalyst for construction of off-street parking, transit facilities and nearby landscaping.

Contact: George Siler, Phone: (530) 872-3896
Tracking Number: 2350
Winning Category: Program (Community Builder)

Best Practice: Preservation of President John Adams Manor Apartments

Long-term Affordable Housing was Made Possible through the Preservation of President John Adams Manor Apartments

San Diego. Creative financing and state tax credits helped preserve the 300-unit President John Adams Manor Apartments and ensure long-term affordable housing. The partnership formed by government agencies, community-based organizations and social services prevented displacement of the 300 low-income families during an affordable housing crisis in San Diego. When the property owner did not renew its project-based Section 8 housing tenant assistance, the project was awarded bonds, federal low-income housing tax credits, commercial loans and equity, and federal mortgage insurance to prevent the property from converting to market rate housing. Staff representing HUD’s San Diego office and the housing commission met with residents to answer questions about rental subsidies, coordinate unit inspections, qualify residents for tenant-based rental assistance and provide language translators for the large South African population with limited knowledge of English.

Contact: Ana Baiz-Torres, Phone: (619) 426-3595
Tracking Number: 1118
Winning Category: Program (Housing - Multifamily)

Best Practice: Rincon de Los Esteros – Renaissance Drive Development

Three Housing Developments Provide New Rental Apartments for Low-income Families

San Jose. The San Jose Department of Financing identified developers and provided funds to assist in the development of a new mixed income residential "village"—Rincon de Los Esteros, that is within walking distance to a major employment center and adjacent to public transportation. This development was created in order to address the lack of affordable housing that impedes economic prosperity in the Silicon Valley. The initiative was part of a citywide effort by the City of San Jose to match new jobs with new housing. Three developments provide 918 new rental apartments for very low-, low-, moderate- and market rate-households. By rezoning Rincon de los Esteros, the city created three developments that provide market rate housing and amenities at rents that are compatible with the entry level wages paid by area businesses. Major employers within walking distance include Cisco Systems, Honeywell, Sony and Lockheed Martin. City subsidies of $12.25 million helped leverage more than $99 million in public and private sources to finance the development.

Contact: Alex Sanchez, Phone: (408) 277-5817
Tracking Number: 1415
Winning Category: Program (Community Builder)

Best Practice: San Jose Teacher Housing Programs

San Jose Teacher Housing Programs Makes Homes Available for Teachers

San Jose. The San Jose Department of Housing launched an innovative First Time Teacher Homebuying Program to help close the gap between the average salary of teachers and the purchase price of a home. Teachers with full-time credentials who teach grades K-12 in San Jose public schools are eligible. Private lenders, homebuilders, realtors, federal, state and county agencies partner with the city to reduce the monthly mortgage amount. The program is marketed to existing and potential teachers, in conjunction with the annual teacher recruitment program. Six teachers have purchased their first home since the program began in June 1999, five more homes were scheduled for closing in June and another 70 teachers are in the process of buying homes. The city also has committed funds for private developers of rental housing that agree to set aside units for low-income teachers.

Contact: Alex Sanchez, Phone: (408) 277-5817
Tracking Number: 2477
Winning Category: Geographical

Best Practice: Bay Area Teacher Housing

The Bay Area Teacher Housing Guide Uses Layman’s Terms to Educate School Districts and Public Officials

San Francisco. The Bay Area Teacher Housing guide describes need, legal and public policy, development issues and resources available to support affordable housing for teachers in the Bay Area. HUD Community Builders worked closely with attorneys and HUD staff to close the gap between high housing costs and low teacher salaries. The guide targets school districts and public officials who may not be knowledgeable about HUD programs and housing opportunities. Using layman’s language, the guide includes examples of how to use zoning, underwriting and creative financial incentives as tools to increase teacher housing. Following an extensive outreach campaign, two cities created housing for teachers; San Francisco committed funds to develop 43 units above an elementary school parking lot; a partnership between San Jose and a private developer resulted in a 92-unit mixed income development.

Contact: Art Agnos, Phone: (415) 426-6532
Tracking Number: 3075
Winning Category: Program (Community Builder)

Best Practice: Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center Helps Small Business Owners

San Francisco. Hailed as the nation’s first micro-enterprise training and incubator program, the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center helps low- and moderate-income residents develop small businesses and grow existing ones. The center provides training for new and existing business owners and offers a business incubator to stabilize struggling businesses. Center resources have increased area economic development, expanded employment opportunities, and resulted in an infusion of products and services into the area. More than 1,200 low-income residents have received training, of whom 450 are now business owners. In 1999, these businesses generated approximately $37.5 million and created 1,200 new jobs. The business incubator has helped stabilize 45 businesses.

Contact: Claudia Viek, Phone: (415) 541-8584
Tracking Number: 358
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)

Best Practice: Section 108 Child Care Center Development Loan Program

Child Care Center Development Loan Program Improves the Availability of Child Care for Low-Income Neighborhoods

San Francisco. The San Francisco Child Care Center Development Loan Program creatively leverages local and federal funds to improve childcare availability in San Francisco's low-income neighborhoods. Increased access to affordable childcare allows parents to work, attend job training or return to school. The project is an innovative application of Section 108 funding to finance the development of childcare centers. Program staff provides technical and managerial assistance to childcare providers during the development process. The city leverages Section 108 funds with local general funds to subsidize repayment. Project capital is $10 million in city authority for Section 108 loan funds. Up to 80 percent of the loan amount is subsidized for eligible borrowers through the city’s General Fund. The program leverages federal funds with local and private resources to address the local childcare crisis. To date, nine nonprofit childcare centers have used $4.7 million of the program’s funds to purchase buildings, construct childcare facilities in HUD housing projects and renovate existing buildings to create 438 new childcare slots and preserve 99 existing slots.

Contact: Anna Yee, Phone: (415) 252-3130
Tracking Number: 3025
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)

Best Practice: South of Market Senior Service Program

South of Market Senior Service Program Helps Seniors Carry Out Necessary Tasks

San Francisco. The South of Market senior service program provides van service for seniors to and from supermarkets for grocery shopping, and assists seniors with their shopping needs because seniors in San Francisco’s South of Market area have few transportation options to meet basic needs. The service also transports seniors to and from recreational activities. The program serves 219 seniors in the San Francisco Enterprise Community.

Contact: Anna Yee, Phone: (415) 252-3130
Tracking Number: 2438
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)

Best Practice: The Village

The Village Addresses the Social Services Needs of a Multi-Ethnic San Francisco Community

San Francisco. The Village is a consortium of 10 community service providers who provide housing, economic development, health, youth and social services to a lower income San Francisco community of more than 3,700 adults and children. Service providers joined forces to assist residents displaced from their Visitacion Valley housing complex during a long-term redevelopment project. More than 150 of the original families have returned to the new housing. The consortium addresses the lack of available social services and the need for cooperation among multiple ethnic communities. Area families can access services, from health care to job training, on one community site while benefiting from interagency referrals. While residents of the failed housing development were primarily African American and the majority of neighborhood residents were Asian, a team of Chinese-speaking service providers reached out to the Chinese community and numerous Asian residents have moved into the new housing. The new diversity among residents has helped diffuse tensions.

Contact: Judith Sandavol, Phone: (415) 587-7896
Tracking Number: 1196
Winning Category: Program (Community Builder)

Best Practice: Torres Martinez Mobile Home Park Development Project

Torres Martinez Mobile Home Park Development Project Provides Affordable Housing

Thermal. This 330-unit mobile home park provides affordable, safe and sanitary housing to Coachella Valley, families who live in substandard housing. Hundreds of families in the area face displacement from their homes as a result of Riverside County code enforcement violations. The development project provides needed economic development opportunities for the Torres Martinez Tribe, which is leveraging funds received from HUD, USDA and Riverside County to obtain private-sector financing.

Contact: Mary Belardo, Phone: (760) 397-8144
Tracking Number: 2471
Winning Category: Geographical

Best Practice: Visalia Fox Theatre Renovation

Visalia Fox Theatre Renovation Empowers the Community

Visalia. Visalia citizens spearheaded a community movement to purchase and restore the dilapidated 65-year-old Visalia Fox Theatre to its historic condition. The residents performed a needs analysis and market study that indicated a need for a large area performance venue. Obtaining nonprofit status, the Friends of Fox simultaneously began fundraising while developing a business plan to address the unmet cultural needs of the community. Once the group raised half of the funds, the owner donated the building. Local service clubs, the city of Visalia, the county of Tulare, the state, individuals and other sources contributed an additional $1 million to rehabilitate the theatre. More than 50 professional and trade organizations donated materials and services, and more than 500 volunteers donated labor. The theatre now offers visual and performing arts in the preserved landmark.

Contact: Steven Salomon, Phone: (559) 738-3312
Tracking Number: 1848
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)

Best Practice: Lead Hazard Control Program

Program Combines Lead-Safe Practices With Weatherization Services for Low-Income Households

California (statewide). The California Department of Community Services and Development has partnered with five to ten of its network of agencies to combine its Lead Hazard Control Program with weatherization services for low-income residents. Forty-four community-based organizations provide these services throughout the state. By using weatherization service providers already connected with the low-income communities, the Department was able to seamlessly and quickly add lead-safe work practices adapted from the Lead Hazard Control Program. The costs for this project were minimal and consisted chiefly of purchasing lead-safe equipment and supplies (e.g., HEPA vacuums and personal protective equipment) for each weatherization crew, expanding training to include lead-safe techniques, adding these lead-safe work practices to the Weatherization Installation Standards, and increasing program monitoring and inspections. The program results in an increase of energy-efficient, lead-safe homes for low-income households as well as a safer work environment for weatherization crews. An infrastructure of lead hazard control professionals has also been created to further support the program, servicing 910 housing units occupied by low-income households.

Contact: Susan Levenson-Palmer, Phone: (916) 324-4358
Tracking Number: 3284
Winning Category: Program (Office of Lead Hazard Control)

Best Practice: Mather Community Campus

Mather Community Campus Helps Homeless Individuals Transition to Permanent Housing and Sustainable Jobs

Mather. A pioneer in creating the first transitional housing on a former military base, Mather Community Campus provides housing and job training and employment programs for 300 previously homeless adults and children. This highly structured program provides life skills and employment support to help residents transition to permanent housing and sustainable jobs. The average starting wage of graduates is more than $8 per hour. Five core agencies work with 13 neighborhood stakeholders and 15 other provider agencies to offer services to the students of the Mather Community Campus. Each student is paired with a case manager and an employment services worker who provide the primary program services throughout the student's two year stay. Together the 'triad' develops a Graduation Plan, obtains job training and employment services, and works to overcome personal barriers to job retention. Six months prior to graduation, the triad begins preparing the student to exit the program and transition into a mainstream lifestyle. A graduation ceremony marks the formal completion of the student's stay at the Mather Community Campus (MCC). Services offered include: case management; employment services; a one-stop career center; culinary training and food service; building maintenance/painting tech training; landscape training and services; children's services; recreation; drug testing; transportation/van services; support staff, and housing. Since its inception in 1995, Mather Community College has served 711 homeless individuals.

Contact: Rondi Colson, Phone: (916) 228-3102
Tracking Number: 1194
Winning Category: Geographical

Best Practice: Centro del Pueblo and Plaza del Sol

Centro del Pueblo and Plaza del Sol is a "One-Stop Shop" for Social Services in the San Francisco Area

San Francisco. Centro del Pueblo is San Francisco's first nonprofit-owned, mixed-use office and affordable housing complex. The 52-unit Plaza del Sol serves low- and moderate-income San Francisco residents who receive a smorgasbord of direct services and advocacy on site from Centro del Pueblo agencies. Fourteen nonprofit organizations jointly own Centro del Pueblo from which they provide services including childcare, housing counseling, legal services, immigration, and youth and adult education. Residents enjoy access to an onsite resource center providing job referrals, tutoring services and computers networked to the San Francisco school district’s computer system. In 1999, Centro organizations served 200,000 low- and moderate-income residents and developed 100 new affordable housing units. HUD technical assistance and funds, in addition to revenue generated by renting the auditorium and meeting space, have enabled the property to be financially stable.

Contact: Larry Del Carlo, Phone: (415) 241-6183
Tracking Number: 600
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)

Best Practice: Parker-Kier Building

Parker-Kier Building Provides Shelter for Homeless Individuals

San Diego. The Parker-Kier Building, a 34-unit rental housing facility, has a dual role of providing affordable housing to an underserved population of homeless persons living with mental illness, while preserving a piece of San Diego’s architectural heritage. Heralded as the first development of its kind in San Diego, the San Diego Housing Commission used a complex array of funding sources to renovate and modernize the 87-year-old Parker-Kier building, while preserving it original beauty. The commission partnered with two nonprofit organizations and a local management firm to operate the facility and help provide mentally ill residents with easy access to off-site support services. These partners helped the commission overcome community resistance to the development. Parker-Kier houses 22 low-income mentally ill adults whose rent is subsidized through Shelter Plus Care funds from the HUD, and 11 very low-income adults.

Contact: Elizabeth Morris, Phone: (619) 525-3601
Tracking Number: 648
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)

Best Practice: Fremont Family Resource Center

Fremont Family Resource Center Offers Diverse Services All in One Location

Fremont. The Fremont Family Resource Center is a "one-stop" source of family-friendly services provided through a consortium of 22 city, county, state, and private nonprofit organizations co-located on one site. The concept for this project emerged more than six years ago when the City hosted a series of "dreaming sessions" for representatives from the non-profit and government sectors. By purchasing the building using city and Community Development Block Grant funds, the city rents prime space to the nonprofit agencies in Fremont’s business district at rates well-below market value. The Center includes an on-site childcare facility, a career center, and a resource and computer center, along with office and meeting space for all partner agencies. Agencies collaborate to address a complex array of needs from medical to employment to education. Interagency referrals have increased the demand for services. The career center attracts 120 participants daily. Accessible childcare has allowed families to participate in the Welfare-to-Work program and to attend youth and family service workshops.

Contact: Robert Calkins, Phone: (510) 494-4502
Tracking Number: 2181
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)

Best Practice: The Telemedicine Program in Public Housing

The Telemedicine Program Uses Advanced Technology to Provide Health Services to Residents in Public Housing

Monterey Park. The Telemedicine Program in Public Housing demonstrates an innovative use of technology to bridge the health care gap in urban communities. Using advanced telecommunications technology, the program provides public housing residents with on-site access to early diagnosis and treatment of sight-threatening diseases. The Community Development Commission/Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles, partnered with the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in 1996 to launch the program. Drew University physicians examine patients located miles away in urban public housing communities without leaving their offices. State-of-the-art cameras, ophthalmic equipment and computers transmit real-time images to computers at the medical center where physicians make their diagnosis and treatment recommendations. A physician attendant operates the equipment and communicates directly with the doctor. Of the patients screened during the first two years of operation, 46 percent had severe sight threatening conditions that required immediate treatment and were referred to the King/Drew Medical Center.

Contact: Christy Miyagishima, Phone: (323) 890-7437
Tracking Number: 3017
Winning Category: Geographical and Program (Public and Indian Housing)

Content Archived: April 20, 2011