2000 Best Practice AwardsProgram and Geographical Winners: Massachusetts
Best Practice: Comprehensive Direct Endorsement
Underwriter Training
Recruiting and Training FHA Lenders Increases
Homeownership Opportunities
Boston.
Comprehensive Direct Endorsement Underwriter Training, held at Northeastern
University Dedham campus, was an effort by Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers,
Norwest Mortgage and Grasso Appraisers to increase homeownership opportunities
for low- to moderate-income homebuyers. The program was designed to train
existing FHA-approved lenders and attract new ones in an effort to increase
FHA loan production and create additional homeownership opportunities. It
expanded the typical FHA Direct Endorsement Seminar for lenders beyond basic
203b underwriting guidelines to include training, materials and guidelines
on use of the FHA Connection; HOC structure and contacts; how to navigate
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Web site; using
HUDCLIPS; program information on 203b, 203k, HECM, EEM and streamline refinancing;
new appraisal guidelines and the Homebuyer Protection Plan; acquisition
and disposition of HUD-owned properties; new construction; and condominium
processing.
Contact: Christopher B. Cline, Phone: (617)
565-5404
Tracking Number: 1952
Winning Category: Program (Housing - Single Family)
Best Practice: Dont Borrow Trouble
Program Prevents Foreclosures Through Financial
Education
Boston.
The Dont Borrow Trouble program educates homeowners about their financial
options and how to avoid mortgage pitfalls. Homeowners are constantly overwhelmed
with aggressive marketing campaigns for various refinancing and home equity
products but are not sufficiently informed to make the choice that is best
for them. As a result, predatory lending builds the path for a new set of
foreclosures. The city of Boston joined with the Massachusetts Community
and Banking Council and the marketing firm of Devine & Pearson to create
Dont Borrow Trouble. The program has a multimedia consumer awareness
campaign designed to alert homeowners to the risks associated with predatory
mortgage lending. Homeowner education counseling and a referral system help
homeowners evaluate mortgage offers and how to avoid foreclosures. The exact
impact of the program is unknown; however, the cost to renovate a single
housing unit is estimated to be in excess of $100,000.
Contact: William Cotter, Phone: (617) 635-0458
Tracking Number: 2556
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Initiative on Boston Housing
Authority Infill Properties
Hand-In-Hand Partnership Renovates Affordable
Housing Units
Boston.
Four community development corporations have teamed with the Boston Housing
Authority to become involved in an effort to renovate various infill properties
throughout Boston and eventually offer them for sale to low-to-moderate-income
families. The Boston Housing Authority owned 44 scattered-site units in
the Roxbury and Dorchester localities. In 1999 half of these units were
vacant. The Boston Housing Authority realized the need to rehabilitate these
homes; however, it lacked the resources to do so. With the help of the community
development corporations and Bostons Local Initiatives Support Corporation,
the units have been renovated and utilized by those who need it most. To
assist in the success of this program, HUD has waived Boston Housing Authoritys
repayment of underlying property debts, thus allowing the transfer of ownership
to the development and local initiative. Instead of entering in a joint
venture, all involved have chosen to work hand-in-hand and meet biweekly
to achieve their goals. The city has delegated $1.56 million in Home Investment
Partnership funds to help subsidize the rehabilitation costs and retain
property ownership.
Contact: Mr. Mathew Thall, Phone: (617) 338-0411
Tracking Number: 1471
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Microenterprise Tracking and
Reporting Software
Database Encourages Microenterprise Development
While Saving Time and Money
Fitchburg.
Fitchburg State College, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) Community Outreach Partnership Center and the
Massachusetts Micro-Enterprise Coalition, developed a Microsoft Access database
to improve system-wide reporting tools that measure the impact of community
organizations on microenterprise development. The initiative resulted in
better communication among community organizations, a major change from
manual to computer-based reporting and a significant increase in the amount
of information collected. The system saves an average of four to eight hours
a week in report preparation time. In addition, the system facilitates an
imaginative partnership between a coalition of community organizations and
local colleges and universities. This project also represents the effective
use of technical expertise available at colleges and universities, and gives
students involved in the project rewarding workplace experience. This project
can also be easily replicated at locations around the country as software
application can be delivered on CD-ROM and users have e-mail access to technical
assistance.
Contact: David Newton, Phone: (978) 665-3282
Tracking Number: 3230
Winning Category: Program (Policy Development and Research)
Best Practice: Massachusetts High Risk Consortium
for Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control
Consortium Focuses Efforts to Protect Children
from Lead Poisoning
Lawrence.
The City of Lawrence is the lead agency for the Massachusetts High Risk
Consortium for Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control, which includes Lawrence,
Brockton, Chelsea and New Bedford. Three of these communities rank among
the highest lead poisoning risk in the state, according to the Massachusetts
Department of Health. The consortium has addressed this problem, including
the innovative leveraging of funds. Because of the consortiums aggressive
pursuit of lead-safe housing, the number of children poisoned in participating
cities has dropped by nearly 70 percent. In addition, the program has benefited
low-income individuals: between 50 to 70 percent of all families assisted
by this program have household incomes less than half the regions
median income. As a result of the consortiums efforts, more than 350
homes have been lead abated.
Contact: Anne DErrico, Phone: (978)
794-5891 Ext. 174
Tracking Number: 2915
Winning Category: Program (Office of Lead Hazard Control)
Best Practice: Lead Paint Abatement Program
City Takes Steps to Prevent Childhood Lead
Poisoning
Malden.
The City of Malden understood that childhood lead poisoning is the most
common and entirely preventable environmental disease of young children
and thus took a proactive approach to abating lead paint in their community.
Deleading was encouraged through a variety of low-interest loan programs.
In 1994, Malden Redevelopment Authority applied to HUD for a grant under
the Lead Paint Hazard Control Program. The goal of the program was to delead
a minimum of 350 dwelling units in targeted areas and support a comprehensive
public education and outreach program under a cooperative alliance with
Malden Public Schools and Malden Hospital. The redevelopment authority exceeded
its goal, deleading 355 units. The authority leveraged $1.1 million in private
funds for this program. It made sure staff was properly trained and there
were sufficient lead paint contractors to successfully implement the program.
Contact: Stephen Wishoski, Phone: (781) 324-5720
Tracking Number: 1013
Winning Category: Program (Office of Lead Hazard Control)
Best Practice: New Bedford Housing Authority
Crime Mapping and Tracking System
Crime Mapping and Tracking System Helps
Focus Crime-Fighting Resources
New Bedford.
The New Bedford Housing Authority partnered with the New Bedford Police
Department to use an innovative mapping and tracking system in the fight
against crime. Despite past efforts by the New Bedford Housing Authority
to address drug and other criminal activities at its properties, drug arrests
increased 33 percent between 1997 and 1998. As a result, the housing authority
developed a crime mapping program. Using MapInfo software and data provided
by the New Bedford Police Department, graphic display of crime data can
be used for program evaluation. The maps identify problem locations or dwelling
units where there are repeat incidents of crime so that housing managers
and security staff can respond appropriately. Use of the crime mapping program
has also resulted in increased communication between the housing authority,
police department and the community and assisted in the focusing of crime
prevention efforts.
Contact: Wendy Valle, Phone: (301) 656-6600
Tracking Number: 2707
Winning Category: Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: Madison Park IV
Madison Park IV Provides Housing, Education,
and Social Services for Residents
Roxbury.
Madison Park is a HUD-funded housing development of more than 1,400 units
serving low- to moderate-income families and senior citizens in lower Roxbury.
Madison Park Community Development Corporation also provides educational
and social services for area residents. For three years, it has operated
a Neighborhood Networks center which serves residents of all ages at several
sites. Forty-eight participants have completed its 12-week basic computer
course; 35 of them have found full-time employment. The program is in the
first year of a collaboration with other community development corporations
to provide computer and workforce development skills training. The CDC is
developing 45 new units of owner-occupied housing and a 600-student dormitory
in a joint project with Northeastern University; and 15 owner-occupied housing
units. The CDC administers a $31 million HUD Hope VI grant that is transforming
the 50-year-old Orchard Park public housing into a modern, mixed-income
community with scattered housing in the community. Madison Park acquired
the Woolworth building and will relocate CDC offices; and Hibernia Hall,
two commercial buildings which will be headquarters for the Roxbury Arts,
Culture and Trade consortium, an ongoing initiative promoting economic development
through the arts, computer training courses, a property maintenance training
program and homebuyer education courses. Madison Park has 30 years of experience.
It developed and maintained Madison Park Village, a 546-unit townhouse development;
Smith House, an elderly high rise and Haynes House, another high-rise development.
It is purchasing a school to house its computer centers.
Contact: Mari E. Adams, Phone: (617) 565-5416
Ext. 5416
Tracking Number: 2791
Winning Category: Program (Housing - Multifamily)
Best Practice: Massachusetts Housing Finance
Agency (MHFA)
Courses Educate Housing Providers and Consumers
on Accommodating the Disabled
Massachusetts (statewide). Working with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) FHEO FHIP funding, the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency
has developed a successful training program for housing providers and consumers
that focus on accommodation for persons with disabilities. The program features
an interactive, small-group discussion format that allows participants,
such as providers, consumers and advocates, to learn from each other under
direction from a trained facilitator. It also provides up-to-date resource
materials, including information on federal and state fair housing disability
laws, for housing providers and consumers. Materials are presented in laymans
terms with practical solutions and a handbook provides practical reference.
The program, which has increased operating efficiency of programs and helped
prevent costly future litigation, is easily replicable. The agency developed
the training methodology and conducted many training sessions in Massachusetts.
It also conducted train-the-trainer sessions in at least 17 other states
and provided handbooks covering both federal law and the laws of each state.
Contact: Ann Anderson, Phone: (617) 854-1077
Tracking Number: 1465
Winning Category: Program (Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity)
Best Practice: GrandFamilies House
Unique Program Assists Grandparents Raising
Grandchildren
Boston.
Boston Aging Concerns, Young and Old United and other nonprofits have formed
the GrandFamilies House. The GrandFamilies House is one of the first housing
developments in the country to serve the physical and economical needs of
grandparents raising their grandchildren without any assistance from the
parents. In Boston a growing number of elderly citizens who were thought
to be living by themselves, were actually supporting children full-time.
To assist the needs of these households, the GrandFamilies House offers
26 units of two, three and four bedroom apartments. The YWCA, a program
partner, offers an on-site Generations Learning Together program. This program
provides seniors and their families with a pre-school, after-school and
computer learning center. All facilities are equipped with innovations that
involve grandparents in their grandchildrens learning experience.
The GrandFamilies House has provided improved living conditions for seniors
and their loved ones.
Contact: Janet Zandt, Phone: (617) 266-2257
Tracking Number: 2656
Winning Category: Geographical and Program (Community Builder)
Best Practice: Lead-Safe Cambridge Program
Lead Hazard Control Program Provides a
Variety of Services to At-Risk Families
Cambridge.
Lead-Safe Cambridge, a lead hazard control program serving low- and very
low-income residents of Cambridge, Massachusetts, targets the most at-risk
neighborhoods in Cambridge to prevent childhood lead poisoning and create
affordable lead-safe housing. By providing services, such as financial and
technical assistance, lead inspections, blood lead testing, patient education,
soil lead testing and mitigation, and community outreach and education,
Lead-Safe Cambridge has deleaded more than 300 affordable housing units.
Another positive impact of the program is its replicability. The program
has become a leader in the field and provided many hours of technical assistance.
Other programs have replicated Lead-Safe Cambridges relocation model
and materials, translated documents, job specifications, contracts, financing
model, and outreach and education methods and materials. Lead-Safe Cambridge
program forms are posted on the HUD Web site.
Contact: Peggy Hegarty-Steck, Phone: (617)
349-6010
Tracking Number: 298
Winning Category: Program (Office of Lead Hazard Control)
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