2000 Best Practice Awards

Best Practice: Carlisle’s Downtown Hotel

Attractive Hotel Development Project Creates Employment in Downtown Carlisle

Carlisle. In a joint effort to develop a vacant lot and bring new investment to downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the city entered into public and private partnerships to develop an attractive 105-room, franchised hotel and conference center. The hotel, which opened in August 1999, has five meeting rooms and banquet rooms, a small restaurant, bar and garage. The purpose of the project was to develop a vacant lot, provide amenities to businesses, develop the downtown as a cultural and educational center, and create jobs. Designed to be compatible with the surrounding 19th century buildings in the area, the hotel is an attractive feature. With an occupancy rate of more than 60 percent, the hotel is consistently meeting the area’s need for upscale accommodations. The hotel’s restaurant adds to the area’s reputation as a center for fine dining. Located near the Carlisle Regional Performing Arts Center, the hotel attracts patrons before and after performances. A complex financing package using private, local, state and federal resources was key to the success of this project and public investment was necessary to attract private investors to the downtown area. The hotel brought 52 jobs to Carlisle, 72 percent of which provide employment to low- and moderate-income persons.

Contact: Christopher Gulotta, Phone: (717) 249-0789
Tracking number: 2405
Winning Category: Geographical

Best Practice: Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Strategy

Lead Safe Strategy Renovates High-Risk Housing and Reduces Health Risks for Children

Harrisburg. Through the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Strategy, lead hazard control has been integrated into all rehabilitation and code enforcement activities in the city of Harrisburg. The goals of the strategy are to reduce lead hazards in occupied homes and provide new lead-safe housing through rehabilitation of vacant properties, reduce health risks to children under age six who live in high-risk housing and increase public awareness of lead hazards. The Department of Building and Housing Development and the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program are coordinating citywide screening efforts targeted at high-risk census tracts and offering lead safety educational programs at daycare centers. To prevent childhood lead poisoning, the city is also reaching out to property owners to inform them about lead hazards and interim controls. The city operates two single-family housing rehabilitation programs that provide direct assistance for the removal of lead hazards in residential properties; 28 units are under development and 30 more units are planned. The city uses the Lead Hazard Control Grant to fund tuition for contractor and worker training and certification. So far, 44 contractors and personnel have participated in training about lead hazard reduction techniques and abatement. To date, 73 single-family units have been renovated for lead safety and the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program routinely conducts nine educational programs each year, reaching more than 600 parents and children.

Contact: Angela Smith, Phone: (717) 255-6428
Tracking number: 2235
Winning Category: Program (Office of Lead Hazard Control)

Best Practice: Pennsylvania Inter-Agency Task Force on Civil Tension Web Site for Doubling Enforcement

Database Web Site Tracks Housing-related Hate Crimes for Pennsylvania Inter-Agency Task Force on Civil Tension

Harrisburg. Building on the success of an information-gathering initiative on housing-related hate crimes in 1999, the Pennsylvania Inter-Agency Task Force on Civil Tension Web Site for Doubling Enforcement will expand the scope of its effort and give victims greater and faster access to assistance in reporting and prosecuting hate crimes. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Civil Tension monitors incidences of bias and civil tension and employed a computer technology specialist to develop a web site and database to log and track this information. Using the web site, users can obtain information about hate crimes and victims can quickly and easily file complaints of discrimination on housing-related issues. The database will be used to identify patterns and predict potential trouble spots.

Contact: Ray Cartwright, Phone: (717) 783-8274
Tracking number: 550
Winning Category: Program (Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity)

Best Practice: HOPE Program with Automated System

Automated Computer System Streamlining Operations of HOPE Program

McKeesport. Since its 1983 inception, the Home Ownership Protective Effort (HOPE) mortgage default program has assisted more than 2,000 families avoid foreclosure. Housing Opportunities, Inc., based in McKeesport, PA, operates the HOPE program through housing agencies in several states, including Pennsylvania, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The HOPE mortgage default program is replicated by housing counseling agencies under a subcontract agreement. With a new computer-based program, HOPE will be automated and information transferred via the Internet between participating agencies and housing opportunities. Available free to participating housing counseling agencies, the automated program enhances an agency’s capability to effectively deliver counseling services by streamlining administration, information exchange and tracking; reducing the costs and hassles of paper-based transactions and moving the agency toward self-sufficiency.

Contact: James Butler, Phone: (412) 664-1590 Ext. 212
Tracking number: 2800
Winning Category: Geographical and Program (Single Family Housing)

Best Practice: Fairview/Fairmont Outreach Center

Voluntary Partnerships and Churches Lend On-site Support Enriching a Pennsylvania Community

Meadville. Two Pittsburgh area housing development owners have taken a holistic approach to addressing the needs of residents by creating a unique interfaith partnership—the Fairview/Fairmont Outreach Center. Using the help of several local churches, the Center works to improve and enrich the lives of its residents. The purpose of the partnership is to provide on-site social workers to assist residents of all ages in dealing with everyday problems. The Center assists residents in identifying resources and services that can help them pursue educational opportunities, find employment, and improve basic life skills. Dedicated on-site staff members provide tenants with consistent casework/case management services. The Center aggressively recruits new partners to satisfy the changing needs of its residents. Under a new collaborative project with the local welfare office, the Center has orchestrated a long-term computer education project to train adults and youth on how to operate computers and common software applications. Having solicited and received donations of equipment and networking services from local schools and a partnership with Penn State, the Center created one of the most effective Neighborhood Network sites in western Pennsylvania.

Contact: Karen Fillingame, Phone: (814) 336-3516
Tracking number: 1665
Winning Category: Program (Community Builders)

Best Practice: Service Coordinator Network

Housing Service Coordinators Receive Training and Share Ideas through the Network

North Braddock. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Service Coordinator Program requires that service coordinators earn continuing education credits. Few resources exist for obtaining such training in Pennsylvania. To address this problem, the Pittsburgh HUD office developed the Service Coordinator Network to help schedule training sessions for the service coordinators of HUD properties in western Pennsylvania and elderly properties managed by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. The Network holds monthly meetings at various housing developments, offering formal training sessions every two months and opportunities for networking each month in between. As a result of the Network, service coordinators are better trained, provide better services to residents, share valuable information and resources, and are helping to increase the level of trust residents have in HUD programs.

Contact: Phyllis Chaffin, Phone: (412) 271-7132
Tracking number: 372
Winning Category:Program (Multifamily Housing)

Best Practice: Skills for Life Program

Skills for Life Program Equips Young Teens with Education and Employment Opportunities

Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Housing Authority launched this aggressive new program to connect teenagers to the world of work and education necessary to achieve career success. Skills for Life targets 200 8th grade students residing in public housing—at the time in their life when they are at highest risk of dropping out—with the goal of equipping students with the necessary academic and social skills to graduate from high school and choose positive college or career options. The program provides academic and social support, mentoring, family support, career counseling, and other services five days a week, year round, in neighborhood community-based organizations falling under the umbrella of the Greater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements. The IBM Corporation has committed to donate 100 personal computers to the program, to be placed in participant homes. The program is the first of its kind, with public and private donations used to employ, educate, and mentor youth from high school until graduation. It is made possible by a $512,000 grant from the Workforce Development Corporation/Philadelphia Youth Network with Workforce Investment Act funds.

Contact: Sylvia Gray, Phone: (215) 684-4107
Tracking number: 1224
Winning Category: Program (Public and Indian Housing)

Best Practice: University of Pennsylvania Center for Community Partnerships

University of Pennsylvania Serves as a Catalyst for Community Development Partnerships

Philadelphia. Consistent with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) policy encouraging institutions of higher education to interact with surrounding communities, the University of Pennsylvania Center for Community Partnerships serves as the cornerstone for creative collaborations between the university and the community of West Philadelphia. The center has helped improve academic performance in a public school system that has suffered from inadequate funding and poor self-image. The Program for the Study of Organized Religion and Social Work at Penn’s School of Social Work provides the research foundation and baseline information for this program. Interns devise model programs in local schools and churches, engaging them in collaborative work on a variety of topics, such as The Creation of a Web-based Community Resource Guide and New Dimensions Cultural Arts Academy for Boys and Girls: Nurturing Students to Be Their Best. By cultivating relationships between the faith community and local schools, the center has empowered both to develop activities that better serve the community.

Contact: Ira Harkavy, Phone: (215) 898-5351
Tracking Number: 762
Winning Category: Program (Policy Development and Research)

Best Practice: Fair Housing Partnership of Greater Pittsburgh, Inc. Procedures Manual

Fair Housing Procedures Manual Facilitates Partnerships and Reform in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh. The Fair Housing Partnership of Greater Pittsburgh, Inc., a nonprofit fair housing organization, developed a procedures manual to facilitate the partnership’s mission to promote fair housing in the greater Pittsburgh area through collaborative undertakings in education, monitoring and research, legislative reform, testing and enforcement, and community involvement. By outlining a process to organize management of staff and resources, the procedures manual facilitates cooperation, communication and collaboration among many stakeholders, including HUD, Allegheny County, the Pittsburgh Human Relations Commission and the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission. The procedures manual provides long-term consistency and direction in procedures and operations that transcends any staffing changes and ultimately improves the likelihood of success in the fight for fair housing. Operating the only fair housing testing program in western Pennsylvania, the partnership has recruited 30 rental, sales and insurance testers; published eight issues of its fair housing newsletter; conducted 24 fair housing workshops; and participated in a bimonthly fair housing radio talk show.

Contact: Richard Payne, Phone: (412) 355-3167
Tracking number: 705
Winning Category: Program (Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity)

Best Practice: Housing Integrity Program

Income Investigations Recovers Monetary Losses for Pittsburgh Housing Authority

Pittsburgh. Recognizing a need to crack down on rent fraud, the City of Pittsburgh Housing Authority established the Housing Integrity Program (HIP) to investigate abuse of HUD’s rental assistance programs. Specifically, the program matches tenant-reported income data to Internal Revenue Service, Social Security and state wage data to verify accurate income reporting. These investigations, by serving as a means for detecting and deterring fraudulent income reporting, may lead to the recovery of underpaid rent funds and/or result in criminal or civil actions. In one twelve month period the amount of excess rental assistance discovered by HIP was $386,000. Working in collaboration with the Allegheny County Housing Authority, Pittsburgh’s HIP investigated 369 cases in two years, and this joint venture was so successful that the county started its own housing integrity program.

Contact: Stanley Lowe, Phone: (412) 471-2275
Tracking number: 2336
Winning Category: Program (Real Estate Assessment Center)

Best Practice: Miryam’s

Safe Haven Shelter Treats Mentally Ill Homeless Women

Pittsburgh. Mentally ill homeless women in Pittsburgh can find shelter and personal assistance at Miryam’s. Housed in two buildings and connected by an enclosed passageway, Miryam’s offers transitional housing and Next Step and After Care Programs. The facility has four safe haven and 20 transitional housing beds on-site. The program also offers a day shelter/treatment program for clients who typically reside on the streets or in local emergency shelter facilities. These programs incorporate financial resources from four HUD programs and one state-funded program to efficiently and comprehensively operate the Miryam’s facility. Miryam’s offers chronically mentally ill homeless women the opportunity to rebuild their lives and work toward self-sufficiency. Over the past year, a total of 63 women with mental illness have been served.

Contact: Mary Kathleen Scully, Phone: (412) 281-4645
Tracking number: 1254
Winning Category: Geographic

Best Practice: Quinby Street Sub-Station/Service Center

Quinby Street Neighborhood Partnerships Develop Community-based Programs Educating Youth and Reducing Heavy Crime

Sharon. The city of Sharon, in partnership with the Mercer County Housing Authority and local organizations, is working to reduce crime, promote community stability and improve the lives of the residents of the Quinby Street neighborhood. The Housing Authority donated a vacant building and funded structural renovations to convert the building into an education community center. Partnerships with local schools and community groups provided books, computers, learning games, volunteer tutors and library staff. Other partners provide health education programs, inoculations, and job training and counseling. The latest component in this innovative partnership is the recent purchase of a police vehicle for the Quinby Street Sub-Station/Service Center. The city established a "Buy-A-Fender" campaign and sold four fenders for $5,000 each—enough to cover the cost of the vehicle. Local organizations and businesses supporting the partnership have their names painted on the fenders. The partnership is credited with improving the delivery of social and community services to residents in a neighborhood that previously lacked the resources. A testament to the improved situation in Sharon is that residents feel comfortable allowing children to go trick-or-treating on Halloween for the first time in 10 years.

Contact: Robert Price, Phone: (724) 983-3220
Tracking number: 1768
Winning Category: Program (Community Builders)

Best Practice: Maximize the Use of Comprehensive Fair Housing Education and Outreach

Widespread Outreach Effort Spreads the Word on Fair Housing in Delaware County, PA

Swarthmore. The Fair Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia has taken the fight for fair housing "to the streets," aggressively identifying new forums through which to spread the fair housing message to the real estate industry, public officials, building owners and the public. The intent of this initiative is to create a referral network that will enable fair housing advocacy groups and others to better inform clients of their rights and the resources available to them should they ever experience discrimination. The council provides training for employees of social service agencies serving women, low-income families, persons with disabilities, and minorities. The council offers continuing education opportunities for realtors, apartment managers, and independent landlords and provides training and technical assistance to zoning boards to familiarize them with the requirements of the Fair Housing Act and instruct them on how to comply. Over the past year, the council has trained 103 housing counselors. Through its technical newsletter—The Delaware County Fair Housing News—the council uses printed media to disseminate current information on fair housing issues to more than 1,100 readers in Delaware County. Through its comprehensive, grassroots approach to fair housing education, the council has empowered thousands of individuals struggling to gain access to quality housing.

Contact: James Berry, Phone: (610) 604-4411
Tracking number: 753
Winning Category: Program (Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity)

Best Practice: Reading Buddies

Symbiotic Relationships Form through the Reading Buddies Program

Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, through an innovative mentoring program called Reading Buddies, elderly volunteers are helping inner-city youth learn to read. HUD-subsidized housing communities are partnering with local churches, schools and the community to organize this low-cost, easily replicable volunteer program that matches up elderly residents with children from the Philadelphia school district. With more than 100 active reading buddies from four elderly housing facilities, and two more communities planning to join, the Reading Buddies program is flourishing. Reading buddies gather once a week for an hour-long session that takes place during the school day at the community rooms in the Reading Buddy’s housing facilities. Weekly sessions include reading, tutoring, playing games, sharing hobbies and, most importantly, mentoring and bonding. The sessions are informal, and activities are geared to the interests of the residents and the children. Some of the children come from dysfunctional families, and the Reading Buddies program provides an opportunity for those children to have one hour of uninterrupted time with a caring adult.

Contact: Jane Lahage, Phone: (610) 260-1122
Tracking number: 152
Winning Category: Program (Multifamily Housing)

Best Practice: Saint James Manor

Saint James Manor Houses and Provides Self-sufficiency Services for Homeless Victims

Scranton. With only 14 units of transitional housing available for homeless individuals with special needs in Lackawanna County, the county ran out of available space. A long-vacant building in Scranton—central to a day shelter, soup kitchen and emergency shelter—fit the bill for location and availability for renovation. Several local, county and state agencies and nonprofit organizations contributed resources to renovate the Saint James Manor into a 16-unit furnished transitional housing facility for individuals and families with special needs, including homeless veterans, chronic mentally ill individuals and homeless individuals who completed substance abuse treatment programs. These new units are available to clients for up to 24 months. Saint James Manor provides intensive case management services using a primary care approach. Among the services available at the facility are life skills training, vocational training, employment assistance, and mental health and drug and alcohol counseling. During the first year of operation, 62 percent of the participants remained in the program for one year, 81 percent maintained employment, 85 percent contributed to rental and utility payments, and 79 percent received drug and alcohol/mental health/HIV/AIDS services.

Contact: Stephen Nocilla, Phone: (570) 207-2283
Tracking number: 218
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)

Best Practice: Universal Companies

Myriad of Non-Profit Organizations Revitalize South Central Philadelphia

Philadelphia. Universal Companies is a consortium of nonprofit organizations that takes a holistic approach to community revitalization in promoting opportunities for positive community change through real estate development and workforce development and education in South Central Philadelphia. Its efforts to improve the physical landscape of the community are anchored by a commitment to rebuild the hope, confidence and spirit of the people who live there. Universal Companies provides quality, affordable housing, education for children and adults, employment opportunities and economic development, including scores of well-designed and maintained new and rehabilitated townhouses, a charter school, a new small business support center and a six-story workforce development center. In South Central Philadelphia, Universal Companies is credited for much of the community renewal. Since 1993, Universal Companies has developed more than 120 housing units (rental and homeownership) and 75,000 square feet of commercial space and operates four programs at a cost of more than $22 million.

Contact: Abdur-Rahim Islam, Phone: (215) 732-6518
Tracking number: 2960
Winning Category: Geographical and Program (Community Builders)

Content Archived: April 20, 2011