2000 Best Practice Awards
Program and Geographical Winners: Texas
Best Practice: Contract For Deed Conversion
Initiative
Contract For Deed Conversion Initiative
Turns Colonia Residents into Homeowners
Austin.
The focus of the Contract For Deed Conversion Initiative is to help Colonia
residents become property homeowners by converting their contract for deed
into a traditional mortgage. The program provides Colonia residents with
the opportunity to seek funding for construction, rehabilitation and other
benefits of homeownership. In addition, pre- and post-counseling is conducted
for all eligible Colonia residents. In a contract for deed, the buyer pays
the purchase price and interest in regular payments within a certain period
of time before acquiring title to the property. Unlike a traditional mortgage,
a buyer purchasing land using a contract for deed does not have the benefit
of building equity in the property. To date, the department has expended
$3,415,713 on this initiative and assisted 278 Colonia households, with
an average household size of five, convert to a traditional mortgage and
bring their homes to Colonia housing standards.
Contact: Susana Garza, Phone: (512) 475-4610
Tracking Number: 1183
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Texas Rural Development Resource
Partnership Team
Rural Resource Teams Support Community
Planning Efforts
Austin.
In June of 1999, the Texas Rural Development Council and HUD entered into
a formal Memorandum of Agreement. All Community Builders in Texas were invited
to attend a one-day training session; 25 attended and became a part of the
Rural Resource Team process. To date, Community Builders have served on
10 resource teams in rural communities. A rural resource team provides a
community with in-depth attention from federal, state, and private professionals.
A team leader works with a local leader that will gain the local support
and handle all logistics. A team meets with the local leaders, tours the
community, and then researches other pertinent information. The team holds
focus groups with area peer groups, youth, faith-based and neighborhood
associations, and the business sector. The team then goes back and writes
an in-depth report and presents the report at an open forum. The report
then serves as a business plan for the communitys organization and
structuring projects or planning for the next 3 to 10 years.
Contact: Julie Johncox, Phone: (817) 978-5983
Tracking Number: 549
Winning Category: Program (Community Builders)
Best Practice: Oaks of Baytown Mutual Housing Association,
Inc.
Creating High-Quality Affordable Housing
and New Homeownership
Baytown.
Oaks of Baytown Mutual Housing Association, Inc., was created to acquire,
operate and renovate a 248-unit apartment community located in Baytown,
East Harris County, Texas. In this socially-, educationally- and economically-underprivileged
area, residents had the energy and desire to improve their circumstances,
but they did not have professional guidance or appropriate expertise. Families
at or below the 80 percent median income level had little or no hope of
affording their own home. By emphasizing homeownership but requiring only
participation, Oaks of Baytown Mutual Housing has filled this gap; more
than 50 percent of participants have become homeowners. The Oaks of Baytown
Mutual Housing project has been completely renovated and appears more as
a townhouse/condominium community. Each occupant has access to state-of-the-art
facilities, including computer laboratories, pools, playgrounds and park
areas.
Contact: David Mandell, Phone: (281) 686-9146
Tracking Number: 2572
Winning Category: Program (Community Builders)
Best Practice: Collaborative Maintenance Training
Program
Fort Worth Housing Authority Maintenance
Staff Learns A Valuable Lesson
Fort Worth.
Thanks to the Collaborative Maintenance Training Program, the Fort Worth
Housing Authority maintenance staff has decreased its repair work turn around
time from 20 to 2.04 days. Not only have they increased their efficiency,
but the workmanship has improved, and there is increased resident satisfaction
and a better living environment. The staff must have specific training appropriate
to the technology that they maintain. Based on an evaluation of its maintenance
operation, it was clear that the housing authority was spending a great
deal of time and money without expected results and that it must train its
personnel to a competent level or contract the maintenance work to others.
Housing authority maintenance personnel were frustrated as they were trying
to correct problems that were outside their expertise. The housing authority
partnered with the Apartment Association of Tarrant County to facilitate
a Certified Apartment Maintenance Technical Program at the housing authoritys
central maintenance location. Private sector staff uses the facility free
of charge and in exchange, they train housing authority employees.
Contact: Barbara Holston, Phone: (817) 336-2419
Ext.117
Tracking Number: 3190
Winning Category: Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: Harlingen Housing Authority Tenant
Patrol
Tenant Patrol Program Cuts Crime in Harlingen
Public Housing
Harlingen.
The Harlingen Housing Authority (HHA) Tenant Patrol Program trains residents
from public housing to be security guards. Once the training is completed,
the resident volunteers do foot patrol for the Housing Authority. Prior
to the program, HHA residents were living in fear due to the criminal and
drug activities that were going on in their neighborhood. The HHA Tenant
Patrol was implemented in a collaborative effort between HHA, the residents
of the Housing Authority, and the Resident Councils with the goal of eliminating
or decreasing all criminal activities throughout public housing in the city
of Harlingen. The Tenant Patrol agreed to patrol for 24 hours within six
months and continued to do so even after the contract was fulfilled. This
joint effort resulted in crimes being cut in half. The Tenant Patrols have
assisted in arrests and evictions of residents that were suspected of selling
drugs or committing other criminal activity.
Contact: Mary Atkinson, Phone: (956) 423-2521
Ext.20
Tracking Number: 555
Winning Category: Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: Windstar Apartment Homes
Apartments Cater to Lower-Income and Disabled
Residents
Harlingen.
The high housing occupancy rates in Harlingen suggested the need for additional
construction of affordable owner-occupied homes and rental properties. However,
new construction in Harlingen, as elsewhere, is expensive. The Windstar
Apartments were made available to families with incomes at 60 percent of
the area's median income. Six percent of the development's units are set
aside for persons with disabilities. The development addresses the need
for affordable rental housing in the community. The 80-unit apartment building
is built on a site with approximately 8.45 acres. There are 40 two-bedroom
units and 40 three-bedroom units. Since its opening, the apartment building
has continuously maintained 100 percent occupancy. The development provides
specific social services for the elderly, physically disabled and families
with at-risk children.
Contact: Alfredo Huerta, Phone: (956) 421-2351
Tracking Number: 1399
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)
Best Practice: Lubbock Housing Authority Parents
As Teachers Program
Parents as Teachers Furthers Childhood
Development in Lubbock
Lubbock. Parents
as Teachers is a 2½-year-old project that uses a developmentally-based
curriculum and professionals in such areas as housing, health care, education
and social services, to provide help and support to children and their parents.
It was designed to help high-risk children of low-income families. Often,
these children do not get the opportunity to develop cognitively, emotionally
or socially, to realize their full potential as creative and successful
citizens. Parents as Teachers provides weekly visits with the parents and
children to stimulate brain development. Due to the age of the children,
short- or long-term results are still being determined, although national
results report that early identification of developmental delays or deficits
reduces school drop-out rates, drug and alcohol abuse and teen pregnancy.
Families are reported to be more active in their children's educational
endeavors and grades for children who participated in the program were higher
than their non-participating peers.
Contact: Quincy White, Phone: (806) 762-1191
Ext.201
Tracking Number: 2239
Winning Category: Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: Midland County Housing Authority
Restoration Project
Midland County Housing Authority Reorganizes
Midland. The
Midland County Housing Authority (MCHA) developed a plan to restore credibility
to a program that appeared to have serious fiscal problems and was perceived
to be inefficient. In March 1999, the new Executive Director of the MCHA
recommended a reorganization plan to the Board of Commissioners of MCHA.
Priority changes presented to the MCHA Board of Commissioners were re-organization
of the staff, development of a program that promoted a sense of pride, emphasized
team oriented goals and outcomes, and downsized the staff from a 13-member
team to a 10-member team. It appeared that radical changes had to be implemented
to overcome such insurmountable liabilities imbedded within the housing
agency. The MCHA cut payroll waste, cut personnel, relocated offices to
increase efficiency, streamlined financial processes, and developed a "Plan
of Action" to preserve the Housing Authority in the face of emergency
situations that continued to arise. As a result of these changes, cash brought
in combined with reductions and savings amounted to over half a million
dollars.
Contact: Sharon Nieto, Phone: (915) 620-1570
Tracking Number: 791
Winning Category: Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: Southeast Texas Coalition for the
Homeless
Southeast Texas Coalition Improves Provision
of Services to the Homeless
Nederland. The
Southeast Texas Coalition has generated a regional consensus enabling local
officials and homeless service providers to identify existing services,
target service gaps, structure a Homeless Services Coordinating Council,
and develop a Tri-County Continuum of Care Consolidated Application. The
Coalition is designed to assist homeless individuals achieve self-sufficiency
and permanent housing. It was created in large part through the efforts
of U. S. Representatives Nick Lampson and Jim Turner. The counties of Hardin,
Jefferson and Orange, known as the Golden Triangle, suffer an unemployment
rate nearly triple the national and state averages. Before the Southeast
Texas Coalition for the Homeless was formed, homeless service providers
in the tri-county area worked independently. The formation of the Coalition
joined over 10 homeless service provider groups with approximately 40 local/state
government agencies, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. The establishment
of a support system provides homeless individuals with a chance to advance
through the Continuum, become self-sufficient, connect to the community,
achieve economic empowerment, and reside in permanent housing.
Contact: Angelyque Campbell, Phone: (713)
313-2274 Ext. 7024
Tracking Number: 2924
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Housing Partnership MOU
Memorandum of Understanding Provides Basis
for Affordable Housing Initiative
San Antonio.
On November 3, 1999, HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo announced San Antonios
selection as a Pilot City in the Building Homes in America's Cities program,
a joint nationwide initiative of HUD, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and
the National Association of Home Builders. San Antonio was one of 14 cities
selected as a "Pilot City." The charge of the "Pilot Cities"
is to create model-housing programs that will lead to the construction of
an additional one million new homes in America's cities over the next 10
years. Upon learning that San Antonio was being considered as a "Pilot
City", the City of San Antonio, the Greater San Antonio Builders Association
and the HUD Senior Community Builder worked together to produce a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU). The MOU creates a "Housing Partnership"
between the three entities involved in the partnership. This document creates
an "officially" -stated working relationship between the local
home builders, the City and HUD and will be utilized as the basis for future
affordable housing "Partnership" activities involving these and
other San Antonio "Housing Partners."
Contact: George Pedraza, Phone: (210) 207-6990
Tracking Number: 1698
Winning Category: Program (Community Builders)
Best Practice: Job Creation through Small Business
Development & Retention
Creating Jobs to Create a Skilled Community
Marshall.
The strategy for enhanced economic opportunity in the community is to provide
education and employment. To make this happen, a community must make jobs
available that pay well. Second, to attract skilled jobs that have higher
wages, communities must have high-quality training in basic academic skills
and advanced technologies. The community of Marshall undertook four programs.
They developed the campus of Texas State Technical College in the city of
Marshall to provide the high-quality technical training that is demanded
by high wage-paying employers. Texas State Technical College opened in 1993
with 70 students and now has over 400 enrolled. They support literacy education
and undertake an aggressive small business development program to create
jobs. The Business Development Center was created to make funds available
to support small business development. It has been responsible for the creation
or expansion of 61 micro-businesses, resulting in 195 jobs. Low- and moderate-income
workers have held approximately 55 percent of these jobs.
Contact: Janet Cook, Phone: (903) 935-4455
Tracking Number: 304
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Texoma Housing Partners
PHA Partnership Cuts Costs and Improves
Performance
Bonham.
Texoma Housing Partners is a regional partnership of Public Housing Authorities
(PHAs) covering four north central Texas counties. In January 1993, eight
administrative contracts were initiated providing professional management
services. To date, 16 PHAs have joined the partnership. Texoma Council of
Governments devised the partnership in response to the growing need for
smaller housing authorities and the expectations HUD has placed on PHAs.
The PHAs range in size from 6 to 104 units, totaling approximately 500 units.
Each PHA selects one of their existing board members to represent them on
the larger partnership board. By consolidating the cost of administrative
and capital expenses, each of the PHAs gain because the partnership cuts
costs by having one board, budget, administrative staff, and a centralized
maintenance crew instead of 16. The one large entity is more efficient,
and more powerful than 16 smaller separate entities. In addition, capital
improvements such as foundation issues are now being addressed, vacancy
rates are improving as a result of capital improvements and improved marketing,
and HUD monitoring staff can now work with one administrative staff.
Contact: Frances Pelley, Phone: (800) 677-8264
Tracking Number: 552
Winning Program: Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: The Village at Fox Creek
The Village at Fox Creek Provides New Housing
with Access to Amenities
Killeen.
The Village at Fox Creek provides low- [60 percent of Average Median Income
(AMI)] and very low- [50 percent AMI] income families access to new housing
units located near a main thoroughfare as well as life enhancing amenities.
This is the first affordable housing development within the community that
combines housing units near multiple servicesemployment opportunities,
shopping and medical servicesspecifically for the low- and very low-income
community. Thirteen percent of the 128 new affordable housing units provided
by the program are designed to meet accessibility for individuals who have
visual, physical and mobility impairments. The development was made possible
through the collaborative funding efforts of private sector funding, HOME
Investment Partnerships Program funding, and the Low Income Housing Tax
Credit Program.
Contact: Cinda Hayward, Phone: (254) 501-7841
Tracking Number: 852
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)
Best Practice: Austin Works Together
"Austin Works Together" Project
Moves Welfare Recipients to Self-Sufficiency
Austin.
The Housing Authority of the City of Austin developed the Austin Works Together
Project to help welfare recipients and other eligible individuals make the
transition from welfare dependence to self-sufficiency. The combination
of welfare reform, a disjointed, inefficient service delivery system, and
local economic factors generated a great need for a comprehensive, intensive
welfare-to-work program. A 1998 survey of public housing residents revealed
that 62 percent have no high school diploma or GOD, and 27 percent have
an education level of ninth grade or below. The absence of strong collaboration
acted as a barrier to effective approaches to welfare reform in Austin.
For example, an agency that helped someone obtain a job did not have the
services to allow that person to retain the job and earn higher wages. Austin
Works Together was designed to help break this pattern of isolation. Case
managers assess client interests, strengths and needs and tailor the services
accordingly. The program then provides partners for education, training
and job placement services. To date, 67 project participants are employed,
and the project is projected to exceed its enrollment goals by up to 25
percent.
Contact: James Hargrove, Phone: (512) 477-4488
Tracking Number: 1174
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG) Sidewalk Job Training Project
CDBG Sidewalk Job Training Project Provides
Both Job Skills and Better Sidewalks
Wichita Falls. The CDBG Sidewalk Job Training Project fulfills two purposes:
sidewalks at existing public facilities are reconstructed and meaningful
job training opportunities are provided. This unique program is a six-month
job training opportunity for unemployed or low/no skill workers that teaches
participants the basics of concrete work using sidewalk construction. Unskilled
yet employable workers need training and opportunity to increase their marketability
in the labor force. The program develops skills that can be transferred
to the local labor market and teaches workers about job responsibility and
meeting performance standards. Work crews replace defective sidewalks and
construct new ones where none existed in CDBG target areas within the city.
In the last four years, crews laid 75,520 square feet of concrete. Since
the projects inception, 48 individuals gained skills and work experience
through the program, 18 were promoted to full-time employment with the City
of Wichita Falls and 16 others were hired by local private/construction
firms, entered college or were hired by other employers.
Contact: Catherine Fitch, Phone: (940) 761-7454
Tracking Number: 2539
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Central Dallas Ministries-Church
Health Ministries
Central Dallas Ministries Lend A Hand to
the Community
Dallas.
Central Dallas Ministries provide food pantries, GOD training and life skill
programs, kids summer camp and a variety of social services. This
collaborative effort stemmed from a gap in residents' health care services
that was identified as a major issue. The Church Health Ministries (CHM)
organization observed an increasing number of hospital and emergency room
admissions from the East Dallas community at the same time that the East
Dallas Weed and Seed program was challenged to reduce drug use and violence
in the neighborhood. The problems in the community had a direct impact on
hospital usage, as a result, Central Dallas Ministries was a natural partner
in the CHM collaboration and provides leadership in determining appropriate
services needed to pull the community and projects together. The program
was expanded to include a preventive clinic that offers physicals, pap smears,
well-women exams, cancer screenings and other health services. A community-based
advisory committee governs the CHM. Services continue to expand and now
include a no-cost, walk-in clinic at a neighborhood community church.
Contact: Larry James, Phone: (214) 823-8710
Ext.17
Tracking Number: 912
Winning Category: Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: Lubbock Habitat for Humanity-Increasing
Affordable Housing
Building a Better Future through Vocational
Education
Lubbock.
A partnership between Habitat for Humanity in Lubbock, Texas, the Lubbock
Independent School District, and the Windham School District of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice has provided six homes to families who could
not otherwise afford a home or are currently living in substandard or shared
housing. The partnership helps address the real need for affordable housing
for low-to very low-income families, the need for skilled construction workers
and the need for vocational education to provide marketable skills for both
students and prisoners.
The vocational education consists of classroom
time and hands-on experience. Lubbock Habitat provided the funding for the
materials and the licensed labor needed to build a house. The students build
the house in a parking lot, and after completion of the students portion,
the home is moved to its site where Habitat volunteers complete the home.
The first home built under this partnership wad dedicated in November 1998.
Since that time, two more homes have been completed.
The partnership with the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice was established in September 1998, and the first home
was constructed as part of two 90-day courses. The inmates built the home,
did the rough plumbing and wiring, as well as put in the insulation, windows
and doors. This program teaches inmates marketable skills that they can
use when they leave the correctional facility, and the inmates will see
tangible results of their labor.
Lubbock Habitat not only instituted a creative
way to provide labor for the construction of homes, but also provided students
and inmates with a program that gives them valuable trade skills. Taxpayers
benefit because the tax base has increased.
The Lubbock partnership can be replicated
in three easy steps:
- Determine a source of funds for materials
and paid labor. Grants or charitable contributions can be used. Although
Lubbock Habitat used no HUD funding, the program could easily be modified
to use HUD funds. Providing both housing and vocational education is a
good way to leverage funds.
- Determine a basic outline for the proposed
partnership, i.e., who will provide the materials and services.
- Seek and obtain a partnership with school
or correctional facility.
Contact: John Mallory, Phone: (806) 763-4663
Tracking Number: 872
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Valley Community Ministries
(Doing Business as Loaves and Fishes)
Loaves and Fishes Helps Homeless with Meals
and Job Placement Services
Harlingen.
The "Loaves and Fishes" organization brings together government
funds, local church organizations, and 19 varied and diverse agencies/entities
to provide comprehensive services to help homeless persons in the city of
Harlingen become productive members of the community. In its first year,
"Loaves and Fishes" goal was simply to feed the hungry. That year
11,189 meals were served. The annual number of meals provided now exceeds
70,000. In addition to feeding the hungry, it became apparent that job placement
services were needed in the city of Harlingen for these individuals. The
"Job Shop" is designed to put people who are currently on welfare
back into the community as taxpayers. While these individuals are volunteering,
they are provided with on-the-job training that prepares them to enter the
work force. The activities of the "Job Shop" include assessing
client skills and abilities, resume preparation, providing employment placement
leads, additional follow-up after employment, providing facilities for language
skills education, and preparation for citizenship testing. Software is available
for clients who are pursuing their GED certificates. Out of 196 clients
assisted during 1999, 103 individuals found employment through the "Job
Shop." To date over 150 employers in the Harlingen area have given
"Job Shop" clients a chance at self-sufficiency.
Contact: George John, Phone: (956) 423-1444
Tracking Number: 1592
Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)
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