2000 Best Practice Awards
Program and Geographical Winners: Washington
Best Practice: Homeownership Services
A Vacant Soon to be Demolished School Became
the Shelter for the Boys and Girls Club of Pasco
Pasco.
The city of Pasco has for a number of years provided a facility for use
by the Boys and Girls Club to support a wide range of activities for young
people in the area. These facilities are old and in need of constant repairs
and, as a result, are not efficiently serving the needs of the childrens
after school, evening and weekend activities. The number of children from
low-to moderate-income families have greatly increased in the city of Pasco
in recent years. The city and the Boys and Girls Club Committee have directed
their attention to addressing the concerns of how to meet the growing demand
to use the facilities. To address the problem, Pasco leaders took advantage
of a vacant soon to be demolished school. They leveraged resources to convert
the facility to a needed and heavily-used Boys and Girls Club facility.
Contact: Kellee Magnuson, Phone: (509) 543-9980
Tracking Number: 1841
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Burke Gilman Apartments
HUD Renovates Burke Gilman Apartments
Seattle.
The Burke Gilman Apartment project is the first to use Washington State
Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) Bond financing with State Tax Credit
Program in combination with HUDs FHA 223f mortgage insurancea
refinance of an existing HUD insured mortgage. In April 2000, HUD announced
the closing of the Burke Gilman Apartments, a 113-unit apartment near the
University of Washington in Seattle. The new owner, A.F. Evans Co., will
make 62 units available to those with incomes at or below 60 percent of
the area median when the remodeling and renovation of the complex is complete.
The project will allow the owner to benefit as well as potential residents.
The refinancing package helped preserve and rehabilitate a low-income building
and expands the number of affordable units in the Seattle area. The remodeling
and renovation will include repair work such as replacing roofs, upgrading
site lighting, replacing handicap ramps, repairing sidewalks, and repairing
cabinetry and window coverings.
Contact: Gloria Garcia, Phone: (206) 220-5228
Ext. 3174
Tracking Number: 1937
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Community Building Strategy-Seattle
Housing Authoritys NewHolly Neighborhood
Cross-Sector Communities Strengthen Neighborhoods
through Block Clubs
Seattle.
NewHolly Community Building Strategy uses the development of Block Clubs
and Activity Clubs to pull this redeveloped HOPE VI community together as
a neighborhood. With the broad diversity in income and ethnicities within
the new neighborhood, building relationships across class and race lines
is critical in creating a healthy neighborhood. The Community Building Strategy
at NewHolly is designed to develop a caring community that promotes positive
relationships, self-sufficiency, and a sense of pride and ownership of the
neighborhood. The Block Clubs and Activity Clubs are designed as a space
for people to meet neighbors they might not otherwise speak with and to
identify common interests or concerns. Three Block Clubs have been formed
to help neighbors meet and interact with people on their immediate blocks.
Seven Activity Clubs have been formed including parks and gardens; adults
for youth and teens; crime prevention/blockwatch; transportation; seniors
and disabled; management questions and no speeding team. Over 100 people
are involved in these clubs organizing community events, addressing community
problems and making recommendations for resolution. Through these clubs,
neighbors are forming cross-cultural relationships and expanding their social
support system as well as bringing a sense of community and empowerment
to the residents.
Contact: Harry Thomas, Phone: (206) 615-3300
Tracking Number: 2678
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Harbor View Manor Leverages Community
Resources for Needed Renovations and Neighborhood Network Center
Community Resources Renovate a Residential
Property and Installs a Computer Learning Center
Seattle.
On February 15, 2000, Harbor View Manor hosted a "30 Year Celebration
Afternoon Tea" to honor the agencies and foundations for their financial
assistance in the renovations of Harbor View Manor. A few years ago, Harbor
View Manor, an aging property located in downtown Tacoma, was denied flexible
subsidy funds from HUD. Determined to complete the needed renovation, the
owners and managers applied to various community funding sources. With great
persistence, they were extremely successful in securing over $443,000 in
outside funding. Funding was used for upgrading the units, roof replacement,
and community room upgrades. As part of the community room renovations,
Harbor View Manor created a Neighborhood Networks Computer Learning Center
for their residents. Since the rehabilitation was completed, the propertys
vacancy rate has dropped from 20 percent to 12 percent. Harbor View Manor
is truly an example of owners, management agents, and residents exploring
and securing means to preserve affordable housing. It also demonstrates
the effectiveness of partnering and leveraging resources for the residents
and community at large.
Contact: Mary Ellen Casarez, Phone: (206)
220-5228 Ext. 3214
Tracking Number: 1911
Winning Category: Program (Multifamily Housing)
Best Practice: Housing Discrimination Study
Fair Housing Discrimination Test Conducted
in Seattle
Seattle.
The Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR) and the Fair Housing Center of
South Puget Sound conducted a testing audit in the City of Seattle to determine
the presence of race and family status discrimination. Thirty paired tests
were performed separately for race and family status discrimination. The
results were published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and a public announcement
was made in a press conference held by Mayor Schell. SOCR views the goal
of the study as preventative rather than punitive. The results of the study
will serve as an educational tool, which will provide guidance to the public,
property managers and landlords in fair housing practices. There are plans
for further testing.
Contact: Germaine Covington, Phone: (206)
684-4500
Tracking number: 901
Winning Category: Geographical and Program (Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity)
Best Practice: Moving-to-Work Policy Development:
Rent Policy
Policy Development Shapes a Housing Authority
Program
Seattle.
Under the Seattle Housing Authoritys Moving-to-Work agreement with
HUD, the Housing Authority is able to develop local policies and programs.
Given the importance of a rent policy to the financial health of the agency
and public housing residents, the Housing Authority created and implemented
a thorough policy analysis and development process to ensure that a new
rent policy would address the needs and concerns of stakeholders. The policy
development process and the new policy are products that demonstrate the
Housing Authoritys ability to build trust among its customers and
community stakeholders while developing innovative solutions to real problems.
Performance measures looking at policy changes and a revenue forecast model
providing a 10-year forecast are two results of the program.
Contact: Harry Thomas, Phone: (206) 615-3300
Tracking number: 2931
Winning Category: Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: Seattle Office of Civil Rights
Bus Campaign
Fair Housing Rights Campaign Successfully
Advertising on Buses in Seattle
Seattle. The
Seattle Office of Civil Rights (SOCR) used an effective medium to reach
citizens of Seattle to inform them of their right to fair housing and their
right to file a complaint in the incidence of housing discrimination. The
SOCR gathered information from fair housing cases and determined where discrimination
seemed to be occurring most often. Exterior bus placards went up on 60 buses
that ran throughout Seattle in these areas. Colorful interior placards reading
"We All Belong!" ads were installed in 275 Metro buses. Each held
sheets that could be torn off and taken with a brief description of the
services SOCR provides and information about how to reach SOCR. The exterior
ads read "Discrimination is still illegal. Report it. We All Belong!"
and the interior placards added to the message with "Don't Tolerate
Discrimination. STOP IT. CALL US." To help publicize the campaign,
Seattle newspapers and radio stations conducted interviews and announcements.
The placards brought many new people into the SOCR offices with an average
of 17 new customers per month.
Contact: Germaine Covington, Phone: (206)
684-4500
Tracking number: 1624
Winning Category: Program (Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity)
Best Practice: Snohomish County Community Housing
and Resources Board Outreach
Fair Housing Seminars Decrease Housing
Discrimination
Snohomish County. The Snohomish County Community Housing and Resources Board
(CHRB) each year holds a series of Landlord-Tenant and Fair Housing Law
Seminars at libraries and other public sites throughout the county. Because
the CHRB has partnered with the Dispute Resolution Center, it is particularly
effective in educating landlords on the requirements of the Fair Housing
Act. The CHRB was started in 1989 to implement the Fair Housing Act and
has operated since as a volunteer consortium of city, county and private
concerns to provide education and outreach throughout Snohomish County.
The CHRB has never received funding under the Fair Housing Initiatives Program
but has continued to operate through volunteers, city Community Development
Building Grant funds, private donations of time, and advertising funds from
the Association of Realtors. Presently the CHRB meets three times per year
and holds five Landlord-Tenant and Fair Housing Law Seminars per year for
the public. The CHRB is a grassroots committee representing a consortium
of public agencies, advocates, and private enterprise. A number of HUD staff
has interacted over the years to help the CHRB with its education and outreach
program. Many discrimination complaints and potentially expensive litigation
were avoided through education of landlords.
Contact: Tim Koss, Phone: (425) 388-3311 Ext.2210
Tracking number: 961
Winning Category: Program (Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity)
Best Practice: Northwest Regional Facilitators
Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity (SHOP) Program
Self-Help Homeownership Program Uses Sweat
Equity to Purchase Homes for Families in the Northwest
Spokane. The first phase of this model
urban self-help new construction homeownership program began in 1994 as
HomeStarts, a Northwest Regional Facilitators (NRF) pilot program with the
Washington State Housing Finance Commission and Seafirst Bank as financial
partners. In the second phase of the program, NRF developed a revolving
loan fund and a second source of deferred second mortgages both funded by
the Washington State Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development
Housing Trust Fund Unit. Since its inception, enough money has been gathered
to finance 34 completed homes. As a result of the success of this program,
NRF applied for Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity (SHOP) program funds
to support assistance to other nonprofits wanting to develop similar programs
in their areas. Like HomeStarts, SHOP programs target families who cannot
attain homeownership through conventional means and who are willing to contribute
substantial amounts of sweat equity by assisting in the construction of
the home. This sweat equity is then used in lieu of cash downpayment and
closing costs. HomeStarts uses the mutual self-help model of construction
whereby the homebuyers join a group of six to eight other households to
build homes for all as a team.
Contact: Linda Hugo, Phone: (509) 484-6733
Tracking Number: 1692
Winning Category: Program (Single Family Housing)
Best Practice: REACH (Regional Assisted Collaborative
Housing)
Housing Program Reaches out to HIV Positive
Community in Spokane
Spokane.
Regional Assisted Collaborative Housing, or REACH, is a comprehensive and
collaborative effort aimed at expanding on a previous Housing Opportunities
for Persons with AIDS award. The purpose of the grant is to assist with
long-term housing and related supportive services, and assist rural communities,
especially Hispanic migrant and seasonal farm workers. Each participant
is expected to donate funds and/or services in support of the program. The
REACH program officially began on July 1, 1999, and has served 57 persons
with AIDS. The project assists HIV- positive individuals with locating long-term
affordable housing. This program allows consumers to focus on long-term
issues rather than daily survival and fosters less personal and family stress.
Eight agencies, including Spokane Regional Health District, Spokane Housing
Authority, Coalition of Responsible Disabled, Spokane Neighborhood Action
Program, Volunteers of America, Yakima Homeless Coalition, Housing Authority
of Chelan and County, city of Wenatchee and Wall Walla Housing Authority
sponsor the program. Although they had never worked together before, collaboration
became necessary to yield a successful program.
Contact: Michael Davis, Phone: (509) 324-1539
Tracking number: 123
Winning Category: Program (Community Planning and Development)
Best Practice: Spokane Association of Realtors
- Fair Housing Committee
Fair Housing Compliance Campaign Conducts
Outreach on All Fronts
Spokane. Throughout
the year 2000, emphasis is directed toward the importance of fair and equal
housing. In observance of the 32nd anniversary of the Federal Fair Housing
Act, special effort was expended during "Fair Housing Month" in
April. The city and county of Spokane joined with the Spokane Association
of Realtors (SAR) in promoting the recognition of the law that prohibits
discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, sex,
family status and disability and encourages fair housing opportunities for
all citizens. Throughout the month, several hundred radio and television
30-second spots were aired, a number of buses carried fair housing signs,
and members of the SAR Fair Housing Committee made visits to open houses
to insure compliance with HUDs rules for realtors. Other events during
the month included an annual third-grade poster and essay contest "What
My Home Means To Me" and the 3rd Community Congress on Race Relations,
which was held Friday, April 28, at the Gonzaga University Center.
Contact: Don Walker, Phone: (509) 326-9222
Tracking number: 243
Winning Category: Program (Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity)
Best Practice: Kids Turning FUN into FUNDS for
One Neighborhood Networks Center
High School Student Coordinating Partnerships
for Network Neighborhood Center
Tacoma.
Christian Powers, a student at Curtis High School located near Tacoma, helped
turn a night of fun into a night of fundraising for the Tacoma Neighborhood
Networks Center. When one of his teachers gave an assignment to develop
and carry out a community service project, Christian chose to do something
that would impact the lives of the needy. With the involvement of his friends
and church, Christian organized a benefit concert that would include several
of the areas local bands in support of two local organizations that
are serving the needs of low-income individuals. Christian, with the help
of a representative of his church, approached and met together with both
the Tacoma Neighborhood Networks Center and Hilltop Health Ministries. While
the benefit concert raised more than $1000, the money it brought in was
not its greatest success. Indeed, the partnerships that were formed as well
as the awareness raised when Christian was empowered to make a contribution
made a difference in the lives of the needy.
Contact: Michael Corsini, Phone: (253) 272-4878
Tracking Number: 1935
Winning Category: Program (Multifamily Housing)
Best Practice: Housing at Sand Point
Former Naval Station to Provide Transitional
Housing for the Homeless
Sand Point.
In the mid-1990s, the U.S. Navy decommissioned the 151-acre Sand Point Naval
Station. Following a three-year re-use planning process involving neighborhood
groups, civic organizations, and homeless service providers, the property
was transferred to the city of Seattle to provide housing, supportive services
and employment opportunities for the homeless. The Sand Point Community
Housing Association, under a master lease with the city, has overseen the
redevelopment of the former Naval Station that will result in 200 units
of transitional housing for the homeless. In early 2000, Phase I was completed.
Phase I consists of 26 units for families with children; 6 units for young
mothers and their children, 8 units for youth ages 16-18, 8 units for youth
ages 18-21; and 41 units for single men and women.
Contact: Tom Byers, Phone: (206) 684-8105
Tracking Number: 2794
Winning Category: Geographical
Best Practice: Cultivating Communities
Agricultural Enterprises Springing up in
Seattles Urban Communities
Seattle. Cultivating
Communities, a community-supported agriculture enterprise in Seattle, Washington,
operates market gardens at three of Seattle Housing Authoritys large
public housing garden communities. The program is an outgrowth of a community
garden program, which began in 1995 to fulfill a need identified by public
housing residents for clean gardening sites. Many of the Housing Authoritys
public housing residents are recent immigrants from Ethiopia, Cambodia,
Somalia, Laos, Vietnam and other countries where agriculture is a way of
life. These immigrants had little or no preparation for life in urban America.
Many of them are learning a new language, obtaining citizenship and finding
employment. The Cultivating Communities program bridges the cultural divide,
builds upon skills and cultural backgrounds, and provides these new immigrants
with the opportunity to learn business and leadership skills. Cultivating
Communities market gardens generate approximately $30,000 in produce
sales, provide fresh organic produce to 40 public housing households and
provide each family an average annual supplemental income of $500.
Contact: Martha Goodlett, Phone: (206) 978-6372
Tracking Number: 2973
Winning Category: Program (Public and Indian Housing)
Best Practice: Northwest Indian Housing Association
and Education Initiative
Northwest Indian Housing Association Provides
Training for Members
Seattle.
The Northwest Indian Housing Association is a nonprofit organization that
provides training, support and technical assistance to its members. The
associations membership includes 31 tribes, tribal housing authorities
and Tribally Designated Housing Entities such as the Yakama Nation, Umatilla
Reservation Housing Authority and the Nez Perce Tribal Housing. To help
implement the Native American Housing Assistance Self-Determination Act,
the association offers low-cost training every quarter to members. The training
assists members in establishing their own housing programs. The associations
work was made possible with $83,000 of funding from HUD and private programs.
Some of the programs partners consist of the Washington Mutual Bank,
AMERIND Risk Management and PS Fuqua Homes, Inc. To date, more than 200
association members have participated in the training programs.
Contact: Joseph Diehl, Phone: (206) 526-8630
Tracking Number: 2712
Winning Category: Program (Office of Native American Programs)
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