HOPE VI Remarks, Regional Administrator Rick M. Garcia
Denver, Colorado
Friday, May 27, 2011

Rick Garcia speaking at podium under shade of tree

HUD Regional Administrator Rick Garcia, joined by Senator Michael Bennet, announced a $22 Million HOPE VI award and presented a ceremonial check to Denver Housing Authority Executive Director Ismael Guerrero, Deputy Mayor Jack Finlaw and Denver City Council Member Judy Montero on May 27, 2011. Senator Bennet said the funding will revitalize the community providing an opportunity for the future of the children to live in sustainable homes with access to jobs. With the new funding, ED Guerrero renamed the community from South Lincoln Park to Mariposa, which means a butterfly.

Read the News Release
HOPE VI Fact Sheet

Here are his remarks.

Left to right - Senator Michael Bennet, Regional Administrator Rick Garcia and Executive Director Ismael Guerrero display check for $22 million

• Good afternoon. It's a great day in Denver, Colorado, as we celebrate the achievements of you-in the City of Denver, Denver Housing Authority, housing partners and the citizens of South Lincoln Park.
   
• It's an honor for me to be here today with you and our distinguished guests as we congratulate you on your hard work and enjoy your achievements today.
   
• First, let's recognize the important speakers today:

  Senator Michael Bennet

  DHA Executive Director Ismael Guerrero

  Deputy Mayor Jack Finlaw

  Council Member Judy Montero

  Resident Peter Hayes

• Also, in the audience are key partners, including Karly Malpiede from Congresswoman Diana DeGette's staff and from the State of Colorado, I see Gary Sanford and Pat Coyle.
   
• Let's get started:
   
• On behalf of HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, we are here to officially announce a $22 million HOPE VI award to Denver Housing Authority to revitalize the South Lincoln Park public housing development.
   
• This award is part of a national $152 million investment around the country through the HOPE VI program to transform distressed public housing into successful, mixed-income communities, this funding will help make this housing complex an anchor and an asset for this community for decades to come.
   
• As President Obama has said, there is no greater economic policy than one that invests in our children's future and helps America out-educate the world.
   
• But that's not possible if we leave a whole generation of children behind in our poorest neighborhoods.
• Today, more than 10 million people live in what we call "neighborhoods of concentrated poverty" - surrounded by disinvestment, failing schools, troubled housing, and little opportunity.
   
• Indeed, research shows that we can predict the health, economic, and educational outcomes of children based not on their family's economic status, or their educational backgrounds, but on where they live - on their zip codes.
   
• That is a tragedy.
   
• But we're here today because DENVER and communities around the country have shown us that by using tools like the HOPE VI public housing revitalization program, we don't have to accept those outcomes for our children.
   
• In developments like Park Avenue, Curtis Park and Quigg Newton, we've seen how communities can use tools provided by HOPE VI to revitalize not just public housing, but a whole neighborhood.
   
• Pioneered by HUD Secretaries Jack Kemp and Henry Cisneros and backed by strong bipartisan support, HOPE VI has created nearly 86,000 homes in healthy, mixed-income communities that were once troubled by distressed public housing.
   
• Just as importantly, it's raised the average income of residents by 75 percent or more.
   
• And HOPE VI has leveraged twice the federal investment in additional private development capital, forging the public-private partnerships that our communities need and ensuring American taxpayers get the most "bang for the buck."
   
• That's the kind of transformation I'm confident we're going to see at South Lincoln Park, providing 457 homes for local families - from affordable rental homes to opportunities for sustainable homeownership.
   
• The funding will help make South Lincoln Park an anchor and an asset for Denver for decades to come. With this grant, Denver Housing Authority will provide 457 units, of which 351 are on-site and 106 are off-site affordable rental homes to opportunities for sustainable homeownership.
   
• Of course, as Denver's families know, a healthy neighborhood depends on more than stable housing. That's why Denver's Housing Authority's plan supports local education built near the Osage Light Rail station. The project will create jobs to replace the housing units and six for-sale townhome units. The proposed development will require an array of job skills, equipment, appliances and services to build the one, two, three, and four bedroom row houses, semi-detached, and elevator type buildings and landscaping.
   
• A key component of DHA's application was inclusion of a program to enrich childhood education. DHA, in partnership with CCAD of the Archdiocese of Denver (CCAD), will implement a model Early Childhood Education initiative for the current and future families of the South Lincoln community. DHA and CCAD will expand their current efforts to create an expanded on-site center and community outreach effort and will have as its outcome a virtual "Center For Preschool Children and Families." That's how Denver Housing Authority's plan supports local education, transportation and economic development.
   
• We've learned from innovative communities across the country that the most successful HOPE VI developments are often closely linked to school reform, to revitalizing other distressed housing in the neighborhood, and the retail stores and small businesses every community needs to thrive.
   
• By transforming all distressed housing in a neighborhood, and tying this transformation to the Department of Education's Promise Neighborhoods initiative, Choice Neighborhoods will ensure there is stable housing, quality learning opportunities, and quality job opportunities at the center of these communities.
   
• Only then will children have access to the stable housing, strong neighborhoods, and good schools we need to out-educate our competitors and win the future.
   
• And so, this is an exciting today for this community, let's commend them for their award, work and accomplishments...(applause and pause)
   
• We wouldn't be here today, without the ultimate support of our next speaker. Senator Michael Bennet has been a most valuable contributor to sustainable, affordable communities.

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