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| HUD recognition helps local programs become blueprints for change |
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One neighborhood at a time, one program at a time—low-income communities all over the United States are trying out new approaches to solve old problems. The result is the creation of many new opportunities for poor and disadvantaged people. Local initiatives are forging partnerships for jobs, improving education, providing health-care facilities, expanding the supply of affordable housing, breaking down discriminatory barriers to housing access, training local leaders to work more effectively, and striving for community betterment in hundreds of other ways. This issue of FieldWorks concentrates on HUD's 1999 recognition of these best practices. The following article describes Building a Better Tomorrow: National Symposium on Best Practices and Technical Assistance, which was held in July in Kansas City. The remaining articles highlight 3 of the 100 local programs that won the Secretary's Award at the conference: a no-interest loan program in Nebraska,
a self-help housing program in Arizona, and a university-based program in Kansas City that assists grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Electronic Resources provides a guide to additional best practice resources. "This is how we build a better tomorrow," observed HUD Deputy Secretary Saul Ramirez, in opening HUD's Building a Better Tomorrow: National Symposium on Best Practices and Technical Assistance. "All of us unlock the potential by communicating with one another and sharing our best practices. You are already doing great things, but when your vision becomes our vision, the possibilities are endless." More than 3,000 people attended the July 22-25, 1999, conference in Kansas City, including nominees, HUD staff, and other interested professionals. Speakers included Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer and former Kansas City Mayor Emmanuel Cleaver. Cardell Cooper, Assistant Secretary, Office of Community Planning and Development; Eva Plaza, Assistant Secretary, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; Gail Laster, general counsel; and Susan Wachter, Office of Policy Development and Research gave the 100 Best of the Best awards in different areas. The July awards ceremony resulted from a May 13 call by HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo for nominations of local governments and groups who are "successfully using HUD assistance for innovative programs to revitalize communities and bring new opportunities to American families." Throughout the early summer months, best practices were nominated from the field in the following categories: fighting for fair housing, increasing affordable housing and homeownership, reducing homelessness, and restoring public trust. To qualify, programs had to fulfill at least two of four criteria:
Tips from a winner. Winning projects involved HUD's many community partners: corporations, community groups, nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups, universities, local government agencies, and many others. Winners include a public housing-community college partnership in Maysville, Kentucky; a Weed and Seed program in Honolulu; a volunteer medical clinic in Los Angeles; an ecumenical housing program in Castle Point, Missouri; a homeownership program in Omaha, Nebraska; an Asian community fair housing effort in Flushing, New York; a welfare-to-work program in Philadelphia; a business coalition in Madison, Wisconsin; and 92 others. "Perseverance is absolutely the main ingredient for success," says Frank Hagaman, president of Partners in Housing Development Corporation, a tiny nonprofit organization that won a Best of the Best award. The group transformed an abandoned, historic YMCA building in downtown Indianapolis into a 96-unit, service-enriched residence for the city's homeless people. Opening in January 1999 as the first homeless facility of its kind in the city, the former Blue Triangle YMCA was fully occupied by summer. The building also houses the Goodwill Career Academy, the Neighborhood Self-Employment Initiative, and the Riley Area Development Corporation—organizations that work with Blue Triangle residents and people from the surrounding neighborhood. "Putting these deals together using multiple levels of financing is not for the weak-hearted," comments George Courtney, grants manager for the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, who nominated Partners in Housing for the HUD award. The $6 million Blue Triangle renovation was made possible through a city HOME grant, a CDBG grant, and a HUD HOPWA grant for supportive services for the homeless. Other sources of funding included the Indianapolis Foundation, the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, the Federal Home Loan Bank, low-income tax credits, and historic preservation tax credits. Hagaman, a former Connecticut banker who returned to his college town of Indianapolis, admits that financial arrangements in a large project with nine different funding sources can be tricky. "In this line of work, you have to be happy to run into a brick wall at 60 miles per hour and then stop and figure out where the door is," he comments. Yet, he points out, "there are lots of consultants to puzzle that part through." Hagaman has found expertise as well as funding through partnerships and networking. Partners in Housing was "founded on the idea that we would do nothing alone, but always seek partnerships." In the mid-1990s, the organization gained experience working with other Historical Landmarks Foundation projects, creating a track record, Hagaman believes, for "great design, good execution, and strong management." Networking through friends and acquaintances, Hagaman made contact with several nonprofit groups creating single-occupancy residences in Chicago—and learned a great deal from their experience. "There are folks nationally to whom you can reach out," Hagaman advises. "Everyone is willing to give you a hand up." For more information, contact: Frank Hagaman, President, Partners in Housing Development Corporation, 630 North College Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46204, (317) 633-1861, (303) 773-9565.
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