August 2004 BHA Today

BHA TodayVolume 5 • Issue 5 August 2004

1

C O N T E N T S

Family Self-Sufficiency Program Helping MakeDreams Come True

Washington Pols Mull FY05 Budget

Open any newspaper or listen to any news-cast and you’re likely to be barraged withdisparaging news regarding the Section 8

program. The Federal Administration has proposedbudget cuts and housing authorities are scramblingto find ways to cover the expected shortfalls (Seestory below). But while the program may face chal-lenges in the coming years, there are many successstories that continue to go unpublicized.

Everyday there are people like SusanForgione working with families to realize their dreamsof homeownership, helping them accelerate their ca-reers and increasing their money making potential.Susan is the Director of Family Self-Sufficiency Pro-gram (FSS) at the Boston Housing Authority whereshe works alongside her staff of Ruth Olsen andMartha Scanlon.

(Continued on page 5)

Tracy signs the final documents at

her closing, officially making her

a homeowner

Politicians in Washington D.C. are currently inthe process of negotiating the budget for the2005 fiscal year. The Federal

Administration’s FYO5 proposed budget would dras-tically alter the public housing landscape. The pro-posal reduces funding for the Section 8 Program bymore than $1.6 billion. In addition, it would eliminatefunding for the HOPE VI Program.

At the time this story was written, the HouseAppropriations Committee had reworked the De-partment of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)budget, which funds the public housing and Sec-tion 8 programs, so that it had less of a cut to theSection 8 program than originally proposed. How-ever, in order to do so, a cut was added to publichousing programs in this version of the budget.

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Unity Days................................................................2

Community Center at Faneuil.............................3

FY05 Budget............................................................4

FSS Program...........................................................5

Energy Savings......................................................6

HOPE VI at Maverick Gardens............................8

BHA Police Accreditation.....................................8

BHA Today Volume 5 • Issue 52

Out & About Unity Days

Unity Day Schedule

Development: CommonwealthDate: August 14, 2004Time: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pmLocation: 35 Fidelis Way,

Brighton

Development: Franklin FieldDate: August 14, 2004Time: 12:00 pm – 4:00 pmLocation: 70 Ames Street ,

Dorchester

Development: Bromley HeathDate: August 20, 21, & 22, 2004Time: All dayLocation: Bromley Hall area

next to Amphitheater

Development: Whittier StreetDate: August 21, 2004

(Rain Date) August 28,2004Time: 12:00 pm – 4:00 pmLocation: 200 Ruggles Street

Development: Orient HeightsDate: August 28, 2004Time: 12:00 pm– 6:00 pmLocation: Orient Heights

Community Building

Note: All dates and times listed are tenative andare subject to change. Please check with thedevlopment for more information.

Children enjoying the amusements at Old Colony’s

Unity Day celebration

Kids at the Maverick Unity Day

jump around in an

inflatable dog

Unity Days were started in the 1980s inresponse to neighborhood tensions. The first UnityDay was at the Washington-Beech housingdevelopment in Roslindale. The event was sosuccessful that other developments began havingUnity Days and now residents at many BHAhousing development hold their own annual UnityDay during the summer months.

are Back for the Summer

Development: Mary Ellen McCormackDate: August 14, 2004Time: 12:00 pm – 4:00 pmLocation: Sterling Square,

South Boston

August 2004 BHA Today 3

Out & AboutA Community Center Grows at Faneuil Gardens

Faneuil Gardens’ residents, BHA staff, neigh-bors and elected officials got their firstglimpse of the newly completed community

center and computer lab at a grand opening cer-emony held at the Development on June 15.

At the long-awaited unveiling, Faneuil Gar-dens Tenant Task Force President Ruth Stone de-scribed the project as an “absolute community ef-fort.”

The community center, which took 18 monthsto complete, is outfitted with a pool table, a televi-sion, a ping-pong table, a library of children’s booksand a meeting room.

In addition, Boston College generously pro-vided the development a grant, which was used tobuy computers. Area business also provided assis-tance by purchasing books for the reading room.

“This building truly houses a community cen-ter where men and women shared a common visionof their neighborhood and actively participated inbringing the vision to life,” explained Regional Vice-President of Winn/Peabody Cruz ManagementLinda Hamilton.

At a ceremony to commemorate the new areaHamilton praised the contributions of all the men andwomen involved in the project. “I can tell who did thework because they still have light blue paint on theirjeans,” she mused.

BHA Administrator Sandra Henriquez toldonlookers, “You are the heart and soul of this com-munity of neighbors.”

Henriquez encouraged the group to look pasttheir low-income status and aspire for greatness.“With vision you will get there,” she said. The comple-tion of the community center serves as a model ofwhat can be accomplished with hard work and dedi-cation.

The center is located at the site of an old daycare center. With the new space, leaders of the de-velopment hope to reestablish a semblance of theyouth program disbanded three years ago due tolack of funds.

“It has the potential to transform and bringtogether a neighborhood,” explained Site MangerBill Sullivan.

Stone added: “We challenge everyone to riseto the occasion and take part in making the commu-nity center the true center of our community; attendprograms, get involved in planning meetings, volun-teer. Make it yours!”

The new computer room was made possible

through a generous donation from

Boston College

(Continued on page 5)

The Faneuil Gardens Community Center

opened on June 15 after 18

months of work.

BHA Today Volume 5 • Issue 54

Washington Pols Mull

Before anything becomes final, however, thebudget goes through many revisions, and often isreviewed and approved by the House and SenateAppropriations Committees, a Conference Commit-tee if the two versions are different, the members ofthe House and Senate, and of course, the Presidenthimself.

Below is a description of the portion of theAdministration’s budget that would affect public hous-ing and the Section 8 program as originally pro-posed. Because the budget includes drastic cuts tothese programs, some tenants and tenant advocacygroups are lobbying against the cuts. For example,the Resident Advisory Board (RAB) sent letters tothe Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs and Housingand Urban Development (the House AppropriationsCommittee), petitioning them to fully fund public hous-ing programs.

Section 8

One of the components to the proposed bud-get is the Flexible Voucher Program, which wouldreplace the current Housing Choice Voucher Pro-gram. This proposal would give public housing au-thorities (PHAs) money in block grants for all rent-ers instead of money for each individual renter. Thismeans that housing authorities would be given onelump sum to distribute among all the agency’s rent-ers, instead of an individual dollar amount for eachvoucher.

The plan stems from what officials see as therising cost of Section 8 subsidies. Proponents ofthe plan argue that it will deregulate the voucher sys-tem, diminishing Washington’s role and empower-ing local housing authorities. They also claim that itwill grant PHAs greater flexibility to address localpriorities given local market conditions.

Detractors claim that the decrease in fund-ing would put housing authorities in the tough posi-tion of choosing to fund more families of higher in-come, while neglecting the poorest few or fundingfewer families with lower incomes. The NationalAssociation of Housing and Redevelopment Offi-

HOPE VI was created in 1993. Public hous-ing authorities that receive HOPE VI funding use itto redevelop severely distressed housing develop-ments.

The BHA currently has two completed HOPEVI Developments at Mission Main and Orchard Gar-dens and one currently in the construction processat Maverick Gardens. The program has helped spurgrowth in each community.

Public Housing Reform Test Program

Another idea HUD is working on is the Pub-lic Housing Reform Demonstration Program(PHRD), modeled after the Moving to Work Program(MTW), introduced in 1998. Fifty PHAs would takepart in a three-year demonstration of the program totest its efficiency. The PHRD would move partici-pating authorities to a more project- and asset-man-agement based system.

FY05 Budget

-cials (NAHRO) estimate that 250,000 families na-tion-wide could lose their vouchers if the current HUDbudget is passed. At the BHA the cuts could effectup to 2,500 voucher holders.

As a result of the pending Section 8 cuts,nearly two-thirds of PHAs around the country havealready stopped issuing vouchers, while they remaininundated with long wait lists. The Boston HousingAuthority has closed its waiting list, which currentlyhas thousands of families on it.

HOPE VI

The HOPE VI Program is once again in jeop-ardy of being eliminated. The Administration triedto disband the program last year but was unsuccess-ful due to strong bipartisan opposition. The programhas suffered severe cuts in the past few years withfunding dropping to $149 million during fiscal year2004. The cuts mean that the program, which usedto serve 25 to 30 communities and received $574million, now aids fewer than 10.

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August 2004 BHA Today 5

How FSS Works

FSS Program

Note: A person must be a Boston Housing Author-ity Section 8 voucher holder to qualify for the pro-gram.

� The head of household enters into a five-yearcontract with the BHA. This contract containsa service plan that identifies the employmentgoal of the participant and outlines the activi-ties and services necessary to achieve thisgoal. The FSS Coordinator helps the familyobtain the services listed in the plan and theBHA establishes a savings account when thefamily increases its earned income.

� When the rent goes up due to an increase inearnings, the amount of the increase will beplaced in a savings account for the family. Thefamily will receive all of the money in the ac-count, plus interest, when the FSS Contractis successfully completed.

� To complete the program, a person must beworking and all family members must be offpublic assistance for at least the last 12months of the five-year contract.

FSS is open to all families receiving Section8 assistance through the BHA and only has onesimple requirement: a desire to become self-suffi-cient and a willingness to work hard to accomplishthat goal.

One of the most praiseworthy programs todevelop from FSS is the Homebuyer’s Club. TheFSS Program has served 16 families in their questfor homeownership. Every person who graduatesfrom the program share similar characteristics: de-termination, dedication and perserverance.

Josette, a single mother with three children,one of which is disabled, embodied those charac-teristics and as a result purchased her first home inMay. Tracy also endured the ups and down of theprocess and accomplished her goal ofhomeownership despite being a single mother andputting her oldest child through college. She pur-chased her home in late July.

Since the program began in September of1993, the FSS team at the BHA has served 100 resi-dents. In addition, there are 300 families currentlyenrolled in the program and hundreds more on thewaiting list.

Participants in the Homebuyer’s Club arerequired to attend 10 hours of “Homeownership 101,”a class that is made possible through the assistanceof the City of Boston’s Department of NeighborhoodDevelopment. In addition, they must attend six totwelve months of BHA homeownership counseling.Experts in the field of law, finance and housing speakto the students and lend their expertise to the class.“They explained to us what we need to do to own ahome,” said Tracy. “They were very helpful.”

“Our goal is not only to get them into a house,but to stay in one,” said Forgione.

A big part of making that happen are peoplewho have gone through the program themselves whocome back to share their personal experiences withthe group.

Josette tells people contemplating the pro-gram to, “Make sure you have your credit all set, it’sthe most important thing, without good credit it won’thappen.”

(Continued from page 5)

“I think the message is people had to workhard but its worth it and you can do it,” addedForgione.

The reward for all the hard work and dedica-tion is purchasing a home for the first time. Tracynow owns the single-family home she had rented forthe past two years in Hyde Park.

“It’s a scary process to go through,” saidTracy. “You get upset and stressed out. But you learna lot just going through it.”

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BHA Today Volume 5 • Issue 56

BHA Announces Energy ProjectSavings Expected to Exceed $5 million

a partnership with Citizens ConservationServices, an Ameresco company, to maxi-

mize its savings through the implementation of inte-grated water and energy conservation improvementsas well as related resident health upgrades. Theproject will affect approximately 5,000 apartmentsin 15 developments throughout the City of Bostonand is expected to save the BHA more than $5 mil-lion a year in energy savings.

“The BHA continues to find new, innovative,and economically responsible ways to provide fami-lies with clean and safe environments in which tolive,” said BHA Administrator Sandra Henriquez.“Citizens Conservation Services is a proven com-pany that has worked with many other public hous-ing authorities throughout the nation and we look for-ward to a long and productive relationship with them.”

BHA designated Citizens as the company thatwill implement this round of energy performancemeasures in fifteen of its family and elderly/disableddevelopments. Citizens will now embark on an ex-tensive energy audit of the fifteen developments tofinalize which upgrades will be undertaken at eachsite.

“We are very excited for the opportunity towork with the BHA to help meet their environmental,infrastructure, energy and cost reduction goals,” saidGeorge Sakellaris, CEO of Ameresco. Steve Mor-gan, Citizens President, added “It is an honor and achallenge to work with one of the nation’s best man-aged and most sophisticated housing authorities toaddress both energy conservation and healthierapartment conditions in the same effort. We lookforward to a close collaboration over the next dozenyears.”

Energy and money saving upgrades will in-clude actions like replacing water closets,showerheads and faucet aerators, consolidatingelectric meters, installing energy efficient lighting,converting electric heat to gas, upgrading or replac-ing old central heating plants and installing co-gen-eration and renewable energy systems. In addition,measures such as adding or improving apartmentexhaust systems and adding dryer vents will also be

undertaken to improve healthy living conditions forresidents. An extensive resident education, train-ing, and employment program will complement andreinforce the program over the life of the project.

It is expected that the money saved over timethrough energy conservation will cover the cost ofthe upgrades and healthy apartment improvements.The total savings over a twelve (12) year period isexpected to be approximately $60 million.

The fifteen developments that will be auditedare Bromley Park and Heath Street in Jamaica Plain,Commonwealth and Washington Street in Brighton,Franklin Field, Franklin Hill and Pasciucco inDorchester, Holgate and Whittier Street in Roxbury,Lenox Street in the South End/Lower Roxbury, OldColony in South Boston, Washington Beech andRoslyn Apartments in Roslindale, Torre Unidad in theSouth End, and the Charlestown development inCharlestown.

Prior to this designation, the BHA participatedin two earlier energy performance contracts thatsaved the Authority more than $16 million. Thosecontracts allowed the BHA to fully replace the origi-nal 1938 heating system at the Mary EllenMcCormack development in South Boston as wellas upgrade heating and water systems at BHA state-funded developments throughout the city.

By the Numbers

5,000Apartments that will be upgraded

$5,000,000Expected yearly savings

$60,000,000 Projected savings over the 12 year period

15Developments slated to be audited for energyupgrades

The Boston Housing Authority has announced

August 2004 BHA Today 7

FSS Program (Continued from page 5)

Faneuil Gardens

Picture frames filled with memories of pastexcursions and events associated with the develop-ment adorn the center’s walls. Plaques and awardsthe site has received over the years are also proudlydisplayed along with past newsletters residents haveproduced.

“Remember the following letters F-O-H-G-Y-C-B,” urged Henriquez to the crowd of adults andyoung people. “Find out how good you can be.”

With the resources that the new communitycenter will provide, it will be a much easier for resi-dents to do just that.

(Continued from page 3)

And through the, at times, turbulent processspecial bonds are often forged between the FSSCoordinator and the client.

“She’s my buddy, she’s my partner,” saidTracy of Susan Forgione. “The whole FSS teambasically encouraged us and told us to stick with itand everything will work out.”

Josette explained: “they’re wonderful, veryknowledgeable.”

In addition to the praise from clients, the FSSteam’s accomplishments have not gone unnoticedby those in the world of housing either. They receivedthe National Association of Housing and Redevel-opment Officials (NAHRO) Award of Excellence fortheir participation in a Family Self-Sufficiency LoanProgram. The program helps families in their goalfor economic self-sufficiency by making emergencyloans available for credit rehabilitation, debt consoli-dation and emergency expenses.

As for potential cuts that may impact the pro-gram in the future Forgione said: “We’re far moregeared to fight battles for our clients, making surethey have what they need.” But she concedes thatcuts to the program would be “universally devastat-ing,” to FSS Programs across the country and saysit would be a “real setback.”

“Without this program I don’t think I could havedone it myself,” explained Tracy. “I really appreciatewhat FSS has done for me.”

While many housing organizations such asthe Council of Large Public Housing Authorities(CLPHA) praise the MTW Program, they are moreskeptical of PHRD. Critics worry because the pro-posal will allow the test PHAs to do away with theBrooke Amendment, which sets resident rents at 30percent of their income. However, it is currently un-clear how housing authorities will be chosen to par-ticipate in the program.

FY05 Budget(Continued from page 4)

will be conducted in Roxbury Community College’s

Mainstage Theatre at the Media Arts Building.

If an individual is unable to speak at the pub-lic information session but would still like to providecomments to the assessment team, he may do soby telephone by calling (617) 988-5315 on Monday,August 16, 2004 between the hours of 2:00 p.m.and 4:00 p.m.

BHA PoliceAccreditation

(Continued from page 8)

BHA Today Volume 5 • Issue 58

BHA Today is a Boston Housing Authority publication and a BHA 2001 initiative.Editor: Lydia Agro • Stories & Layout: Jim Bentubo • Printing: Bostonian Press

Comments and story ideas are welcome.Mail to: Communications Department

Boston Housing Authority52 Chauncy Street, Floor 11Boston MA 02111

Fax to: 617-988-4133E-Mail to: James.Bentubo@bostonhousing.org

BHA Today staff may also be reached by calling 617-988-4380 or 617-988-4109 (TDD 800-545-1833x420).Visit the BHA on the web at www.bostonhousing.org.

BHA Police Undergo Accreditation Process

A team of assessors from the Commissionon Accreditation for Law EnforcementAgencies, Inc., (CALEA), will arrive on Au-

gust 14, 2004 to examine all aspects of the BostonHousing Authority Police Department’s policies andprocedures, management practices, operations andsupport services.

Verification by the team that the Boston Hous-ing Authority Police Department meets theCommission’s state-of –the art standards is part ofa voluntary process to gain accreditation-a highlyprized recognition of law enforcement professionalexcellence.

HOPE VI Progressing at Maverick Gardens

Accreditation lasts for three years, duringwhich the agency must submit annual reports attest-ing to continued compliance with those standardsunder which it was initially accredited. The BHAPolice Department was first accredited six yearsago and has chosen to begin its third accreditationprocess.

As part of the on-site assessment, agencyemployees and members of the community are in-vited to offer comments at a public information ses-sion on August 16, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. The session

Maverick Gardens received a HOPE VI grantfrom HUD in 2001 to revitalize the devel-opment. The below photos show the pro-

gression of phase one of construction (left photo)and the state of the old site (right photo).

The completion of the project will result with396 mixed-income rental units on the Maverick Gar-dens site and on an offsite area known as CarltonWharf. The units will be developed in three phases.

Phase one and two are expected to be com-pleted by February of 2005, while phase three isslated for completion in 2006.

Maverick Gardens is a signifigant part of theredevelopment and revitalization of the East Bostonarea. Scenic views of Downtown Boston andCharlestown are visable from the property facing thewaterfront.

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