Inside this issue:

Public Housing Outreach Office Upcoming Changes

2

Family Self-Sufficiency Program – Opportunities to Move Forward

2

Shining Star Winners Announced 3

King Manor Resident Creates Beauty for Fellow Residents

3

HOPE VI Update 4

HOPE VI Community and Support Services Plan Outline

5

HRA Personnel Profile 6

New Homeownership Programs Create Opportunities for Renters

2002

Fall HRA NEWS Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Duluth, Minnesota

In August of 2002, the Regional HUD Office approved both the Public Housing and Section 8 homeownership plans that were included in the HRA’s 2002 Agency Plan. Qualified families will be able to use their Section 8 subsidy for their mortgage payment instead of rent.

The Homeownership programs (HOP) approved by HUD include Section 8 and Pubic Housing options. The Section 8 HOP allows for families that qualify to use the traditional Section 8 rental subsidy for payment towards a mortgage. Qualifying for this program includes:

-the successful completion of homeowner-ship education classes,

-qualifying with a mortgage company,

-at least one year of full time employment (unless you are disabled) as well as other requirements.

It is very likely and exciting that the first Section 8 family in Duluth will be fi-nalizing their home purchase within the next few weeks.

If the HRA is successful with it’s 2002 HOPE VI application, up to 198 new Section 8 vouchers will be available for use as either rental subsidy or homeownership.

Two other examples of how a fam-ily can take advantage of Section 8 for homeownership purposes are related to other non-profit housing corporations and the unique opportunities they provide. The Northern Communities Land Trust (NCLT) is a non-profit housing corporation that helps provide for homeownership training,

down payment assistance and rehab assis-tance for families buying a house needing repairs. NCLT opportunities coupled with Section 8 mortgage assistance pro-vide a tremendous opportunity for low income families to move from renting to owning their home.

Similarly, Habitat for Humanity helps low income families own homes through sweat equity and other types of family resource commitments. Habitat for Humanity with Section 8 is a great way of converting from renting to owning for those interested and qualified.

If you are interested in learning how to become eligible to qualify as a Section 8 homeowner, please call 529-6300 and ask for the Family Self-sufficiency Coordinator.

The above scattered site duplex is in the east end of Duluth and owned by the HRA

for Public Housing rental. Some Public Housing stock will be sold to HRA resi-dents or other income qualified families.

After more than six years as Public Housing Service Coordinator, Mary Young is leaving her position to work as an outreach counselor for the Human Development Center. Mary says she “has enjoyed her work as Service Coordinator (SC) during the past six years. I am grateful to have had the chance to work in the SC position in it’s infancy. “ Mary’s experience has been what she describes as “an adventure and learning experi-ence.” The Service Coordinator position pro-vides connections with social and mental health services for HRA public housing residents. Dur-ing the past year Mary, with assistance from college interns, has implemented the Commu-nity Alliance for Accepting Differences. This initiative has a mission to create respect and

harmony within the diverse groups of people who live in public housing developments. HUD has recently notified the HRA of a 3-year grant award to hire a Program Coordinator to complement and upgrade the services performed by the Service Coordinator. The hiring of a replace-ment Service Coordinator is currently in process and once complete will be communicated to residents. Mary wants both residents, staff and col-leagues to know that, “I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with such wonderful peo-ple. I want to thank all who contributed to my time here, and for sharing your knowledge and experi-ence. Best wishes to each of you...and with all your future endeavors.”

Public Housing Outreach Changes Coming

Once you have signed a Contract of Partici-pation, you can earn money that goes into an es-crow/savings account for you. This is how it works: as your earned income increases your rent normally goes up. However, as an FSS participant, part of the rent increase goes into your escrow/savings account. Some families have graduated from the program with up to $12,000 to spend as they choose. Some use it as a down payment for a house, others may buy a car.

It’s easy to get started...just apply. You can get an application by calling 529-6300. Ask for Ron, the FSS Program Coordinator.

Family Self-Sufficiency – A Way to Independence What is the Family Self Sufficiency Program (FSS)?

The FSS program is a voluntary program for families living in public housing or participating in the Section 8 Program who are motivated to become financially and socially self sufficient.

Participants of the FSS program work in part-nership with the FSS Coordinator to develop individ-ual goal plans such as furthering their education to earn a degree or get a GED. Ultimately the goal plan works toward gaining financial independence from all public assistance. After you finalize your goals you will enter into an agreement with the HRA by signing a 5-year “Contract of Participation”. The goal plan becomes a part of the contract but remains flexible to meet participants’ changing needs.

How will my family benefit from partici-pating in the FSS program?

Page 2 HRA NEWS

again. Her best advice is “to water correctly. Don’t let potted plants get over dry or over wet.”

Louise also serves as Secretary & Treasurer on the King Manor Resi-dent Council. The Resident Council is an important tool for residents to pro-mote healthy social life, advise the HRA in the management of the build-ing, solve problems as they arise and in general create new opportunities for residents.

Thanks Louise for being a leader and making our living environ-ment fun and ornate.

Creating New Life Everyday Louise Paskett gets lots of compli-ments about her beautification of the skywalk between King Manor and the Rainbow Senior Center, yet she re-mains quite humble about the magnifi-cent product she creates. She also in-sists that people know that the flowers and plants she nurtures are not pur-chased. Instead they are hand me downs that are either donated or res-cued.

Louise retired from St. Mary’s about 20 years ago and has continued being creative with the same passion for growing plants she learned from her grandmother. Because of the hand me down nature of the garden she ad-mits that sometimes she doesn’t even know the name of the plants & flowers she grows. However, one of her favor-ite challenges is to take plants that look like they are not long for this world and make them healthy and beautiful

Page 3 Fall

Pictured left is Louise Paskett who is a resident of the King Manor high-rise owned and managed by HRA Duluth.

She is also a member of the Rainbow Senior Center and Gardener “Extrordinaire”

First Shining Star Awards Announced

The HRA has awarded seven families for the first six months of 2002 for Shining Star Awards. Families are nominated by Housing Specialists or Maintenance staff for meeting or ex-ceeding HRA Housekeeping Stan-dards. A random drawing is made to choose the Grand Prize Winner at the end of six months. Tami Willett has been awarded the first Grand Prize which is a Certificate of appreciation and a $25 gift certificate to a local restaurant. Other winners include: Linda Olson

who is locally famous at Harbor View for her exterior seasonal decorating, Judy Kilby-Adams, Brenda Pfab, Carla Stegman and Paula McNabb.

Tami Willett and daughter Taylor at home getting ready

to carve a pumpkin.

rent residents prior to demoli-tion. The first phase of this de-velopment will include building the 6 acres adjacent/next to Har-bor View Homes. With this phase of development happening in the first 12 months of con-struction, some residents will be able to move only a block or two away and stay in the same neigh-borhood as either renters or homeowners. Those who choose or are required to relocate will be assisted with up to $3,000 per family for moving expenses. The HRA has promised all during this 4-year process that those people who live at Harbor View at the time the award is an-nounced, and express a desire to return to Harbor View after re-construction, will be able to do so. There are some important changes from the plan that was put forward the last two years. Because of the reduction in the total funds from HUD, the den-

The HRA is applying for a $20 mil-lion HOPE VI grant from the De-partment of Housing and Urban De-velopment in 2002 to rebuild and revitalize Harbor View Homes. The grant application is due in early De-cember and the successful awards will be announced in the spring of 2003. Should the HRA be success-ful in gaining the HOPE VI award, the project needs to start up quickly and be finished in 4 1/2 years from the beginning of implementation. A summary of the plan will include the complete demolition and re-building of Harbor View Homes with an additional 700+ units built throughout the rest of the Duluth neighborhoods. During the first 12-18 months of the grant period, almost no demolition work will take place on the current Harbor View site. In-stead, that first phase of develop-ment will be concentrated on devel-oping new and rehabbed units throughout Duluth to move the cur-

sity of the Harbor View site will be less than the current site but the change will be less than the previous plan. The indoor recrea-tion facility has been deleted from the plan because of the reduction in funds. However, by request of residents attending the planning meetings, the planners are trying to assure that land is left vacant for the facility in case funds can be found at a later date. Lastly, a small low-rise apartment complex for seniors and people with dis-abilities is being planned at the Harbor View site adjacent to Copeland Community Center. The residents and planners agreed that this would be a good site in that it would be close to a bus stop and other services for seniors or dis-abled people living in the facility. This placement of the facility would also avoid having the build-ing block the lake view from other residences in the new neighbor-hood.

Page 4 HRA NEWS

HOPE VI UPDATE

HUD Needs to Hear from You! The Resident Service and Satisfaction Survey is one of four ways that HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing, Real Estate Assessment Center (PIH-REAC) will evaluate your housing agency’s performance through the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS). The survey will measure your satisfaction and ex-perience with your living conditions. Your household MAY be randomly selected to receive the survey. If you are selected, please take the time to complete it. Resident participation is essential to the survey’s suc-cess. Your opinion is very important to HUD and the HRA! There will be resident meetings held at King Manor, November 14th, second floor community room, 222 East Second St., at 2:00 and 3:00 P.M. We will once again describe the purpose of the surveys and an-swer as many questions as we can. If you have questions and would prefer to contact PIH-REAC’s Techni-cal Assistance Center, you can call 1-888-245-4860.

The first phase of development of new housing adjacent to the Har-bor View Homes site has been awarded Low Income Housing Tax Credits by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA). An ad-ditional $1.4 million in funding to launch the first 44 units of housing at Harbor View was also approved by MHFA and the Greater Minne-sota Housing Fund to make the de-velopment financially feasible. The approval of tax credits and funding for the first phase of development means that construction will get underway in 2003. According to HRA Executive Director Richard Ball, the funding commitments for Phase I are expected to be “the catalyst that is needed to spark a

successful HOPE VI grant application in this year’s federal funding competi-tion. He stated that “while there are no guarantees, this will put Duluth in a highly competitive position for HOPE VI funding this year.” Mr. Ball went on to say “This provides Duluth with some very badly needed new housing development, and give HUD a clear indicator that there is mo-mentum to move the full neighborhood redevelopment vision forward to a timely and successful implementa-tion.” He credits the Duluth City Council, the Mayor and city staff with bold and decisive action in committing the City’s resources to support the Harbor View project along with two other housing developments. “This ef-

fort took some real leadership, and it was a successful strategy in gaining the support of MHFA to address the af-fordable housing shortage in Duluth.” The Harbor View Phase I housing will proceed in 2003 whether or not HOPE VI funds are awarded for the second phase. The new housing is expected to provide opportunities for current Har-bor View residents to relocate directly on the expanded Harbor View site. Harbor View residents have been fully consulted about both Phase I and the HOPE VI application over the past 4 years. Their input and concerns have been very helpful in creating the plans for both projects.

Page 5 Fall

Upper Right: A sample street of the new neighborh-hood. All houses face the street so that neighbors know who’s in their neighborhood. Lower Right: A sample accessible duplex with each unit having a porch, front and back yard + off street parking. Below: A “Grandhouse”. This is a four-plex with two units upstairs and two down. About 10% of all new units will be fully handicap accessible. A much larger percentage will be visitable. Visitable means that persons in wheel chairs will have access to the

Phase One at Harbor View Development Funded

also responsible for tracking the financial activity of the HUD grants that relate to HRA public hous-ing.

In her personal life, Brenda enjoys spend-ing time with friends and family, especially her nieces and nephews. Brenda is an avid walker and is often observed taking power walks during lunch with one of her HRA accounting team mates. She also enjoys collecting Disney charac-ters and is planning on going to Disney World this winter. This winter Brenda is going to take up cross country skiing to continue her love of spending time outdoors.

Thank you Brenda for your diligent HRA work and dedication.

Brenda Erickson has been a part of the HRA Finance Department for the past four years as the Ten-ant Accountant. Brenda grew up on the Range in the great town of Iron, Minnesota. She attended Mesabi Community College and went on to receive her ac-counting degree from UMD and her CPA certification. Prior to joining the HRA, Brenda worked with account-ing firms in Duluth and Hibbing.

Brenda says she enjoys her job at the HRA and accounting is definitely a good match for her interests and skills. Brenda’s main responsibility is to take care of all aspects of accounting of the 1,236 public hous-ing units. Some of these duties include generating monthly rent statements after verifying the financial activity, preparing final move out statements and com-pleting yearly certificate of rent paid forms which could result in tax refunds for qualified individuals. Brenda is

HRA Employee Profile – Getting to Know Us Better

Housing and Redevel-opment Authority of

Duluth 222 East Second Street

Duluth, MN 55805 218-529-6300

Email:

www.duluthhousing.com

Richard W. Ball

Executive Director

Brenda Erickson