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Housing Event - St. Louis, Missouri 5/3/91 [OA 8322] [4]
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Housing Event - St. Louis, Missouri 5/3/91 [OA 8322] [4]
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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Backup Files
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OA/ID Number:
13753
Folder ID Number:
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Folder Title:
Housing Event - St. Louis, Missouri 5/3/91 [OA 8322][4]
Stack:
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G
26
21
3
6
(Smith/Grossman)
April 29, 1991
Draft Three
COCHRAN
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HOUSING EVENT
COCHRAN GARDENS, ST. LOUIS
FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1991
Secretary Kemp, Bertha Gilkey, head of the National Tenant
Union. (acknowlegments) Residents of Cochran Gardens. Ladies and
gentlemen. /
First, let me say how pleased I am to be in St. Louis, along
with Secretary Kemp. ((I come here as a resident of public
housing. Like you, I've tried to get some troublemakers evicted
from my block, too. // Then Barbara reminded me about freedom of
the press. )) //
Second, I promise to be brief. ((After all, it was one of
St. Louis' favorite native sons, Yogi Berra, who said, "It's not
over till it's over." Then he heard one of my speeches and
changed it to, "It seems like it'll never be over.") ) //
Yogi would have loved what I've just seen -- your new
children's playground. I can't describe how wonderful it is to
see an area once called Little Nam replaced by an environment
where children are safe to play / to learn / to grow / to dream.
//
Missouri, of course, is known as the "Show Me" state. From
what I've glimpsed today it's not hard to understand why. //
You've shown America what happens when people are freed to take
control of their community. // They take it from a haven for
drug dealers to a safe harbor for children. / From the failures
2
of neglect to the victories of volunteerism. / From the despair
of dependency to the pride of self-reliance. / They take it from
development / to neighborhood. They give us hope. They make us
proud. //
Contrast this success story with the failure of projects
like the Pruitt-Igoe (PREW it - EYE go). Think of how it
blighted this very neighborhood -- crime-ridden, drug-infested,
torn down almost two decades ago. / To me -- to many of us here
-- that vacant lot symbolizes the empty promises of public-
housing policy. The past meant a dead-end. We need a future
that means a green light for America. //
Today, more and more Americans know that the solutions of
the 1960s can't meet the challenges of the nineties -- that
instead of helping people up, the idea that "Government Knows
Best" helped keep them down in perpetual poverty, dependence, and
despair. // Well, "enough is enough" -- and not good enough. If
the system's not helping build a better life, then we must help
build a better system. //
That system must make opportunity a reality, not cliche --
and for all Americans, not just for some. ((You know, Missouri
is our dog Millie's favorite State. No wonder. Your official
tree is the dogwood.) ) // Well, one of my favorite ideas is that
as we enter the next American century, we must break the logjam
that's choking the progress of the poor -- broadening access to
homeownership, jobs, and quality education. //
3
Last November we moved towards those goals with the signing
of the National Affordable Housing Act -- the most radical
departure in Federal housing policy in two decades. / Its core
is HOPE -- Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere.
It's a pioneering initiative that moves in a dramatically new
direction, enabling public housing residents to manage and
ultimately own their homes. //
Bertha Gilkey referred to this when she said, "We don't want
to be taken care of, we want to be trained how to take care of
ourselves. " / So she has taken that mission across America,
lighting the fires in our battle to revolutionize public housing.
//
Like us, she knows this crusade is but a start -- but cannot
be won by fits and starts. // So although I am proud that under
our Administration, the number of residents groups training to
become resident managers has leaped from 13 to 100, we must do
more. // Today, there are 1 million people living in public
housing. Only own their own homes. I call on Congress to
give us full funding for the HOPE Initiative that will realize
this goal: We want to help 40,000 residents in some 400 public
housing communities launched towards homeownership by the end of
1992. //
As you can see, our enemies are poverty and neglect. We
want to defeat them. We will. Yet only if our foot soldiers can
afford the ammunition. // That's why Congress must move swiftly
to pass our Enterprise Zone and Jobs-Creation Act. By attracting
4
new seed capital for small business start-ups, creating new
incentives for entrepreneurial risk-taking, and reducing high
effective tax rates on those who want work, not welfare --
Enterprise Zones can turn poverty into potential --- and potential
into prosperity. //
Finally, let's remember. It is not enough for local
economies to thrive. We must also restore to our communities a
sense of purpose and of pride. The Community Opportunity Act of
1991 will aid that process -- helping communities find ways to
make Federal programs more responsive to individual, family, and
community needs. It will shift power out of the heavy hand of
the state, and into the hands that run the home. // It will help
us decrease what government must do --- and increase what the
individual may do. / /
These are great goals -- worthy of this State, and of our
Nation. Goals which remind us of how it was once said, "Destiny
is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a
thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. " //
The people of Cochran Gardens have made their choice. Now,
they're making history. Thank you all very much for being here.
God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
4
APR 03 '91 14:08
US DEPT OF HUD - OFC OF THE SECRETARY 343 P03
Memorandum Form Scott Reed, Chief of Staff
From: David Caprara, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resident
Initiatives
Subj: St. Louis Event Concept
Date: April 2, 1991
This is to recommend the Cochran Gardens Tenant Management
Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri, for a White House site visit
opportunity with the Secretary. The event could combine a
highlight of one of the most powerful success stories behind the
President's HOPE initiative, with a call for Congressional action
in support of FY'92 HOPE funding as wall as enactment of
Enterprise Zone legislation.
Cochran Gardens, led by the dynamic Bertha Gilkey, has
been effectively tenant managed since the mid-1970's. The
residents have transformed a former hellhole (once nicknamed
"Little Nam") into an oasis of entrepreneurial enterprises
including child care, UMTA reverse commute transit firm,
catering company, youth renovation crews, and joint ventures
with the private sector which produced hundreds of new units
of affordable housing.
President Bush mentioned this success story during the
Presidential campaign, while emphasizing his commitment to
strategies that empower tenants with choice and opportunity as
opposed to perpetuation of failed bureaucratic approaches.
Not far from Cochran Gardens is the former Pruit-Igo
site, a monument to failed welfare/public housing policies
of the past that was imploded in the early 1970's. The
Pruit-Igo site still stands empty today: it is a large tract of
valuable urban land potential that could be utilized for an urban
enterprise zone. HUD has conditioned the final disposition of
the property with the development of a job creation plan.
Cochran has been featured twice on CBS "Sixty Minutes,'
and news publications throughout the country. Ms. Gilkey, as you
know, has trained other emerging tenant management groups from
St. Petersburg to Cabrini-Green in Chicago and East L.A. As
head of the National Tenant Union, she recently sponsored a
political action conference which supported the Administration's
HOPE funding proposals.
The two Republican Senators from Missouri, Kit Bond and
John Danforth, were among only five GOP senators who failed to
vote for the 1991 HOPE supplemental. A site visit to Cochran, in
addition to making a national statement for the Administration's
HOPE and Enterprise Zone policies, could also serve to shore
up Congressional votes on the '92 HOPE budget.
APR 03 '91 14:09
US DEPT OF HUD - OFC OF THE SECRETARY 343 P04
In sum, this event at Cochran Gardens, juxtaposed with the
failed policies of the past and future Enterprise Zone potential
at Pruit-Igo, would provide a dramatic and visual expression of
the President's commitment to a new urban renaissance.
REMARKS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY TO THE
ASPEN INSTITUTE
BY SECRETARY JACK KEMP
October 14, 1990
Thank you for that warm introduction. It's an honor to be
part of such an outstanding program, focusing on the domestic and
international challenges facing America today.
What an exciting time it is to be alive. President Bush has
called it the Revolution of 1989, but perhaps it's just the
Revolution of 1776 not yet brought to its ultimate completion.
But as in all revolutionary eras, Charles Dickens' statement
still applies: it can be the best of times and the worst of times
simultaneously. It is best of times to witness the triumph of
liberal democratic values -- small "1," small "d" -- capturing
the global zeitgeist. It is the worst of times when we see
poverty, despair, homelessness, and hopelessness cripple the
lives of too many people and far too many children living in
America's inner cities.
Clearly we can't help the poor if the country itself becomes
poorer. So for a few moments, I'd like to discuss the war
against poverty in the context of the great debate now taking
place on Capitol Hill over tax and budget policies.
One of the most hotly contested issues today involves the
current budget talks between the White House and Congress. I
believe that President Bush demonstrated great leadership in
advocating a cut in the capital gains tax to 15% during the
presidential election two years ago, and again in his State of
2
the Union Address.
Clearly there are deep differences and divisions between
Republicans and Democrats about the direction our national
economic policy should take, and bitter debate over the vexing
issue of the budget. I really believe President Bush deserves
credit for being willing to consider every issue as a subject for
negotiation and compromise in his relations with the Democratic
Leadership in Congress, including putting the issue of taxes on
the table. He has walked the last mile in his effort to come to
some bipartisan agreement, and in fact has taken a lot of heat
from people on both sides of the aisle.
It's no secret that our economy is facing a slowdown, and
unemployment is on the rise. As President Bush's Secretary of
HUD, I express the concerns of millions of low income Americans
struggling to make a living and keep homes together in the inner
cities of this country. We owe it to the poor to do everything
in our power to maintain, and indeed, restore the growth momentum
which has created over 21 million jobs during the past eight
years and launched over 4 million new small businesses.
The good shepherd reminds us all that those who are blessed
have an obligation to be a blessing to those left out or left
behind.
It is the poorest of our citizens who suffer the most from
the consequences of bad economic policies. They are the first to
lose their jobs and homes, and the first to suffer from a credit
crunch. Indeed, their problems are the most severe and
3
distressing.
In the interests of both promoting economic growth and
reaching a budget agreement that truly reduces the deficit, I
would offer the suggestion that Congress consider the plan
offered by the President: reducing the effective rate on capital
gains taxes to 15% plus indexing, and in return, as the Democrats
demand, raising the top marginal rate to 31% to put an end to the
complaints of so-called "unfairness."
The American economy is sliding into a recession that may be
long and deep if Congress does not soon agree to the growth
initiative President Bush has endorsed. In the interests of
furthering that effort, I would further urge Congress to consider
suspending attempts to secure a five-year budget agreement and
concentrate its energies toward securing a one-year budget
agreement that limits or even freezes spending and cuts taxes,
not raises them.
The ambitious effort to cut $500 billion in a five-year
agreement began when the economy was stronger and there was no
foreign policy challenge as we face in the Middle East today. In
my view, it's not logical to adopt sharp tax increase in the face
of such an uncertain future. The poorest and the weakest in our
society are sure to be hurt the most, as they would be in any
economic downturn.
This compromise would give the Democrats in Congress one
last chance to prove that they are sincere when they say they are
willing to help the President find a solution to this country's
4
need for growth and budgetary stability. If the Democratic
Leadership now rejects this fair and generous offer from the
President, they will have shown their intent is not to help, but
to obstruct.
B
Cutting the capital gains tax will unlock
illions of
dollars now tied up in existing assets, while indexing for
inflation would reduce the confiscatory effective tax rates that
can easily reach 75% on long-term assets, according to economist
David Goldman. Those dollars will provide access to the seed
capital which is the number one need of entrepreneurs seeking to
start or expand an enterprise and put people to work.
Even economist Allen Sinai -- never a strong proponent of
tax cuts -- has concluded that cutting the capital gains tax
would raise federal revenue by $30 - $40 billion between 1990 and
1995, increase GNP by almost 3% or over $150 billion, create 2.5
million new jobs, and boost business capital spending by 1.3%.
Contrary to the Democrats' hysterical claims, cutting the
capital gains tax is not a boondoggle for the rich, but an
incentive for small businessmen and women -- especially in our
inner cities and among minority entrepreneurs -- who want the
opportunity to become rich. Between 1977 and 1982, when the
Steiger Amendment cut the capital gains tax from 49% to 28%, the
number of black-owned businesses exploded by nearly 50% -- one of
the largest gains on record. We need to at least double the
number of minority-owned businesses in the next few years, and it
can't be done under the current capital gains tax laws.
5
Resorting to the politics of envy and class warfare -- now
masquerading as the so-called "fairness" issue -- is an old trick
which the Democrats mothballed during the 1980s, but have
recently dusted off for the ongoing budget debate.
The premise here is that the Reagan/Bush tax cuts gave the
wealthy a free ride in the 80s by shifting the burden onto middle
and lower income families, and that there is growing resentment
among these voters which can be exploited to the Democrats'
political advantage. They are wrong on both counts.
According to recent IRS statistics, between 1981 and 1987,
the tax burden on the top 1% of taxpayers shot up by nearly 40%;
the top 5% pay a 23% greater share; and the top 10% of income
earners saw their share jump by over 15%. Meanwhile, the lower
half of income earners saw their total tax burden fall by about
19%, measured as a share all taxes paid. (source: syndicated
columnist Warren Brookes, Washington Times, 10/12/90)
And after visiting hundreds of distressed communities in
cities across the Nation, I believe I am as qualified as any poll
to discuss the mood of low income Americans. Let me tell you
something, the new pseudo-populism being peddled by the Democrats
won't sell in the inner city. Poor people don't want to revisit
the failed zero-sum income redistribution policies, in fact, it
is demeaning for Democrats to suggest that poor people believe
that the only way they can get ahead is by tearing down the rich.
Low income families across America want the same thing we
all want -- the get a good job, to own a home, to start a
6
business. They want the opportunity to pursue their hopes and
dreams unencumbered by government tax and regulatory barriers;
and the opportunity to escape the poverty trap perpetuated by the
liberal-left policies of the last twenty-five years that reward
welfare more than work and consumption more than saving.
But what I've found during my visits to inner city ghettoes
and barrios is that our country is divided into two economies.
Our mainstream economy is democratic capitalist, based on private
property, and rewards entrepreneurship, saving, and investment.
But this inner city second economy is directly the opposite:
it is government-directed, based on government ownership of
property, and punishes entrepreneurship, risk-taking, saving, and
investment. It is similar in many ways to Third World socialist
economies, the kind which are being replaced by the
entrepreneurial capitalist spirit so alive in Eastern Europe
today, and even in Moscow.
President Bush has asked me to help eliminate this socialist
second economy so that every American -- especially the poor --
can participate in the free enterprise system. We want everyone
to have the chance to make the most of their God-given talents
and abilities.
Here are a few of the ideas that President
Bush and I have proposed to launch a new free enterprise war on
poverty.
First, we need the authority to designate distressed inner
cities and rural communities as Enterprise Zones, with dramatic
incentives to invite capital to invest in new entrepreneurial
7
ventures that will create real private sector jobs. The most
powerful incentive would be eliminating the capital gains tax in
Enterprise Zones, both to attract more seed capital and to
strengthen the link between effort and reward for entrepreneurs
and risk-takers.
Second, we need to expand resident management in public
housing, homeownership opportunities, and private property.
Empowering low income residents with greater control over their
neighborhoods and the opportunity to someday own their own home
provides powerful incentives for families living in America's
public housing communities.
The noted Washington Post columnist William Raspberry
recently wrote (quote)
"
when assets are present, people
begin to think in terms of the asset. If a young mother owns her
own home, she begins to pay attention to real estate values,
property taxes, the cost of maintenance and so forth
it is
the assets themselves that create this effect, as opposed to just
educational programs or exhortations toward better values."
Whether you call it resident ownership, urban homesteading,
or putting assets into peoples' hands, the results are truly
dramatic in altering rewards, changing behavior, and lowering
poverty levels.
Third, we should increase and expand the availability of
housing vouchers. Low income people should have greater choice
and more freedom about where to live, and better access to
affordable housing. They should be treated as independent
8
consumers instead of perpetually dependent welfare recipients.
Fourth, tax reform is needed now to help remove more low
income families from the tax rolls and dramatically increase the
after-tax income of welfare mothers and jobless fathers who want
to work. In 1948, a median-income family of four paid almost no
income taxes, and only $30 a year in direct Social Security
taxes. This year, the same family's tax burden would be over
$6,000. To be as sensitive to families today as in 1948, the tax
code would have to allow a personal exemption of at least $6,000
for children under 16.
Fifth, it is essential to expand the earned income tax
credit and pass President Bush's Child Care tax credit to roll
back the huge tax burden on low income families and unemployed
parents.
Sixth, for homeless people, the Administration's new Shelter
Plus Care plan will expand community-based mental health
facilities, drug abuse treatment, job training, and day care.
Shelter and support services are the key to helping homeless
Americans re-enter the mainstream economy.
Seventh, to enhance education and opportunity, we should
expand true choice and competition through magnet schools,
education vouchers, tuition tax credits, and policies for choice
in education like those being championed by State Representative
Polly Williams in Wisconsin and Council Member Keith Butler in
Detroit.
Eighth, Congress should pass President Bush's HOPE
7
9
legislation (Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere)
which includes programs to allow families to use IRA's to help
purchase their first home; an expanded low income housing tax
credit; and a new initiative called Operation Bootstrap which
links housing vouchers to strategies such as job training to help
people become self-sufficient.
A budget agreement that includes a meaningful cut in the
capital gains tax is the only way to keep the economy growing.
President Bush's plan to cut the capital gains tax to 15% and
index gains for inflation will stimulate economic growth by
encouraging entrepreneurship and job creation.
It's time for the Democrats in Congress to put aside
narrow and partisan political envy and help our economy grow for
all Americans. The longer they hold the health of our economy
hostage for political purposes, the larger the deficit will grow,
and, the harder it will be get our Nation moving again. I think
it's time for 15/31 or fight.
##
JAG
Mary Brunette @ HUD
# of public housing units: 1,305,000
of those, 1,202,265 are occupied
The rest are vacant.
over 100,000
vacant
Call if you have questions.
708-3161
-cc
Expand Homeownership
and Affordable Housing Opportunities
Empower the Poor through
Resident Management and Homesteading
Enforce Fair Housing for All
Help Make Public Housing Drug Free
*
Help End the Tragedy of Homelessness
Create Jobs and Economic
Development through Enterprise Zones
*
Expand Homeownership
and Affordable Housing Opportunities
Empower the Poor through
Resident Management and Homesteading
*
Enforce Fair Housing for All
Help Make Public Housing Drug Free
U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development
*
Help End the Tragedy of Homelessness
*
Create Jobs and Economic
Development through Enterprise Zones
*
Expand Homeownership
and Affordable Housing Opportunities
*
Empower the Poor through
Resident Management and Homesteading
*
Enforce Fair Housing for All
*
Help Make Public Housing Drug Free
*
Help End the Tragedy of Homelessness
*
Create Jobs and Economic
Development through Enterprise Zones
*
Expand Homeownership
and Affordable Housing Opportunities
lack Kemn
000
Women Who Make a Difference
By Olga Wickerhauser
A Miracle Worker Saves
Public Housing
Bertha surrounded by ten-
ants at Miller Homes. "The
majority who live here are
good, hardworking people.
to turn Miller Homes
around, and failed," re-
calls Martin Hillman, the
executive director of
leaning day
Trenton's housing au-
falls on a cool, drizzly
thority. "As soon as a
Saturday morning, and a
door or window was re-
handful of tenants at
placed, it would be
Miller Homes-a Tren-
smashed again."
ton, New Jersey, public-
Hillman realized mon-
housing complex-turns
ey alone wasn't the an-
out to help sweep the
swer. The only way the
parking lots, scrub the
development could sur-
hallway floors and re-
vive was to change the
paint the entrance.
environment and the
"They used to call us
outlook of the tenants—
'Killer Homes,' " recalls
256 poor families.
Alberta Williams, who is
This time, in addition
currently president of
to approximately $2 mil-
the Miller Homes Ten-
lion in Federal moneys
ants Association.
"I make people believe in
to renovate the two
"Crackheads were ev-
high-rise buildings and
erywhere. They were
selling drugs in the hall-
themselves."
an $80,000 state grant
to begin round-the-clock
ways, on the stairs, and
police protection, Hill-
urinating all over the place. My God, it was just awful" n
man brought in Bertha Gilkey, a woman who has never
Muggings were epidemic. Gunshots rang out night and
been afraid to get her hands dirty.
day, and tenants were afraid to leave their apartments. In
fact, the housing complex was so drug- and crime-infested
CLEANING UP
that the mayor of Trenton had suggested that the only
Grabbing a broom and a plastic garbage bag, Bertha be-
way to clean up Miller Homes was to tear it down.
gins sweeping the litter of bottle caps, candy wrappers
Then a kind of miracle happened. In the eyes of Alberta
and cigarette butts into neat little piles. Then she picks up
Williams and other tenants here, that miracle is a petite,
the trash with her bare hands-without regard for her
40-year-old one-woman dynamo. "Since Bertha Gilkey
perfect, long red fingernails-and begins filling one gar-
came, has it changed!" says Williams.
bage bag after another until the parking lot is spotless.
Bernstein/Outline
For more than a decade Bertha, herself a child of the
A group of children runs up to report that the paint-
slums, has been teaching tenants of dangerous, drug-
brushes Bertha provided have disappeared. (Continued)
infested public housing how to transform their environ-
ments into safe, decent places to live.
FC's "Women Who Make a Difference" is featured on
3
"We had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying
HOME, weekday mornings on ABC-TV.
Women Who Make
Homes are good, hardworking peo-
Bertha listens to tenants' com-
ple," she continues. "The problem is
plaints about broken elevators and
A Difference
that public housing is used as a dump-
washing machines, and helps to set-
ing ground for dope pushers, the
the disputes between neighbors.
continued from page 15
have-nots and want-nots. You have
"We're not going to live with peo-
to deal with the bad ones already
ple who urinate in the elevators and
She pulls crumpled bills from her
here and stop more bad ones from
mug and kill and rape," she shouts at
pocket and hands them to the oldest
moving in."
one point. "This is the rebirth of
to buy more.
Miller Homes!"
"You can't change people over-
IMPROVING lives
The tenants are mesmerized.
night," Bertha says later. "It takes
At least three evenings a month,
Many shout "Amen" and "Right on."
time for people to start thinking of
Bertha meets with Miller Homes
She asks them to stand and, fists
public housing as their home, to start
tenants. These sessions are a combi-
thrust in the air, shout: "We're tired
thinking they can change how it is.
nation religious revival, condomini-
of it. We're not taking it anymore."
"The majority who live at Miller
um meeting and civics class.
Bertha has taught residents how
to read a lease sentence by sen-
tence, and helped organize an effec-
tive tenants association. Floor
captains patrol the halls to make sure
there are no graffiti, that the garbage
is taken out, that children don't run
23456789
around late at night.
A joint tenant/housing authority
committee has been formed to
screen new tenants. From now on,
anyone who wants to move into
Miller Homes will have to pass a
background check and an orientation.
"We're going to teach them
they've got to be accountable and re-
sponsible," says Bertha, "and if they
are not, they're going to be evicted."
In addition, she finds grant money
to set up services designed to make
inally pantyhosethat wont
residents' lives more manageable
and hopeful.
lfdestructineyerydaycombat.
An on-site day-care center has
been opened so mothers can find
jobs and get off welfare. Retired car-
penters have been recruited to teach
skills to unemployed high-school
dropouts who then will be hired to
renovate the buildings. There is an
after-school tutoring program, a Cub
Scout troop, even a girls' drill team.
"I make people believe in them-
selves," Bertha explains. "What's
wrong with the government is that
they work on the buildings. I work on
the people first. Once you give peo-
ple back their pride and dignity, then
the buildings are easy."
TAKING CHARGE
nonsense
Bertha was born Bertha Knox, the
second of 15 children, and grew up in
pontynose
a St. Louis tenement. Her early
years were defined by sexual abuse
and neglect, but despite a hellish
home life, Bertha managed to gradu-
Pantyhosethatlastrare No nonsense
ate from high school. (Continued)
16
Women Who Make
When she wasn't working or
STAYING put
studying, she was leading other ten-
While Bertha started as a volunteer,
A Difference
ants in their struggle to improve life
for the past three years she has
at Cochran Gardens. They scrubbed
drawn a modest salary. Most of the
continued from page 15
the walls and floors, and badgered
money she earns-including the
the housing authority to replace
$77,000 fee from Miller Homes—
"I was determined not to let what
missing lights. With Federal and pri-
goes to Urban Women, Inc., the
- happened to me as a child ruin my
vate grants she secured, Bertha set
nonprofit organization she started six
whole life."
up a day-care center and businesses
years ago to pay the salaries of three
At 17, she married Emmett Gil-
to create jobs for tenants.
assistants and dozens of "interns"-
key, a middle-class college student
Eventually, in 1976 the Cochran
tenants she trains to carry on her
whom she had met at church. They
Tenant Management Corp., with
programs after she leaves.
had two children in three years, but
Bertha as president, took over the
When not traveling, which is only
the marriage ended when the youn-
buildings' management. Today, it re-
about five days a month, she returns
ger child was 9 months old.
mains a model of what public housing
to the apartment in Cochran Gardens
Bertha worked, raised her chil-
can be-crime-free, clean and quiet.
that she shares with her son and
dren and went to college. From 4
She has the same goals for Miller
daughter, both college students.
A.M. until noon she pressed clothes
Homes—tenant management. "I be-
Now that she has made something
at a dry cleaner's, and at night she
lieve that the only way public housing
of her life, she says many people
took classes for an associate degree
will work for low-income people is if
urge her to leave the "projects."
in early-childhood education.
they take charge of it themselves."
"That's why my marriage broke
Back then, as today, she lived in
Bertha's success at Cochran Gar-
up," she says. "My husband wanted
Cochran Gardens, a public housing
dens earned her national attention.
to save me, to buy a house in the
development in St. Louis. In the late
After she appeared on 60 Minutes in
suburbs with a two-car garage. But I
60's, the complex was known as Lit-
1986, officials from many cities asked
wanted the same for my neighbor in
the Nam, because of the routine drug
her to help save their worst public
public housing. If she couldn't have
killings, muggings and burglaries. "I
housing. So she has worked in Phila-
it, then I didn't want it either."
just got fed up," she says. "I decided
delphia, Camden, Chicago, Louisville
this was my home, and I didn't have
and Cleveland, as well as in Trenton,
Olga Wickerhauser is a freelance
to live this way."
and she lectures worldwide.
writer who lives in New Jersey.
THE WAY IT WAS
-bullet holes in the walls, pools of urine in the halls and
elevators. Gilkey: "People threw garbage out of the windows, and
the hallways were lined with garbage bags stuffed with month old
food and mice jumping out of the trash. " Tenants were made
prisoners of their fear of muggings and violence. Drug dealers
set up road blocks to rob whoever they could stop. The city
government wanted to tear the complex down. Many tenants moved
away, people lost hope.
TENANTS TOOK CHARGE
-tenants scrubbed walls and floors, nagged housing authorities
to make repairs. With Federal grants secured, Gilkey set up a
day-care center and businesses to create jobs for tenants.
Eventually, in 1976 the Cochran Tenant Management Corp., with
Gilkey as president, took over the buildings' management.
TODAY
"Where there once was only dirt, there are now azaleas and
'keep of the grass' signs. Tenants sweep the hallways every day
and dare not mark the freshly painted walls." Cochran Gardens is
clean and crime-free. Most importantly, a sense of self-
sufficiency and self-confidence has been restored.
From Squalor to Showcase:
How a Group of Tenants Won Out
By ISABEL WILKERSON
The corporation employs 250 people,
They began with a modest wish list.
most of them Cochran residents, and
They wanted clean, well-kept buildings
Special to The New York Times
ST. LOUIS A decade ago the Co-
hopes within the next year to open a
that had front and back doors, which
factory across the street that will hire
had been torn down by drug dealers
chran Gardens public housing develop-
hundreds more.
who wanted quick access to hiding
ment here was a squalid den for nar-
cotics dealers. There were bullet holes
A Long List of Rules
places. They scheduled a cleanup day,
brought soap and water, and scrubbed
in the walls and pools of urine in the
The tenants' leaders run Cochran
the floors and walls themselves. They
hallways. The tenants, most of them
Gardens like the military, with almost
bought new paint, and every family
welfare recipients, were virtual pris-
as many rules and with their own hier-
painted its own hallways. They sold
oners of the 12-building complex, and
archy. Below the board of directors are
pig's feet and chicken wings to get the
the city wanted to tear it down.
floor and building captains who, in
money to replace the doors.
Now Cochran Gardens is a showcase
monitoring residents' behavior, are not
Early successes helped the tenants
of urban ingenuity. Where once there
above searching through garbage to
convince the local and national govern-
was only dirt, there are now azaleas
find out who violated one of the com-
ments that they could run the complex,
and "keep off the grass" signs. Tenants
plex's strictures.
At Cochran Gardens, h is forbidden
and in 1976 they signed a management
sweep the hallways every day and dare
contract with the St. Louis Housing Au-
not mark the freshly painted walls.
to hang wash outdoors, throw garbage
thority that provided them a fee of
The development, with 1,900 resi-
out the windows, speak discourteously
$69,000 a year. Today that fee is
dents, has been transformed since the
to managers, put old furniture on the
$858,000, more than 95 percent of the
tenants began managing the buildings
balconies, let the corridors go unswept
$895,000 in publicly subsidized annual
in a movement that is spreading across
or have pets, even goldfish.
rents paid by the residents.
the country. Fifteen years ago there
Prospective tenants must sign a two-
were just two such tenant management
page list of these and other regulations
Morgan Doughton, a senior domestic
groups; now there are 15, and dozens
before they move in, and are given
policy analyst at the White House, says
more are being formed in Cleveland,
periodic updates in the form of frankly
the group has surprised even its sup-
Chicago, Philadelphia, New Haven and
written fliers. A recent edict warned,
porters.
other cities.
"Anyone caught spitting or urinating
"It turned into an all-purpose organi-
In most such cases, the tenants,
zation that had earned the right to
though they hire building janitors, also
on the elevator, incinerator or any-
manage its own housing," Mr. Dough-
perform cleaning and minor mainte-
where in the building will be evicted."
ton said. "It's more than collecting rent
nance work themselves, and they apply
That the development could vastly
and making sure broken windows get
peer pressure to insure that the devel-
upgrade itself was first envisioned by
repaired. It makes residents feel they
opment stays well kept. They collect
Bertha Gilkey, the 39-year-old head of
are part of the community."
rent for the local housing authority,
which pays them a fee for their man-
the board, who founded the tenant man-
To work, the system relies in part on
agement services.
agement group. She remembers mov-
people like Nellie Moore, a building
In so doing, they not only gain a new
ing there as a child, with her parents
captain who tracks her charges like a
sense of independence but also deal ef-
and 14 brothers and sisters, from a St.
private investigator. "If somebody
fectively with their own housing prob-
Louis tenement that had dirt floors. Co-
leaves a bag of trash in the rubbish
lems, whose solutions often escaped
chran Gardens then was landscaped
room, I go through the trash to find out
seemingly distant bureaucracies.
and clean, and she thought it was uto-
who they are," Mrs. Moore said. "If
Next Step Is Ownership
pia.
you look long enough, you usually find a
By the late 1960's, though, the devel-
bill in there with their name on It."
-Now some tenant management
opment had begun to change. Drug
Mrs. Moore does her "building
groups are seeking total control: they
dealers became the uncfficial man-
check" every day, making sure that
want to buy their complexes from their
agers, setting up shop in vacant apart-
the floors, walls and baseboards are
local governments under legislation,
ments, stealing tenants' checks from
cleaned and that there are no cobwebs
signed into law by President Reagan
the mailboxes and barricading the
in the stairwells.
last February, that allows tenants to
street. Drivers forced to stop at the
buy public housing at a small fraction
barricades were robbed.
"We run Cochran like a real estate
of the market price.
Many tenants moved away, and the
manager would, not like a social pro-
At least two such groups - the one at
Cochran Gardens here and another in
buildings fell into disrepair. The com-
gram," Mrs. Gilkey said. "The build-
plex, once racially mixed, had become
ings aren't writing graffiti on them-
Washington are now drafting pur-
predominantly black and predomi-
selves. They're not tearing themselves
chase proposals to be submitted to the
nantly poor, most of its households
down. There are consequences for that
Department of Housing and Urban
headed by women. Despair set in, Mrs.
kind of behavior, and the consequence
Development. They hope to reach
Gilkey recalls, and many residents
here is that we're going to put you out."
tentative agreements with the depart-
ment by the end of this summer.
gave up hope and caring.
Mrs. Gilkey herself has now risen to
Already, though, the tenants at Co-
The Abnormal Became Normal'
international prominence as a leader in
chran Gardens, organized into the Co-
"People threw garbage out of the
the tenants' rights movement. She has
citran Tenant Management Corpora-
windows, and the hallways were lined
traveled to Europe, Africa and the Mid-
tion, have been astonishingly™ success-
with garbage bags stuffed with month-
die East, training low-income residents
ful. Using foundation grants as well as
old food and mice jumping out of the
and preaching the gospel of tenant
the hundreds of thousands of dollars in
trash," Mrs. Gilkey said. "The abnor-
management.
management fees they receive, they
mal became normal."
have built a community-wide empire:
By the mid-1970's, Mrs. Gilkey and
At the same time, her group's busi-
ness ventures have expanded rapidly.
a $400,000-a-year catering business,
several other outspoken tenants were
five day-care centers, a cable-televison
fed up. "We decided things didn't have
When the complex received $22 million
for renovations from the Department
installation service for low-income
to be this way," she said. "We wanted
néighborhoods and a limited partner-
to build accountability and standards
of Housing and Urban Development,
the tenants decided to reduce the num-
ship in several private housing com-
and self-esteem."
ber of residents in each of the build-
piexes nearby.
One day Bertha
Gilkey decided
she wouldn't take
it anymore.
ings. They enlarged the old apart-
ments, built a complex of town houses
for the displaced residents and then
sold the town houses back to the hous-
tng authority, at a profit of about
$10,000.
And when Mrs. Gilkey heard that
some cable television companies were
afraid to send crews to low-income
neighborhoods, the Cochran Gardens
group trained its residents in installa-
tion. Now the group receives from the
cable company 10 percent of the reve-
nues from each household the group
serves. "What becomes a problem for
other folks becomes a market for us,"
Mrs. Gilkey said.
The successes of the Cochran and
similar tenant management groups
have put pressure on local housing au-
thorities to either improve their man-
agement or allow more tenants to run
their own complexes. "This is one of
the best ways to make the public sector
more efficient," said Mr. Doughton
said, the White House aide.
Thomas Costello, who as St. Louis
housing director handed management
of Cochran Gardens to the tenants in
1976, agreed. Tenant management "is
not necessarily a panacea" for all the
problems confronting public housing,
he said. "But if properly nurtured, it's
the best of both worlds."
The New York Times/Dan Miller
Bertha Gilkey, head of the tenant management group at Cochran Gar-
dens, with Lenora Williams, president of the Harrison Tenant Council
Association, outside the Harrison Plaza development in Philadelphia.
Bond of Missouri. Both Bond and Kemp are advocates for low-income housing tenants to own
their own housing complexes with financial assistance from the federal government.
Photos by Bob Williams.
Republicans Determined To Make Home Ownership
A Reality For Low-Income Tenants
After the tour of public hous-
determine if the proposal to
housing complexes on the poor.
ing units by Jack F. Kemp,
make the aging public housing
Clay says the federal govern-
complex (Carr Square) one of
ment is trying to get out of the
U.S. Secretary of Housing and
the first in the nation to be sold
low income housing business.
Urban Development, along
to its tenants. His assessment -
with powerful Republican U.S.
This is the second trip for
of the proposal to sell Carr
Senator 'Kit' Bond, both gen-
Senator Bond to Carr Square
tlemen agreed that now is the
Square was good, and he said
to talk with the tenants. Sen-
that his critics "are flawed in
time for the federal govern-
ator Bond has introduced leg-
ment to make owning a piece
their thinking, they' re wrong."
islation that will enable low
of the American Dreamra real-
He was referring to Con-
income tenants to purchase
gressman William L. Clay,
ity.
who has been very critical of
public housing complexes with
Kemp's trip to St. Louis was
the assistance of the federal
the Bush administrations at-
basically a fact finding one to
tempt to unload expensive
government.
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 1988
Housing Authority May Sell
658 Units To Tenant Group
By Cynthia Todd
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
The St. Louis Housing Authority is
considering a proposal to sell 658 units
of public housing at Carr Square Vil-
lage in north St. Louis to the devel-
opment's tenant-management associ-
ation. housing officials said Tuesday.
Charles Poole. a spokesman for the
authority. said the agency was negoti-
ating to turn over the ownership of the
project to the tenant group.
The group is applying through the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Dev elopment to buy the complex. at
1521 Carr Street. An amendment to the
Community Development Act. passed
in December. allows such sales.
If the application is approved. Carr
Square would be one of the first public
housing developments in the country
to be sold to tenants.
The Department of Housing and
Urban Development also is consider-
ing the sale of another public-housing
development. Kenilworth-Parkside in
Washington. to its tenant-management
association.
"This has always been our objective
- to buy the development." said Lor-
etta Hall. the manager of Carr Square
and a member of the tenant-manage-
ment group. which is 15 years old.
Hall said the group hoped to form a
cooperative to let tenants buy stock in
the complex and to eliminate all sub-
sidized housing in the development for
any tenant who is not elderly.
The group proposes to buy the devel-
opment from the Housing Authority for
$1. Once the sale is completed. the group
Wayne Crosslin/Post-Dispatch
plans to enter into a joint venture with
Loretta Hall, manager of Carr Square Village,
the development firm of McCormack.
Baron & Associates of St. Louis to ren-
ovate the development. Hall said.
or private industry.
problem of low-income housing.
She estimated that the first phase of
The proposal would preserve the
In St. Louis. officials estimate that
the project would cost about $235,000.
development for low-income families.
3.700. people are on the Housing
The modernization project could be paid
It also provides that any resale of prop-
Authority's waiting list for public hous-
for with bonds. through investments
erty in the development must be made
ing and another 6.300 people are wait-
from individuals or through a grant from
to people who have low incomes.
ing for Section 8 subsidized housing.
a foundation. Hall said.
Michael W. Jones. executive direc-
We see this as a tremendous cycle
She said that the group had contacted
tor of the housing authority here. was
to generate new housing." Caprara said.
the Ford Foundation and that "pros-
unavailable for comment. Sources said
He is the director of economic devel-
peets look good. But the first thing we
several city officials supported the pro-
opment for center.
have to get is the ownership."
posal.
First
the city will have replace-
The proposal also provides that the
David Caprara, of the National Cen-
ment housing to improve the quality of
658 units of public housing lost through
ter for Neighborhood Enterprise in
life." Caprara said. "Second. Carr
the sale would be replaced by:
Washington. said the application was
Square is contiguous to the Pruitt-lgoe
Making vacant public housing in
being reviewed. The center helped the
site. and this will enhance the value and
the city livable.
tenant group develop the proposar.
accessibility of the site."
Buying or building new units of
Caprara said officials at the depart-
The city has proposed a $25 million
public housing.
ment already had given the plan prelim-
redevelopment of the old Pruitt-Igoe
Developing more public housing
inary approval. He hailed the proposal
site. where 33 buildings of public hous-
through a partnership with government
as a visionary method to tackle the
ing for 12,000 people once stood.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1989
Shuttles Help Workers Commute To Suburbs
By Jerri Strond
Joel Manker, assistant manager of
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
the Red Roof Inn, said that without the
With most jobs, it's the worker's
"The real goal is to get our West County stores
van, he would have to pick workers up
responsibility to get to work.
at a bus stop more than a mile from
But when the jobs and workers are
fully staffed. It's a problem for everyone in that
the hotel. Buses "don't come any-
miles apart, the jobs can go begging if
area, particularly for the part-time positions. "
where near us, Manker said. Almost
workers can't get there.
every business in me area that hires
Schnuck Markets Inc. last week be-
hourly employees has hung out a ban-
SUE GIBSON, Schnucks spokeswoman.
gan a shuttle service in a bid to fill
ner to attract job applicants, he said.
jobs at its West County stores. Another
The hotel has hired only house-
shuttle service sponsored by the Coch-
keeping workers through Willis so far,
ran Gardens Tenant Management
cruiting entry-level workers, particu-
The Washington-based neighbor-
Manker said. The project is helping
Corp. has been taking workers from
larly in affluent areas of St. Louis
hood center oversees the "reverse
the hotei develop a core group of loyal
the central city to jobs in Maryland
County.
commute" projects as one way for
workers who use the van, he said. The
Heights since February.
low-income communities to help
combination of transportation and
The county's unemployment rate
Both the Schnucks and Cochran
was a low 3.7 percent in September;
themselves, Stakley said. All the pro-
day care offered in the Cochran Gar-
Gardens shuttles are aimed at bridg-
jects are aimed at getting unemployed
dens project makes it easier for peo-
whereas the city's rate was 8.1 per-
ing the gap between surplus jobs in
cent, according to the Missouri Divi-
inner city residents to suburban jobs.
ple to take the jobs, he said.
suburban areas and unemployed
sion of Employment Security. The ar-
Willis said the $150,000 grant to
Willis has recruited 60 people for
workers in the city and inner suburbs.
Cochran Gardens pays only for ad-
jobs in the nine months since Febru-
ea's average unemployment rate was
"The real goal is to get our West
ministrative staff - herself, a job
ary. Only 10 people are riding the
5.2 percent in September.
County stores fully staffed." said Sue
But the employment statistics are
counselor and a transportation coordi-
shuttle regularly now, partly because
Gibson, a Schnucks spokeswoman.
nator. The $3.10 round-trip fare for
there is a high turnover in the entry-
only part of the story. Entry-level
"It's a problem for everyone in that
the shuttle pays for the driver and gas.
level positions she tries to fill. Some
workers often must depend on public
area, particularly for the part-time
transportation to reach their jobs. Un-
Cochran Gardens Tenant Manage-
workers have found better jobs, she
less a suburban employer is near a bus
ment, which owns the van, is paying
said. Others have been unable to keep
positions."
Patricia Ferguson Willis. executive
route. just getting to work can be SO
for insurance, she said.
their jobs for a variety of reasons.
director of Cochran Gardens Trans-
difficult that the workers are reluc-
"The goal is to get local funding,"
Only a handful of workers were rid-
portation, says her main goal is to help
Willis said. Employers pay nothing for
ing the Schnucks shuttle last week. But
tant to take the jobs.
welfare mothers become self-suffi-
the service so far. Willis says it's im-
Gibson said she expects between 50
The Cochran Gardens project is one
cient. The Cochran Gardens group
of eight nationwide that received
portant in the beginning to show em-
and 60 riders by the end of the week.
provides day care as well as transpor-
ployers that the program can provide
Many of the new workers were in
start-up grants from the U.S. Urban
tation for the mothers it recruits for
Mass Transit Administration. So far,
the workers needed for entry-level
training last week, she said.
jobs.
only three of the projects have gotten
jobs.
The Schnucks shuttle provides
Unemployment rates for specific
beyond the planning stage, said Syd-
So far, Willis has worked mainly
twice-daily runs to stores in Kirk-
neighborhoods are hard to come by,
ney Stakley, a senior research asso-
with two hotels in the Westport area of
wood, Des Peres, Town and Country,
but suburban employers frequently
ciate for the National Center for
Maryland Heights. The Red Roof Inn
Ballwin and Chesterfield. The shuttle
complain about the difficulty of re-
at 11837 Lackland Avenue has hired
Neighborhood Enterprise.
leaves either from the company's
most of the, workers Willis has
store at 5055 Arsenal Street in south
recruited.
St. Louis or the company's training
center at Northland Shopping Center.
The shuttle costs $1 for a round trip.
Gibson said shuttle schedules may
change as Schnucks attempts to match
shifts at its stores with workers' needs.
Ann Arbor News 3/25/90
NEWS PHOTO ROBERT CHASE
3ertha Gilkey, an advocate for public housing tenants,
discusses the national public housing situation during a
seminar Saturday in the Michigan Union.
Federal housing aid
is improving under
By JUDSON BRANAM
applying for federal improvement
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
grants.
However, since that rule has
Kemp, activist says
While federal assistance for pub-
been lightly enforced for years.
lic housing remains shrunken from
Gilkey said, tenants must make
years of budget cuts through the
1980s, the administration of Hous-
sure they have real input on grant
ing Director Jack Kemp offers
applications or complain to HUD
officials.
hope for the future, a national ten-
ants' rights activist said Saturday.
Despite the recent improve-
Bertha Gilkey of St. Louis, active
ments, Gilkey said tenants still
in public housing issues for nearly
face "built-in bureaucracy" when
a decade, said Kemp has shown a
trying to improve their complexes,
commitment to improving the fed-
and must work toward creating
eral Department of Housing and
their own management coopera-
Urban Development that was ab-
tives and maintenance staffs.
sent during the administration of
his predecessor, Samuel Pierce.
One program that can help ten-
ants move toward self-manage-
"We have made more headway
ment is HUD's Resident Initiative
under the Kemp administration
Program, said Joann Inglis, who
than we have under any under Re-
administers the program through
publican administration," said Gil-
HUD's Detroit office. That pro-
key, though she added that condi-
gram offers assistance in resident
tions
still
need
major
involvement, home ownership.
improvements.
drug elimination and economic de-
One positive move by Kemp was
velopment.
the recent suggestion of a $250-mil-
Gilkey spoke during a day-long
lion "HOPE" bill that would fund
seminar at the Michigan Union or-
housing rehabilitation, tenant man-
ganized by UNITY, a local tenants'
agement programs, actions for the
organization. The session, called
bomeless and home-ownership pro-
"No Place to Go: The Struggle for
grams. She said that bill is pending
Affordable Housing in Ann Arbor,"
before the House and Senate bank-
offered talks by about 90 public
ing committees.
housing activists from around the
Gilkey said that while a number
state, guidance on tenants' rights,
of laws give rights to public hous-
organizing strategies, action for
ing tenants, it is the responsibility
the homeless and welfare rights.
of residents to make sure those
UNITY is a year-old alliance of
rights are followed by local offi-
local tenants' groups formed to im-
cials. As an example, she said local
prove the conditions and availabil-
housing authorities are required to
ity of public bousing, said spokes-
consult with tenants groups before
woman Elmira Collins.
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, FEBRUARY 24, 1991
Associated Press/MARK ELIAS
Sharon Gipson (right), resident manager of LeClaire Courts, a Chicago low-income housing project, walks
through the snow outside the project recently with Irene Johnson, head of the resident management board.
"Empowered" poor taking control
of how their housing is managed
By SHARON COHEN
The Associated Press
bf.Low-income people are taking
their destiny in their own hands,"
"They better understand the
said John McKnight, director of
problems of their own community."
JCHICAGO - In five years,
Sharon Gipson became an expert on
community studies at Northwestern
said Justin Milberg, of the Washing-
the many indignities of public hous-
University's Center for Urban
ton-based National Center for Neigh-
ing: leaky roofs, stopped-up sewers,
Affairs and Policy Research. "People
borhood Enterprise. "They enjoy the
trust of their own community.
shoddy service, bloated bureaucra-
are concluding if they don't do it, no
ORE else will."
They're a permanent solution.
cyrThat was as a tenant.
Now she's determined to make big
+'It's happening in other arenas,
They're not going to leave as fund-
changes - as manager.
ted. In Milwaukee, some poor chil-
ing runs out."
Gipson juggles both lives at
dsien choose their own private
The poor aren't the only cham-
pions of choice.
LiClaire Courts, a housing project
schools. In Detroit, low-income resi-
in which low-income folks make
dents buy, renovate and sell build-
Housing and Urban Development
high-powered decisions about their
ings. In Denver and Omaha, fathers
Secretary Jack Kemp has made it a
neighbors, their needs and the fate
ase crime-fighters.
cornerstone of his agenda, establish-
ing the Office of Resident Initiatives
oftheir Southwest Side community.
25:
Trend spreading
in 1989 and training public housing
Power to the poor. Across the
21
nation, public housing residents are
"We cannot look to government to
tenants to become managers.
taking charge of multimillion-dollar
do, things for us," said Charlene
buildings, collecting rent, screening
Johnson, president of Reach, a De-
new tenants, evicting drug dealers
troit-based community group. "We
must do for ourselves."
and deciding how to spend govern-
ment dollars. Some even own prop-
That's what's happening in cities
such as St. Louis, Boston, Jersey
erty.
City, N.J., and Washington, where
tenants, not professionals, are the
power brokers in public housing. It's
a shift some say is logical and long
overdue.
About 15 resident management
es, including a catering company, a
corporations are operating nation-
screen door repair service and, at
wide; more than 100 others are in
LeClaire, a reverse commuter shut-
training stages.
tle to the suburbs.
President Bush is another boost-
"It instills pride and hope," he
er. In signing a housing bill in
said. "It restores a sense of commu-
November, he declared: "When the
nity control."
people who live in public housing
That shift didn't come quickly or
are in charge, the results are
easily at LeClaire, a community of
remarkable: More people pay their
about 4,000 people living in modest
rent, maintenance improves
and
red-brick row houses in the shadow
neighborhoods spring back to life."
of Midway Airport.
In the first four years of tenant
"When we started out, we were
management at Kenilworth-Park-
ignored," said Irene Johnson, head
side, a public housing project in
of the resident management board.
Washington, rent collections rose by
"They (local officials) thought we
77 percent and hundreds of drug
were a joke."
dealers were forced out, a report
said.
LeClaire gets good review
A 1989 study said converting Ken-
But the residents persisted and,
ilworth-Parkside to tenant owner-
after working side-by-side for a year
ship could save the government $26
with the Chicago Housing Author-
million over 40 years.
ity, took over in 1989. So far, the re-
But not everyone is enamored of
views are good.
the idea. Last year, Budget Director
Caprara calls LeClaire "a good
Richard Darman called "The New
case study in all the right ingre-
Paradigm" - the label a presiden-
dients for success."
tial aide gave to self-help programs
CHA Chairman Vincent Lane
- pretentious and a rehash of failed
adds: "The management out there is
'60s ideas.
doing at least as good a job or proba-
Programs no panacea
bly better than the management
under CHA."
Even boosters say empowering
A paid staff of about 30, mostly
the poor is no magic wand.
LeClaire residents, manages the
"I don't think it's going to wipe
day-to-day business, processing and
out all problems with the exception
completing repairs, balancing the
of tooth decay," said Robert Rigby,
books and deciding, with the CHA,
director of the Jersey City, N.J.,
on bids for major projects.
Housing Authority. "In many quar-
Since 1989, new windows have
ters, it's seen as a panacea. I don't
been installed for everyone. Most
think in any way it represents that."
tenants have new storm doors and
In Jersey City, one tenant-man-
about half of the 600-plus row houses
agement plan fizzled - high turn-
have received new stoves and refrig-
over of residents and community
erators.
leaders were blamed - but in three
Longtime resident Joselyn Pughs-
others, vacancy rates and delin-
ley sees other changes: Repairs that
quent rent payments have fallen
once took months now take days.
sharply.
That doesn't surprise her.
Though empowerment is a new
buzzword, the idea is not. Since the
"When you live in a place and
'60s, a long line of committed public
you're working there, you're going
housing activists, often black
to do a better job, you're going to
women, have preached the gospel of
want the best for your children," she
self-help.
said. "You're going to take care of
But in recent years, there has
where you live and
what you con-
been a "growth from a cottage
sider yours much better."
industry to a major grass-roots
Yet expectations can be too high.
movement," said David Caprara of
"They think we can perform
HUD's resident initiatives office. "It
miracles," said Gipson, the resident-
has just spread like wildfire."
manager, who has lived at LeClaire
There also are new strategies. In
since 1984. "They think it's
Atlanta, for example, dozens of grad-
'Bewitched,' twist your nose and it's
uate students from a black universi-
fine."
ty will move into a project this
There are painful decisions, too -
spring, operate programs and serve
especially evictions. There have
as role models.
been about 10.
Resident management, Caprara
"The first eviction
I cried all
said, already has been a boon to
day and night. I didn't sleep a week,"
communities, creating jobs in areas
Johnson said. "But you've got a
where unemployment is chronically
business to run. You sign on the bot-
high and leading to spinoff business-
tom line of the contract.
'You are coming into a neighborhood'
Jordan Park has been in the
litter. She heard residents say they stayed
grip of poverty, crime and fear
inside at night with the porch light off,
because the burning lights quickly got shot
for years. But one woman is
out. They told her they were afraid to
teaching the public housing
venture into the dark, too, for fear of being
shot.
complex to take control.
She says, "We can change these
things." She had done it in St. Louis, in New
By WILMA NORTON
York, in Chicago, in Philadelphia. So the St.
Times Staff Writer
Petersburg Housing Authority hired her to
ST. PETERSBURG - Jordan Park sits
bring her message of change here.
in isolation on Ninth Avenue S, the inter-
Her mission, she says, is to help the
state and a high concrete wall blocking it
people of Jordan Park regain their self-es-
from the public's view.
teem. Stand up for their neighborhood. Let
Not so long ago, the residents of the
the troublemakers know they aren't wel-
50-year-old public housing complex felt iso-
come any more. Bring some of the old ways
lated themselves as, plagued by crime and
back to the neighborhood, when Jordan
poverty, they retreated into their homes to
Park offered some of the finest housing
watch and wait.
available to black families in a segregated
Then an outsider with a mission arrived
city.
to bring them out of their homes.
Gilkey is training residents to organize a
Bertha Gilkey saw the problems. She
business, to feel better about themselves
Times photo - JIM STEM
Bertha Gilkey says her mission is to help the residents of Jordan
stepped over gamblers on the sidewalks.
and to take charge of their neighborhood.
She saw the drug dealers, the graffiti and
Park to regain their self-esteem.
the vandalism. She walked through the
Please see NEIGHBORHOOD Page 3
Times photo - JIM STEM
sidents once feared to leave their homes, but today children move freely through the rejuvenated neighborhood.
Neighborhood
from Page 1
resident to stand up and speak at each meeting.
They talked at a recent meeting about improve-
"I teach them to look within themselves, not
ments they have seen in Jordan Park.
to look outside to somebody else to do for me,"
Ms. Shaw says asking residents to clean up
she says. "What the training does is says you are
their yards never used to bring a response. If
somebody and that you possess skills. You're.
they don't clean it up when asked now, they can
unique. You're special. You are bright. You are
be fined $25.
articulate. You are all of the things people say
"I have people now who, when they see me
poor people are not. The problem is you lack the
coming, they send their kids in the house to get a
training."
rake so by the time I get there, the yard is
When she imparts that message to people
clean," she says.
who have been poor all their lives, she finds a
Wilbert Shack says, "I had someone tell me
change, Gilkey says. "You find a stronger, more
the other day they can sit out on their porch at
informed, more crime-free, more employed and
night and not be afraid of shooting."
productive community. You bring back the
"A lot of the traffic has ceased," Johnnie
old-fashioned American dream."
Jones says.
"More people are taking more pride in the
Watch Bertha Gilkey in action, and it's easy
Jordan Park area," says Alberta Quarterman,
to believe she can deliver her promise.
vice president of the association. "More people
She's a striking, charismatic woman.
are more concerned about what's happening
As she guides the residents through the
with their lives. We're learning a whole lot. You
evening, she is part coach, part cheerleader,
learn a lot about yourself and what your ability
part evangelist.
is. The biggest thing I've learned is that I can get
She gathers the dozen or so residents into a
in front of a group and talk and not have to be
circle to sing, changing the words of Kum Ba
ashamed."
Yah to include "Stop the drugs, my lord, come
Even having the residents stand up and give
by here," and "Save Jordan Park, my lord, come
their names is progress, Gilkey says.
by here."
"I can see the sureness in them. When they
Every time a resident offers a comment, she
first came, many of these women that spoke
claps and praises.
today wouldn't even speak. Johnnie wouldn't
Sometimes, though, she is harsh in her
speak. When I used to call on her, she would run.
criticism.
Vernadean and Alberta would put their heads
Speaking about young, unwed mothers, Gilk-
down; they wouldn't even talk, Gilkey says. " A
ey says: "Some of these young mothers should
lot of this is not money. It's just making people
not be given apartments. They are not mature
feel like they are somebody."
enough. Give them a unit, and all they use it for
is to get more babies. They end up getting
Gilkey grew up in St. Louis in the Cochran
caught up in crime, drugs, abused and killed.
public housing development (She rejects the
They become victims."
term housing project as derisive). She still lives
She is just as adamant on the topic of people
there.
who think public housing should take anyone
She talks to residents in a way others
who applies.
couldn't get away with, she says, because she is
one of them.
"We want to make sure they understand that
Jordan Park is no longer a dumping place,"
She got her start as a public housing advo-
Gilkey says. "You're not coming into a project.
cate in the 1970s when the St. Louis Housing
You are coming into a neighborhood."
Authority, frustrated with conditions there,
The Jordan Park Residents Association
turned the running of Cochran over to the
meets with Gilkey three nights a month. The
residents. They turned the development around
group already has incorporated. Its committees
and now own several small companies.
stage cleanups, maintain playground equipment
Next year they plan to buy Cochran from the
and monitor security. Members also plan to open
Housing Authority.
a child-care center they will own and operate.
Jordan Park could get there eventually, too,
Gilkey says. The first step to resident manage-
The group also is putting together a screen-
ment is the training she gives them. The next
ing committee of residents and St. Petersburg
step will be management - having a say in who
Housing Authority staff members who will ap-
gets into the complex, how money is spent, who
prove new residents.
is hired.
Those gathered for the meeting go over
The third step is economic development.
screening guidelines. There are rules on super-
Jordan Park's residents are planning to open
vising children and housekeeping. People who
a day-care center. They have hired a cook to
use drugs and create disturbances will be kicked
cater training sessions, but hope to expand that
out.
enterprise. They are raising money for several
Speaking in support of the screening com-
other projects.
mittee, Vernadean Shaw says, "We're working
"They've got to have other income so that
hard to clean up Jordan Park.
We might get
when the (federal) dollars are cut, the housing
drug fiends, crack heads, drunks and people who
stock doesn't suffer," Gilkey says.
are violent. We want to clean it up and keep it
With this framework in place, the residents
clean."
can move on to social service programs, job
Part of Gilkey's process is getting each
training, education. Only then could they think of
owning the development, she says.
The Housing Authority also is committed to
making Jordan Park a better place to live, says
Edward White Jr., the authority's executive
director. In recent years, the authority has spent
about $10,000 per apartment on renovations,
White says, and it has added police patrols and
security equipment.
Gilkey and White say they want to see Jordan
Park become the well-respected, sought-after
housing it was in the '40, '50s and '60s. "It
would have then been viewed as a real mecca. A
lot of people fought to get into Jordan Park,"
White says.
"Today, all too many people look at Jordan
Park as housing of last resort," White says.
"The people who lived in Jordan Park 25 years
ago felt differently about themselves."
Back then, most of the residents were tradi-
tional families - husband, wife and children -
who worked. They saw Jordan Park as a tempo-
rary home until they could buy their own home.
But as society and social programs have
changed, so have the tenants. Almost all of the
446 apartments are occupied by women raising
children alone. Few can work.
"We've moved from working class poor to
subsistency poor," White says. "A preponder-
ance of people (in Jordan Park) do not work, and
they're on welfare.
They are trapped in the
poverty cycle.
"People don't really take charge of their own
communities and their own lives when you have
a welfare system, White says. "We're trying to
change that. We're trying to empower people so
that they will once again take charge of their
lives, and they will move from a subsistence in
the poverty cycle to the mainstream."
The Housing Authority has a federal grant
for $299,000 it is using to pay Gilkey, buy the
site for the child-care center and pay other
program expenses.
But Gilkey says the money isn't the main
source of change.
"Eventually, we need money, but the begin-
ning of it, before you change physical designs of
the buildings through massive amounts of HUD
or federal subsidies, you've got to change the
people, and that's what this program does. It
changes the people. It changes the thinking of
the people."
Eleanor Cooper, who has managed Jordan
Park for 18 years, was doubtful at first, but is
now a believer in Gilkey's gospel.
"I first felt 'Why are they bringing that
woman here to take my job from me,' but I don't
feel that way anymore," Cooper says. "I am real
happy about the progress we've made here. I
know it's going to work. I know it's going to
work."
Gilkey heard doubts from others, too.
"When I came to Jordan Park, people said,
"This is not St. Louis. You can't change these
people,' Gilkey says. "Now I've got the same
people telling me, 'I can sit on my porch at
night.' We've got a long way to go, but we've
came a long way.
"And these changes, it amazes people. But it
doesn't amaze me."
LOS ANGELES TIMES
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1990
Residents of Public Housing Will
Learn How to Manage Themselves
Nickerson Gardens: HUD Secretary Kemp presides
$93,000 HUD grant, one of five
over official opening of yearlong training program seen
such grants given to Los Angeles
public housing projects. The others
as one answer to problems of crime and vandalism.
will go to the Estrada Courts,
Jordan Downs, Normont Terrace
housing projects.
and Pico Aliso projects.
By BETTINA BOXALL
TIMES STAFF WRITER
"[We] want to make sure that
Nickerson has hired Bertha
every resident of public housing in
Gilkey to run the sessions, which
Some of the thousands of people
the United States of America from
will be held three times a month
who live in Nickerson Gardens will
Watts to East Los Angeles to the
for the next year. Gilkey, a seem-
start going to class this week for
South Bronx to East Harlem has
ingly irrepressible advocate of ten-
lessons in how to take over their
the opportunity to manage their
ant rights, is known nationally for
housing project, the largest in Los
own public housing and someday to
helping notoriously bad housing
Angeles and one of the most trou-
own it if that's their dream," Jack
projects, such as Cochran Gardens
bled.
Kemp, U.S. secretary of housing
in St. Louis, clean up by putting the
About 50 Nickerson Gardens
and urban development, said Tues-
people who live there in charge.
residents are expected to show up
day before a crowd that filled a
"I say to the 6 million people in
for the beginning of a yearlong
gymnasium at Nickerson Gardens
public housing in this country
series of training sessions intended
to mark the official start of the
it is time to challenge the sys-
to help them form a management
training program.
tem.
Who can better manage
corporation that would gradually
Kemp shared the stage with
us than us?" Gilkey said.
replace the Los Angeles Housing
several other dignitaries, including
Kemp also announced that the
Authority in running the Watts
Mayor Tom Bradley and Assem-
Los Angeles Housing Authority
housing project.
blywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los
will get $18 million this fiscal year
The program is one of many
Angeles), all of whom praised the
to make improvements at its hous-
being launched in public housing
trend toward tenant management
ing projects. Last year the authori-
projects around the country as the
as the beginning. of a new era in
ty received nearly $15 million for
Bush Administration promotes
public/ housing. "Nickerson is
repairs and improvements, but
tenant management and even
ready," declared Waters.
housing officials say it would take
ownership as answers to the fes-
The management training-
more than $200 million to do all the
tering problems of crime and van-
open to all adult Nickerson resi-
improvement work they would like
dalism that riddle many public
dents-is being paid for by a
to do:
(Smith/Grossman)
April 27, 1991
10:30 A.M.
Draft One
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
HOUSING EVENT.
COCHRAN GARDENS, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
Friday, May 3, 1991
Secretary Kemp, Bertha Gilkey, head of the National Tenant
Union. (acknowlegments) Residents of Cochran Gardens. (I speak to
you today as a resident of public housing. I tried to get some
troublemakers evicted from my block too -- but I'm told it's
freedom of the press.)
I've just seen your new children's playground. I can't
describe how wonderful it is to see an area once called Little
Nam replaced by an environment where children are safe to play,
to learn, to grow. You know your state used to be called the
"Show Me" state. From what I've seen today it's not hard to
understand why. You've shown everyone what happens when people
are empowered to take control of their community. They take it
from a haven for drug dealers to a harbor for children. From the
failures of neglect to the victories of volunteerism. From the
despair of dependency to the pride of self-reliance. / They take
it from development / to neighborhood.
Contrast this success story with the failure of projects
like the Pruitt-Igoe (PREW it - EYE go). Crime-ridden, drug-
infested, it was torn down almost two decades ago. To me, to
many of us here, that vacant lot symbolizes the empty promises of
public-housing policy.
To more and more Americans it is becoming clear that the
solutions of the past aren't up to the challenges of the present.
The safety-net should have helped people bounce back. But it
only served to trap them in perpetual poverty, dependence, and
despair. Some are starting to say "enough is enough." They are
lifting their voices to demand: if the system's not creating a
better life, then we must create a better system.
It's time to make good on the promise of opportunity for all
our citizens. Because as we enter the next American century, we
need everyone on board. That's why this Administration is
committed to break the logjam that's choking the progress of the
poor -- broadening access to homeownership, jobs, and quality
education.
Last November we moved towards those goals with the signing
of the National Affordable Housing Act -- the most radical
departure in Federal housing policy in two decades. Its core is
HOPE Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere.
It's a revolutionary initiative that strikes out in a
dramatically new direction, enabling public housing residents to
manage and ultimately own their own homes.
Bertha Gilkey once said, "We don't want to be taken care of,
we want to be trained how to take care of ourselves." She has
taken that mission across America, lighting the fires in our
battle to revolutionize public housing. She knows we can allow
no pause in this crusade. When I took office, there were only 13
resident groups training to become resident managers. Today
there are 100. With full congressional funding, there could be
40,000 residents in some 400 public housing communities launched
towards homeownership by the end of 1992.
But we cannot conquer poverty if our foot soldiers can't
afford the ammunition. That's why Congress must move swiftly to
pass our Enterprise Zone and Jobs-Creation Act. By attracting
new seed capital for small business start-ups, creating new
incentives for entrepreneurial risk-taking, and reducing high
effective tax rates on those who want work not welfare --
Enterprise Zones can turn poverty into potential, potential into
prosperity.
But as we bring back the life to these areas' economies, we
must restore the soul to their communities. The Community
Opportunity Act of 1991 would help that process. This
legislation should empower communities to find ways to make
Federal programs more responsive to individual, family, and
community needs. It will help provide the means to shift power
out of the heavy hand of the state, and into the hands that run
the home.
It was once said that "destiny is not a matter of chance, it
is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is
a thing to be achieved." The people of Cochran Gardens have made
their choice. Now, they're making history. Thank you all very
much for being here. God bless Cochran Gardens, and God bless
the United States of America.
3
Daneedotes
how my ours homes
DEPARTMENT us OF
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING
AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
DAVID L. CAPRARA
DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY
OFFICE OF RESIDENT INITIATIVES
703
(202) (h)7390548 619-8201
FAX (202) 619-8478
ANDURBAN AND DEVELOPMENT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
FACT SHEET
on
OF HOUSING
sn * AND URBAND
ROOM 4102
451 SEVENTH ST., S.W.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20410
Resident Management and Homeownership
o
There are currently over 100 resident management entities under development. In April
1990, Secretary Jack Kemp announced a new round of $2.4 million in technical
assistance training grants for 37 grassroots resident organizations. There are 13 Resident
Management Corporations under contract with a Public Housing Authority with
responsibility for project management functions (maintenance, security, rent collection).
o
The Department expects the number of resident groups and homeownership projects to
more than double with expanded funding proposed in President Bush's $2.1 billion
Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere (HOPE) grants legislation.
Positive social and management benefits have been recognized through resident
management of public housing job creation, reduction of crime and welfare
dependency, development of new social services, enhancement of community services
and overall improvement in the quality of life. Resident Management Corporations
have also incubated new enterprises such as small grocery stores, laundromats, beauty
salons, catering and janitorial businesses and transportation services.
o
Resident management groups have been in existence since the early 1970's, beginning
at Bromley-Heath in Boston; Cochran Gardens and Carr Square Village in St. Louis,
Missouri. Resident involvement is crucial to making public housing work.
0
"The Housing and Community Development Act of 1987" authorized HUD to promote
resident management and homeownership in public housing, and to provide technical
assistance funding to resident groups. HUD regulations were revised in 1988.
{OVER}
A new Office of Resident Initiatives (ORI) was created by Secretary Jack Kemp to
promote resident management and homeownership. Field staffingincludes a Resident
Initiative Coordinator (RIC) in each HUD Regional and Field Office.
Resident managed homeownership projects underway include Kenilworth-Parkside in
Washington, D. C. and Carr Square Village in St. Louis, Missouri. A study by the
accounting firm of Laventhol and Horwath shows positive results regarding economic
feasibility for Kenilworth-Parkside, which could save the Federal government $6 million
over 10 years; $11 million over 15 years; and $26 million over 40 years.
Homeownership opportunities include conversions of public housing units under section
5(h) of the Housing Act of 1937 and the Department's Turnkey III program. In 1990,
HUD-assisted multi-family housing properties will be included in the homesteading
program.
It is the Department's belief that resident management and homeownership instills pride,
improves neighborhoods, enhances independence, and encourages stable and intact
families. After gaining control of their property, through the successful application of
the principles of resident management, self-help, and job training, residents of federally
assisted and public housing deserve the full opportunity to achieve the American dream
-to own a home of their own.
For further information regarding the benefits of resident management or the purchase of public
housing for homeownership, please contact the local Resident Initiatives Coordinator (RIC) in your local
HUD office.
PREPARED BY:
Office of Resident Initiatives
Office of Public and Indian Housing
U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 Seventh Street, S. W.
Washington, D. C. 20410
RESIDENT MANAGEMENT
HOMEOWNERSHIP
(202) 708-3611
(202) 708-4233
Cochran Gardens
St. Louis, Missouri
Vital Statistics: Constructed in 1952; high-rise, 704 units,
3,250 residents; management contract negotiated in 1976
The Cochran Gardens Tenant Management Corporation, born
out of a rent strike to protest slum conditions, is a classic example
of how a previously untapped source of limitless talent and imagi-
nation can bring a community back to life. A wide array of self-help
social programs and a succession of bold economic schemes that put
people to work changed the attitudes and behavior of a community
pushed into near-oblivion by years of managerial neglect and dis-
interest.
In November 1969, the St. Louis Housing Authority (SHA) com-
mitted a final outrage by raising rents at Cochran Gardens. Resi-
dents who had been living in an atmosphere that perpetuated violent
crime, prostitution, drugs, and other negatives that caused fear,
frustration, and resentment, finally rebelled. A year-long rent strike
ensued that resulted in the drastic reduction of the housing au-
thority's control over Cochran Garden policy and operations. An
elected on-site Tenant Affairs Board was created that could appoint
two of its members to the SHA Board of Commissioners. These ap-
pointees had the power to veto the selection of others on the board
if it was felt the individual would not promote the interests of public
housing residents.
Concurrent with this power gain, during the period from 1969
to 1975, a private, community-based management corporation was
administering on-the-job management training to Cochran Gardens
residents whose organizational expertise made the rent strike suc-
cessful. Residents learned about rent collection, tenant selection,
lease and grievance procedures, maintenance and custodial require-
ments, and security. At the time a management contract was ne-
gotiated in 1976, a resident management team was already in place
and ready to function.
Cochran Gardens never looked back. It established a five-person
board of directors, electable every three years. The board makes
policy; provides planning direction; and oversees all management
programs, including personnel employment, social services, and ten-
ant complaints. Each board member chairs one of five resident man-
and
agement committees-maintenance, security, social services,
recreation, and economic development.
47
Wasting no time in tackling their problems, the resident man-
In 1986, the Cochran Gardens TMC was awarded a contract for
agers tapped into training programs that were utilized for providing
the installation of cable television equipment into the homes of pub-
employment opportunities for the community's hard-core unem-
lic housing residents citywide.
ployed youths.
In late 1987, plans were initiated for Cochran TMC to become
As trained, skilled workers, young men and women were hired
a 50 percent owner of a shopping mall adjacent to the Cochran
to renovate the same unoccupied apartments many of them had
Gardens complex. It will contain 20 to 25 business establishments
broken into and vandalized when they were aimless and without
that will include a supermarket, restaurant, dry cleaner, movie thea-
direction. After inheriting some 250 vandalized vacant apartments,
ter, drugstore, hardware store, and a beauty shop.
Cochran TMC, through its efforts with these youngsters, was able
Cochran Gardens, in a relatively short period of time, has be-
to renovate and rent 150 vacant units within its first year of oper-
come a community that generates jobs, businesses, talent, creative
ation.
ideas, and a solid home-base for residents who have begun to lead
Involving the young also resulted in the design and building of
productive lives.
the Malcolm X Community Center, which sponsors athletic events,
talent shows, field trips, and employment-related activities. Its fa-
cilities include a gymnasium, boxing facilities, and meeting rooms.
A successful day care program is also operated at the facility.
Economic development is the primary driving force and the
major funding source for program growth at Cochran Gardens. Busi-
ness enterprises established by the Cochran Gardens resident man-
agers have resulted in 330 new jobs for community residents.
In 1978, the city's Community Development Agency provided
a block grant for Cochran TMC to develop a comprehensive reha-
bilitation and modernization plan. The plan was eventually funded
by a $21 million HUD renovation grant, which opened the door to
private sector joint ventures in real estate activities.
Cochran's first joint venture, with McCormack, Baron and As-
sociates, involved the construction of 675 units of low and moderate
income housing units. A second project, Cochran Plaza, established
100 new units of low-rise housing. A third project converted an old
school building into a 40 unit complex for senior citizens.
As part of its welfare reform "back-to-work" package, Cochran
has created a janitorial company employing 45 former welfare re-
cipients and a catering company that is responsible for providing
650 meals a day to a large number of the city's senior citizens.
Another component of the Cochran welfare reform program will be
the establishment of a factory to train and employ 300 welfare re-
cipients. Cochran TMC is negotiating with the State of Missouri to
purchase the factory while Cochran residents will renovate it as
part of a women's employment training effort. The Cochran Gardens
TMC is also negotiating production contracts with three major na-
tional industries.
48
Profile of Carr Square Village
Tenant Management Corporation
St. Louis, Missouri
Carr Square Village was the first public housing development in St.
Louis, built in 1942. It is comprised of 658 units of low-rise townhouses.
The leadership of Carr Square along with Cochran Gardens in St. Louis
served as the initial catalyst for the then unprecedented public housing rent
strike in 1969 due to deplorable living conditions at the sites. The rent
strike and subsequent tenant organizing activities ultimately resulted in the
creation of a tenant management program in March, 1983, which was supported by
the Ford Foundation and the housing authority.
As a result, Cochran TMC and the housing authority jointly developed new
rental and occupancy policies, several new leases, a tenant security program,
a Title XX Social Services Program, several T.P.P. and Modernization Programs.
Residents have developed rules and regulations that are regularly enforced by
the TMC staff and its five member board of directors.
Board members are elected by the residents of Carr Square, 16 years and
older, in staggered terms every three years. The board of directors are
responsible for all contracts pertaining to Carr Square, and maintain opera-
tional functions in four areas: maintenance, social services, security and
development.
The experience of Carr Square TMC suggests that residents will respond
affirmatively to self-imposed standards, once the process of developing and
enforcing those standards is created by the residents themselves. The quality
of life in the development is much improved, and vandalism has substantially
decreased along with the rate of serious crimes.
Carr Square Tenant Management Corporation has developed and sponsored a
variety of social, educational, recreational and employment programs to in-
crease the effectiveness of resident management efforts. New programs which
have been created include: Mary McElroy Day Care Center, In-Home Service
Program (staff trained by St. Louis Comprehensive Health Center), and an on-
site recreational room (open from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily). Through the
Carr Square Youth Community Conservation Improvement Project, the TMC received
HUD demonstration funding to train 193 youth in carpentry, painting and
landscaping. Tenant management experience at Carr Square suggests that the
"hard" and "soft" aspects of management and community development must be in-
tegrated with social services to effectively upgrade the quality of life
within public housing.
The housing and community development programs of the TMC represent a
significant expansion of TMC organizational development. Carr Square has par-
ticipated as a co-developer of 810 units of new low and moderate income hous-
ing provision with the Cochran Tenant Management Corporation.
MISSOURI ENTERPRISE ZONE PROGRAM
MISSOURI
Program Status
Legislation approved in 1982. Program became operational in 1983.
Number of Zones
A maximum of 33 zones are authorized. As of July 1988, all 33 zones had
been designated. Legislation in 1989 and 1990 authorized 41 zones, 37 of
which have been designated and 2 more are pending. This year the
legislature may create additional zones.
Eligibility Criteria
Population:
Within an MSA, at least 4,000 but not more than 32,000.
Outside an MSA, 1,000 to 20,000.
Areas of pervasive poverty, unemployment, and general distress.
Meets UDAG criteria.
All of the following must be present:
65% of the population below 80% of the median income for the State.
Unemployment 50% above the aveerage rate of unemployment for the
State.
Cooperation from the localities.
Incentives for Qualified Businesses
Tax Credits:
If 30% of the new employees are zone residents or are considered
"difficult to employ", tax credits are available for 10% of the
first $10,000 in investments, 5% of the next $90,000 and 2% of
the remaining qualifying investment.
Up to $1,200 in tax credits for each new hire:
*
For each new job, regardless of the time of year started, $400 in
tax credits,
For each 3 months the new hire lives in the enterprise zone, $100
in tax credits, and
For each 3 months that a "difficult to employ" person works on
the job, $100 in tax credits.
Up to $400 in training credits for training other than JTPA or state
training program.
State income tax exemption of 50% for 10 years to be earned by a zone
business if 30% of the firm's employees are zone residents or have
exhausted their benefits.
Unused tax credits will be refunded at a rate of 40% or up to $50,000
for the first year, and 25% or up to $25,000 for the second year.
A minimum 50% exemption from local ad valorem property taxes for at
least the first 10 years for improvements to real property. This may
run for 25 years depending upon the decision of the local government.
A tax increment financing law became operational in 1985.
A direct loan program for qualifying Missouri businesses became
effective in 1983,
Infrastructure improvements are required as part of the competitive
enterprise zone program.
Highlights of Zone Activity
significant emphasis is placed on creation of new jobs for residents
residing in the Enterprise Zone. Many of the tax incentive programs are
geared towards that concept.
Data available from 1983 through December 1990$
Jobs created:
11,702
Total investments:
$541 million
Petter:
Contact person:
William O. Green
Coordinator, Enterprise Zone Program
Department of Economic Development
P.O. Box 118
Jefferson city, Missouri 65102
(314) 751-6835
State of Missouri
John Ashcroft, Governor
Department of Economic Development
Carl M. Koupal, Jr., Director
Economic Development Programs
P.O. Box 118
Jefferson City, Missouri 65102
February 23, 1991
Mr. Michael McMahon
Director, Enterprise Zone Staff
Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20410
Dear Mr. McMahon:
I am pleased to respond to your inquiry regarding new
development in the Missouri enterprise zone program during the
preceding year. Major changes are occurring in the number of
zones authorized and designated. I also have an update on the
number of jobs created, as well as the amount of investment
placed in service since the program became operational.
As a result of legislation adopted in 1989 and 1990, the
Missouri Department of Economic Development now has legislative
authorization to designate a total of 41 enterprise zones, of
which 37 have been designated as of this date. Two applications
for designation are in the process of being prepared and
submitted to the Department. We would anticipate designations in
both of these communities within the next 4-6 weeks.
Additionally, legislation is pending in the current session of
the Missouri General Assembly which, if passed and signed by the
Governor, would create additional zones. The session concludes
on or about May 15, 1991.
Our verified statistics reflect an aggregate of 11,702 new,
jobs created since the program's inception in 1983. We also can
document the creation of capital investment totalling in excess
of $541 million since 1983.
The remainder of the information included in the last update
is unchanged. Thank you for your interest in the Missouri
program. Please let me know if I may be able to provide
additional information.
Sincerely,
William O. Green
Enterprise Zone Coordinator
WOG/vmk
Home Spn-Sun-to
FROM THE FRONT LINES
From
the
st. louis
front
Cochran Gardens Tenant Man-
modernization plan, which was later
agement Corporation
funded by a $21 million renovation
lines:
Self-help social programs and busi-
grant from HUD.
ness ventures have reformed atti-
These funds opened the door to
tudes and united this community.
other real estate opportunities, in-
Cochran Gardens Tenant Manage-
cluding ownership or investment in:
"From the Front Lines is a
ment Corporation (TMC) is an ex-
regular feature of Home Front
cellent example of what cooperation,
Construction of 675 low- and
It highlights efforts of PHAS and
hard work, and determination can do
moderate-income housing units.
resident groups around the
for a community.
Cochran Plaza, made up of 100
country 10 fight drugs and
In 1976, the Cochran Gardens TMC
low-rise housing units.
Improve the quality of life in
was incorporated and assumed man-
Conversion of an old school
public and assisted housing
agement responsibilities from the St.
building into a 40-unit complex for
this edition features programs
Louis Housing Authority. For the
senior citizens.
in the District of Columbia
previous 6 years, residents had
St, Louis, Missouri, and
honed their management skills by
A 25-store shopping mall to be
Chicago, Illinois.
working with the housing authority
built adjacent to the original neigh-
and a private management company
borhood.
in on-the-job training.
These and other economic develop-
By the time it assumed control, the
ment projects aimed at keeping the
Who is
TMC Board of Directors had set firm
community safe and drug-free by
goals and was ready to work on its
redirecting residents' lives have
making a
top priorities-ridding the neighbor-
created more than 300 jobs, each
hood of drugs and drug-related crime
filled by a former welfare recipient.
difference
and creating job opportunities for
Current business ventures include:
residents. The directors felt these
in your
goals could be met simultaneously
Daycare centers, located within
and identified job training opportuni-
the community and staffed by 75
ties for the community's unem-
residents.
community?
ployed young people. Most were
A catering business that delivers
placed in construction trades and
nearly 700 meals to senior citizens.
began rehabilitating the commu-
Do you know someone
nity's 250 vacant apartments-the
Housing management services
whose volunteer activities
same apartments they had previously
contracting to provide management
have made a difference in
vandalized. By 1978, the crew had
services to Cochran Gardens and
his or her public or assisted
refurbished 150 of these apartments,
other PHA facilities.
housing community? If so,
and the TMC was able to rent them
we would like to hear from
out to families.
Property development.
you so we can recognize
Cable TV installation.
With this success, the TMC moved
their hard work. Please
on to other economic development
For more information on Cochran
send names, along with a
options, largely focusing on property
Gardens Tenant Management Cor-
brief description of what
development. In 1978, Cochran Gar-
poration, contact Bertha Gilkey,
the person has done, to:
dens received a Community Devel-
Chairperson, Cochran Gardens Ten-
opment Block Grant from the St.
ant Management Corporation, 1112
HUD Drug Information &
Louis Housing Authority to develop
North Ninth Street, St. Louis, MO
Strategy Clearinghouse,
a comprehensive rehabilitation and
63101.
P.O. Box 6424, Rockville,
MD 20850.
at
THE NCNE ST. LOUIS TOUR:
"GATEWAY TO HOPE"
By Robert L. Woodson
President, National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise
On a Sunday evening three years ago, millions of
Americans viewing "60 Minutes" witnessed the miracle of
Cochran Gardens in St. Louis. The segment, appropriately titled
"Tenant Power," depicted the phoenix-like rise of a public
housing project once the equal in squalor and crime of the
infamous Pruitt-Igoe development, which stood just 10 blocks
away on the city's near North Side before its widely publicized
demolition became a national symbol of the crisis in public
housing.
Cochran was slated for removal from the urban war zone
in much the same way. Residents recall that the main building
was dubbed "Little "Nam," as gangs roamed freely and
terrorized residents; snipers perched on the upper floors fired
at pedestrians; drug sales flourished in illegally occupied rooms;
and vandalism was so rampant that the authorities even balked
at installing a coin laundry.
When stop signs around Cochran were removed to
protect motorists at the expense of the lives of playing children
and other residents of the area, the nightmare of living in a
Housing Authority-run property that had become blacker and
poorer through the years was laid bare. It was said that even
the police avoided the project except with guns drawn in hot
pursuit. But while agency officials were getting the dynamite
ready, one woman who had lived in Cochran since childhood
served notice that she and other concerned tenants were not
about to roll over and join Pruitt-Igoe as a public housing
statistic.
The "miracle worker" at Cochran was Bertha Gilkey, a
feisty, flamboyant mother of two. For over a decade, Bertha
has headed the Cochran Tenant Management Corp., which
earns its substantial yearly management fee from the Housing
Authority by consistently maintaining uncompromising standards
and the stability of the complex. Her dynamic grassroots
leadership was also the catalyst for the $27 million federal
rehab grant which handily fulfilled her lifelong dream of
transforming the 800-unit complex into "a neighborhood, not
a project" for all of its residents, including her own family.
3
But Bertha Gilkey's dream of self-sufficiency for her
community does not end there. Plans for tenant purchase of
Cochran under special federal legislation are on the drawing
board. And Bertha's group promotes economic empowerment
by operating successful community-wide enterprises including
a catering service, daycare centers, a cable television installation
service for low-income neighborhoods, a reverse commute
transportation service for workers, and a limited partnership in
several private housing complexes nearby.
Bertha's innovative Cochran Gardens People's Factory
is being developed to provide training and at least 300 jobs in
manufacturing, construction and computer work for unemployed
residents. A full plate, to be sure, but typical of the response of
grassroots leaders to the needs of the community that they
know best -- their own.
The media exposure given to the Cochran Gardens story
on the network telecast was particularly gratifying for those of
us at the National Center. In our ongoing efforts to identify and
lend technical assistance to local self-help groups pursuing
enterprise development, we fought vigorously for the resident
management concept in the urban public housing trenches
alongside courageous activists including Bertha and Loretta
Hall of Carr Square Village in St. Louis and Kimi Gray of
Kenilworth-Parkside in Washington, D.C.
But the viability of resident management rising out of
strong grassroots leadership -- as confirmed initially by the
successes in these two cities -- was winning powerful converts
even before the "60 Minutes" coup. Among them was Rep. Jack
Kemp, then an influential Congressman from New York. When
Kemp was later named Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development, he brought his sensitivity to the strengths of
indigenous leadership in public housing management, ownership
and economic empowerment to the Department and to the
Administration.
As the Secretary acknowledged in his address last March
to the National Convention on Resident Management and
Urban Homesteading, the desire to control their own destinies
exemplified by the efforts of Bertha Gilkey, Loretta Hall, Kimi
Gray and Mildred Hailey, among others, "reminds us of what
America was meant to be."
So it is particularly appropriate that St. Louis -- the base
of operation of two of the outstanding public housing activists
4
cited by Secretary Kemp -- has been chosen to inaugurate a
three-city national tour sponsored by the National Center to
spotlight community-based implementation of President Bush's
HOPE (Homeownership and Opportunity for People
Everywhere) initiative. It expands upon the comprehensive
agency reforms introduced by the Secretary last October. There
are few, if any, urban areas which offer more compelling
examples of grassroots-led efforts consistent with HOPE's
housing and inner city job creation strategy than this heartland
city whose majestic arch symbolizes its historic role as the
"Gateway to the West."
The American tradition of boldly proceeding to new
frontiers of independence and self-sufficiency are indeed alive
and well today in Cochran Gardens and Carr Square Village.
I encourage each of the tour participants to absorb fully the
myth-shattering reality of what has been accomplished because
it is the cornerstone of a new strategy to combat poverty.
At Cochran, for example, the capacity of poor people
to move beyond the shackles of social service client dependency
to self-management and economic empowerment has been
demonstrated impressively. Here is a textbook case of what
grassroots people in a disinvested community can achieve if
given the opportunity and resources (e.g., incentives,
information, capital, and technical assistance) to control their
own lives. Cochran is also a classic example of how public and
private sector partnerships can be forged successfully.
In the past, we believed and acted upon the principle
that if the system were changed, people will respond. A greater
influx of money became the panacea for all urban ills, including
public housing, even when the evidence clearly showed that
spending on people whose attitudes are not rehabilitated is of
no consequence. As Bertha Gilkey explained to Morley Safer
on "60 Minutes," "We changed the thinking of the people," and
in the process, kindled in them the belief that they could
achieve and take advantage of the available opportunities.
Item: American business will continue to require a
disciplined workforce if it is to compete successfully in the
world economy. Increasingly, workers will be drawn from groups
in crisis such as public housing residents. Cochran/HOPE offers
a comprehensive solution.
In addition to having been cited by an influential
national publication as "a showcase of urban ingenuity,"
Cochran enjoys a distinction shared by few, if any, public
5
housing developments: the presence of market rate housing in
the immediate vicinity. A major supermarket chain, too, has
displayed its confidence in the stability of the area by opening
up a store next to Cochran after others had moved out because
of the high crime rate.
The NCNE tour will also provide an opportunity for
participants to observe firsthand the stark contrast between the
legacy of the Public Housing Authority-managed past and the
resident-managed future. At Darst Webbe, a decaying high-
rise complex in a St. Louis slum, the cumulative effect of
decades of poor maintenance and management are dramatically
illustrated. It is typical of the PHA's pattern of neglect, which
exacts a human toll in the "spiral of decline," where the
individual abandons his self-respect and dignity. Neither PHA
contractors nor managers are responsive to residents, who
become dispirited because their needs are constantly submerged
into the priorities of others.
But the calculus of the downward spiral is changed when
residents are given the opportunity to improve themselves and
the quality of their lives. As it turns upward, you get more of
what you reward; less of what you punish. Community
improvement is thus a response/reward for changed behavior.
Like the HOPE initiative, the concepts of
homeownership and economic empowerment implemented so
successfully at Cochran Gardens and other resident
management corporations, including Carr Square Village, were
developed from the bottom up, as opposed to the top down.
When you plant seeds of HOPE by encouraging low-
income people to take the self-help route and provide the
resources to mobilize and reward their efforts, the results are
bound to be positive. Cochran/HOPE is indeed a microcosm
of these exciting possibilities -- a prototype of what can happen
when we change our mindsets and approaches to dealing with
poor people and maximize the strengths that exist within their
own communities. The Bertha Gilkeys, Loretta Halls and Kimi
Grays are both the inspiration and keepers of the flame for this
national initiative which can and should enhance their
groundbreaking work in the empowerment of poor people.
Accordingly, NCNE reaffirms its commitment to work
closely with Secretary Kemp to carry his message of HOPE to
the American public. We will continue to identify and expose
potential private sector partners to those grassroots
communities which can offer the greatest opportunities for their
investment in the future of this country.
Welcome to St. Louis -- NCNE's "Gateway to HOPE"!
6
May 3
St. Louis
COCHRAN GARDENS
Walter Jones
Exec. Dir.
761-mit
Stanley Williams
531
HOPE pending bef. long.
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Tom Humbert 708-3894
Mary Brunett
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Jackie Robinson
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8TH
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557
WAGING WAR ON POVERTY
HO
OF
H
P
E
A
HOMEOWNERSHIP AND OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE EVERYWHERE
URBAN DEVELOPM OPN
Public and Indian Housing Homeownership
Multifamily Homeownership
Single-Family Homeownership
Family Self-Sufficiency
Preservation of Affordable Housing
Elderly Independence
Shelter Plus Care for the Homeless
PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH and SECRETARY JACK KEMP
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20410
451 SEVENTH ST., S.W.
ROOM 4102
DEVELOPMENT AND * U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF
FAX (202) 619-8478
OFFICE OF RESIDENT INITIATIVES
DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY
DAVID L. CAPRARA
(202) 619-8201
AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING
HOPE will do what traditional programs have not done: empower low-
income families to achieve self-sufficiency and to have a stake in their
communities by promoting resident management as well as other forms of
homeownership.
President George Bush
From remarks by the President
in Signing Ceremony for
National Affordable Housing Act
The White House
November 28, 1990
This agenda is the most dramatic, far-reaching, incentive-oriented ap-
proach to fighting poverty in the last 25 years. It will tear down the walls
that come between people and their self respect that prevent people from
exercising their talents and reaching their potential.
Jack Kemp
Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development
HOPE
Homeownership and
Opportunity for
People Everywhere
Table of Contents
Introduction
1
HOPE Grants
3
Public and Indian Housing Homeownership
4
Multifamily Homeownership
6
Single Family Homeownership
8
Shelter Plus Care for the Homeless
10
Family Self-Sufficiency
12
Preservation of Affordable Housing
14
Elderly Independence
16
Summary Table
18
Introduction
On November 28, 1990, President Bush signed into law a set of new ini-
tiatives called HOPE-Homeownershijp and Opportunity for People
Everywhere. This program is the first stage of a new and successful war
against poverty, deploying the forces of private-sector entrepreneurship
and economic incentive to create opportunity, jobs, and affordable hous-
ing.
Offering seven new initiatives, the HOPE agenda amounts to more than
$3.1 billion in total resources over 2 years, including more than $2.5
billion in authorized budget authority and over $630 million in State/local
and nonprofit matching funds. Together, these initiatives will dramatically
expand homeownership and affordable housing opportunities to help low-
income families achieve self-sufficiency.
But affordable housing and homeownership must be coupled with jobs and
entrepreneurial opportunities to make self-sufficiency a rewarding alterna-
tive to dependence. While Congress has passed most of the HOPE hous-
ing initiatives, other HOPE programs to expand economic opportunity,
jobs, and entrepreneurship were not passed into law. These include: the
Administration's Enterprise Zone legislation, which eliminates capital
gains taxes in depressed communities; the Housing Opportunity Zones
proposal to encourage State and local regulatory relief for affordable
housing; Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) for first-time homebuy-
ers to help finance homeownership; and extension of the Low-Income
Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to create and rehabilitate affordable housing
for low-income families and the working poor. If affordable housing
opportunities are combined with powerful entrepreneurial incentives,
poverty can be fought with a comprehensive strategy that attacks despair
on all fronts and replaces powerlessness with hope and opportunity for a
better future.
Instead of simply ameliorating the symptoms of poverty, HOPE builds a
ladder of opportunity so that poor people will be better able to pull them-
selves out of the poverty trap to live a life of dignity, independence, and
self-sufficiency. If there is one overriding theme of the HOPE initiatives,
it is to empower people to take control of their lives, their homes, and their
destinies.
2
Empowerment is a radical departure from the past because it attacks the
disincentives at the root of America's poverty problems rather than accept-
ing poverty as a long-term and intractable condition. In this respect, it
means incentivizing our housing and economic systems so that everyone
has the chance to reach as high as their aspirations and abilities will take
them. In short, HOPE promises to help Americans overcome the barriers
that stand between themselves and their full potential. Empowerment is
furthered through HOPE initiatives in two principal ways:
Empowering people with the opportunity to manage and own their
own homes and apartments
The Administration's HOPE homeownership grant programs and the
preservation initiative are based on turning renters into homeowners and
property managers. Broadening ownership of private property improves
maintenance and upkeep of housing, increases pride of ownership, and
gives low-income people reasons to save, invest, and plan for the future.
Empowering low-income people to live in dignity and independ-
ence by offering necessary support services
Poverty is not simply a housing problem, it is a multifaceted human
problem as well. The Administration's "Shelter Plus Care" program
provides the homeless who are seriously mentally ill or substance abusers
(over one-half of the homeless population) with the necessary support
services to live dignified lives. Family Self-Sufficiency ties vouchers and
certificates to comprehensive services-including child care, job training,
and transportation-to make shelter a platform for self-sufficiency. HOPE
also targets support services to the elderly to help them enjoy independent
lives.
In short, HOPE ambitiously offers not a Band-aid for poverty, but a
beginning effort at a cure. By strengthening the link between effort and
reward, by increasing equity stakes in homes and neighborhoods, by
expanding job creation and enterprise, the Administration's HOPE pro-
grams are opening a path of opportunity out of poverty and beginning to
recapture the American dream for millions who have been left behind.
Most importantly, President Bush's initiative offers hope-hope for
economic opportunity and better housing, hope for a better life for more
Americans, hope for the future.
3
HOPE Grants
The HOPE grants program is a multifaceted initiative created to increase
homeownership for low-income and working poor families. Authorized at
$1.0 billion over 1991 and 1992, HOPE grants are provided for:
Public and Indian Housing Homeownership ($448 million)
Multifamily Homeownership ($331 million)
Single Family Homeownership ($231 million)
Empowering the poor through resident management and homeownership
are two of the Administration's most important housing policy goals.
HOPE grants fund new programs to meet these housing goals.
The HOPE grants program enables public housing residents to purchase
their homes; it capitalizes on existing strengths and abilities of nonprofit
organizations and community-based housing development organizations;
and it increases the housing resources of the Nation's poor.
Grants can be used for public housing; properties financed or owned by
Federal, State, or local governments; and distressed properties in the
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) portfolio.
Recipients are required to match Federal HOPE grant funds with State,
local, or private funds.
Grants can be used for acquisition, rehabilitation, technical assistance,
counseling, and operating and replacement reserves.
HOPE grants provide initial and short-term subsidies for the promotion of
homeownership and other self-sufficiency opportunities.
4
Public and Indian Housing Homeownership
HUD is authorized to provide $448 million in grants over 2 years to fund
activities needed to develop and implement a successful homeownership
program for public and Indian housing residents.
Purpose
Homeownership is superior to rental housing in cost effectiveness and in
resident satisfaction. Homeownership instills pride, improves neighbor-
hoods, enhances independence, and encourages stable and intact families.
Many Public Housing Agencies (PHAs), Indian Housing Authorities
(IHAs), and resident organizations have been involved in providing
homeownership opportunities to public and Indian housing residents
through Federal programs, as well as through their own initiatives. Until
now, there has been no national program to guarantee all residents of
public and Indian housing the right to manage and own their residences.
Highlights
Assistance is available through national competitions to resident manage-
ment corporations, resident councils, cooperative associations, nonprofit
organizations, and public agencies (including PHAs and IHAs). This
assistance is available for two kinds of grants:
1. Planning and technical assistance grants to assess viability and
prepare residents for homeownership. Planning grants are limited
to $200,000 per project.
2. Implementation grants for the rehabilitation of developments, as
well as for counseling and training, economic development
activities, capital reserves, operating expenses and reserves, and
transaction costs.
Applicants are required to provide $1 for every $4 in Federal HOPE
implementation grant funds, except for funding for operating expenses and
for planning grants, which do not require matching funds. The match can
be provided through: Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) for
administrative expenses; taxes; fees or other charges waived for the
5
development; the donation of real property; and in-kind contributions,
including sweat equity by the purchasers.
Both multifamily and contiguous single-family public and Indian housing
units can be acquired. Multifamily developments can be sold as condo-
miniums, cooperatives, or other ownership arrangements approved by
HUD.
Families will not be required to pay more than 30 percent of their adjusted
income to purchase a residence.
Recipients are required to protect the rights of non-purchasing tenants by
allowing them to remain as renters after the development is sold, or by
giving them Section 8 certificates or vouchers to move into private hous-
ing.
Applicants must replace any housing sold on a one-for-one basis.
6
Multifamily Homeownership
HUD is authorized to provide $331 million in grants over 2 years to help
residents in government-insured or -owned, or FHA distressed multifamily
buildings to purchase and maintain their properties.
Purpose
There is a large stock of existing multifamily housing that has been in-
sured by Federal, State, or local governments. In addition, many FHA-
insured multifamily properties are in financial or physical distress or have
been foreclosed. This available and affordable housing represents another
potential homeownership resource.
Restoring these properties to good condition offers a major opportunity to
extend the benefits of homeownership to low-income families across the
country.
Owners who have mismanaged their rental properties should be replaced
with resident owners committed to their homes and their neighborhoods.
Subsidies which had been given to owners will be replaced with subsidies
targeted directly to residents, offering them greater control over their
housing.
Highlights
Assistance is available through national competitions to resident manage-
ment corporations, resident councils, cooperative associations, nonprofit
organizations, and public agencies (including PHAs and IHAs) for two
kinds of grants:
1. Planning grants to assess viability and prepare residents for
homeownership. Planning grants are limited to $200,000 per
project.
2. Implementation grants for acquisition, rehabilitation, technical as-
sistance, counseling and training, economic development activi-
ties, capital reserves, operating expenses and reserves, and trans-
7
action costs. Implementation grants are limited to the present
value of 10 years' worth of Section 8 Existing fair market rents.
Applicants are required to provide $1 for every $3 in Federal HOPE im-
plementation grant funds, except for funding for operating expenses and
for planning grants, which do not require matching funds. The match can
be provided through: CDBG for administrative expenses; taxes, fees or
other charges waived for the development; the donation of real property;
and in-kind contributions, including sweat equity by the purchasers.
Multifamily properties that are financed or insured by HUD; owned by
HUD, Farmers Home Administration, Resolution Trust Corporation, or a
State or local government; or HUD properties in serious physical or
financial distress can be purchased under this program.
Multifamily projects can be sold as condominiums, cooperatives, or other
ownership arrangements approved by HUD.
Families will not be required to pay more than 30 percent of their adjusted
income to purchase a residence.
Recipients are required to protect the rights of non-purchasing tenants
after the development is sold by giving them Section 8 certificates or
vouchers to use as a subsidy to remain in the development or to move into
other private housing.
8
Single Family Homeownership
HUD is authorized to provide $231 million in grants over 2 years to
promote low-income homeownership in publicly held single-family
properties.
Purpose
Single-family properties owned by Federal, State, or local agencies repre-
sent a significant potential resource for homeownership for low-income
families.
Scattered-site, single-family public and Indian housing units are also
suitable for conversion to homeownership.
Nonprofit organizations are another vast, untapped resource in many com-
munities. They are in an ideal position to develop homeownership pro-
grams because of their strong ties to the communities and neighborhoods
where low-income families live.
Highlights
Two kinds of grants are available through national competitions to non-
profit organizations or to public agencies (including PHAs and IHAs) in
cooperation with nonprofits:
1. Planning grants to assess viability and prepare families for home-
ownership. Planning grants are limited to $200,000 per applicant.
No planning grants will be funded for Fiscal Year 1991.
2. Implementation grants for acquisition, rehabilitation, counseling
and training, and transaction costs. While an applicant may be
approved for multiple projects in multiple neighborhoods, it may
not receive more than $1 million a year for implementation grants
in any one HUD Region.
Single-family properties with one to four units owned by HUD, the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs, Farmers Home Administration, Resolution
Trust Corporation, or a State or local government; or scattered-site, single-
family public and Indian housing can be purchased under the program.
9
Applicants are required to provide $1 for every $3 in Federal HOPE im-
plementation grant funds. The match can be provided through: CDBG for
administrative expenses; taxes, fees or other charges waived for the devel-
opment; the donation of real property; and in-kind contributions, including
sweat equity by the purchasers.
Families must be first-time homebuyers.
Families will not be required to pay more than 30 percent of their adjusted
income to purchase a residence.
3
8
10
Shelter Plus Care for the Homeless
Shelter Plus Care is authorized to provide $382 million over 2 years for a
program that combines housing with supportive services for the homeless
who are most difficult to serve-primarily those who are seriously men-
tally ill and substance abusers.
Purpose
Ending homelessness is a national priority. In Fiscal Year 1991, HUD
McKinney Act homelessness assistance will increase by more than 60
percent.
Over half of the homeless are seriously mentally ill or have problems with
alcohol or other drugs. McKinney Act programs do not provide the kind
of comprehensive approach needed to address the problems of many of
these people.
The complete answer to getting people off the streets is permanent hous-
ing supplemented by the necessary supportive services that will help them
to return to the economic mainstream.
Highlights
Assistance will be made available only to States and cities that demon-
strate vigorous outreach to the homeless street population as part of their
program plan.
The Shelter Plus Care program has three types of housing options:
1. Five-year flexible rental assistance; up to 1 year of this assistance
may be used in designated buildings, followed by assistance for
the remainder of the term in more independent living situations.
2. Five-year rental assistance in housing owned or leased by non-
profits under the Section 202 program.
3. Ten-year housing assistance for the moderate rehabilitation of
single-room occupancy dwellings.
11
The creation of three program choices allows recipients to provide a
continuum of housing options ranging from transitional to permanent
housing, with the emphasis on creating permanent housing arrangements.
Recipients are required to match each dollar of Federal housing assistance
with a dollar of supportive services.
Projects must serve homeless persons with disabilities (primarily persons
who are seriously mentally ill; have chronic problems with alcohol, drugs,
or both; or have Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or related dis-
eases) and their families. HUD must ensure that at least 50 percent of the
program's funds are awarded to projects that will serve homeless individu-
als with these three disabilities.
Services expected to be provided through matching funds include health
care, mental health treatment, detoxification, case management, education,
job training, and other services essential for independent living.
Linking housing with services will mean that the full range of needs for
the homeless are addressed in a coordinated and comprehensive way.
12
Family Self-Sufficiency
Families eligible for, or participating in, the Section 8 certificate or
voucher programs or public housing will be provided an opportunity to
achieve self-sufficiency and economic independence. Family Self-Suffi-
ciency is a comprehensive program that combines housing assistance with
appropriate services such as job training, child care and transportation to
help families become self-sufficient and economically independent.
Purpose
The Family Self-Sufficiency program promotes the development of local
strategies to coordinate the use of HUD housing programs with public and
private resources.
Coordination with the Job Opportunity and Basic Skills training programs
and Job Training Partnership Act programs will be especially important in
arranging the delivery of services that participating families will need to
climb a ladder of opportunity out of poverty and into self-sufficiency.
Highlights
In Fiscal Years 1991 and 1992 the program is voluntary, though a compe-
tition for incentive units will be held to encourage and reward successful
Family Self-Sufficiency programs. Twelve thousand Section 8 rental
certificates and rental vouchers and up to 1,000 units of public housing
development funds will be awarded through this competition.
Beginning in Fiscal Year 1993, PHAs must operate Family Self-Suffi-
ciency programs. The size of the local program will be determined by the
increase in the number of certificates, vouchers, and public housing units
made available in the community.
Participation in the program by eligible families is voluntary.
Each participating family will negotiate a contract of participation with the
sponsoring PHA. The contract will spell out the provisions of the local
program, the services and resources to be provided to the family, and the
13
responsibilities that the family accepts in entering the program. The
contract will also specify the conditions under which the PHA may with-
hold or terminate services if the family fails to comply with contract
requirements.
Local Coordinating Committees, comprised of residents, local community
leaders, and government officials, will guide the operation of the Family
Self-Sufficiency programs. They are responsible for overseeing develop-
ment of an action plan, commitment of resources, and delivery of services.
14
Preservation of Affordable Housing
HUD is authorized to provide more than $1 billion in assistance over 2
years to help preserve the stock of Federally assisted housing as affordable
rental housing, provide homeownership opportunities for tenants, fairly
compensate owners, and protect tenants in the few cases where owners
will prepay their mortgages.
Purpose
Over the next 15 years, owners of nearly 360,000 units of FHA-insured
multifamily housing will become eligible to prepay their mortgages,
eliminate low-income use restrictions, and convert these properties to
market-rate uses.
It is essential that low-income families continue to have access to afford-
able housing and opportunities for homeownership. At the same time, it is
necessary to fairly compensate owners seeking to prepay their mortgages.
Highlights
Owners eligible to prepay will have three options under this strategy; each
option potects current tenants. The owners' options are:
1. Owners may seek financial incentives from HUD in order to re-
ceive a fair rate of return on their investment. Owners who re-
ceive these incentives must agree to maintain their properties as
affordable rental housing for at least 50 more years.
2. Owners may seek to sell their properties, and tenants will have a
"right of first refusal" to purchase them for resident homeowner-
ship programs. HUD will provide grants to resident councils to
acquire and rehabilitate properties as well as to support home-
ownership counseling and related activities.
If tenants decide not to pursue a resident homeownership pro-
gram, nonprofits, public agencies, and for-profit entities will also
have a "right" to purchase a property in order to maintain it as
affordable rental housing. HUD will provide insured acquisition
15
and rehabilitation loans and other financial incentives in order to
maintain properties as affordable housing. For nonprofit and
public agency purchasers, HUD can also provide assistance in the
form of grants.
If owners receive no bona fide offers within specified time peri-
ods, they may prepay their mortgages and eliminate the low-
income, rental-use restrictions.
3. In limited circumstances, owners may seek to prepay their mort-
gages and end affordability restrictions. In order to do this,
owners must demonstrate that: current tenants will not be ad-
versely affected economically; the supply of vacant, affordable
housing in the area will not be affected; the ability of low-income
residents to find decent, safe, and sanitary housing near jobs will
not be adversely affected; the housing opportunities of minorities
will not be adversely affected.
Protections for current tenants are dependent upon the option chosen. For
projects that will continue as affordable rental housing, lower income
tenants will receive Section 8 rental assistance and the rent payments of
moderate-income families will not exceed 30 percent of their income.
In other situations, i.e., under owner prepayment and for non-purchasing
families in a project with a resident homeownership program, lower
income tenants will be eligible for Section 8 vouchers and certificates,
relocation payments, and/or other forms of assistance. Moderate-income
tenants will be eligible for relocation payments and other types of protec-
tion.
16
Elderly Independence
HOPE for Elderly Independence is a 2-year, $90-million demonstration
program to provide service-supported housing for the elderly, enabling
them to live more independent and dignified lives.
Purpose
The elderly, who are the fastest-growing segment of our Nation's popula-
tion, are often frail and in need of supportive services to help them stay in
their homes and avoid institutionalization.
HOPE for Elderly Independence combines housing assistance with the
minimum package of services required to help each frail elderly partici-
pant remain independent.
Highlights
Services funding, linked with 5-year Section 8 rental housing vouchers or
rental certificates, is authorized over 2 years, to be awarded competitively
to PHAs in order to help up to 3,000 elderly persons not currently receiv-
ing housing assistance.
Services funding of $10 million in 1991 and $10.4 million in 1992 can be
used for a wide range of services. Program funds can be used to pay for
the employment of a case manager/services coordinator to ensure that the
services the elderly receive meet their needs. Services funded under the
program may include personal care, case management, transportation,
meal services, and other services essential for achieving and maintaining
independent living.
Housing assistance funding of $34 million in 1991 and $36 million in
1992 will allow frail elderly individuals to choose housing suitable to their
needs, including the option to remain in their current homes.
HUD services funding covers 40 percent of the total cost of services.
Tenants provide 10 percent of the cost, and PHAs are required to provide
50 percent, which they may secure from other Federal, State, local, or
17
private sources. This co-payment encourages the efficient use of compre-
hensive services.
PHAs are required to use a local volunteer Professional Assessment
Committee to identify the eligible elderly and to develop individualized
service plans for them.
18
HOPE Initiatives
(Dollars in Millions)
FEDERAL FUNDING RESOURCES:
FY 1991
FY 1992
2-Year Total
HOPE Grants
$165
$ 865
$1,030
Public and Indian Housing Homeownership
68
38
448
Multifamily Homeownership
51
280
331
Single Family Homeownership
36
195
231
Elderly Independence Services
10
10
20
Replacement/Nonpurchaser Assistance*
42
270
312
Elderly Independence
34
36
70
Shelter Plus Care for the Homeless
133
258
391
Family Self-Sufficiency
**
**
**
Preservation of Affordable Housing*
0
718
718
Total Federal Funding Resources:
374
2,147
2,521
MATCHING RESOURCES:
HOPE Grants Match
47
195
242
(including Elderly Independence)
Match for Shelter Plus Care for the Homeless
133
258
391
TOTAL RESOURCES
554
2,600
3,154
*
Authorized in Housing Act; figures represent budget request
** At least 10 percent of incremental Section 8 vouchers and certificates and public housing develop-
ment funds must be set aside for Family Self-Sufficiency.
t
Provided in conjunction with Elderly Independence. Total funding for the program is $90 million.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of Policy Development and Research
Washington, D.C. 20410-6000
April 1991
HUD-PDR-1246-1