Welcome to CLPHA's Press Room
CLPHA experts welcome interview requests from print, radio, television, and online reporters and are happy to provide their insights on issues of public housing and related legislation and policy.
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David Greer
Director of Communications
(202) 550-1381 or dgreer@clpha.org.
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WASHINGTON (September 20, 2019) – Sunia Zaterman, the Executive Director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, issued the following statement today in response to President Trump’s and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Carson’s recent comments on the crisis of homelessness in America:
“It is astounding that this administration is calling for an end to homelessness while refusing to reinvest in public and affordable housing. People without a place to live need stable housing, not just campaign rally rhetoric or politically driven economic reporting based on cherry-picked research to manufacture a root cause of homelessness.
“The reasons for homelessness vary and no single solution will end the crisis, but there is no question that the lack of affordable housing opportunities exacerbates the problem for families, people with disabilities, and veterans.
“The Housing First model, recognized by HUD as recently as December as the most effective way to end homelessness, treats stable housing as a platform for supportive services that meet immediate and long-term needs for individuals and families.
“Meanwhile, this Administration has tried to gut funding for HUD and for public housing authorities, which are essential partners in local efforts to provide safe, stable housing to low and very-low income families, and those most vulnerable to homelessness.
“PHAs work with their Continuums of Care to provide transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, and vouchers to households exiting homelessness. They also coordinate with a variety of local service providers to offer supportive services to ensure housing stability, and work with health and education partners to promote access to services that are essential for family well-being and self-sufficiency.
“The hundreds of thousands of unsheltered people living on the streets in our country need real solutions, not campaign speeches.”
About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities is a national non-profit organization that works to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education. CLPHA’s 70 members represent virtually every major metropolitan area in the country. Together they manage 40 percent of the nation’s public housing program; administer more than a quarter of the Housing Choice Voucher program; and operate a wide array of other housing programs. Learn more at clpha.org and on Twitter @CLPHA and follow @housing_is for news on CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative to better intersect the housing field and other areas of critical importance such as health and education.
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CLPHA Applauds Appointment of Greg Russ to Lead New York City Housing Authority
Greg Russ is the right leader at the right time to oversee NYCHA and tackle the unique challenges facing the nation's largest and oldest public housing authority.
WASHINGTON (June 19, 2019) - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the City of New York yesterday announced the appointment of Gregory Russ to serve as the next Chair of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).
Sunia Zaterman, Executive Director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) issued the following statement in support of the city's selection of Russ, who is the current CEO/Executive Director of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) and a member of CLPHA's Board of Directors:
"Greg Russ is the right leader at the right time to oversee NYCHA and tackle the challenges facing the nation's largest and oldest public housing authority. Greg is a distinguished public housing executive and proven change maker who has led with innovation to positively transform affordable housing for residents and communities. He is uniquely qualified for this position because of his experience as the Director of Troubled Agency Recovery and his work at the Chicago and Philadelphia housing authorities.
"Throughout his career, Greg has shown a commitment to preserving and improving the public housing stock while promoting self sufficiency and economic opportunities for HUD-assisted families in PHAs across the nation. In addition to his leadership in the field, Greg is considered a national expert on public housing policy.
"CLPHA applauds Mayor Bill de Blasio's selection of Greg Russ to serve as NYCHA's next chair and we look forward to supporting Greg in his new role."
About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities is a national non-profit organization that works to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education. CLPHA’s 70 members represent virtually every major metropolitan area in the country. Together they manage 40 percent of the nation’s public housing program; administer more than a quarter of the Housing Choice Voucher program; and operate a wide array of other housing programs. Learn more at clpha.org and on Twitter @CLPHA and follow @housing_is for news on CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative to better insect the housing field and other areas of critical importance such as health and education.
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FY20 Funding Bill from the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Includes Robust Funding Increases and Legislative Language to Prevent HUD from Evicting Mixed-Status Immigrant Families
WASHINGTON (May 22, 2019) - In preparation for a subcommittee markup on the morning of May 23, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD) today released their FY20 funding bill. According to the subcommittee proposal, the discretionary funding level for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) totals $50.1 billion, an increase of $5.9 billion above the FY19 enacted level, and $13.4 billion above President Trump’s request.
The Executive Director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, Sunia Zaterman, issued the following statement in support of the bill:
“In a familiar pattern and reprise of repudiating Trump Administration budget proposals, the House THUD budget reflects Congress’ continuing commitment to fund critically important housing and community development programs the Administration proposed rescinding, cutting, or eliminating in its budget request.
“CLPHA is pleased that under the leadership of THUD Subcommittee Chairman David Price (D-NC) and Ranking Member Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), the THUD proposal increases – in several instances substantially increases – or level funds programs critical to communities served by public housing authorities.
“In addition to robust funding increases, such as the doubling of Choice Neighborhoods to $300 million and fully funding the Section 8 account, the proposal includes legislative language to prevent HUD from evicting mixed-status immigrant families from public housing, and to prohibit HUD from unilaterally changing the public housing annual contributions contract without public input and following the administrative procedures act process. Importantly, mandatory rent increases and work requirements were not included in the subcommittee’s bill.
“We applaud the subcommittee for its ongoing commitment to public and affordable housing and look forward to working with the Chair and Ranking Member in support of this bill.”
About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities is a national non-profit organization that works to preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education. CLPHA’s 70 members represent virtually every major metropolitan area in the country. Together they manage 40 percent of the nation’s public housing program; administer more than a quarter of the Housing Choice Voucher program; and operate a wide array of other housing programs. Learn more at clpha.org and on Twitter @CLPHA and follow @housing_is for news on CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative to better intersect the housing field and other areas of critical importance such as health and education.
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From GW Today:
Erin Athey has spent decades working in community medicine in Washington, D.C., a career that made her painfully aware of the disparity in care access between the city’s high-income and low-income residents.
“There is a 20-year difference in life expectancy between the White House and Ward 8,” the adjunct and former assistant professor at the George Washington University School of Nursing said. “So this is a system that needs a massive overhaul."
During the COVID-19 pandemic, while running a series of mobile clinic events with the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), Athey noticed that DCHA properties often have a small number of offline units reserved for community service providers. An epiphany dawned: Could these unused public housing units be used as “wellness hubs,” providing convenient health care services in the communities that need them most?
Athey started sketching out ideas on a napkin. In addition to the units that could potentially be repurposed into clinics, some DCHA properties also have large community spaces, which Athey realized could be used for educational events and free gatherings. Brainstorming “was an iterative process,” Athey said. “I was really trying to think about how we could anchor these health care services out in the community."
Due to her longstanding relationship with DCHA, Athey was able to consult with and quickly gain support from colleagues at the agency. “I shared with them that instead of just these mobile pop-ups we were doing, maybe we could establish some permanent mini-clinics along those same routes,” she remembered. “And because of COVID, I think there was sort of an urgency for them to say yes.”
Read GW Today's article "D.C. Public Housing Units Become Health Care Hubs."
CLPHA Members in Cuyahoga and Norfolk Earned Additional CNI Funding
Three of CLPHA’s members—Houston Housing Authority, Miami-Dade Public Housing & Community Development Department, and Syracuse Housing Authority—were awarded HUD Choice Neighborhoods Implementation (CNI) Grants for the first time. Two of CLPHA’s members—Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority and Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority—each received an additional $2.5 million in funding for current CNI projects in this latest round of CNI awards. HUD has announced a total of $325 million in CNI grants to fifteen communities.
The Syracuse Housing Authority and City of Syracuse were awarded $50 million for the McKinney Manor and Pioneer Homes public housing properties and the surrounding East Adams neighborhood. Residents of the historically Black East Adams community were displaced in 1959 when several blocks were razed for the construction of Interstate 81. As part of this project the New York State Department of Transportation will tear down elevated portions of I-81. In its place the new project will feature 1,404 new mixed-income housing units in a community grid design, enhanced access to quality education, increased economic opportunity through workforce and small business development, and improved neighborhood connectivity and visibility.
The Houston Housing Authority and the City of Houston received $50 million for the redevelopment of its Cuney Homes public housing property and the surrounding historically Black Third Ward neighborhood, a community that housed many residents emancipated from slavery in the years after Houston’s 1836 founding. When completed, the redevelopment will feature 1,115 mixed-income, transit-oriented units and offer increased access to mental health care, local education resources, and workforce programs.
The Miami-Dade County Public Housing and Community Development Department and the City of Miami were awarded nearly $40 million to redevelop the Culmer Place and Culmer Gardens public housing properties and the surrounding Overtown neighborhood, which was once a thriving entertainment and commercial hub known as the “Harlem of the South.” When completed, the project will include 1,069 mixed-income units, energy efficient design, new green spaces, clubhouses, community rooms, gardens, and improvements to security and lighting around the building.
Artists' renderings of future plans for CLPHA Members' Choice Neighborhoods communities, from top: Syracuse Housing Authority's McKinney Manor in Syracuse's East Adams neighborhood; Houston Housing Authority's Cuney Homes in Houston's Third Ward neighborhood; Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development Department's Culmer Gardens in Miami's Overtown neighborhood
The seven new CNI grantees will collectively develop over 6,500 new mixed-income units, including one-for-one replacement of 2,677 severely distressed public housing units. Grantees leverage the funds they receive from HUD with other public and private resources. The seven new awardees will collectively invest more than $2.65 billion in additional resources within their Choice Neighborhoods areas, meaning every $1 in HUD funds will generate $8.65 in additional resources.
Click here to view a summary of each community’s new CNI award. More information on CNI grants can be found here.
From FOX 25 Oklahoma City:
More than 10,000 books are now in the hands of the Oklahoma City Housing Authority (OCHA). They started giving some away to children Monday afternoon.
The books are coming from a partnership with a national book giveaway program called the Book Rich Environments Initiative.
"I just like reading," Maddox, who received a book, said.
Maddox was in luck on June 17, as OCHA hosted a summer kickoff book giveaway at one of its developments in south OKC.
"Education is always one of our components we focus on in the resident services department," Lacy McClain with OCHA said. "At OCHA, we value and want to promote literacy. We want to promote education among our residents."
In mid-June, CLPHA members from around the country gathered in bucolic Portland, OR for our 2024 Summer Meeting, hosted by Home Forward. Our gracious hosts highlighted their vibrant communities, impactful programs, and successful innovations throughout three days of events and conference sessions while showcasing Portland’s Pacific Northwest charm.
Our conference kicked off with a bus tour of Home Forward communities around Portland. Attendees first stopped at Hazel Ying Lee Apartments, a stunning, brand-new complex that features 68 units at 30% of area median income (AMI), 138 units at 60% AMI, and 30 permanent supportive housing units. Named for a Portlander who was the first Chinese American female pilot, Hazel Ying Lee has excellent transit links, multiple community rooms, free Wi-Fi in common spaces, a computer lab, a playground, and a basketball court. Our next stop was Dahlke Manor, a high-rise featuring 115 public housing units for seniors and individuals with disabilities. Under Oregon’s Congregate Housing Services Program residents receive hot meals, bathing assistance, and other services that help them live independently. Finally, we visited Dekum Courts, which includes 47 completed units and 140 more under construction. Dekum Courts offers numerous resident services, thanks in part to partnerships with a local elementary school and the nearby University of Oregon, Portland. Throughout the bus tour we passed several other Home Forward communities, and Home Forward staff served as excellent tour guides for both their city and their housing properties.
The following day we began our conference sessions with welcome remarks from Ivory N. Mathews, CLPHA Board Member and CEO of Home Forward, Matthew Gebhardt, Board Chair of Home Forward, and several local elected officials. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden provided video remarks for the conference, and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, Oregon Senator Kayse Jama, and City of Portland Commissioner Carmen Rubio all welcomed attendees to their beautiful city and spoke to the importance of building strong local government partnerships to reduce homelessness and expand affordable housing opportunities. Damien Hall, Board Chair Emeritus of Home Forward and Co-Chair, Oregon’s Housing Production Advisory Council, Andrew B. Mendenhall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Central City Concern, and Andrew Lofton, HUD Northwest Regional Administrator for Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, also gave remarks. As always, our morning included our Ripples of Hope session, where attendees shared the latest good news from their PHAs and inspired each other with their success stories.
The afternoon was filled with enlightening, engaging panels prepared by Home Forward that shared learnings, challenges, and successes from their programs and operations. A panel on PHA wage equity provided valuable insights and actionable strategies from both Home Forward and King County Housing Authority on how to advance pay equity and foster a more inclusive, equitable workplace employees, a PHA’s most valuable resource. Panelists from both PHAs emphasized the importance of ensuring that all of their staff earned a wage that enabled them to comfortably afford housing so that their PHAs did not contribute to housing insecurity and market instability in their communities. The next panel covered Home Forward’s journey to address increasing property losses and rising insurance rates through use of its insurance captive LLC. Panelists from Home Forward and Marsh Captive Solutions shared actionable insights that other housing authorities can adopt to fortify their own risk management strategies in a landscape of relentless increases in insurance rates and repair costs. Our afternoon sessions concluded with a session on centering resident voices in advocacy and leadership, highlighting the impact of Home Forward’s Resident Community Builders (RCB) initiative. Panelists agreed that having RCBs across Home Forward communities has greatly helped to increase engagement and trust between the PHA and its residents. Our full day of conference sessions concluded with a reception at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, hosted by Home Forward, that allowed attendees to unwind and mingle with beautiful views of the Willamette River.
Our last morning began with a presentation from Home Foward and partner Burch Energy Services on their crucial work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance social equity, and build climate resilience in vulnerable communities. The speakers discussed sources of emissions in affordable housing, the importance of climate action, vulnerability assessments, effective strategies for emission reduction, measuring emissions, setting key performance indicators, and engaging stakeholders in sustainable practices. Following the presentation, Home Forward concluded the conference with two sessions on their permanent supportive housing work. The first session provided a snapshot of where Home Forward is now with their PSH efforts and discussed the PHAs’ successes and challenges in deploying supportive services, aligning local resources, developing and funding new housing, and advocating for a better system of care. The second session expanded its focus to the wider Portland Metro area, exploring what leadership in PSH efforts looks like regionwide and how various partners can collaborate to expand and improve the region’s supportive housing system. The conference concluded with the announcement of the happy news that HUD had delayed the NSPIRE-V compliance date until October 1, 2025, a relief for PHAs who had been preparing for an unfeasible, earlier start date.
CLPHA extends our deepest gratitude to Home Forward for sharing their city and their perspective with us, and for helping us to put on such an informative slate of conference sessions and events. We would also like to thank our many sponsors for their support of the meeting – we could not have put on this conference without them. We hope our attendees enjoyed their time in Portland, and we look forward to seeing our members again in November in Washington, D.C.!
From the Denver Housing Authority's press release:
The Denver Housing Authority (DHA) announced it received a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant of $800,000 to fund DHA Resident Programs. This grant is part of a $44 million national allocation to support programs to help people living in public housing or receiving rental assistance move toward economic independence. Acting HUD Secretary Adrianne Todman along with Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, and U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette made the announcement while visiting the DHA Westwood Opportunity Center in Denver.
“This funding aims to bolster initiatives linking our residents with essential services including healthcare, employment prospects, financial literacy, and more,” remarked Joaquín Cintrón Vega, Chief Executive Officer. “These funds help support people improving their conditions and thriving in life.”
The $800,000 awarded to DHA will provide three years of service coordination and staff who will work with over 700 families that currently live across six DHA properties. Specific grants were issued to the Walsh Manor Local Resident Council (LRC) in the amount of $267,450; Westridge Homes (LRC) in the amount of $263,430 and Westwood (LRC) in the amount of $263,430. The LRC’s will subcontract with DHA to provide service coordination at the sites. Service Coordinators provide critical services and case management to residents living in these communities, connecting individuals and families to healthcare, benefits, job opportunities, financial education, food, and more. The LRCs work alongside Service Coordinators to advocate for the community to ensure residents’ needs are being met and opportunities for upward economic growth are being provided.
“We are trying to make sure that first-generation homeowners, people whose parents or grandparents probably never had a house, are able to receive that American dream,” HUD Secretary Adrianne Todman said. “Nothing makes it feel better than being here in Denver to help people realize those dreams, but also help the leadership help people along the way.”
Todman praised the Denver Housing Authority for its “extraordinary work” helping families not only access affordable housing but save money that can help them meet their future goals.