CLPHA Press Room

From the Family Service Society of Yonkers' (FSSY) press release:

Family Service Society of Yonkers (FSSY) is partnering with Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers (MHACY) in a joint mission to assist kinship families seeking affordable housing. In this cooperative effort, kinship families (headed by grandparents raising children in the absence of their biological parents) who are seeking affordable housing in Yonkers will receive local preference alongside other groups such as the disabled, veterans and the homeless, making them eligible for priority placement in affordable housing and the receipt of Section 8 vouchers. FSSY Kinship Support Program will facilitate placement of kinship families in affordable housing by performing community outreach and assisting kinship caregivers in completing MHACY's intake forms to determine their eligibility for both municipal housing and section 8 vouchers.

There are over 1,450 grandparents in Yonkers raising grandchildren because their parents are unable to do so. The FSSY Kinship Support Program assists 50 of these families. Over 90% of them fall in the low and extremely low income categories, and 96% are women, most of whom are single grandmothers.

Helen Frankel, Executive Director of FSSY states "Kinship caregivers take the responsibility for raising children when many can barely afford to make ends meet and have inadequate housing. Most are single grandmothers with very low incomes who have taken over caring for traumatized children because their parents are unable to care for them. We are very pleased to partner with MHACY in affording kinship caregivers the assistance they need and hope that other municipalities will also consider taking similar measures to provide adequate and safe housing for kinship families."

Wilson Kimball, President & CEO, Municipal Housing of the City of Yonkers said, "MHACY's past and current relationship with FSSY and its resident coordinators has been very rewarding for our tenants and our staff. We look forward to partnering with FSSY on this new and much-needed service to an incredibly important population."

Read FSSY's press release, featuring the Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers.

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP), ABK Learning & Development Center, and Duquesne University School of Education were honored on May 10, 2022, with the Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission's Response in Caring Award. The partnership was one of three such efforts in the state to receive the distinction, presented by Gov. Tom Wolf and former Gov. Mark Schweiker during the Commission’s annual Early Learning Economic Summit. 

The early learning center, housed in the Bedford EnVision Center, launched in February 2018. The resulting program is the culmination of years of strategic planning designed to make high-quality early childhood education accessible and affordable to the residents of PA’s oldest public housing community, the Bedford Dwellings. 

The HACP and our partners are proud to receive recognition for an initiative that has been truly creative in expanding access to high quality child care in Bedford Dwellings and the surrounding Hill District community. The program has expanded through the years to increase capacity and continue to serve families as students progress through Pre-K, Kindergarten and First Grade. The center is also one of the few in the nation that offers around-the-clock childcare in order to accommodate workforce families that work nontraditional hours. 

“High quality, accessible early childhood education is a vital component of a thriving community. And while the recognition is nice, this effort has been a labor of love for HACP and our partners,” said Michelle Sandidge, Chief Community Affairs Officer at the HACP. “Knowing that HACP residents have access to one of the very best early learning centers in the city is the true reward.”

Learn more about the center and the HACP's recent achievement in this brief video:  https://youtu.be/xkTkmrIrf1o 

For additional information, please contact Michelle Sandidge, Chief Community Affairs Officer at michelle.sandidge@hacp.org.  

From The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator's (LACI) press release:

Congresswoman Nanette Díaz Barragán (CA-44), author of the EVs For All Act (HR 6662) that would provide residents of 50 public housing projects nationwide with access to zero emission cars and charging infrastructure (alt. stations), joined San Pedro constituents and Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) President & CEO Matt Petersen to see first-hand the innovative EV car-sharing program that inspired her legislation, and to advocate that everyone, regardless of income, must be included in the electric vehicle transformation.

During Rep. Barragán’s and Petersen’s tour of the Rancho San Pedro EV Car Share Program, they spoke to residents about air quality and transportation issues they face, and how the successful pilot program developed by LACI facilitates residents’ mobility and helps them cope with high gas prices. LACI created the EV Car Share pilot to find ways to increase equitable access to EVs and charging while accelerating progress toward their Transportation Electrification Partnership’s targets to achieve by the 2028 Olympics, including getting 30% of the cars on the road across LA county to be EVs and 40% of the drayage trucks serving ports to be zero emissions

“My constituents in Rancho San Pedro public housing are overwhelmingly burdened by toxic air pollution due to their proximity to the Port of Los Angeles, oil refineries, and transportation corridors with heavy truck traffic,” Congresswoman Barragán said. “We know the future is zero emissions, but without the right investments, low-income communities are at risk of being left behind. This community deserves clean air and affordable zero emission transportation options that will also result in more clean vehicles on the roads in their community.”

“Many communities of color face disproportionate air pollution yet completely lack access to EV charging infrastructure or electric vehicles,” said Matt Petersen, LACI’s CEO. “To achieve the Biden Administration’s commitment to Justice40, we need to scale models like LACI’s EV car share pilot that brings EVs and charging to disadvantaged communities. I am proud that Rep. Barragán’s EVs for All legislation is modeled on LACI’s pilot we created with and for the residents of Rancho San Pedro.”

The EVs for All Act, H.R. 6662, would authorize up to $50 million in annual appropriations from 2022-2031 for a new grant program with the Department of Energy in coordination with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT). The bill would help public housing authorities and local governments invest in electric vehicles (EV), EV charging stations, community education and outreach, and other services and incentives to provide access to EVs in underserved communities.

H.R. 6662 is aligned with the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 Initiative, a commitment to invest 40% of the federal government’s investments in climate and clean energy in disadvantaged communities.

The Rancho San Pedro EV Car Share is a 12-month pilot program created by LACI in partnership with the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA), Envoy and Nissan. The program, which has now been extended indefinitely by HACLA and to which LACI will soon add an e-bike share, provides two EVs for residents to rent for $3 an hour, along with dedicated spaces for charging, and access to HACLA Community Coaches who conducted outreach, enrollment and training. Residents use these cars to get to work, grocery shop, run errands, for doctors appointments, and to visit family.

Read LACI's press release, featuring the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles.

From the Chicago Housing Authority's press release:

For the second year, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) partnered with the Daisie Foundation, a non-profit that specializes in random acts of kindness, for a special Mother’s Day Makeover Celebration honoring 100 CHA residents Wednesday at ROW 24.

CHA moms were treated not only to a day of makeovers, pampering and giveaways, but also a day of inspiration and empowerment. On hand was CHA CEO Tracey Scott, who thanked the Daisie Foundation for its support of CHA residents.

“This is for all the moms, who truly deserve this special day,” CEO Scott said. “Events like these not only highlights our admiration for CHA moms, but reinforces the idea that we are not just here to invest in bricks and mortar – but people. I’d like to again thank the Daisie Foundation and Executive Board President Julie Hightower for making this great event possible.”

Julie Hightower, Daisie Foundation Executive Board President, said:

"For the second year in a row, Daisie Foundation is proud to partner with the CHA on this impactful event. Staying true to our purpose to spread joy, we aim to make this a special day to celebrate the strength, beauty and resilience of all mothers.”

Among the sponsors were Panera, which provided lunch; Shiraleah, which gave gifts; Meijer, which distributed brand new dresses to moms in its onsite styling room; Benefit Cosmetics, which gave complimentary, award-winning waxing treatments; Pin Me Up, which provided makeup and hair stylists; and ROW 24, which provided the venue. Sponsors also included Chicago Liposuction by Windsor Lift Body Center; Luster Hair; UPS and ComEd.

Also, the Chicago White Sox provided vouchers for game tickets for all 100 moms.

This event meant the world to CHA resident Augustina Townsend, who was so overwhelmed she often teared up.

 “Oh my gosh, I am really excited,” she said. “I’ve been telling all my friends, ‘You know I have a makeover Wednesday?’ I’m not expecting anyone else to give me anything. This is my Mother’s Day gift.”

Read CHA's press release.

8th Annual Housing Is Summit Focuses on Health and Housing

It has been shown that housing instability has an impact on a range of health issues, including mental health. At the national level, the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities has brought together housing and health sectors through its pioneering Housing Is Initiative, while public housing authorities (PHAs) have served their residents and communities with partnerships and programs offering mental health care. May’s National Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportunity to raise awareness of the work that CLPHA, public housing authorities and countless organizations do every day to help those who suffer from this often-stigmatized disease.

CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative was founded in 2015 to break down silos between the different support systems of health, education and housing, and to forge partnerships to improve life outcomes for families living in assisted housing. The 8th annual Housing Is Summit on May 18 and 19 is the preeminent gathering of housing, health and education organizations and activists. This year, the Summit is presenting several health-focused sessions that incorporate mental health components, including “Learning from Cross-Sector Partnerships to Expand Supportive Housing” and “Care Coordination: A Sustainable Approach to Addressing the Social Determinants of Health.” Register for the 8th Annual Housing Is Summit here.

In between annual Summits, Housing Is presents webinars that highlight how PHAs are approaching cross-sector work, including those that collaborate with local partners to address mental health. In April, the Housing Is Working Group held a session on the behavioral health crisis in assisted housing in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seattle Housing Authority provided best practice examples on how to serve residents facing behavioral health crises.

CLPHA is also partnering with UnitedHealthcare in the Community Catalyst program, which convenes a broad range of community stakeholders to identify and address specific health care needs of members of the community and residents of publicly assisted housing who are often difficult to reach and serve. UnitedHealthcare collaborates with CLPHA by engaging CLPHA-member PHAs, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), and community-based organizations (CBOs) in their mutual commitment to serve as a catalyst to close gaps in care and address health challenges.

Several Community Catalyst PHA sites have chosen to focus on mental health topics. For example, Houston Housing Authority is planning to focus on social isolation, and the Detroit Housing Commission is focusing on supporting single mothers through a number of methods, including helping them access services such as health care screenings, family communication/parenting classes, and support groups.

At the community level, PHAs seek health-sector partnerships that offer mental health care. As was highlighted at the Housing Is Working Group webinar, SHA partnered with Aging and Disability Services (ADS) to support individuals living in SHA housing or with an SHA Housing Choice Voucher by providing access to health and mental health care, aging services, and activities that contribute to mental and physical well-being. ADS has 12 case managers that are assigned to SHA properties.

Public housing authorities also operate permanent supportive housing, which provides wraparound services that include mental health care for residents – a facet of these communities’ support services that is critical when working with homeless populations to keep them safely and permanently housed. PHAs approach permanent supportive housing from many different perspectives. The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency partnered with the City of Sacramento to purchase a downtown Sacramento motel that was transformed into a permanent supportive housing site for unhoused Sacramentans. The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee focused its latest permanent supportive housing efforts on veterans, who suffer from higher rates of mental illness than the average population, with six restored buildings on the Milwaukee Soldiers Home campus that offer 101 permanent supportive housing units for veterans and their families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Addressing mental health will always be a critical issue for CLPHA and PHAs because of its impact on housing stability for low-income individuals and families. CLPHA will continue to advocate for increased funding for mental health care services through programs such as permanent supportive housing, while the Housing Is initiative will build on its efforts to highlight the crucial connection between mental health and housing instability.