CLPHA Press Room

From the New  Haven Independent:

Montreal Johnson spoke of “HOPE” Wednesday. She meant it as an acronym meaning “hope opens peoples eyes.”

Johnson lives at the housing authority’s Rockview development in the West Rock neighborhood. As president of the Tenant Representiave Council (TRC) there, she has been working with the authority on plans for phase II of rebuilding the complex — and joined officials at a groundbreaking ceremony for the mixed-use project.

At the ceremony Johnson thanked the development team for putting the time into hearing from residents like herself and understanding their wants and needs.

Housing authority officials, Mayor Toni Harp and Ward 30 Alder Michelle Edmonds-Sepulveda also attended the groundbreaking for the 78-unit development.

Construction on this phase should take about a year, according to housing authority Executive Director Karen DuBois-Walton. The rebuilt mixed-income development will be made up of 62 affordable units and 16 market-rate units. DuBois-Walton said there will be 23 two-bedroom units, 51 three-bedroom units, and four four-bedroom units.

Read the New Haven Independent's article "Ground Broken On Another West Rock Redevelopment," featuring Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of New Haven.

From the District of Columbia Housing Authority's (DCHA) website: 

The D.C. Housing Authority has released a sweeping proposal to remove about a quarter of its public housing stock from federal ownership and demolish or gut ten apartment buildings.

Under a long-awaited plan to deal with the District’s dangerously dilapidated public housing facilities, DCHA would completely demolish and rebuild five properties. Another five complexes would be gutted and/or partially demolished. The city would seek financing and partnerships from the private sector, and convert the buildings into other forms of affordable housing.

“Anything that’s uninhabitable or untenable, we want to figure out how to move them to a safe space,” says DCHA director Tyrone Garrett of the plan, which needs to be approved by the DCHA Board of Commissioners.

Read "D.C. Housing Authority Proposes Plans for 14 Properties" on DCHA's website.

From the Jamaica Plain Gazette:

Mayor Martin J. Walsh this week announced the launch of the 2019 Boston Summer Eats Program, expanding access to healthy meals by providing free and nutritious meals to youth ages 18 and under at more than 100 locations throughout the city.

“No child in Boston should ever go hungry, and this program helps serve all students throughout the summer months,” said Mayor Walsh. “I am proud that through Boston Summer Eats, we are we are reducing food insecurity one child at a time, making sure that Boston’s students are happy, healthy, and ready before they return to the classroom next school year.”

The Boston Summer Eats program is led by the Mayor’s Office of Food Access (OFA) in partnership with Project Bread, the Greater Boston YMCA, and Boston Public Schools Food & Nutrition Services. The program provides free, nutritious meals and engaging programming to youth age 18 and under at over 100 locations around the City of Boston, including selected Boston Public Library branches, Boston Housing Authority properties, Farmers Markets, community and faith-based organizations, Boston City Hall, and the Bruce Bolling Building.

Read the Jamaica Plain Gazette's article "Mayor Martin Walsh Announces Summer Eats Program Across the City," featuring the Boston Housing Authority.

From the Charlestown Patriot-Bridge:

Boston Housing Authority (BHA) Administrator Bill McGonagle announced this week he will retire – or in his terms, ‘transition’ – from his longtime post at the BHA, and he will do so with absolute confidence that the massive Bunker Hill redevelopment will move forward without him at the helm.

“I’m not using the word retirement,” he joked on Tuesday, after announcing on Monday his departure from the agency after 40 years.

He noted he still has a ceramic lamp in his living room given to him years ago by the Senior Citizens ceramics class at the Golden Age Center on Main Street. That was something that symbolized his time at the BHA more than anything, as a man who grew up in South Boston public housing developments and shared a unique bond – rather than the animosity some directors have – with residents in Charlestown and all over Boston.

“That’s one thing I am particularly proud of in my career,” he said. “Having grown up in public housing, I think that has given me a unique perspective and allowed me to develop personal relationships with our residents. I have the capacity to empathize, not sympathize, with the…challenges they’re going through…I’m on a first-name basis with our resident leadership and residents all over the city.”

Read the Charlestown Patriot-Bridge's article "Bill McGonagle to Retire This Month: Absolutely Certain Bunker Hill Housing Project Redevelopment Will Happen Without Him," featuring the Boston Housing Authority.

From the Akron Beacon Journal:

A new group of 40 community leaders from across the business, government and nonprofit sectors has been selected to become Leadership Akron’s Signature Class 36, the organization announced in a news release.

Classes spend a full day each month focused on a facet of the community, building connections with other decision-makers along the way to graduation from the yearlong program.

Members of the new class and their associated community entities:

...

Lashawrida Fellows, Summit County Human Resources; Laura Fink, Akron Community Foundation; Leighann Fink, Roetzel and Andress; Tamara Fynan, J.M. Smucker Co.; Brian Gage, Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority...

Read the Akron Beacon Journal's article "Leadership Akron selects 40 participants for 2019-20 Signature Class," featuring the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority.