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.
For media inquiries, please contact:
David Greer
Director of Communications
During the COVID-19 quarantine, David can be reached at (202) 550-1381 or dgreer@clpha.org.
*Please let us know if you are working on deadline.
To view all of CLPHA's press releases, click here.
To view all of CLPHA's press statements, click here.
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Thanks again for your interest in CLPHA!
Web tool targets idea-sharing and improves cross-sector
collaboration to help low-income families
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(202) 550-1381
For Immediate Release
March 10, 2021 |
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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 .
About CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative
The Housing Is Initiative, led by the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, helps build a future where sectors work together to improve life outcomes. Housing stability is a critical first step to improve life outcomes for low-income children, families, and seniors; CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative is based on the premise that sectors can better meet needs when they work together. Housing Is establishes, broadens, and deepens efforts to align affordable housing, education, and health systems to produce positive, long-term results. Learn more at housingis.org and on Twitter @housing_is.
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(202) 550-1381
For Immediate Release
March 4, 2021 |
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(Washington, D.C.) March 4, 2021 – Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, released the following statement urging the swift passage of the American Rescue Plan Act in the U.S. Senate: “The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities calls for the Senate to pass the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which includes desperately needed $30 billion in emergency rental assistance, $5 billion in single-use vouchers, and a significant extension of the eviction moratorium. “This legislation is critical to addressing the rental crisis facing the nation. The situation has only grown more dire since the Biden Administration announced the American Rescue Plan in mid-January. Renters have continued to accrue past-due rent at an alarmingly high rate. While the eviction moratorium has provided important protections for renters financially impacted by the pandemic, the moratorium has meant that millions of renters have accumulated significant arrears. Economists estimate that unpaid rent at the end of January 2021 totals $52 billion, which amounts to $5,600 for the average renter. “The $5 billion in emergency housing vouchers will help transition persons-at-risk and homeless persons to stable housing. Emergency rental assistance is not only vital to renters, but its impact on the economy and public health is far-reaching. The Senate must act swiftly to provide emergency rental assistance and prevent a wave of evictions and housing instability that will tragically disrupt the lives of millions of Americans.” |
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About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
About CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative |
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(202) 550-1381
For Immediate Release
February 27, 2021 |
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(Washington, D.C.) February 27, 2021 – Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, released the following statement upon tonight’s passage of the American Rescue Plan Act in the U.S. House of Representatives:
“The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities applauds the House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, which includes $35 billion in emergency rental and utility assistance and a significant extension of the eviction moratorium.
“This legislation is critical to address the rental crisis facing the nation. The situation has only grown worse since the Biden Administration announced the American Rescue Plan in mid-January. Renters have continued to accrue past-due rent at an alarmingly high rate. While the eviction moratorium has provided important protections for renters financially impacted by the pandemic, the moratorium has meant that millions of renters have accumulated significant arrears. Economists estimate that unpaid rent at the end of January 2021 totals $52 billion, which amounts to $5,600 for the average renter. With the March 31 moratorium on evictions rapidly approaching, additional rent assistance is urgently needed to help renters stay in their homes by addressing back rent. The Senate must act swiftly to provide emergency rental assistance and prevent a wave of evictions that will tragically disrupt the lives of millions of Americans.”
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About the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
About CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative |
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Today, CLPHA Executive Director Sunia Zaterman was quoted in Affordable Housing Finance discussing how the shutdown threatens the stability of low-income households. Though HUD has prepared payments for housing vouchers and the public housing operating subsidy through February, Zaterman notes that the “existential threat” for voucher holders looms given the uncertainty of when the shutdown will end. If housing authorities cannot utilize HUD funding after February, there is a risk that that they will not be able to pay landlords and that landlords will subsequently begin to evict voucher-holding tenants.
Zaterman added that as HUD funding remains suspended due to the shutdown, local housing authorities are growing increasingly concerned about how they will maintain properties, make repairs, and pay employees.
CLPHA will continue our advocacy in support of PHAs and will provide members with additional news about the shutdown as we learn it.
In this December 27, 2018 article by Bruce Japsen for Forbes.com, CLPHA Executive Director Sunia Zaterman discusses the importance of cross-sector collaborations between housing and health care to improve life outcomes for low-income families and seniors.
“We’re housers with expertise in the management and operation of affordable housing for low-income families and seniors, but we are not experts in the complexities of health care service delivery,” Zaterman said. “That’s why nearly all of the public housing authorities we surveyed work with a partner to provide health services. Most would do more if they had the funding and resources to commit to their health partnerships.”
Anthony Scott, CEO of Durham Housing Authority (left) and A. Fulton Meachem, President & CEO of Charlotte Housing Authority (right) in Durham, NC.
CLPHA is pleased to see that our members are visiting each other’s communities to share knowledge, ideas, and best practices for preserving and strengthening their public housing portfolios and resident services.
In August, the Charlotte Housing Authority (CHA) hosted the Durham Housing Authority (DHA) and Durham city officials on a bus tour of Charlotte public housing properties. The Durham delegation also met with CHA staff, board members, and residents to discuss how Charlotte is transforming its housing portfolio and resident services through entrepreneurial efforts in real estate development, bond programs, property management, and family self-sufficiency programs. You can watch a video slideshow of the Charlotte & Durham meeting here.
In October, residents, staff, and board members from the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) traveled to Cambridge, MA to meet with Cambridge Housing Authority staff and tour public housing communities. MPHA learned from Cambridge about their ongoing, comprehensive public housing transformation financed through the RAD program, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and other funding tools. In a post-trip recap, MPHA said their residents expressed the importance of seeing and hearing for themselves that these programs did not result in displacement. In fact, said MPHA, “CHA residents were often able to simply move units and continue living in their building even as the work proceeded around them.” You can watch a video about MPHA’s trip to Cambridge here.
Representatives from the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority on a bus tour of Cambridge Housing Authority properties.
From Seattle Credit Union and the Tacoma Housing Authority's press release:
Seattle Credit Union is excited to announce an expansion into Tacoma in the summer of 2022.
The credit union’s mission is to provide financial support and opportunities for communities that are underserved and have been systemically discriminated against. Recognizing a need for financial services outside of King and Snohomish counties, Seattle Credit Union is expanding south to serve the Salishan community of Tacoma.
Seattle Credit Union will occupy a space at the Salishan Family Investment Center, located at 1720 E 44th St, Tacoma, WA, 98404, in a community center that serves East Tacoma. The Salishan Association and Tacoma Housing Authority, owners of this building, welcome Seattle Credit Union as a financial partner to meet the needs of residents in the area.
From the San Diego Housing Commission's press release:
Seniors age 62 and older who have low income will have 175 new affordable housing opportunities in Rancho Bernardo upon the completion of a new development in collaboration with the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC), which celebrated its ceremonial groundbreaking today.
“This groundbreaking is a crucial step in actually providing a solution to a problem we are grappling with here in San Diego, and that’s affordable housing, especially for our senior citizens,” said Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who represents Council District 5, where the Tizon development is located.
Tizon will provide 175 studio apartments for seniors with income up to 60 percent of San Diego’s Area Median Income, currently $50,940 per year for a one-person household. Developed by Affirmed Housing, the apartments at Tizon will remain affordable for 55 years. The property also will include three unrestricted managers’ units.
“The struggle to find and maintain a home they can afford remains all too common for many San Diego households,” SDHC Interim President & CEO Jeff Davis said. “This is especially true for seniors, who often have to rely only on their fixed incomes to make ends meet. That is why the new apartments that will be created here at Tizon are so important.”
From Patch.com:
The Housing Authority of Cook County is developing apartment units for low-income veterans, the organization announced.
According to officials, money for the project will come through a multimillion dollar loan from the county. Last week, officials announced the $4.25 million fund as an initiative to reduce homelessness across the south suburbs.
The Chicago Heights housing — which is planned for an existing building at 15th Street and Otto Boulevard — will include an exercise room, media room and community gardens.
Read Patch.com Chicago Heights, IL's article "Chicago Heights To Get More Housing For Low Income Veterans: Officials," featuring the Housing Authority of Cook County.
From Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service:
Willie Hines Jr. once lived in public housing.
Now he’s the first African American person to lead the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee, or HACM, in its 78-year history.
“I thrived from growing up in public housing,” Hines said. “This is an opportunity to give back to the community that gave to me.”
The HACM is the largest affordable housing provider in Wisconsin. It provides housing options and supportive services to over 10,000 low-income families, seniors, adults with disabilities and veterans.
Hines, 57, said he hopes to continue the good work of his predecessor, Antonio Pérez, who led the agency since 2000 and resigned in February.
“Tony knew how to draw on the talents and gifts of his staff to grow and develop our programs,” he said. “He is someone we will continue to learn from as long as he is accessible to us.”
Others on the HACM staff share Hines’ admiration for Pérez.
“He was big on keeping the faith, which could be stressful. But he was an easy leader to follow,” said Fernando Aniban, the chief financial officer.
Hines said although the brick-and-mortar work that the HACM does is important, he wants to grow and strengthen self-sufficiency programs that empower residents.
As the secretary-executive director of the HACM, Hines said he is proud to serve as the leader of an agency whose mission is to provide housing resources to low-income residents.
“Stable housing is the core of the Housing Authority,” said Kenneth Barbeau, the director of community programs and services. “Helping people move forward is the other part of what we do.”
Read Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service's article "‘An opportunity to give back’: Willie Hines Jr. plunges into new role as leader of Housing Authority."
At the first Earth Day celebration in 1970, the focus was on environmental education and protection. 52 years later, the environmental movement understands that the most vulnerable and communities of color are often the first and most affected by climate instability and change. Because public housing authorities serve low-income families and are a significant consumer of energy in the United States, with a large national footprint of residential and commercial properties, they are in a unique position to address climate justice and racial equity issues. CLPHA members are leading environmental justice efforts with green projects that develop environmental infrastructure plans, upgrade existing buildings, and build community-wide coalitions of tenants, local government, and private businesses.
Research shows that people living in low-income areas are more vulnerable to climate risks due to factors such as living in historically redlined areas, breathing more polluted air, and living in heat deserts. The Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers (MHACY) recently commissioned a feasibility study that laid out a comprehensive plan to promote environmental resiliency in one of the region’s largest affordable housing systems. The Hudson Valley region is expecting more intense rainfall over the next decade and many more heat waves due to climate change.
MHACY partnered with Groundwork Hudson Valley to develop an innovative green infrastructure plan that will prevent heat islands and flooding at housing authority properties. The plan was awarded a $900,000 grant from the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation. The proposed work will benefit hundreds of low-income residents in apartment buildings across the MHACY system. It is part of a larger environmental justice effort to correct policies that in the past have caused communities of color to suffer a disproportionate share of negative environmental consequences.
The Oklahoma City Housing Authority won a grant from the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to plant trees and improve irrigation along key corridors to create additional shade in areas where heat deserts have disproportionally impacted housing authority residents.
Tree planting at SHRA's Mirasol Village
The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency worked with the Sacramento Tree Foundation and the City of Sacramento to install a new functional stormwater infrastructure system that is camouflaged by a 1.1-acre community park with trees planted by residents and environmentalists. They hosted a tree planting event for volunteers to plant the first 26 trees of 10 different species at Mirasol Village, which will eventually have 800 trees in the project area. The development is Sacramento’s largest new 427-unit mixed-income housing project in the River District near the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River. The tree planting project was made possible with support from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, SIMPL (Sacramento Integrated Multimodal Placed-Based Living), and California Strategic Growth Council’s Transformative Climate Communities program with funds from California Climate Investments.
SIMPL is an initiative to transform the northwest section of Sacramento’s downtown into a connected, thriving community that supports residents' quality of life, health, and inclusion in the broader region. Projects like the planting support urban greening, health and well-being, equitable housing, increased mobility, and decarbonized energy for the people who live and work there.
Stormwater Catch Basin at SHRA Property
The Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) has a long history of innovative environmental stewardship and social justice activities conducted in partnership with tenant groups, local government, higher education, private industry, and community-based organizations. In 2019, SHA adopted its first Sustainability Agenda, developed in collaboration with over 250 SHA staff, hundreds of tenants, local government partners, and several community-based organizations serving SHA communities.
Broad examples of successful innovation in this area include food and yard waste collection at every SHA-owned, or managed site, diverting over 100,000 tons of food waste from landfills, a no-cost transit pass program for public housing clients that provides more than 10,000 no-cost trips each year, and data-sharing partnerships to pre-qualify clients for utility discount programs, resulting in a reduction of more than $2 million in out-of-pocket costs for tenants each year. Additional examples include more than $7 million dollars invested in energy efficiency and environmental health measures since 2015, a plan to double on-site solar arrays by 2025 and host more than 250 kilowatts of on-site electricity generation, a fleet revitalization project that converted all passenger vehicles in the agency’s fleet to Electric Vehicles (EVs) over a 3-year period, and installation in 2021 of state-of-the-art heat pump water heater technology at a 100-unit building.
Young residents at the Seattle Housing Authority go door-to-door to deliver food waste information and containers to SHA residents, an effort that has diverted more than 100,000 tons of food waste from landfills.
In March of 2022, the Seattle Housing Authority signed on to a new U.S. Department of Energy Better Climate Challenge. As a partner, SHA is committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent and energy consumption by 15 percent across all portfolios by 2032.
Upgrading public housing properties is a direct environmental mitigation strategy that has immediate, positive impacts on low-income families. Recently, the Chicago Housing Authority Building Operations department installed new energy efficient air conditioners a several of their properties. The new air conditioning units have an Energy Star efficiency rating of nearly 100 percent. The units not only provide energy efficient cooling, but dramatically cut down the amount of outside air that enters. It was difficult for CHA to find capital funds to replace the AC units all at once, so they utilized an outside funding opportunity. This is one of the reasons why CLPHA continues to prioritize recapitalizing the public housing portfolio. Not only for improving living conditions for residents, but also as a down payment in environmental justice and equity.