CLPHA Press Room

From Next City:

At the beginning of the spring 2020 semester, the chancellor at the University of Washington Tacoma sent out an advisory to students: “If you or someone you know is dealing with housing issues that might interfere with the ability to succeed in school,” it said, “a new program could help.”

A new apartment building had just opened, ten minutes’ walk from campus, and 63 of its 152 units would be subsidized for students who were homeless or housing-insecure — struggling regularly to pay rent or utilities, moving frequently, or living in substandard housing. It was the second year in a row that a new development opened near campus with some of its small apartments set aside for low-income students. And the apartments are small — as little as 250 square feet for a studio in the building that opened last year.

“When I went inside, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, this wouldn’t even hold my office,’” says Mentha Hynes-Wilson, the vice chancellor for student affairs at UWT. “But the feedback we’re getting from students is that it is really meeting their needs.”

Typically, the studios start at around $800 a month. But through the College Housing Assistance Program at the Tacoma Housing Authority, some students are eligible for subsidized housing units, in the range of $400 to $800 a month, based on income. The CHAP program was launched as a pilot in 2014, with 47 homeless or “near homeless” students at Tacoma Community College (TCC) receiving housing vouchers to use on the private market, providing a flat subsidy based on their household size. Over the next two years, the Authority tracked those students’ performance, along with the performance of 154 students in similar positions who didn’t receive housing assistance. At the end of that period, according to the Authority, 60 percent of the participants had graduated or remained enrolled, as opposed to 16 percent of the students who didn’t receive assistance. And the GPA for the pilot group was 3.05, as opposed to 2.75 for the larger group. The pilot was later expanded at TCC, and it was made available to UWT students, many of whom transfer from the community college, in 2018.

Read Next City's article "Tacoma’s Got Housing Vouchers Just for College Students," featuring the Tacoma Housing Authority.

From The News Tribune:

For a decade, Gault Middle School has sat vacant on Tacoma’s Eastside.

Located at 1115 E. Division Lane, the school closed down in 2009.

Now, the building’s windows and doors are boarded over from years of accumulated damage.

“We’ve had a lot of wire theft happen and vandalism,” said Alicia Lawver, strategic planning and policy manager for Tacoma Public Schools.

A new plan could breathe life back into the property.

Tacoma Public Schools is in discussions to have Tacoma Housing Authority potentially acquire the site, according to a Jan. 7 letter of intent signed by the two agencies.

“We’re excited to find a use for the property that provides community benefit and activates the site,” Lawver said in an email. “THA has shown its commitment to community engagement on past development projects, and we look forward to partnering with them in a similar comprehensive approach to finding solutions for the Gault property that truly benefit the community.”

That could include developing mixed-income housing, a community facility and outdoor recreation spaces, but nothing’s for sure yet.

Both TPS and THA “take this obligation seriously and are both committed to this possibility,” said THA executive director Michael Mirra in an email.

Read The News Tribune's article "New future for Tacoma’s defunct Gault Middle School could include housing, recreation," featuring the Tacoma Housing Authority.

From Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez's letter to the San Jose Spotlight:

In my recent State of the County address, I highlighted the county’s success with the voter-approved Measure A housing bond. Measure A is ahead of schedule, almost halfway to building more than 4,000 new permanent homes for the homeless.

This week, I called for the county to double down on Measure A — to put an additional 1,000 new affordable, permanent homes into the pipeline before the end of 2020.

The idea for Measure A came out of a Housing Task Force convened by county Supervisor Dave Cortese in 2015, as did a quintupling of county-wide shelter beds.

We’ve found permanent housing for 3,000 homeless families and individuals. Ninety-three percent of the formerly homeless remain stably housed in their new permanent homes. Our new Homeless Prevention pilot has already kept 2,000 people out of homelessness.

The real heroes are the staffs of the county staff and our cities, their nonprofit partners like Destination: Home and affordable housing developers. And let’s not forget the Housing Authority of Santa Clara County, whose groundbreaking contribution of future rent subsidies, called project-based vouchers, allows us to build more and build faster.

Read Chavez's letter to the San Jose Spotlight featuring the Housing Authority of Santa Clara County.

From the San Diego Housing Commission's press release:

The pending construction of more than 400 affordable rental apartments—including 270 units specifically to address homelessness—was celebrated at a groundbreaking ceremony today as a source of hope for the community and the individuals and families who will call the new development home.

“There are two ways we can look at the challenge of the unsheltered. We can have a fear-based culture where we fear it, or we can be inspired by the hope of what is possible with a little bit of support—and that really is what this project is about,” said San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, who also serves on the Governor’s Council of Regional Homeless Advisors and as Vice Chair of the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless.

A collaboration among the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC), Father Joe’s Villages, Chelsea Investment Corporation and additional partners, the development will be known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa in honor of Mother Teresa. It will include a mix of studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments that will remain affordable for 55 years for San Diegans with low income or experiencing homelessness.

“This is going to be a beacon of hope for so many individuals,” San Diego Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer said. “This is going to be a game-changer on the streets of our downtown and the entire city. It doesn’t happen without everybody coming together.”

Read "Construction of More Than 400 Affordable Apartments Provides ‘Hope’ for San Diegans with Low Income or Experiencing Homelessness" on SDHC's website.

From the What’s The [DATA] Point? Podcast website:

Six months is the time the New York City Housing Authority has to develop a reorganization plan. New NYCHA Chair & CEO Greg Russ headlined a Citizens Budget Commission event to discuss working with the federal monitor to facilitate change, working with residents to instill confidence, and what needs to happen at NYCHA to make it a high-performing agency that can ably serve its 380,000 residents. He was in conversation with CBC President Andrew Rein, followed by audience Q-and-A.

Listen to the podcast featuring NYCHA Chair & CEO Gregory Russ here.