CLPHA Press Room

From CBS 58 News Milwaukee:

Mayor Tom Barrett announced Sunday, July 11, he is directing over $30 million to support housing activities in Milwaukee using funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The money is the first phase of ARPA funds to be deployed to increase housing and homeownership programs and to address potential displacement of residents stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With the ARPA funds, we have an unprecedented opportunity to make substantial investments that can positively impact residents in Milwaukee. One of my priorities is safe, affordable housing options for people here,” Mayor Barrett said. “By prioritizing housing investments in the city’s most economically challenged neighborhoods, we are addressing an important need that disproportionately affects low-income neighborhoods.”

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Other investments that promote affordable and sustainable housing include:

• $2 million for three low-income housing projects currently under development to assist those projects in overcoming COVID-19 economic hurdles

• $1.2 million for homebuyer and foreclosure counseling

• $1.2 million for the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee to expedite 2,000 housing vouchers for families with housing needs

• According to a news release, Mayor Barrett's plan also includes $1.8 million to support an eviction prevention program. Working with the Legal Aid Society and United Way, the Right to Counsel program aims to reduce unscrupulous landlord practices and reduce unnecessary evictions.

• Through a Climate, Energy, & Equity Upgrade program, the Mayor proposes helping households struggling with high energy costs through energy saving retrofits. $5 million in ARPA funds will be directed to this effort.

• $15 million is planned for the Westlawn Choice Neighborhood Initiative project to provide gap funding and infrastructure investments, helping fund over 300 units on and around the Westlawn site.

Read CBS 58 News' article "Mayor Barrett announces over $30M in funds will support housing activities in Milwaukee," featuring the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee.

From the New York City Housing Authority's press release:

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA); the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD); and the NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC) have finalized two deals that will bring 393 new affordable senior apartments to the Soundview neighborhood in the Bronx and the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn through the pending groundbreakings of the Casa Celina and Atrium at Sumner housing development projects.

Construction on the 205-unit Casa Celina building at a vacant parking lot site at NYCHA's Justice Sonia Sotomayor campus and the 190-unit Atrium at Sumner building on NYCHA's Sumner Houses campus in Brooklyn is expected to begin later this month. One superintendent unit is being constructed at each site; each superintendent unit is included in the total unit count for each building.

There continues to be a pressing need throughout New York City for affordable senior housing that enables residents who have lived and been part of their communities for decades to age in place," said NYCHA EVP of Real Estate Development Jonathan Gouveia. "NYCHA is committed to increasing that supply while creating meaningful employment and social service opportunities for public housing residents and area seniors in the process."

"Seniors are a top priority for this Administration's ambitious affordable housing plan," said HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll. "Casa Celina and Atrium promise to be thriving communities with seniors receiving the support they need to prosper. These nearly 400 new affordable senior homes, to be built across two communities in the Bronx and Brooklyn, are the result of an incredible team effort with the New York City Housing Authority and our development and supportive housing partners." "HDC is proud to provide the critical bond financing needed to make these projects a reality," said HDC President Eric Enderlin. "Casa Celina and the Atrium at Sumner will provide 393 much-needed affordable homes with critical supportive services, all while fostering economic growth through employment opportunities and training that will support the neighboring NYCHA residents."

Read NYCHA's press release.

From the District of Columbia Housing Authority's website:

For the past 20 years, Kennette Dike and her boys were living in an apartment in the Park Morton community. After working hard to educate herself by attending seminars, and searching for a house that fits her family’s needs, she is now a proud homeowner in Southeast.

“Oh my God, I’m so glad I’m gone. I love my little house,” Dike said.

The District of Columbia Housing Authority has been working to relocate Park Morton residents as the community is in the midst of a redevelopment. DCHA staff held several community meetings to explain the process and the options that were available to residents, from how to receive and use a voucher to homeownership.

“I got a letter in the mail from DCHA inviting me to one of their seminars. I was ready to go,” Dike said. “I kept pursuing it. I was the only one in the group who became a homeowner. It was time for a change. I needed the space. I outgrew the apartment. I wanted something to call my own. I wanted my house.”

Instead of a two-bedroom apartment, her boys now have their own bedrooms. She has a basement and a yard she wants to fix up. She has a beautiful kitchen, two and a half bathrooms, and her own washer and dryer.

“I’m proud of myself,” she said. “The process was a headache every now and then, but it paid off.”

Read "Celebrate Homeownership Month with DCHA Homeowner Kennette Dike" on DCHA's website. 

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Nine-year-old Keshaun Williams laced up his new red-and-black kicks while sitting on the Fosco Park playground slide Friday before letting the red bunny ears criss-cross the tree before jumping into the hole and out the other end.

“I’m excited because red is my favorite color,” Keshaun said. “I got the black shoes first because they looked cool, and now I think I have too much. But I haven’t gotten any new shoes this summer, so I’m excited. The red and black match the Bulls — that’s cool.”

The Chicago Housing Authority and Operation Warm, a national nonprofit organization known for distributing coats to youth in need, partnered Friday for the first time to give away free athletic shoes. The Summer Kicks event was funded by Molina Healthcare Illinois.

Read the Chicago Sun-Times' article "Operation Warm, CHA partner for shoe giveaway." 

From The Mercury News:

The Santa Clara County Housing Authority is preparing to develop the first phase of a development that could bring several hundred affordable homes to the eastern edges of downtown San Jose.

At the same time, the Housing Authority’s new executive director, Preston Prince, is undertaking a full evaluation of a proposal to shift the agency’s headquarters to a north San Jose office building that it bought in December 2020.

The two sites have a connection: At one point, the county housing agency had been planning to move its headquarters to the downtown San Jose site where the affordable homes are slated to be built.

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“The downtown site is moving along as a housing-only development,” Prince said. “We hope to begin construction on the first phase of the affordable homes in 2022. This project is going ahead.”

Read The Mercury News' article "Santa Clara County agency preps affordable homes development, studies HQ move," featuring the Santa Clara County Housing Authority.