Missouri group revitalizes neighborhoods with mixed-income housing and urban orchards

When we hear about declining downtown districts beginning to become trendy again, it’s good news. But there’s usually a downside: As property values shoot up, affordable housing becomes scarce and low-income residents are pushed out.

That’s the challenge faced by Kansas City, MO. And the Westside Housing Organization – a NeighborWorks member celebrating the 40th anniversary of its founding this year – is determined to assure that affordable housing remains central to the downtown community’s identity.

Westside serves a primarily Latino population, a demographic that first began making its way to the city in the 1920s and ‘30s for jobs with the railroad, explains Executive Director Gloria Ortiz Fisher, whose own family emigrated from Mexico. The organization was founded in 1973 to lead residents’ fight against the loss of their homes to two new highways. Although they lost that struggle, Westside (named for the neighborhood on the west side of the city’s downtown district) developed into a strong local advocate for residents, and is today the only community development corporation in Kansas City for which a significant focus is Latinos.

As the railroad declined, so did the town’s economy, with the West Side’s working-class residents finding employment in restaurants, hotels and similar, small, service-based businesses. However, that all changed in 2009 when the Sprint Center – an indoor arena for concerts and other entertainment -- was built downtown, followed by a host of other attractions.

“The West Side is now a desirable place to live again,” says Fisher. “There are new businesses coming in and lots of creative artist types. Our focus is to make sure affordable, multi-family housing remains in the mix.”

Westside is headquartered
in a renovated firehouse,
rehabbed to green
standards.

Westside has long been in the business of developing affordable housing to nurture mixed-income neighborhoods. In the 1980s, Westside Housing began acquiring and rehabbing older apartment buildings in the neighborhood, and now has a portfolio of 165 rental units. The organization also facilitated the development of 120 new, affordable houses. Today, it is accelerating that work and hopes to double its rental units to 300. Meanwhile, Westside is eying an old high school, long since closed as young families left the urban core, which it would like to acquire for housing as well as community space. Energy-efficiency is emphasized during construction, both to keep residents’ utility bills low and continue its leadership role. (In December 2012, Westside was recognized as a NeighborWorks America Green Organization.)

“We operate with an average 98 percent occupancy,” says Fisher. “There is always a waiting list.”

Still, it’s a challenge, and many working-class families from the West Side neighborhood are moving to less-expensive homes to the historic northeast district. So, Westside has expanded to serve them, since an older community development corporation in that neighborhood had closed down.

Two residents of the neighborhood water
one of the orchard's trees.

“You can get a house there for $35,000, but there is a lot of crime, and 25 percent of the buildings are abandoned or vacant,” says Fisher. “It’s a good place for fearful immigrants to stay under the radar.”

To help prevent crime through greater community engagement, Westside is recruiting resident leaders to organize clean-ups, advocating for sidewalk construction, starting community gardens and partnering with the police department to implement a program called “Crime Prevention through Environmental Design,” including window repairs and the trimming of shrubs and trees that can hide illicit activity.

One of its more creative projects is an urban orchard designed to accomplish several goals – increase resident engagement (and thus discourage crime), encourage sustainable living and alleviate the “food desert” the area had become. In partnership with SkillsUSA (a nonprofit that trains students in vital job and leadership skills) and TimberlandPro (a footwear manufacturer), and with the help of neighborhood volunteers, Westside Housing planted a 2.5-acre orchard in an empty grass lot behind a community center. Nearly two years later, the orchard is home to more than 200 fruit trees and berry bushes. The trees and shrubbery help improve the poor urban air quality and mitigate storm water runoff, and Westside offers the fruit free for all residents.

“I don’t see broken windows when I walk through a community,” says Fisher. “I see opportunities.”

If you'd like to see for yourself the good work Westside Housing is doing, attend the NeighborWorks Training Institute in Kansas City, MO! At the Dec. 11 symposium, "Real-World Solutions for Community Transformation," one of the "mobile workshops" will be held at its facility.

Written by Pam Bailey, communications writer for NeighborWorks America. 

Atlanta group helps homebuyers save ‘green’ with green housing

Whether housing is affordable is determined by so much more than its purchase price or monthly rent. High energy costs also can be a heavy financial burden on families whose incomes already are stretched. According to the national Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, low-income households typically spend 14 percent of their total income on energy costs, compared with 3.5 percent for other households.

Resources for Residents and Communities (RRC) in Atlanta, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a NeighborWorks network member this year, hopes to help homeowners reduce their costs by incorporating an array of green features in its new single-family development, Legacy Pointe.

Legacy Pointe will be a small subdivision within Atlanta’s Reynoldstown community consisting of eco-friendly, pre-fabricated homes for purchase.

“The uniqueness is the development will be mixed-income,” says Jill Arrington, CEO of RRC. “The [homes] that will be affordable will be held in a community land trust to keep them perpetually affordable.”

To earn its “eco-friendly” label, Legacy Pointe will feature energy-efficient LED lighting in the common areas, pervious concrete (highly porous material that allows precipitation to pass through and re-charge ground water levels) in the parking  lot and landscaping that requires very little watering.  Each home also will include separate lines for hot and cold water (thus reducing waste) and temperature controls that reduce reliance on the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system.

“We didn’t have to turn on the HVAC unit in our model home at all this summer,” Arrington says. “Even last winter, we never had to turn on the heat.”

The first model home in Legacy Pointe was assembled so
quickly it was like "magic."

With such features, it’s no wonder the Reynoldstown community is already abuzz about the new development.  Arrington recounts the day in 2010 that New World Home, a national green home builder and RRC’s partner in this effort, built the first house that inspired the idea of Legacy Pointe.

“They rolled everything in at 7 that morning, [put] the structure in place, and by 5 p.m. that day they locked it with a key,” recalls Arrington with a laugh. Reynoldstown residents were slightly surprised by a house that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.  “If you left early that morning, you saw a vacant lot.  So when you got home later that night and saw a house sitting there, it would have freaked you out.”

Reynoldstown, which sits less than 10 minutes east of downtown Atlanta, began experiencing growth in its housing market after RRC redeveloped the community in the late 1990s.  Mitchell Brown, RRC’s COO, notes that homes in the community are in high demand.

 “Reynoldstown is now one of the hottest neighborhoods in Atlanta. The average house is priced at $225,000 to $250,000, but they’re selling for around $300, 000,” he says.  “RRC has helped turn the neighborhood around to be a place where people want to live.”

Zach and Anastasia (shown with their daughter, Penelope)
purchased the first model home in Legacy Pointe.

This probably explains why the first model home for Legacy Pointe sold before the actual development is even complete.  The lucky homebuyer?  A client in RRC’s homebuyer education class.

 “The fact that we can provide a quality home for a relatively affordable price to clients in our homebuyer education classes is a win-win,” says Arrington.

As Reynoldstown continues to grow, RRC remains committed to ensuring its residents can stay in the community, in homes that are affordable.

“One of the goals of our founding CEO, Young Hughley Jr., was to provide units of permanent affordability,” explains Arrington. “Legacy Pointe is just one of the projects we have in the works to do this.”

Written by Constance Troutman, public relations specialist for NeighborWorks America. 

Rochester, NY, group works to keep city from going the way of Detroit

When the news first broke that the city of Detroit had filed for bankruptcy, Kim Brumber, CEO of NeighborWorks Rochester, shuddered. Rochester, NY, may not be Detroit, but there are some parallels that hit very close to home.

“Like Detroit, a core of industrial giants fueled Rochester’s early growth,” recalls Brumber, a longtime resident of the area. “For Detroit, it was the Big Three automakers. For Rochester, it was Xerox, Kodak and (just in August) Bausch & Lomb.  And just as the declining competitiveness of the auto industry was a trigger of Detroit’s economic downfall, Rochester experienced its own spiral when one by one, our big employers downsized or left the scene.”

Brumber believes the days of “mega-employers” are over, and that smaller-scale entrepreneurship is what will eventually revitalize Rochester as well as other cities like Detroit. That takes, time, however, and NeighborWorks Rochester is focused on doing its part to prevent the population flight witnessed by its larger counterpart. A key element in that struggle is making sure that residents are able to stay in or access safe, quality, affordable housing.

The family who lives in this house was unable
to pay to keep their home in good repair.

With the help of NeighborWorks
Rochester, the home is now transformed.

“People just don’t have the equity in their homes anymore to spend what it takes to keep them in good condition,” explains Brumber. “Our approach is to make it financially feasible for residents to maintain their houses, and recently, we began offering help with energy-efficiency improvements that reduce their energy costs as well. Much of the housing stock here is very old, so the energy costs are high. We can often save them $100 a month – that’s $1,200 a year, which is significant for the people who live here.”

Over the years, NeighborWorks Rochester has adjusted its philosophy and services to match the changing nature of the city’s needs. The nonprofit was one of the original NeighborWorks organizations, focusing on rehab loans at a time when redlining in the largely African-American communities resulted in disinvestment. Gradually, the organization expanded its scope and services -- including a new focus on neighborhood stabilization and marketing.

“The traditional model for neighborhood re-investment is to demolish drug houses, etc. in the most blighted neighborhoods, thinking that change would follow. But this strategy doesn't work in cities that have a soft real estate market," says Brumber. "We've learned that turning neighborhoods around requires a market-based approach that draws in private investment of time and resources -- ideally before they start to rapidly decline, the typical time to intervene.” 

Through its Healthy Blocks initiative, NeighborWorks Rochester

targets neighborhoods that are showing signs of social and economic disinvestment, but where residents are still trying to tread water. Through a combination of neighborhood “branding,” social gatherings and community-wide improvement activities, residents are encouraged and supported in their efforts to maintain the value of their property and nurture a sense of “belonging” that attracts and retains homeowners. For example, NeighborWorks Rochester partnered with the Realtors Charitable Foundation (an arm of the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors), the city’s police department, local businesses and others to energize the neighborhood called The Pocket. Monthly resident meetings are held in an area recreation center, and spring/fall clean-ups, ice cream socials and leadership workshops are among the results. An overgrown, vacant lot was transformed into the Emmighausen Garden, which produces an array of flowers and vegetables. Since 2008, sales prices in the neighborhood have increased 20 percent per square foot. What’s up next? A new logo soon will appear on street banners and crosswalks will feature “BoulevArt.”

In 2012, NeighborWorks Rochester reported re-investing $4 million into the city’s neighborhoods. The organization trained 365 individuals in how to be smart homeowners, helped 64 families become new homebuyers,  conducted 97 tests for lead in older homes and distributed 82 home-improvement loans and grants, totaling $1.2 million.

In a recent article in the Rochester City newspaper, a member of the editorial team wrote, “What the Greater Rochester community does will determine whether we’ll survive the impact of the changes in our own major industries, our suburban sprawl, our racial isolation. Rochester hasn’t reached Detroit’s depths yet. Maybe we never will. But the warning signs are there.”

NeighborWorks Rochester is among the mainstay organizations working to make sure the city never will.

Flexing Green Muscles Earth Day and Every Day

NDS is a Neighborworks
America green designee

By Stacy Brown, Neighborhood Development Services Inc, director of asset management

Being a responsible steward of our environmental resources means looking at the variety of ways in which our homeownership and rental home work can reduce environmental harms and build the self-sufficiency of our people and buildings. Benefits of “going green” include lower utility costs for residents to a unique marketing asset for us as we compete for tenants and homebuyers.

Last December, NeighborWorks America named Neighborhood Development Services Inc (NDS), based in Ravenna, Ohio, as a NeighborWorks Green Organization designee. We are proud to be a part of this program and we hope what we learn can inspire others nationwide. Our green work spans weatherization and home repair to ecologically responsible design and materials for new buildings.  We are also branching into alternative energy as a way to raise revenue while helping the community and the environment.

For existing homes, we’ve found that weatherization protections pay off for all involved.  At our Lakeview 2 Apartments complex, we reduced energy 20 percent by installing Energy Star appliances, attic insulation, air sealing, heat pumps and high efficiency lighting and window fixtures. We also used faucet aerators, dual flush toilets, water efficient washers and landscaping to decrease water usage. The work has benefited not only NDS, but also Lakeview residents who now have lower utility costs.

NDS has also committed to incorporating environmental improvements and green maintenance. This means purchasing green materials and supplies when possible, installing rain barrels at all of its properties and creating recycling systems for all residents. Additionally, the maintenance staff is trained on purchasing, methodology and overall green maintenance.

Finally, we are working to take environmental sustainability beyond simply housing improvements. NDS is pursuing the opening and operation of a public compressed natural gas re-fueling site. This site responds to rising demand for cleaner fuel sources for their vehicles. It will dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions and allow local residents and businesses to take advantage of major fuel cost savings. Revenue earned from the site will provide NDS with a new source of funds to support its other mission-driven programs, which will benefit the communities in which we operate. While this project is still in its preliminary stages, NDS has met with local stakeholders to discuss the project and continues to seek funding to perform a formal feasibility study for this project.  Additionally, we are working toward gathering fuel commitments from local companies. These commitments are key to securing funding and partnerships related to this unique, triple bottom line project.

Together, all of us can find ways to use environmental resources more sustainably. We know our efforts are but one example and we look forward to learning about and implementing many new ideas in the years ahead.  To learn more, visit http://www.ndsohio.org.

Collaboration and Innovation for Green Housing Success

By Leila Finucane Edmonds
NeighborWorks America, Director
National Initiatives and Applied Research

Community Housing Partners (CHP) in Christiansburg, Virginia has served low wealth and low-income communities for over 30 years with striking results. CHP has almost 6,000 rental homes in its portfolio, a NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Center and a LEED Silver corporate headquarters. It’s a great example of diversified, resilient and mission-focused organization that has built its strength on being collaborative, open to early innovations and adaptive to conditions in its local markets.

I recently spent two days with CHP Executive Director Janaka Casper and his team. Also on the trip were Michelle Winters, NeighborWorks America Green Strategies senior manager, and David Dangler, NeighborWorks America Rural Initiatives director. Our goal was to learn more about their successes, and, in particular, their New River Center for Energy Research and Training. The center is one of only a small number of Department of Energy Legacy Weatherization Training Centers, and the first to be accredited by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council for energy efficiency training. CHP has trained more than 30,000 people at the center for jobs like retrofit installers, energy auditors, quality control inspection – so I wanted an on-the-ground view of operations. 

Grandma's House

Touring the facilities, we were able to see demonstrations on uniquely designed pressure houses, how to perform blower door tests on multi-family buildings and model homes for hands-on-training – a manufactured home and “Grandma’s House,” a model frame house.   Overall, I was impressed by CHP’s integrated use of technology in their training programs, their commitment to sustainable practices and the talent and breadth of their leadership team. 

During our visit, I heard moving stories about what CHP has accomplished, including that of CHP’s first multi-family project, a housing complex for seniors.  Back in 1980s, school consolidation was common in rural areas – and Pembroke, Virginia was no exception. When the local elementary school closed, one of the planning district commissions, which act as development consultants for local government, invited CHP to help redevelop the property. CHP successfully applied to convert the property into affordable senior housing and named the complex for Sam Robinson, a former principal of the original school.

S.A. Robinson building. The entrance still reads "Pembroke School"

CHP converted the 660 square foot classrooms into apartments of a similar size. CHP also worked to retain the character of the building. For example, CHP made chalkboards into tables where people could place their keys.  “Green housing” wasn’t much discussed in the 1980s, but CHP was conscious of energy efficiency – all windows were double glazed to more effectively regulate indoor temperature.

Residents of S.A. Robinson

The project was finished in 1987 and it is now a major resource for this small community. It provides 27 apartments for seniors making 80 percent or below federal area median income. Some of the early residents turned out to be graduates from the school. Janaka is most proud of CHP’s long-term ownership. Residents feel at home and nearly every door is decorated with crafts that express a personal sense of belonging.

On the drive back, my team and I spoke about further exploring and highlighting connections between our green program for NeighborWorks network members and our affiliates serving rural communities. Our goal is for two thirds of the NeighborWorks America network to adopt sustainable and energy efficient practices across their operations. With this visit, we are gaining a new understanding of the energy efficiency and weatherization work already underway in local markets and regions. Now, we look forward to collaborating with the network creatively to expand and share that knowledge.

New Appraisers’ Tool Helps Homeowners Get Credit for Green Features



By Michelle A. Winters,
Senior Manager, Green Strategies
NeighborWorks America

Homeowners who have invested in energy saving upgrades can now have greater confidence that their property will be appraised at a fairer market value.

The nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers released a form recently that is intended to help appraisers identify and describe a home’s green features, from solar panels to energy-saving appliances. The Appraisal Institute says the Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum is the first of its kind. It will help the industry standardize the way residential energy-efficient features are analyzed and reported.

The form was issued as an optional addendum to Fannie Mae Form 1004, the appraisal industry’s most widely used form for mortgage lending purposes. Used by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, Form 1004 is completed by appraisers to uphold safe and sound lending. Currently, the value of a home’s green features is rarely part of the equation.

The Appraisal Institute encourages use of the form not just by appraisers, but also by lenders, homebuilders, real estate agents and the homeowners themselves. Lenders can request that the form is included with Form 1004 or provide it to homeowners to fill out and give to appraisers. Real estate agents can use the data to help populate the multiple listing service (MLS). Key stakeholders in the homebuying process can all take advantage of this new tool.

NeighborWorks America has done work with the Appraisal Institute in the past. In 2010, NeighborWorks partnered with the Appraisal Institute, the US Green Building Council and others to help the National Association of Realtors® develop a Green MLS Toolkit. The tool kit was created to help Realtors® add green fields to their local multiple listing service, so that it is easier to market and identify green homes for homebuyers and sellers.

The Appraisal Institute’s latest tool can be downloaded here.