7th Annual NeighborWorks America Northeast Region Reception: 'A Community United'

This blog comes to us from Susan Jouard, Public Affairs and Communications Advisor for NeighborWorks America's Northeast Region.

NeighborWorks America Northeast Region held its seventh annual reception on November 29. This signature event brought leaders from throughout the housing and community development field together to honor “Visionary Leaders in Community Development” under the theme of “A Community United”.

Tina Brooks, Eileen Fitzgerald, Alfred DelliBovi,
Denise Scott, Deborah Boatright, Rev. DeForest Soaries

Over 200 people joined NeighborWorks CEO Eileen Fitzgerald and Regional Director Deborah Boatright as Alfred A. DelliBovi, president & CEO of Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and Denise Scott, managing director of LISC NYC were honored. Citi Community Development hosted the event at their mid-Manhattan headquarters.

Guests included representatives from 23 of the region’s NeighborWorks organizations, who view the annual reception as an invaluable opportunity to network with key partners, funders and colleagues. NeighborWorks’ national office was well-represented by Chuck Wehrwein, COO, Robert Burns, the outgoing director of Field Operations and who received a special recognition at the event, Paul Kealey, director of Training, Jayna Bower, director, NCHEC; Christine McHenry, director, Public Relations and the NeighborWorks development team: Jeanne Wardford, Akilah Watkins-Butler and Jennifer McAllister.

VIPs included two presidents from the NYS Department of Homes and Community Renewal, Mathew Nelson and Marian Zucker, Commissioner Mathew Wambua, NYC Dept. of Housing and Preservation, Marc Jahr, president & CEO, NYC Housing Development Corporation, Bob Annibale, global director, Citi Community Development, Pam Flaherty, president & CEO Citi Foundation, Michael Rubinger, CEO, LISC and Katheryn Wylde, president, Partnership for New York City. The region was especially pleased to welcome several guests from the Philadelphia area where the region has been doing extensive partnership work.

Super Storm Sandy was on many people’s mind, coming just a month before the reception.
“A lot of the conversations in the room are about the impact of the storm, and how we can support each other. Connections are being made, and new collaborations are taking shape,” said Boatright in her remarks. “I am so proud of all of us here—the non-profits, government, financial institutions, national intermediaries, funders and partners. Everyone is stepping up to help families rebuild and neighborhoods rebound.”

These sentiments were echoed by Eileen Fitzgerald: “NeighborWorks America is committed to working with our affiliates and partners to help in the Sandy recovery effort. Together, we will continue on the path to recovery in the next few weeks and months”.

But the evening belonged to the two widely admired visionary leaders in community development, Alfred DelliBovi and Denise Scott.

DelliBovi, who has served at the helm of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (FHLBNY) for 20 years, is a nationally recognized authority on banking, the lending industry, housing and public finance, and a champion of sustainable homeownership for low and moderate income families. In 2012, the bank awarded $70 million in grants to help build or preserve 5,500 affordable homes and 5,000 affordable rentals; and closed 680 loans for members of the First Home Loan Club.

DelliBovi was introduced by New Jersey’s the Reverend DeForest Soaries, Jr., a member of the FHLBNY’s board of directors and a close partner of NeighborWorks, who spoke about DelliBovi’s business acumen and deep sense of social justice.

In accepting the award, DelliBovi said: “It is more than an honor to work with NeighborWorks America and its leadership -- Deborah Boatright and Eileen Fitzgerald. Thank you for bestowing on me NeighorWorks’ Visionary Leader Award.  I accept this award not as an individual, but as a member of the New York Home Loan Bank team. A team that works every day with our member community lenders to enhance the value of that fundamental element of our culture and society: the home.”

Denise Scott, managing director of LISC New York City, was celebrated as a “go-to” person whenever there is a new challenge facing New York’s neighborhoods. She successfully raises millions of dollars every year in equity and loan capital in support of affordable housing and community and economic development projects.

“One would be hard pressed to find a more, trusted, respected and beloved community developer in New York City than Denise Scott,” said Boatright.

Tina Brooks, executive vice president of LISC, was on hand to help present the award to Scott, talked about her exceptional ability to create private and public partnerships that is admired throughout LISC, and that has been a hallmark of her 30-year career in the field.

Guests lingered long after the two hour reception ended, with more than one guest noting how it always seemed too short because they were so many people to talk to– truly a hallmark of success!

“We started the reception with the goal of bringing the full spectrum of the housing and community development field closer together. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors every year, there have been no barriers to attendance, and the focus has always been on the building of new relationships in a collegial atmosphere, and the honoring of our heroes,” said Boatright.

To view photos of the 7th Annual Northeast Region Reception, visit our Flickr album at http://www.flickr.com/photos/neighborworksamerica/sets/72157632217019960/with/8260786729/.

Recovering from Hurricane Sandy

This blog comes to us from Donna Blaze, CEO of our affiliate Affordable Housing Alliance in Eatontown New Jersey. We thank her for making time out of her extremely busy schedule to share updates on what’s happening in her community post Hurricane Sandy. 

By Donna Blaze
Affordable Housing Alliance, CEO

Monmouth County, New Jersey, is a seaside region and when Hurricane Sandy struck on October 29, it hit hard.  More than15,000 residents in this community have been personally affected by the disaster. Some of their homes have been blown out to sea, while others were in 8 to 12 feet of water and now uninhabitable.  Making things worse, many local restaurants and businesses catering to tourists have had the same catastrophic losses, leaving some both without a home and job.

A boarded-up home in Monmouth County

My nonprofit, Affordable Housing Alliance, had a full plate prior to the storm. We were in the midst of expanding to two offices, constructing five affordable housing developments, and administering a county-wide utility program.  Now, however, we feel obligated to take on more. After all, these storm victims are our friends, our neighbors and our clients.

One of the biggest challenges right now is a lack of temporary housing within the county. Available homes are located in places like Atlantic City – more than an hour away in some cases. For people who have lost cars or who rely on public transportation, this means added stress and time in their daily commutes.

A beachfront home, devastated by the storm

 Unfortunately, this is just one component of what people are struggling with. Many have lost important mortgage and identification documents, complicating their ability to get help. Even those who are lucky enough to have papers and insurance must deal with the absence of family mementos – a baby footprint, a letter from grandma -- many of those little things that make up who you are.

Last week I took NeighborWorks America’s CEO Eileen Fitzgerald and COO Chuck Wehrwein to see what’s happening here. I introduced them to the residents at Union Beach Disaster Recovery Center, which is a combination of local volunteer efforts and FEMA  disaster center.

Chuck Wehrwein and Eileen Fitzgerald
talking to Union Beach center volunteer

I also took Chuck and Eileen to sites where we hope temporary housing can be made available. Fort Monmouth, an abandoned military site, has 600 potential temporary housing units. We had been considering moving our office to this location prior to the storm, and its size and current vacancy make it an appealing prospect. Another location is a manufactured home park with an estimated 16 spaces available. This could be converted quickly to either temporary or permanent (rent-to-own) housing.

Cards sent from schoolchildren in Virginia decorate
the walls of the Union Beach Disaster Recovery Center

Our current focus is to help people understand what options are available to them and to help them make the right decisions. Sometimes we don’t know the answer, but we are working to find out. We appreciate the tremendous outpouring of support and the $100,000 grant from NeighborWorks America. We also appreciate the chance to learn from cities that have suffered similar disasters. For example, Bill Stallworth, executive director of NeighborWorks affiliate Hope CDA, offered good recovery advice based on his experiences in post-Katrina Biloxi, Mississippi. 

It is by sharing our knowledge and our resources that we can return our residents to homes and to the communities they remember before the storm in a more timely way.  

Note: NeighborWorks America recently made grants to organizations affected by Hurricane Sandy, including,  Affordable Housing Alliance ($100,000), Asian Americans for Equality ($50,000), Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City ($50,000), Community Development Corporation of Long Island ($20,000), NeighborWorks New Horizons ($20,000) and Brand New Day ($10,000). Typically NeighborWorks America grants to organizations serving this area have generated more than $50 in direct local investment for every grant dollar awarded, which would amount to more than $12.5 million in this case.

What Does Quality of Life Mean to a Neighborhood?

This entry is reposted, with permission, from our Kansas City affiliate Community Housing of Wyandotte County's blog:  http://chwckck.org/blogs/blog.

By Steve Curtis
Community Housing of Wyandotte County

Youth volunteers participating in our Community
Alley Restoration (C.A.R) program.

It can mean everything or it can mean nothing depending on who has defined what it means for your neighborhood. If you ask your neighbors what they want they will undoubtedly produce a list of things – like better sidewalks and curbs, faster police and fire response, less vandalism and fewer stray dogs and feral cats. Others want coffee shops, retail stores, bike trails, community gardens, or entertainment and recreational centers, even wireless Internet. It's true these things can make life in the neighborhood more enjoyable, more convenient and even healthier but what these things really do is create a sense of place.

A place where people can gather, can meet, share ideas and get to know one another. These environments are essential for our socialization. In urban neighborhoods many of the things that used to bring us together – like downtown shopping districts, neighborhood schools, mom and pop stores, park and recreational centers have been shut down, moved on or are under funded. Citizens have to deal with aging infrastructure, higher taxes and now bear the responsibility of maintaining alleyways, sidewalks and curbs or bringing their 100 year old homes into code compliance of new home standards.

Quality of life means a lot of things. It involves almost everything that influences a neighborhood from government regulations and ordinances, variety of housing stock, ratio of rental property to home ownership, household incomes, type of schools, cultural diversity, park services, youth programs, leadership and resident accountability. If you don’t have the recipe – that can be a tough cake to bake.

Freshly painted bike lanes in Wichita, Kansas

New plants being installed during Arbor Day at Waterway Park in Kansas City, Kansas

Unfortunately, there isn’t a recipe that fits every neighborhood or maybe any neighborhood. You can have meetings and sounding sessions that may help exposure the most pressing issues, concerns or trends but any long term solutions come from neighbors getting to know one another. Developing lines of communication and trust with government, civic organizations and surrounding neighborhoods. It comes from creating a common sense of purpose about why we live here and why it is important that we learn to work together toward common goals. Its about believing in who we are and that what we do matters. 

Creating those gathering places is the first step in moving those types of conversations from small groups on our front porches to engaging the greater community. Sharing our ideas and cultures. Developing trust and friendships. Working on projects together, engaging our youth and our government and finding ways we can work together to make our communities better.

Community Giving on Thanksgiving

By Brittany Hutson
Fellow, Public Relations

During this season of giving and sharing, NeighborWorks organizations are helping individuals and families with the necessities they need to enjoy the holidays. Below are a few of the many great projects that our network is organizing around the country:

New York

Completed food bags

For over a decade, the Community Development Corporation of Long Island (CDC Long Island) has organized a holiday basket drive to support low-to-moderate income families in Nassau and Suffolk counties. In the past, the drive has been a volunteer effort by CDC Long Island staff members, who also contributed money toward creating the baskets. This year, CDC Long Island, with assistance from Freddie Mac and Capital One Foundation, kicked up their outreach and fundraising efforts to support families that were impacted by Hurricane Sandy. As a result, 80 families—a majority of whom are single mothers from the Family Self-Sufficiency Program—will receive a food basket with items including hot chocolate, yams, bread, canned goods, and a gift card to purchase a turkey.


Oklahoma

Since 2009, Little Dixie Community Action Agency and International Paper — a multinational paper company — have partnered to provide “Thanksgiving-themed” food baskets to low-income families in the Choctaw, McCurtain and Pushmataha counties. This year, 14 families received food baskets with turkey, vegetables, breads, pie, bread stuffing ingredients, and more to prepare a delicious Thanksgiving meal.



Virginia

Residents of Friendship Village Apartments in Virginia Beach, Virginia, got a surprise when Community Housing Partners and music industry executive and owner of N.A.R.S. records, Floyd “Danja” Hills, teamed up to assemble and deliver boxes of food. Hills, along with his N.A.R.S. Records colleague Tommy “King-T” Eaton and members from Advocate’s Gift of Life Ministries (which is led by Danja’s father Right Reverend Dr. Floyd Hills), distributed meals of turkey, stuffing, yams, collard greens, cranberry sauce, and rolls for more than 100 residents. The 109-unit in Friendship Village is a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 multi-family property rented to low-income individuals and is owned and managed by Community Housing Partners. Hills, a former resident of Friendship Village, said he was concerned about families trying to make ends meet during these difficult economic times and wanted to make a positive difference in the community he once called home.

A Home for the Holidays

By Sonja Kalyani,
Homewise Marketing Associate

This Thanksgiving, Marvin, Sheila and their two children will be feasting with family and friends in a new home that Marvin built with his own hands.  Natalia, eight, and Diego, four, sit quietly munching on giant chocolate chip cookies as their parents explain why they purchased their new house through Homewise, a NeighborWorks member organization in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Marvin has worked for Platinum Sky Construction for three years, and he helped frame the homes at Rincon del Sol, the Homewise subdivision in Tierra Contenta on the southside of Santa Fe, where the family is now settling in. “It’s the materials,” Marvin explains, when asked why they only looked at Homewise Homes™. “And, how well they’re built.” After all, when you’re part of the crew that builds a home, you know where the weaknesses are — or, in this case, where they aren’t.

Marvin first heard about Homewise through his employer, and the family has been so pleased with the support they received that they’ve recommended it to their friends.

“You [Homewise] take people by the hand to understand what a home purchase involves, what a closing is, what we need to do to achieve the steps to buy the house,” says Sheila. For them, this meant attending the Home Buyer Education class, saving money, and working on their credit over the course of a year and a half.

Marvin, Sheila, Natalia and Diego outside their new home

Their relaxed demeanor and smiles confirm they’re happy with their purchase decision. “Once we were ready, it happened quickly. From the time we decided on the home we wanted to purchase to the closing date was two to three weeks. Everything was explained so well and it all went smoothly.”

Prior to moving in, Marvin and Sheila lived with their family in a mobile home, but, surprisingly, the extra space isn’t the first thing they mention when asked about what they like about their new home. Instead, they mention the energy efficiency. In fact, Sheila lights up as she talks. “We turn on the tap and the water is already warm. We don’t have to let it run to heat up. We’re saving so much water.” Since Marvin is the primary breadwinner, seeing their water bill drop by $30 a month is no small thing for this family.

All in all, their new home is working out well for them. The extra space, additional income and pride of ownership are sure to make this a special holiday season.