WBEZ | public housing

Reporter's Notebook: Life in public housing vs. the fanciest downtown apartment

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:45:00 -0500

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CHA reveals next phase of massive public housing redevelopment

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:50:00 -0500

In 1994, Chicago public housing high rises failed federal government standards. The massive cinder block buildings had become as recognizable as the city’s skyline. They were also viewed as a symbol of failed housing policies that resulted in concentrated black poverty. Critics said the notorious high rises warehoused blacks in destitute conditions; residents decried a lack of investment in their apartments and communities.

Five years later Mayor Richard M. Daley went to Washington, D.C. and got permission to demolish the high rises, most of them erected when his father Richard J. Daley was mayor. Thus, the country’s largest public housing redevelopment program – christened the Plan for Transformation – was born. Its centerpiece was a plan to build mixed-income housing on the same footprint as the old high rises with the following formula for attracting residents: one-third market rate, one-third affordable and one-third public.

The controversial $1 billion-plus plan is scheduled to wrap up in 2015. Under the plan, which is 85 percent complete, 25,000 units will be developed or revitalized. CHA has already moved almost 16,000 family households from derelict buildings. Some public housing families moved into brand new units with higher-income earning neighbors. Others were lost in the system or moved into segregated, high-poverty neighborhoods. An economic downturn and housing crash eventually forced the Chicago Housing Authority to change course.

Now CHA is unveiling “Plan Forward,” the second phase of the original plan. It focuses on acquiring homes in neighborhoods across the city for rehab, boosting economic activity around CHA sites and providing job/educational training for people with subsidized housing vouchers in the city.

“All residents of public housing had been walled off from the rest of the city both by physical, cultural – not just geographic – but services [such as separate security and garbage collection],” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel of the CHA conditions pre-Plan for Transformation. “Now we’ve even got to take the next step further.”

The mayor spoke Saturday at Legends South, on 44th and State Street, a mixed-income development that replaced the Robert Taylor Homes – formerly the world’s largest public housing development. Emanuel served as vice chair of the CHA board in the 1990s when the original plan was in formation.

Multiple tracts of vacant land sit idle on the State Street corridor as development has stalled. One of the new plan’s goals is to tailor the mix of what’s considered mixed income. Another goal is to use CHA-owned land for non-housing development.

CHA CEO Charles Woodyard said various city agencies in the next few weeks will start approaching the vacant land as an asset.

“It’s more than housing. Housing was the foundation. We will work with the private sector and public sector to see if can have job-creating retail. If we can have retail that provides a needed service for our families. We’re going to make sure that the investment that the public makes doesn’t wither and die on the vine because we haven’t completed the community,” Woodyard said.

Thousands of CHA families rent in the private market with subsidized housing vouchers. A recent Urban Institute report praised the inroads CHA has made with resident services but said children have still suffered. New CHA strategies include improved early childhood education, connecting teens to extra-curricular activities and new youth programs for up to 5,000 kids.

One of the problems with the existing voucher program is that many poor families live in distressed neighborhoods such as Englewood or Austin where there’s high crime and few amenities. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development doesn’t provide enough money for people to live in less segregated, more affluent areas.

To counter that, Woodyard says CHA will acquire and rehabilitate homes and apartments in a variety of neighborhoods.

“One of the things we’re really trying to achieve is to integrate affordable housing into the larger community that is Chicago,” Woodyard said. “It means not just sticking to the South Side. The South Side and the West Side have a fair amount of affordable housing. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure families have opportunities in neighborhoods that give them opportunities.

“One thing we have to understand is our families are used to support systems and familiarity. So some of them may prefer to live on the South Side.” But Woodyard said CHA will give them incentives.

Other highlights from the new plan include an adult literacy pilot program and a recalibrated federal jobs program.

Resident activist Carol Steele runs the Coalition to Protect Public Housing out of Cabrini-Green. She said she’s still concerned about poor residents who lived in CHA back when the plan started in 1999.

“There’s not even enough housing for the people that have the right to return. That’s what I’m looking forward to hearing about,” Steele said. “When are we going to complete these 25,000 replacement units for the residents that are out there waiting to return to their communities?”

Natalie Moore is a WBEZ reporter. Follow her @natalieymoore.

Report: CHA plan has improved residents’ lives

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:12:00 -0500

For residents who moved out of Chicago’s notorious public housing high rises in the last decade, life has improved. But many children in these families suffer from low school performance and growing up with chronic violence.

A new report released Monday by the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, paints a largely positive picture of the Chicago Housing Authority efforts. The study comes while the CHA is retooling its Plan for Transformation, an ambitious multi-year effort begun in 1999 that broke up concentrated high-rise developments.

The Urban Institute’s Sue Popkin has studied CHA for the past 25 years. At the beginning of that period, she recalled, one could observe high rises with backed-up incinerators, dank hallways, gang wars and faulty elevators.

“I didn’t expect to be in a place 10 years later where I would say this is basically a housing intervention and it’s worked okay. For the most part people are living in better housing in safer neighborhoods,” Popkin said.

CHA’s controversial $1 billion Plan for Transformation tore down high rises and replaced them with mixed-income communities. The Robert Taylor Homes and Cabrini-Green were synonymous with Chicago’s skyline and had the worst housing reputation in the country. Since the Plan began, CHA has moved almost 16,000 family households from derelict buildings. The agency has rehabilitated or built 19,000 public housing units, which includes 3,200 in mixed income.

Several years ago the Urban Institute told CHA that moving families wasn’t simply a construction issue; to succeed, residents needed services. Popkin said that steep learning curve for CHA has paid off after the housing agency implemented a strong resident service program in 2007.

Researchers say that vulnerable residents need intensive wraparound services to address mental health, low literacy and lack of job skills. The report suggests that residents who’ve received intensive case management have fared better. The services cost about $2,900 annually per household but can increase family stability and reduce depression. CHA families have grappled with the trauma of poverty: physical health problems, anxiety, high mortality rates.

But Popkin said it’s not all a pretty picture. Emphasis on adults has meant that improvements have not always trickled down to children. Relocation has been especially hard on them and causes disruption in school and socially.

“I worry a lot about the kids,” Popkin said. “The services that helped the adults do better don’t seem to have helped the kids. It’s an urgent issue. These are kids who have grown up in families who’ve lived in chronic disadvantage for generations and it’s going to take more than just moving to slightly safer places to help get them on a better trajectory.”

Some young people have struggled academically and have had a tough time adapting to new neighborhoods where they are perceived as outsiders. And they continue to live amid violence. The Urban Institute is currently working on CHA incorporating a dual generation approach at Altgeld Gardens, a public housing development on the southern edge of the city.

“Frankly, at this point it’s going to be a matter of money,” Popkin said. “This is obviously not CHA’s fault. But the sequester and everything else that’s going on, I worry about the threat to human services at a point where we really need it to make a difference.”

Mary Howard leads resident services for CHA said the agency is looking at how to provide services to children whose families participate in the housing voucher program. There are 38,000 Chicago households that use vouchers to rent in the private market.

“One of the things that we’re looking at is how to open up some of our opportunities that have traditionally been available for public housing families to the house choice voucher population,” Howard said. For example, making sure discounted park district programs reach these youth.

Resident leaders say they want CHA to listen to their suggestions about what’s working and what’s not.

“Let us help you out. Work with us,” Francine Washington told housing officials Monday.

CHA’s Plan for Transformation is the largest of its kind in the country. Researchers say the housing agency’s mistakes and triumphs can inform federal policy. The Plan is expected to be completed by 2015.

CHA, HUD pen agreement on program

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:36:00 -0600

The Chicago Housing Authority has entered into an agreement with the federal government that aims to provide more jobs and contracts to public housing and low-income residents.

The program, known as Section 3, started in 1968. Last year the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found Chicago noncompliant with Section 3. Residents have also filed lawsuits related to the program.

Now the local and federal housing agencies are embarking on a five-year deal. The end goal is for at least 10 percent of the total dollar amount of all contracts covered by Section 3 go to Section 3 hires.

“CHA’s excited about this new partnership with HUD,” said Charles Woodyard, CEO of CHA. “Together we will ensure that goals of this new initiative are met so that Section 3 residents and other low-income Chicagoans are provided opportunities to advance their business and their careers.”

CHA’s track record on Section 3 is a mixed bag. A 2011 WBEZ report found that several years ago, 30 percent of new hires were designated Section 3 – the federal minimum. But in 2008 and 2009, for example, more than 70 percent of CHA new hires were Section 3. Still, in those two years, hundreds of millions of dollars were awarded in contracts, yet none of those involved Section 3-owned businesses. Other public housing agencies around the country have had much worse track records.

Four residents from the Altgeld Gardens development have filed a lawsuit under Section 3. A judge has ruled that one of those lawsuits can go forward. The resident involved in that case alleges that she hasn’t been hired under the program.

This new Section 3 agreement with HUD states CHA will require building trade contractors to submit payroll and hiring reports on a weekly basis. HUD will monitor progress. When it is infeasible for CHA to meet the numerical goals for employment, the housing agency must show HUD other economic opportunities that it provides to its resident and the community. Those opportunities may be educational, recreational, or youth-oriented. They can also involve learning enrichment, after-school programs, child care, senior services, and job preparation programs, as well as other economic opportunities. Noncompliance could cost CHA competitive grant funding.

Residents and stakeholders are skeptical about the agreement.

“Seems like a decision has been [made] and we haven’t be included in it. Once again we’ve been left behind,” said Dennis Hood, a CHA resident and owner of a contracting business.

Robert Whitfield is the attorney for the umbrella CHA tenants’ group. He said he’s not sure whether the voluntary agreement will turn the dime of resident hiring. The issue is bigger than CHA.

“I would like to see [CHA] use a lot more of their procurement power to force the union to get more residents into the unions as apprentices,” Whitfield said. “Until that happens they [HUD, CHA] can sign all the agreements they want but it’ll run into a dead end when contractors say they aren’t in the union.”

That’s a huge concern for Thomas Harris, secretary-treasurer of the American Allied Workers International Union. He said organized labor dictates the contracts. He said he’s trying to get his union to represent CHA residents so they aren’t shut out.

“Labor dictates what’s going to happen with the contracts and who the workers are going to be. They’ve been closed out of workplace because they’ve never been at the table to be represented in terms of their trades,” Harris said.

Follow Natalie on Twitter.

Senior citizens blast prominent community leader as a 'slumlord'

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:24:00 -0600

A group of senior citizens held a protest Tuesday over what they call “deplorable conditions” in public housing in the Kenwood-Oakland neighborhood. The four senior homes in question are managed by the Woodlawn Community Development Corporation (WCDC), a project of Reverend Leon Finney.

Finney rose to prominence fighting slumlords in the 1960s and 1970s, but has since become the subject of scrutiny, a lawsuit, and a federal probe related to allegations of mismanaging funds provided to WCDC and The Woodlawn Organization. Finney began working in property management in the 1970s. WCDC manages 4,000 private and public units that house 10,000 people in the Chicago area.

On Monday, the Sun-Times reported on a visit to the Judge Slater Senior Housing Complex at 42nd and Cottage Grove in Chicago. Columnist Mary Mitchell described evidence of vermin and roaches, and related residents’ accusations of abuse and neglect on the part of management.

“How can he be against slumlords if he’s a slumlord?” said Aryah Benyahuda, who lives in Judge Slater. “What has up there is a facade, it’s camouflage.”

Benyahuda joined four other public housing residents and about 20 people from the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) in front of the CHA’s downtown offices. KOCO helped the seniors organize a demonstration after a group of residents came to them for help. Residents said they believed others had been intimidated by WCDC not to speak out.

Inside, at the CHA board meeting, other residents of WCDC buildings did speak out – against protestors.

“When we need something, they are there,” said Shirley Jean Lee, a resident of another WCDC-managed building.

Two senior homes residents who spoke out in favor of WCDC at the meeting hung up when contacted for this story. Others said their buildings do have bed bugs, roaches and mice. But they didn’t blame the managers.

“You know why that’s a problem,” said John Williams, also a resident of Judge Slater. “Because people won’t clean up.”

Williams accused the protestors of intentionally causing trouble.

A spokesperson for the CHA says they have addressed bed bugs in the senior homes, and had not heard about problems with mice or roaches.

“We regularly have meetings with our residents to address any concerns,” said Wendy Parks, a spokesperson for CHA. “We have had our CHA staff out at Judge Slater on a continuing basis.”

The protesting residents have received a response from Finney’s real estate manager, Sandra Harris, agreeing to meet with them. But Shannon Bennett of KOCO said seniors aren’t satisfied.

“We asked to meet with Finney in our letter,” Bennett said. “That’s not what they’re offering.”

Finney is a high-profile target for a campaign – but his connections also make him a likely one. He’s been on the board of the Chicago Planning Commission, served as Vice Chair of the Chicago Housing Authority, and served as a trustee at Chicago State University. He’s a pastor and a professor, and his real estate investments through WCDC number in the hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s also not the first time he’s been called a slumlord. But KOCO says their actions are not about targeting Finney.

“It could be the man on the moon who’s managing their property,” Bennett said. “Seniors who are already marginalized do not deserve to be intimidated for speaking up.”

Follow Lewis Wallace on Twitter.

CHA considers new math for mixed-income equation

Mon, 07 May 2012 16:08:00 -0500

It's been 12 years since the Chicago Housing Authority embarked on its Plan for Transformation, an effort to dismantle the city's notorious high rise housing projects and provide 25,000 new or renovated units of housing. Rather than concentrating poverty in densely-populated high rises, the plan was to create mixed-income communities that were one-third public housing, one-third affordable rentals and one-third market rate condos.

The results so far have been less than stellar. According to a recent study by the University of Chicago, only 11 percent of relocated public housing residents with a "right of return" live in mixed-income developments. Many simply left the city altogether. Megan Cottrell from the Chicago Reporter found that a third of African-Americans who left the city between 2000 and 2009 were from areas with public housing.

In a meeting last week, CHA CEO Charles Woodyard said that developments would no long need to adhere to the one-third, one-third, one-third rule and that decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis. It's unclear what a change in the equation would look like or how this would affect current mixed-income developments.

Chicago magazine Deal Estate columnist Dennis Rodkin thinks the CHA is smart to retool. In an email, he told WBEZ, "the market-rate buyers just weren't there." Now, with housing prices in decline, there is even less incentive for would-be buyers to take a risk on mixed-income developments.

On Monday's Eight Forty-Eight, Rodkin looks at what the CHA needs to do to breathe new life into its ambitious Plan for Transformation. To weigh in during the live discussion, call 312.923.9239.

CHA opens first tech center in public housing

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:44:00 -0600

The Chicago Housing Authority opened its first technology center in a resident development on Wednesday.

Dearborn Homes, near 29th and State Street, now has a lab with 28 computers. It will be staffed by current and former residents.

“It was difficult when I was a resident here because we didn’t have access to computers. I think it’s a great advantage especially while residents reside in this building, especially if they live upstairs they can just walk on in the computer lab,” said former Dearborn resident Sharon Bryant.

The lab will provide computer skills, Internet access and job search resources.

CHA officials say it’s crucial that low income residents be able to cross the digital divide, and they hope the centers’ broadband access can help. CHA residents often go to public libraries for computer access. The city has recently struggled to maintain library hours, especially during times of day when adults are most likely to use public computers. In 2009, a city of Chicago study showed that four out of every 10 residents face barriers to broadband access.

CHA plans to open six more tech centers in public housing developments over the next two years. The agency says the centers are being made possible through a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant aimed at providing access to technology to low-income people.

Leaving poor neighborhoods brings health benefits

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:34:00 -0500

Moving from public housing to a better-off neighborhood might come with health benefits, according to a unique study led by Chicago researchers.

During the 1990s, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development paid for 1,788 women with children to move out of public housing and into low-poverty neighborhoods as part of the Moving to Opportunity program. A comparable group remained in public housing. That set up a perfect experimental situation for researchers, who could now examine how the group who moved fared compared with the control group.

In a batch of data published in the New England Journal of Medicine, they found that women who moved had much better rates – about 20 percent lower – of obesity and diabetes than women who stayed in public housing.

“I was actually surprised by the size of the effects,” said Jens Ludwig, professor of law and public policy at the University of Chicago. “Having the opportunity to move from a high-poverty to a lower-poverty neighborhood had about the same size impact on diabetes as what you see from things like lifestyle interventions or medication.”

The study didn’t examine why that’s the case, but Ludwig said previous research suggests some possible explanations. It could be that poor neighborhoods have worse food options, fewer opportunities for exercise, and higher levels of stress. The study included residents of Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes, as well as women from four other cities.

Report tracks housing voucher mobility in Illinois

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:00:00 -0500

A new study about housing vouchers in Illinois debunks common myths about where voucher-holders choose to locate.

Janet Smith, a housing expert at the University of Illinois-Chicago who worked on the study, said there’s been speculation that former Chicago public housing residents use vouchers to move to central and southern Illinois.

"One of things we wanted to be able to look at here was really – is that true? Not so much to disprove that but to answer the question that a lot of people have – where are people really moving to," Smith said.

Smith's work suggests the myths are false. She said that of the 70,000 voucher households in Illinois, only seven percent have used their vouchers to move from where they originally got their voucher.

She said one barrier to voucher-holders' mobility is the lack of transportation. Voucher-holders may not have automobiles and, if they move outside Chicago, they may have a difficult time visiting friends and relatives they leave behind. Also, other Illinois cities offer fewer public transit options than Chicago.

How Chicago's public housing has changed since 1999

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:50:00 -0500

A new report is giving a unique look into the 12-year history of a public housing program in Chicago. The report gives insight into The Plan for Transformation. Mayor Richard Daley launched the program in 1999, with the goal of creating or rehabbing 25,000 public housing units.

"I didn't really get a sense that there was a clear connection to transforming people's lives to the level that perhaps they want to see," said Janet Smith, an urban planning professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Smith said what's striking about the report is the number of people who have left the public housing program since 1999.

Forty-four percent of residents no longer get government assistance, either because they died, were evicted, are living on their own or the city lost track of them.

The study shows more than 2,200 residents have not responded to the Chicago Housing Authority's efforts to track where they're living.

CHA CEO Lewis Jordan said technology has improved the agency's efforts to locate its residents.

"This is a good story," Jordan said. "You know, this is a good story. Do we wish it were better? Yes we do. Are we working towards making it better? Absolutely. But this is a good story."

Eight percent of families that started in the program in 1999 are now living on their own without CHA support.

The report shows a map of Chicago twelve years ago vs. today. The big difference in public housing? It's more spread out now because under the program, many public housing high rises have been destroyed.