Housing and Homelessness

We are busy putting together an application for funding to make sure we keep our Eviction Clinics going. Every Wednesday, we hold clinics to assist those scheduled to attend Hampden County Housing Court the next day. The overall goal of the Eviction Clinics is to keep people in their homes and out of the shelter system.


So that of course, brings us to the recently released report on Reducing Family Homelessness in Massachusetts commissioned by the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation. You can read the report at http://www.ppffound.org/documents/whitepaper.pdf

The point of the paper is to suggest ways in which the Emergency Assistance (EA) program in Massachusetts could be redesigned to increase its effectiveness in preventing homelessness without requiring additional budget resources. There is certainly a lot to think about here.

Another group working to help the homeless is the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, a network of providers and the first statewide advocacy organization for the homeless in the nation. Check out their website at http://www.mahomeless.org/

There is much to be done to assist the homeless in our area and to ensure housing for everyone.

HUD news

As a HUD-certified Housing Counseling Agency, we receive regular updates from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Certainly, this latest may be of interest to readers of this blog:

Housing Affairs Letter EXCLUSIVE:
HUD’s months-long effort to change the way the Sec. 8 housing voucher program is managed has evolved into a 57-page legislative blueprint that could dramatically alter the program and attract a new generation of users.
HUD crafted the legislation, dubbed the Preservation, Enhancement, and Transformation of Rental Assistance of 2010 (PETRA), using $350 million the Obama administration wants taken out of the public housing capital budget in FY 2011. The administration justifies transfer of the money from public housing renovation funds (which are already short some $26 billion) by pointing to the infusion last year of more than $4 billion for improvements from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act.
The legislative draft, obtained exclusively by Housing Affairs Letter, shows a major move to bring foreclosed homes and multifamily properties into the HUD fold as Sec. 8 properties.
The proposal would give HUD the authority to set uniform policies across all the department-funded rental-assistance programs, including Sec. 8. Tenants would be awarded a new right to move to a location of their choice anywhere in the nation as long as they stay in one place for two years.
For the rest of this in-depth exclusive story and many others about HUD and public housing, just click on or cut and paste the following link into your Web browser to get free access to Housing Affairs letter, our online, interactive, continually updated news service covering the latest in federal housing and budget developments-- since 1961!
http://www.cdpublications.com/d092
When you reach our site, just scroll down the page and check off Housing Affairs Letter. The date of this story is 5-14-10

Energy Saving Workshops

Joe Kerigan, our Energy Director and all-around good guy, gave a brief presentation to residents at Springfield Housing Authority's Saab Court complex this morning. Joe passed out energy saving lightbulbs to everyone in attendance and explained how these lightbulbs not only save money, but keep rooms cooler.

Here is a nice shot of Joe on the right, explaining the weatherization process to Governor Deval Patrick last summer at a home in Springfield. Looking on is one of our energy contractors.

Joe and his staff provide energy saving workshops to interested groups throughout the city. We also weatherize homes throughout Hampden County. Anyone interested should first contact New England Farm Workers to determine eligibility for fuel assistance. Anyone outside of Springfield should contact the Valley Oppoutnity Council about the same eligibility process. That makes a homeowner or tenant eligible for our services and we then use a priority list to provide weatherization services. Weatherization services can save more than $300 a year on a home's utility bills.

Additional World Asthma Day info

We were able add Dr. Kaslovsky's presentation from World Asthma Day to our web page. Just click on the first page and the whole document opens up.
http://www.springfieldpartnersinc.com/events/index.html

Considering the high rate of asthma in the Pioneer Valley, many of you reading this blog will have a relative with asthma. Take a few minutes to look through Dr. Kaslovsky's extremely helpful information. There is info on asthma triggers and irritants, great explanations around medications, inhalers, peak flow meters, etc. and a really cool photo of a dust mite! Many thanks go to Dr. Kaslovsky, as well as to Dr. Sadof and Kathleen Szegda of the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition (PVAC), for putting together a really enjoyable and extremely informative event for World Asthma Day. You should definitely check out PVAC's site, too:
http://pvasthmacoalition.org/home

Mothers Day at New Beginnings Childcare Center

Last week, the children at the center invited their mothers to come and make smoothies with them. Several mothers and a few of the fathers came to enjoy the drinks. Thanks to a grant from the Springfield Early Care and Education Partnership, each family went home with a book, Mommy and Me. Here we have some nice photos from the day and you can see more on our Facebook page.

Success Story

Springfield Partners for Community Action has helped Kim Rivera achieve the American Dream of homeownership.

Ms. Rivera took advantage of Springfield Partners’ Individual Development Account (IDA) program. After a year of stashing some cash from her paycheck into an IDA savings account every week, she had $2,000 saved. Her $2,000 was double-matched, giving her a $6,000 down payment on her Habitat-built home at 75 Pomona Street in Springfield.

She and her family moved into their new Forest Park home in December 2009.

“Homeownership was important to me because I wanted to make sure my children had a stable home,” she said recently from the three-bedroom house she shares with two adult children.

“I went through homelessness in my younger years, and I didn’t want that for my kids.”

For Ms. Rivera, a parent facilitator at Brunton School in Springfield and a residential aide at Sullivan & Associates, helping people is second nature. A few years ago, she decided it was time to help herself reach her goal of homeownership. She applied to Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity and started her own IDA at Springfield Partners.

As an IDA program participant, Ms. Rivera learned about money and credit management at Financial Fitness workshops, and discovered the importance of owning property.

“It’s important to have a home as an asset, because it’s important that you have assets. I was never taught that when I was young,” she said.

Ms. Rivera urged people to take advantage of Springfield Partners for Community Action’s programs.

“How many places do you know that are going to help you get the American Dream?” she said. “I tell everybody about the IDA program. It’s a golden opportunity.”

World Asthma Day

Last night (Tuesday, May 4, 2010) 100 people attended World Asthma Day at American International College. Dr. Robert Kaslovsky of Baystate Medical Center's Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine department, presented information to the audience. After dinner, the audience was invited to several stations to learn more about various inhalers, about asthma triggers like pollen, dust mites, and secondhand smoke, and to play interactive games that focused on asthma education. Doctors, nurses, respiratory specialists, and health outreach workers were on hand to answer questions and to help demonstrate various breathing devices. In this photo, respiratory therapist Donna Hawk, helps Iris Martinez of Springfield with an inhaler.

Asthma awareness is of extreme importance for Springfield residents because of the high rates of asthma, especially in Springfield's children. Rates are even higher for people of color. Springfield Partners works closely with Baystate Medical Center to provide outreach and follow-up to people who have recently been hospitalized for asthma. Our Health Outreach workers visit the homes to discuss asthma triggers and taking asthma medicines and we can even help enroll people in various health insurance options to make sure they can afford their medicines.