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Fifty-four months ago Buffalo Mayor Anthony M. Masiello and seven
year-old public housing tenant Darrell Rice cut the ribbon to open the
Greater Buffalo Community Housing Center.
In four and
one-half years of operation, the cutting-edge housing mobility program not
only confounded the cynics but exceeded all expectations—touching the
lives of over 6,000 people and helping 1,900 low-income families lease
housing. Seven out of ten families freely chose housing in a low-poverty
neighborhood or community.
But despite
the success of this program which has expanded opportunities in one of the
nation’s most segregated metropolitan areas, an end to court ordered
funding may mean the death of the GBCHC—and an end to opportunity for the
families it served.
Roots in lawsuit
In 1989
attorneys from the Greater Upstate Law Project, Neighborhood Legal
Services and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a class-action suit on
behalf of Jesse Comer and others whom they contended had been denied equal
access to federally assisted housing programs. The suit, settled in 1996,
provided several remedies including 1600 additional Section 8 subsidies
intended to give class members an opportunity to lease housing anywhere in
the Buffalo metropolitan area.
Plaintiffs’
counsel (which now includes the Western New York Law Center) understood
that historically most minority families have used rental assistance to
lease housing in the neighborhoods they have always known. In Buffalo,
those neighborhoods are too often characterized by concentrations of
poverty and racial segregation.
At the
insistence of plaintiffs’ counsel, the Comer settlement provided
$3.5 million for the creation of a new entity intended to help people of
color overcome barriers to wider housing choice. The City of Buffalo and
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (which was to provide
the lion’s share of funding) conducted two national searches for an
operator for the innovative program. In 1998 HOME and the Buffalo
Federation of Neighborhood Centers were selected to administer what they
called the Greater Buffalo Community Housing Center.
Caution and concern
While everyone accepted the necessity of a housing mobility program to
realize the promise of Section 8, many wondered whether it would work.
How big a
barrier would discrimination present? Would families be open to the idea
of leaving neighborhoods of comfort (with known facilities, friends and
family) for new neighborhoods or communities beyond the city limits? How
would families contend with the limitations of the public transportation
system?
There also
existed a real concern about how low-income families of color would be
received by suburban communities. For this reason, architects of the
settlement called for the creation of an advisory council with suburban
representation and the designation of an on-call ombudsman. It is a
tribute to the work of the GBCHC that ombudsman David Wright, HOME’s
assistant director for mobility services, has never received a single call
of complaint or concern about any GBCHC client.
In the pudding
Since
opening its doors in April of 1999, GBCHC staff has made presentations
about fair housing law and housing mobility to more than 6,300 new Section
8 participants. More than 2,800 people have attended a small group
session in HOME’s offices to learn about how to identify good housing, how
to market yourself to prospective landlords, and how to prepare a
household budget. Participants also learn about the services and support
available from the GBCHC.
Nearly
2,600 clients chose to attend one-on-one mobility counseling sessions
which focus on the particular needs and interests of their families. With
the aid of child care reimbursements, escorted housing searches and weekly
telephone follow-up from HOME staff, nearly 1,900 families leased
housing.
Before
using the services of the GBCHC only 42 percent of families did not live
in high-poverty census tracts. Thanks to assistance from HOME’s mobility
counselors, 69 percent of families chose of their own free will to move to
a low-poverty neighborhood or community.
The
benefits of moving to a low-poverty community have included access to
better performing schools with more resources, access to a greater range
of employment opportunities, and access to safer neighborhoods (with a
lessening of family stress). National studies of mobility program
participants indicate higher rates of high school graduation and college
enrollment. Housing mobility can provide a key to the American Dream.
What have
been the pay-offs for clients of the GBCHC? Lynette reports a quieter and
less violent neighborhood and a much better school for her daughter.
Cynthia found an “immaculate home, with spacious rooms, huge closets, and
separate tub and shower”. A Jubilee supermarket, Walgreen’s, M&T and
McDonalds are all within walking distance.
Kristin
lives in a spacious three-bedroom only a short walk from Niagara Falls
Boulevard. There is a park and public pool nearby and, when her daughter
reaches school age, she will be able to walk to a higher achieving
elementary school than the one she would have attended had the family
remained in their Buffalo project.
While most
clients of the GBCHC have chosen to move to middle class city
neighborhoods or first-ring suburbs, Judy and her family moved all the way
to Hamburg. At first transportation was a challenge, but Judy learned to
take advantage of all the retail in and near the McKinley Mall. Now she
reports: “My child is in a better school and I feel much safer
here….Where I grew up, there was a lot of violence, and almost every day I
saw something terrible. But out here, that doesn’t happen.”
An uncertain future
On the
first weeks of November, HOME earned the final $33,000 of new revenue for
operations of the Community Housing Center.
A careful
steward of public resources, HOME—which had already broadened program
eligibility to serve more Section 8 participants than required by its
contract or Comer consent decrees—has enough funds on hand to
continue operations through August of 2004. But what then?
An
application submitted to the national Housing Search Assistance Program
earned enough points to be funded, but, when confronted two equally rated
proposals, HUD held a lottery which Buffalo’s entrant did not win. Since
that time, HUD has issued no new NOFA for this program.
While
labeling housing mobility a priority in its Consolidated Plan, the
hard-pressed City of Buffalo reports it has no new funds available to
commit to this effort. A national foundation which supports efforts to
promoted civil rights had laudatory comments about the GBCHC, but no funds
available for the program.
In the
nation’s fourth most segregated metropolitan area, it would be a tragedy
to slam shut the door of opportunity. |
