Cuts to Housing Programs, No New Investment

Anyone who thinks that the affordable housing crisis in the District of Columbia is over is wrong.

One only has to spend a day chatting with Bread for the City clients to realize that the crisis is real. The vast majority of clients identify housing as an issue in their lives. Take for example the woman I recently encountered during an intake. She is disabled, and is living on monthly disability benefits of $674 from SSI. She pays $555 of that income in rent. She is not alone.

Nearly 1 in 5 DC residents are spending more than 50% of their incomes on housing. (The standard for “affordability” is 30%.) Perhaps this explains why there are approximately 38,500 households on the waiting lists for subsidized housing through the D.C. Housing Authority.

There are a variety of tools the DC government uses to assist in providing affordable housing options to residents. They include a wide spectrum from homeless shelters to home ownership programs. Three of these vital programs are at risk in the proposed city budget (as per DCFPI’s analysis).

• The Housing Production Trust Fund finances the construction and renovation of affordable housing, and also provides financial support to tenants who want to purchase their buildings.

• The Local Rent Supplement Program (LRSP) provides a rental subsidy to help low-income residents -- those making less than $30,000 a year — afford their rent. Since 2006, it’s funded housing for 1,700 families.

• The Permanent Supportive Housing Program (PSH) provides supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals and families, in the Housing First model.

While Mayor Vince Gray declares that they are not cutting funding for any of these programs, the budget put forth essentially does just that. First, the budget raids $18 million from the Housing Production Trust Fund by using money intended for the creation of new affordable housing to pay existing LRSP rental subsidy costs. Without the Housing Production Trust Fund, the disparity between creation of affordable housing and luxury housing will continue. Since 2000 the number of low cost rental housing units has shrunk by more than ⅓ while production of luxury units has nearly doubled. We need the trust fund to continue at full funding levels in order to have any chance at reducing the number of tenants who need affordable housing.

Second, the budget ends the LRSP voucher program through attrition, both in policy language and through reduced funding. Phasing out the LRSP tenant based vouchers will result in the loss of an important affordable housing tool. We cannot abandon this program. In the last several years it is the only program that has resulted in households moving off of the DCHA waiting list. In addition, it is the only program that serves the lowest income residents – folks at or below 30% of area median income.

The need for additional vouchers is clear. It is evidenced by the wait list. It is evidenced by the large number of tenants paying more than 50% of their income toward their housing costs. It is evidenced by the number of people coming through the doors of Bread for the City each day.

Finally, the budget moves PSH participants (and their funding) in two ways that may or may not even be possible -- by transferring them to federal vouchers and commandeering newly available units opening at project-based sites. The Housing First model is an innovative way to serve chronically homeless individuals. PSH serves those most difficult to house, including individuals with drug addiction, mental illness, criminal records, poor credit history, poor rental history and a host of other issues. However, transitioning these individuals to federal vouchers or project-based local programs may prove impossible. Criminal records, poor credit history, substance abuse, family size, and poor rental history are all considered in the screening process for the federal voucher program. Many folks, if not the majority, will simply not qualify.

We cannot afford to reduce the number of people served through these very important housing programs. We need to make progress in serving the 38,500 families on the waiting list. Reducing this funding only adds to the wait list.

"As long as we have the Wilson Building, I won't be homeless."

This afternoon, the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development has a stellar budget hearing line-up: Housing Finance Agency, Department of Housing and Community Development, and DC Housing Authority. As we've talked about before, the proposed DC budget for 2012 includes major cuts to crucial affordable housing programs. The Local Rent Supplement Program, Housing First, and Housing Production Trust Fund are being slashed, on top of devastating cuts to homeless services. These cuts will make it even harder for families already struggling to find or maintain affordable housing in DC.

But the City Council can still restore the funding. We need to tell our elected officials that affordable housing is a priority for DC residents, and we won’t accept these cuts! Make your voice heard with the Continuum of Housing Campaign and housing allies from around the city this evening at 6pm at the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW.

Last week, I talked to Blache McLeod about the housing cuts. She did finance work as a DC government employee before she got injured and couldn’t work. She’s now on SSI because of her disability. She gets a home health aide for five hours a day, to help with her daily activities and keep her out of a nursing home, and she lives in subsidized housing. Here’s a little bit of what she had to say about the budget cuts:

They are dismissing us because of our economic status. If my rent was not subsidized, I would have to pay $1800 a month. I get $674 from SSI! That’s all I’ve got to work with. It makes me angry that they don’t think about the consequences.

We’re going down individually to beg them, “Save my program?” Instead, we need to go together, and this time we’re not begging. They understand the cameras. They understand the media. We have to let them know, “I don’t like what you’re doing.”

I am here. There’s not a day I’m not in pain, but I am not riding away into the sunset. I’ll be down there every day, in my pajamas, with my overnight bag. As long as we have the Wilson Building, I won’t be homeless. I may be the only one down there, but I won’t stop.

It may not be a lot of us, but once people start to see and hear, they’ll come out. A lot of people don’t watch the news, so they don’t know. You’ve got to get on the internet and hear what’s going on, and then starting talking. You have to come out.

Each of us has a little piece of the puzzle. Our voices need to be heard. We have to fight.

Join Ms. McLeod and Bread for the City staff and clients at the Wilson Building this evening from 6:00 - 7:00 pm. If you can, bring your blankets and a pillow to remind the City Council that if some of our residents don’t have a safe place to sleep tonight. It’s at 1350 Pennsylavnia Ave NW, close to the Federal Triangle and Metro Center stations, and on the 30 bus lines.

Concerns of a Senior Citizen

This post is the first by Donna Hendricks, a Rep Payee client who we’ve raved about before. She is passionate about the issues of affordable housing and mental health, because funding for those programs impacts her personally, so she's been a regular participant in the budget discussions each Friday from 11:30 - 1:00 at our Northwest Center. Last week she sat down to share her opinion on the DC budget cuts.

What happened to the homeless? What happened to low- and middle-income people? They got lost in a crowd. What happens to us, the money we need to live, to eat, just to survive, and depend on?

I’m a 61 year old woman who has been homeless and now has a roof over my head. But with the budget cuts, I live in fear of my rent being cut, fear of being back on the streets. Not only do I have mental health issues, I have physical health issues too. I have no use of my knees any more, and other problems. I’m scared of what would happen if I became homeless again.

I don’t need the pressure. We don’t need the pressure.

We have an overpopulation of the homeless already, so what’s going to happen when they close all the shelters for singles, when they end programs like IDA (Interim Disability Assistance) and stop building affordable housing?


If these cuts happen, more people will be homeless, which will drive them to mental illness, drinking, drugs, and other things they’ll do to survive and belong. When you’re homeless, it can feel like nobody cares. It’s lonely. You have no place to take a bath, no roof over your head, no necessities. It’s a hopeless situation.

Our Councilmembers need to hear from people who’ve experienced these things. It’s very important to voice our opinions. Otherwise they won’t know what it’s like. And if they don’t know what’s going on, what can they do about it? They’ll ignore the situation. They’ll keep their priorities in the wrong place. Streetcars and convention centers instead of homeless shelters and affordable housing. They think so much of the well-to-do that the low- and middle-income get forgotten. People who are really wealthy should pay their fair share, which isn’t happening right now.

So please, do all that you can to not make me homeless again.

Editor’s Note: You can join Donna and other clients and staff at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, May 3rd at the John A. Wilson Building, as we rally together with the Continuum of Housing Campaign at CNHED and Latino Economic Development Corporation. Help us tell the City Council that we need funding for the housing to keep our neighborhoods healthy and whole.

Access to Housing: our new program

Last week you read a bit about affordable housing options (and the lack thereof) in DC. We see people every day who are homeless or living in precarious housing situations and are having trouble finding viable housing options. While we don't build more affordable housing here at Bread for the City, we can help our clients access the affordable housing that already exists.

So our Social Services department has started a new initiative to do just that.

The Housing Access Program (HAP) started in September of last year. It focuses on Site-Based Section 8, the privately owned HUD (Housing and Urban Development) subsidized apartment buildings scattered throughout the city. Like DCHA housing, these buildings offer apartments for rent at 30% of the tenant’s income. Each building is privately owned, however, meaning that each one has a separate application process, waiting list, and criteria. Some require that all residents be age 62 and over and some require that residents have a documented disability. Others do not carry any of these restrictions.

Just for the sake of argument, let’s assume that a client is neither disabled nor over 62. This same client is lucky enough to be literate and tech savvy, have access to a computer and phone, and have the time and money to visit multiple apartment buildings.

They might go to the HUD website to search for an apartment, and that search would yield a list of 110 Site-Based Section 8 buildings. The list probably hasn’t been updated in a long time, and in any case it doesn’t indicate whether properties have open waiting lists. They could try to email, call, or visit every building, which would take weeks or months, only to eventually realize that only 5 of those 110 buildings are open, accepting new applications, and don’t require applicants to be elderly or disabled.

Our goal with the Housing Access Program is to make this whole process more efficient. Through the program, we keep an internal database of all the properties that are accepting new applications, including things like the application itself, income requirements, and a list of necessary documents (photo ID, birth certificate, Social Security card, and proof of income, to name a few). We can then provide clients with a customized list of housing options for which they are eligible, making their search much easier. This customized list alone can be very helpful for anyone undertaking a broad search for housing.

The Housing Access Program, however, is specially designed to assist individuals with limited literacy skills, limited mobility, limited transportation funds, and/or are living with chronic medical or mental health concerns. For them, it is an invaluable resource to have a case manager assist in completing the applications and work with them to gather necessary documents and complete and submit these applications. So far, we have assisted clients in completing and submitting over 100 applications, and more are being done each day.

Our work doesn’t end with the submission of the application. We've also started offering tours for clients to visit properties and drop their applications off in person -- an important aspect of finding a safe, healthy place to live. And while our clients wait for their names to rise to the top of the waitlists, we refer them to other agencies to help repair their credit, which is an important factor once their applications for housing are being evaluated. Once approved for housing, we can then assist our clients with securing furniture and other needed household items.

This is not a short-term solution. While not as daunting as the waiting list at the DC Housing Authority (which is currently at 31,777 households), none of these buildings have vacant units. Many of our HAP clients will still have to wait for years before they attain housing. But not all of them: we have already seen 4 clients housed through the HAP program (and no clients housed through DCHA during that time period).

We are very excited about this concerted effort to make the best use of our resources for helping clients access affordable housing.

Affordable Housing: What Does it Mean, Where Did it Go?

For the orientation of new Bread for the City staff, volunteers, and interns, Wendy Guyton (Social Services) and Rebecca Lindhurst (Legal Clinic) teamed up to create a Powerpoint presentation about affordable housing in DC. I found it very helpful, and I think you will too.
Affordable Housing Crisis in the District of Columbia


Some of the facts that really jumped out at me:

• Housing is considered affordable if it is 30% of a household's budget. One in five DC residents have severe housing affordability problems, meaning they spend more than half of their income on housing.
• "Fair Market Rent" for a two-bedroom in DC is $1,494 a month. But households using safety net programs bring home far less: $674 for SSI, $270 for Interim Disability Assistance, and $428 for a mother and two children on TANF.
• A minimum wage worker ($8.25/hr in DC) must work approximately 139 hours per week to afford a 2-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent.
• In the last ten years, DC has lost one-third of its affordable housing stock.
• There are 31,777 names on the waiting list for affordable housing. Of them, 16,000 are designated as homeless.

While statistics and budget numbers help us understand the scope of the problem, it's stories that really motivate people to take action. In the next few months, we'll publish blog posts from members of our new Client Advisory Board who have struggled to find and maintain safe, affordable housing. We'll also tell you about the new efforts of Social Services and the Legal Clinic, and the budget decisions facing the city.

Congratulations to April Goggans!

Last night, April Goggans, a member of Bread’s Consumer Advisory Board and President of the Marbury Plaza Concerned Tenants Association, received an Activist Award from the Washington Peace Center.

(Photo by Danny Harris of People's District )

Bread for the City attorneys provided April and the MPCTA with legal advice and representation during their campaign to win repairs and other investments from Marbury’s owners – learn more here and here. We’re pleased as punch that WPC recognized April's leadership.

Here’s an excerpt from her story, which was featured in People’s District today:

“While I love my neighborhood, my building has been a different story. After I moved into my place in October 2006, I started to notice things that weren’t right. Most of the apartments would flood because of old piping. There were a lot of security incidents in and around the building. There were times when we didn’t have heat or air conditioning. The building didn’t seem to be doing anything about this other than making minor repairs that never seemed to fix the major problems.

“In April 2007, the building got an offer to sell, and I was talking to my neighbor, who is a lawyer about it. I had no idea of tenants rights or anything like that at the time. She told me that the tenants would also have an opportunity to purchase the building. I thought that the opportunity to give so many people of color an opportunity to own property was incredible, so we organized a tenant’s association and put a board together to try and purchase the building. In the end, it didn’t happen for a number of reasons, mostly because we got screwed by the developers we selected, but the experience taught me about our rights as tenants and got me involved in the building.

“After that whole process, the Marbury Plaza was never sold, and is still owned by the Lightstone Group out of New York. After we took the action to try and buy our own building from the owners, they stopped caring about the facilities and let them fall apart. It got to the point where almost every apartment had been flooded, most people had been witness to a crime in the building, the disabled had trouble getting into one of the buildings because it was not ADA accessible, and we would go for periods without heat and air conditioning. The conditions were terrible.

“As the owners weren’t doing anything to seriously address these things, the tenant association and I started calling every city agency that handles codes and having them come to see the conditions we were living in. We managed to bring every department in here from recycling to health to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. We wanted to document all of these things and start to hold the owner and management company accountable. To add to that, 80 of us started to withhold rent over two years ago to make a point that this was not acceptable. We had the elderly, disabled, single Moms, working families, single professionals, and all kinds of other people involved in taking this stand against the owners. We really got a boost of support this past summer when after going two weeks without air conditioning, the D.C. Attorney General finally got involved on our behalf.

"Now, after a number of years of fighting it out, with much of that time in the courts and dealing with appeal after appeal, we are in the final stages of a settlement with the building. Those of us who withheld our rent will get an abatement and the building has promised to make the necessary repairs and adjustments to bring the building up to code. While nothing is ever perfect, and there are people who feel like the settlement is not enough, I view it as a success. The 1,000 to 1,500 residents here will finally be able to live with regular heat and air conditioning and free of animal infestation, security problems, and constant concerns by the disabled about getting into and out of their buildings. We couldn’t get everything, but I think that these changes will make all of our lives here better.

Congratulations, April! You're an inspiration.

City Council votes today. Here's what we're saying.

Today is the vote on the city's budget. We blogged about it here at Beyond Bread, and the budget cuts and their impact have been covered by news outlets and the blogosphere. If you still need to email your Councilmembers about this, don't worry -- there's still time. Take action now.

Here are a few letters from people close to Bread for the City, to inspire you as you share your thoughts with our elected officials.

From Leonard Edwards, Bread for the City client:

Dear City Council,

My name is Leonard J. Edwards, and I have been a resident of Washington, D.C., for over thirty years. I have a disability, and at the present time I am working towards my Associates Degree, in Health Care Administration.

I used to work construction, but I cannot do that work any longer because of my disability. I take on-line classes, and I depend on the disability services and other parts of the safety net to help with just about everything. This is where I am in my life right now, and if it was not for places like Bread for the City I can truly say that I do not know where I would be right now.

How am I supposed to complete my education if my utilities are disrupted? How can I keep my strength and health to study if I do not have a place to live, or food in my refrigerator? How am I supposed to improve my situation if I cannot even get back and forth to school?

I am not asking for hand outs, just a hand. These few services help me to keep some dignity. These few services are the only thing, at the present time, that are keeping me from being homeless and helping me to complete my studies. When I complete my education, I will get that job in the health care industry, so I can get back on my feet and help others.

I have always worked, and I enjoy working, and I have always been a good employee, with many letters of recommendation. With my disability, I had to re-tool my skills for the 21st century. If the cuts are as bad as I hear, I am afraid that I will become a statistic.

Sincerely,
Leonard J. Edwards

From Burke Stansbury, Ward 1 Resident and Save Our Safety Net volunteer:

Hi Councilmember Graham,

I live in Mt. Pleasant and have been active in advocating against safety net budget cuts over the last year. I'm also likely among those who would pay more taxes if rates for high-income earning DC residents were raised. And I want to say that I fully support such new tax proposals.

I also want to thank you for introducing new brackets at $350,000 in the spring. I'm writing because I believe we need even lower brackets for meaningful, new revenue to fund safety net programs. I support two possible solutions: a 1% increase on income over $200,000 a year or Tommy Wells' plan for comprehensive tax reform.

Please do the right thing and take a stand this week in favor of increased income taxes.

Thank you,
Burke Stansbury

Take a moment to send your own email now.

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

Denise shares her home with a family of "uninvited roommates," as she calls them. They have whiskers, they scurry away pretty fast, and there seem to be more and more of them.

Sometimes this rodent infestation isn't even the worst thing about her apartment: the broken air conditioning (broken heat, too, in the winter) is outright miserable. And don't get her started on the mold, which wreaks havoc on her asthma.

Rent striking tenant at Marbury Plaza. Support our work by making a donation today. (Photo by Daniel del Pielago)

"I can't just move out, though," Denise says. A long-time client of Bread for the City's food pantry, Denise has a hard-to-obtain housing voucher that subsidizes her rent. Given her health problems, her daughter's special needs, and the rising cost of living city-wide, she doesn't have much of a choice but to stick it out in Marbury Plaza.

And hers isn't even the worst situation in Marbury. Some apartments have holes in their walls that gape clear through in between each other. Denise says that in one man's unit, the mold got so bad that mushrooms started growing out of the walls.

Marbury Plaza, located just east of the Anacostia River and down the street from our Southeast Center on Good Hope Road, is one of DC's largest housing complexes. Its long period of decay reflects the plight of so many District residents who are struggling to maintain decent, affordable housing.

Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of Denise, the Marbury Plaza Concerned Tenants' Association, and Bread for the City's legal team, these conditions are about to improve.

Last week, we brought you the good news: after years of campaigning, including an organized rent strike, the Marbury tenants successfully reached a settlement with the owners that will abate rents and invest millions of dollars into repairs and upgrades. Bread for the City's legal team have helped the tenants craft their strategy, build their power, and bring their demands to the negotiating table.

We're now pleased to announce that the Marbury Concerned Tenants' Association have selected Bread for the City lawyers and advocacy staff to receive their Tenants' Choice Award, in recognition of our service to the community. We are honored to accept their invitation to the 2nd Annual Tenants Choice Award Ceremony, to be held on Friday September 17, 2010 at 7pm at THEARC Theater. (Facebook event page is here.)

Tonight at 6pm, you can hear a full news report on the Marbury Plaza settlement. Tune into WPFW 89.3FM (or streaming online here) to hear the full story, and hear the interview with MCTPA President April Goggans here.

In the meantime, you, too, can support this work. Tickets are available for the Tenants' Association's award ceremony -- purchase yours here. You can also make a donation help their ongoing efforts to build community at Marbury Plaza.

And of course, you can support Bread for the City's legal team -- and the work that we do with tenants across the city -- by making a donation to us today:

http://www.breadforthecity.org/marburyplaza

"Bread for the City's role was pivotal," explains Denise, who worked as a floor captain for the Tenants Association's campaign. "We certainly didn't have money to retain the services of a legal firm. If it wasn't for them, we'd be up a dark alley."

Instead, this victory points to hope for renewal -- through a community working together towards empowerment and justice.

"I hope this landmark case will resonate across the city, inspiring other tenants to know and fight for their rights," says Denise, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. The Tenants' Association stood for community, for working together for a common cause. And Bread for the City stands for under-served, struggling people -- for respect and dignity and caring for other human beings."

Congratulations again to April and the Marbury tenants. You can listen to Pete Tucker's interview with April here.

Major Tenant Victory at Marbury Plaza!

“This was once a great building,” says April Goggans of Marbury Plaza, the place she calls home. The 1,500 resident complex was once the site of a community of black professionals and middle class families. Soul legend Isaac Hayes also called it home. “It was known as ‘the jewel of the community,’” says April.

But that was decades ago, before a long string of ownership changes brought a pattern of neglect and decay. Residents have endured years of broken heat and plumbing, poor security, rodent infestations, even some serious accidents. At times entire days have passed without air conditioning, which can be life-threatening to the buildings' many elderly residents.

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of April, her fellow tenants, Bread for the City lawyers, and even city officials like Attorney General Peter Nickles, Marbury Plaza’s long decline is about to reverse. Last week, the tenants reached an initial settlement with the owners of the housing complex, who will invest $5 million into repairs and upgrades. (See coverage in the Washington Post here.)

“This victory demonstrates the power that tenants have when they act collectively,” says Phylisa Carter, Bread for the City’s community lawyer, who worked most closely with the Marbury Plaza tenants. “By articulating clear demands and taking action, these ordinary people were able to hold landlords -- and government officials -- accountable.”

This success came after years of hard work. Tenant organizing efforts at Marbury actually date back to 2005, when an explosion in a laundry room killed a mother and young daughter. Tenants organized RAMP (Residential Association of Marbury Plaza) to build support for the family of the victims -- and also to push for investigations, repairs, security, and upgrades. Led by Connie Chic Smith and Vanessa Vedder, RAMP saw some measure of success. Vincent Gray, then Ward 7 Councilmember, attended their meetings. Security at the building began to improve. Tenants did not see many building repairs -- but they did learn their rights.

Years later, Marbury Plaza’s owners started looking to sell. DC’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) gives tenants the right to attempt to purchase their building before a landlord sells it to a third party. This was when April got involved: she helped launch the Marbury Plaza Concerned Tenants Association (MPCTA), which worked with the Office of Tenant Advocate to make a purchase proposal for the tenants. In the end, both bids fell through.

But now that the Marbury Tenants Association was mobilized, they picked up where RAMP left off. “Each day at Marbury Plaza brought the possibility of any number of things going wrong. Intermittent heat, hot water and air conditioning, roaches, mice, leaks -- it was always something,” according to April. Tenants decided to take things to another level.

April first came to Bread for the City in October of 2008, seeking legal advice for a rent strike. A group of ten tenants were ready to withhold their rent in demand of improvements. They knew that by taking this action they were risking their very homes -- but they believed the law was on their side.

“When Bread for the City heard there were major problems with the building and the tenants had decided to hold the management accountable, I didn’t hesitate to offer our assistance,” recalls Stacey Long, who was Director of Advocacy at Bread for the City at the time, and helped initiate the relationship. “We recognized [Marbury’s] significance as a fixture within the community.”

This connection made for a strong team. “As the tenants designed their overall campaign plan, we were able to offer our legal skills to help them achieve specific campaign goals,” says Phylisa Carter.

“This is the essence of community lawyering,” she explains. “We offer our tactical legal capacity as one key piece of the process for a community trying to build its own power.”

“Bread for the City helped us get educated and organized,” explains April. “They have a great depth of experience and knowledge, and they were able to work with us in a way that wasn’t soft and wasn’t hard, if that makes sense. It was like they were the glue that helped hold us all together. They helped us gain access to justice.”

With BFC’s legal guidance, tenants had confidence that they could sustain the rent strike without losing their homes. The strike grew from 10 to 80 tenants; and when the tenants were sued in Landlord/Tenant court for non-payment of rent, our lawyers represented them. Many of these tenants were struggling with unemployment, or elderly and receiving public assistance (like social security insurance). When they needed help, we were able to connect them to services like our food pantry and case management. When another fire left victims without a wardrobe, our clothing bank became an essential resource for them.

With Bread for the City representing the tenants in negotiations, the case came to the attention of DC Attorney General Peter Nickles.

“The Attorney General was instrumental in bringing all of the parties to the negotiating table,” says Phylisa, “including the Office of the Tenant Advocate and the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs [the city agency that handles housing inspections].” Under his direction, relatively swift progress was made towards resolving the rent strike and reaching a settlement that would satisfy all parties.

Just this month, the settlement was announced: The management company has agreed to invest $5 million into repairs and upgrades. Tenants will also receive significant abatements on their rent.

The deal is not yet officially done. 80% of the rent strikers must first sign on to the settlement -- but April is cautiously optimistic. “I think this is a really positive step for everyone,” explains April. “We’re looking at a complete replacement of the major systems like air conditioning, heat, hot water, ventilation... and we’re talking about real permanent repairs, not quick fixes that would just break right away. We’re looking to see new things like security cameras, more secure access to the building, and compliance with ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act].”

“Despite fears about putting our whole lives on the line, we stuck it out and had a huge victory.” Furthermore, the experience has been an invaluable political and organizational education for Marbury tenants. “I believe we [at Marbury Plaza] are the first tenant group in the city to have gone through both a TOPA process and a housing code violations campaign. We know what we’re doing now, we now how the system works. If the owners try to sell again, we’ll be ready to buy it ourselves.”

In the meantime, there’s lots of other good work to be done. “This settlement gives us, as a tenant’s association, the opportunity not to be tied up in court,” says April with excitement. “We’re able to spend our time and energy building community, hosting events, doing parent education -- health education and finance education. We can make Marbury the jewel of the community once again.”

And you can help Bread for the City continue to work with tenants across the city, empowering them to assert their rights and gain control over their homes. It's hard work -- but as we see through this victory, it's transformative work. Make a donation to our legal clinic today: www.breadforthecity.org/marburyplaza

[Thanks to Daniel del Pielago for the photos. And congratulations to the Marbury Plaza Concerned Tenant Association!]

Next Week: Tenant Town Hall!

Next week, Bread for the City is co-sponsoring the 3rd annual Tenant Town Hall. On Saturday, July 31, 2010, from 2:30 to 5 pm, at First Trinity Church (309 E St NW), we'll join with tenants from across the city to talk to elected officials and government agencies to talk about housing needs and solutions.

According to the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), the Tenant Town Hall is "a welcoming space for tenants in the District of Columbia to come together to talk about tenant rights and the preservation of affordable housing in their neighborhoods."

There have, in fact, been a number of recent successes to celebrate. LEDC explains: "In response to tenant demands, DCRA in November 2009 created a proactive housing code inspections program to prevent tenant displacement and improve housing conditions. During the program’s initial pilot phase, 4,074 housing code violations were cited at 264 buildings citywide – resulting in $30,500 in fines levied against landlords."

Another important part of the agenda is discussion of the new housing conditions docket in D.C. Superior Court, which enables tenants to sue their landlords for bad conditions. This is actually a proposal that originated as a demand from tenants the first Tenant Town Hall in 2008. For the past two years, this demand was fought for -- and won -- by tenants and advocates and lawyers (BFC Lord High Legal Director Vytas V Vergeer prominent among them). Now that the docket has been successfully established, the Town Hall will foster discussion about how it can be used and how it can be improved.

Between that and discussion about the city's worsening lack of funding for affordable housing (a conversation that is heating up these days), this is sure to be a busy and heated event.

Confirmations have been received from Councilmembers (including Ward One's Jim Graham and staff from At-Large Michael Brown's office) and heads of housing-related agencies.

This event is also co-sponsored by ONE DC, Empower DC, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, Legal Aid Society of DC, Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly, and tenant associations from across DC.

For more information about the Tenant Town Hall, email Anna Duncan or call 202-540-7419.

Photos courtesy LEDC.

Affordable Housing, or Tent City

Bread for the City client Ca’Vonn Ellis-Smith has lived in Shaw--just down the street from our Northwest center--for more than a decade. This week, however, Ca’Vonn has settled upon a new spot in the neighborhood: in a tent, in the gravelly lot at the corner of 7th and R streets.

Ca’Vonn has struggled with homelessness before; but this is different.

“This is like my Angela Davis moment,” laughs Ca’Vonn. She has taken a leading role in a direct action by ONE DC, a grassroots organizing group that works to build racial and economic equity in our communities. ONE DC successfully won an agreement from Mayor Fenty’s office to subsidize the development of affordable housing on the property -- specifically for families making less than $50,000. (Learn more about the history of these negotiations on ONE DC’s Tent City blog.)

In June, ONE DC learned that this commitment has been dropped. In response, they’ve taken direct action. On Saturday, ONE DC initiated a “territorial occupation” of this land, with Ca’Vonn helping to lead the way. They’ve since erected tents, a library and public art installations, developing what they call “an intentional community.” They’re not planning to leave, they say, until Mayor Fenty agrees to meet with them.

The building across the street from Parcel 42, Ca’Vonn points out, is “going coop” (i.e. opting out of a contract that subsidizes Section 8 housing). This means that many of its residents will lose their homes. Currently, Ca’Vonn receives a Section 8 voucher -- this is the only way that she and her children can afford to stay in their apartment. But even that doesn’t provide peace of mind. “The building I'm living in now has been considering going coop for years -- every year we don't know if our contract is going to get renewed, we don't know if we're going to have to find new housing.”

This experience has prompted Ca’Vonn to learn about housing and, ultimately, engage in direct action with ONE DC -- despite the fact that the tent city is technically an illegal activity. “I went back and forth about whether I would participate. I could be arrested and split from my family. Would I be able to afford legal representation?”

But Ca’Vonn decided to participate. “I'm fighting for affordable housing myself every day, within my building every day,” Ca’Vonn explains. “Why not join forces with the people who are fighting for a right to a decent place to live? We need to make a statement together to make the forces of power - developers, government, whoever - recognize that their plans affect everybody, and that this community should offer opportunities for every class of people.”

[Ca'Vonn Ellis-Smith, pictured right. Read more about One DC’s Tent City on Carlos QC’s blog here. Photo by Carlos.]

She adds: “These developers have built buildings that are huge and expensive and empty. Meanwhile families who've been here for decades are getting pushed out, becoming homeless.”

ONE DC encourages concerned DC residents to contact Mayor Fenty’s office (try Chief of Staff Carrie Kohns at 202.724.8815, or send a message online) and ask him to support the development of affordable housing, in part by meeting with ONE DC to discuss the plans for Parcel 42.

Residents are also invited to come by Parcel 42 to share food, water, “talent,” and fellowship with the people of Tent City; you are welcome to stay the night, too! “This action isn't just for poor people or any one kind of person,” explains Ca’Vonn. “It's for working class, double-income families, single families - it's for a vision of a community in which everyone can participate.”

Contact Rosemary Ndubuizu (http://www.blogger.com/rndubuizu@onedconline.org or 202.232.2915) for more detail.

Serving those who've served their country

Congress recently passed legislation to provide case management and housing assistance for thousands of military veterans who now struggle with homelessness. This provides a much-needed swell of resources for DC's large population of vulnerable veterans — a group that we've been seeing substantially more of, especially at Bread for the City’s Southeast Center.

In response to the rise in both need and resources, Bread for the City has recently forged a partnership with the Homeless Veteran Program within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“It can be so challenging to return from military service,” explains Sherita Evans, Bread for the City’s intake coordinator and all-around superstar. “Our veterans struggle with debilitating injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and difficulty finding employment.”

Sherita has taken the lead in our collaboration with the VA, helping them adapt their case management procedures to best connect clients with resources in the community, especially when it comes to affordable housing.

“The VA Subsidized Housing Program (VASH) is like Section 8, specifically for veterans,” she explains. “But even with a voucher, it’s still a challenge to find suitable housing.”

“For instance, take the application fees: they’re $25 to $50, each time you apply for an apartment. For people with a steady job and income, that’s not a big deal. But if you’re homeless and applying to four apartments each week—how are you going to get that money?”

This problem was preventing many of the VA’s clients from successfully placing themselves in housing. Sherita helped the VA find a new approach.

“I told them to make it work!” says Sherita. She helped case managers at the VA draft a waiver form that enables veterans to bypass many application fees. “You have to go beat the streets. When your client needs to find housing, go with them—as a social worker with the VA, you can throw some weight around and get application fees waived. That might be non- traditional, but housing is hard; you gotta do what it takes.”

Even then, finding a suitable array of options can be difficult. “Southeast is different from the rest of DC. A lot of places advertise in the window, not in the classifieds or on Craigslist,” Sherita explains. “You gotta get out of the newspaper and up from the desk.”

And once housing is secured, veterans can then turn to Bread for the City for even more assistance. “The VASH program doesn’t include food stamps or social services benefits,” Sherita explains. “So we’re able to get them into a networked array of resources—including food support and legal assistance." This is especially important for veterans with families: “vets can go to the VA hospital, but their spouse and children may not be able to. That’s where we come in—we can address the entire family unit. We can connect the wife and children with the resources they need.”

“The demographics of soldiers are changing,” continues Sherita, explaining that we’re seeing more young veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In other instances, active enlisted men leave behind families who need help: “If my husband is in Iraq, he’s being compensated—so I may not be eligible for food stamps. But I still need help!”

“Sherita is incredibly responsive and always willing to come out here to offer assistance—that’s rare in today’s age,” commends Steve Mason of the VASH program. “All of our clients thank us for connecting them with Bread for the City.”

“Sherita assisted me in getting into the place where I’m established now. When I ended up on the streets of DC, a case manager with the homeless division suggested that I could get specific help at Bread for the City. I was tired of jumping in and out of shelters. Sherita directed me to the Vet Center at Chesapeake House. And even though I didn’t meet all the criteria—I didn’t have 60 days clean—I was able to talk to the people and they were ready to give me a stable, sober environment. Today I have six months clean time and my own home. “ — Mr. Klink, a veteran of Vietnam who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Mr. Klink received a housing voucher but was still without shelter.

Save Funding for DC's Poorest Residents--We Need Your Help!

Save Our Safety Net

Last week we posted on Mayor Fenty's proposed budget cuts, which will slash a number of programs providing critical support for low-income residents of DC. Critical safety net services (like affordable housing, assistance for families with children, and literacy programs) will be affected, and no serious actions to raise revenue have been proposed. Moreover, the cuts are imbalanced--cuts to services for poor residents make up nearly half of the mayor's proposal.

These cuts will prolong and deepen this recession.

Save Our Safety Net is brought to you by Bread for the City and the Coalition for Community Investment, a broad array of community leaders and business owners in DC who support humane and responsible fiscal governance. Please visit Save Our Safety Net, learn about the cuts, and sign a petition asking the mayor and the council to change course and invest in our future.

Sign our petition today!

So, what are those other guys up to?

Some of our non-profit partners have joined us in the blogosphere, so I thought it would be worthwhile to check in and see what they've been blogging about lately. (Maybe a new roundup in the works?)

~One of our closest legal partners launched a blog on June 1st! Making Justice Real is operated by the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, an organization that provides civil legal aid to low-income residents that cannot afford a lawyer. Their all-star Executive Director, Jonathan Smith, appears to be manning the helm at this point--which is exciting, because that guy knows a lot. We hope to see more of the Legal Aid lawyers participating in the future. You can also follow them on Twitter.

~Part of the legislation that gave DC a new baseball stadium in Southeast also started a community benefit fund. The DC Fiscal Policy Institute is recommending that the money in the Nationals Stadium Community Benefit Fund be used to beef up affordable housing programs like the Housing Production Trust Fund and the Housing Purchase Assistance Program. Mayor Fenty is instead proposing that the money be used to close the deficit for the bloated Summer Youth Employment Program.

~I didn’t know this, but Martha’s Table benefits from Clagett Farm in the same way we do! Clagett, the result of a partnership between the Capital Area Food Bank and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, allows food pantries to buy shares at a reduced rate so we can all distribute fresh, locally grown produce. In fact, the partnership we have with Claggett was the first step in our over-arching Nutrition Initiative through which we secure all sorts of fresh produce (btw--Martha's Table is also on Twitter).

~If you’re interested in serving your community and you're considering AmeriCorps, DC Learns can help you get a leg up on the pile. They are currently accepting applications for a Literacy*AmeriCorps Member in the 2009-2010 service year.

~The Campus Kitchen Project Blog has a good response to the Washington Post story stating that poor people often must spend more than their affluent neighbors to survive. For more information, you can also see our response to the same article.

Budget Update! Funding Found for Critical Programs

We are in the home stretch with the City budget! Each Committee has had hearings for the agencies within their purview and, as of the end of last week, all of the Committees have voted on their Mark-Up Reports.

A number of good things came out of the Committee mark-ups -- overall, it was an encouraging process for the sake of critical safety net programs, especially given the scale of the budget crisis. Last week, Beyond Bread posted about the Judiciary Committee's approval of funding for civil legal services to the poor.

Now, we find out that some other things SOME and BFC care about—access to food, housing, homeless services, and income supports—have support for needed funding as well.

Most notably, the Public Works and Transportation Committee, chaired by Councilmember Jim Graham, moved to generate revenue that would prop up quite a few programs that are essential to the health of low-income communities. (Graham has been working hard at this recently: after budget cuts last fall, he fought successfully for increases to parking meter pricing; but those funds were ultimately redirected to general funding, as opposed to specific social service programs.) This time he put forth another proposal that would generate revenue from DC's Street Sweeper Cam Initiative. The initiative calls for mounting cameras on street sweepers and photographing the license plates of illegally parked cars. Tickets would generate an estimated $6.8 million of revenue for Fiscal Year 2010.

A slew of new $40 parking tickets isn't likely to warm the heart, but look at what the generated revenue would go to fund:

• $2 million to the Local Rent Supplement Program
• $1.5 million to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
• $750,000 to the Housing First Fund
• $750,000 to the Home Purchase Assistance Program.

The committee also identified $2.9 million in additional revenue through a previously unnoticed accounting error, and recommends using this money to restore the cost of living adjustment to the standard income tax deduction, since the loss of a cost of living adjustment would be in effect a regressive tax measure. This is another smart, just move that was advocated by the Coalition for Community Investment (in which Bread for the City and SOME are both active members).

We extend a big thank-you to Councilmember Graham for truly diligent work in finding this funding, all of which will help the entire District of Columbia to weather the economic crisis and stay poised for a quick recovery.

These increases are crucial, but they barely scratch the surface of need. Homeless families can tell you that – and it’s not hard to find them, since this year has seen a 25% increase of homeless families in DC.

And, of course, the Committee process so far has only offered forth budget recommendations; now, it's up to City Council to act on them. And it's up to us to hold them accountable. The first vote on the budget by the Committee of the Whole is next week, on May 12th. Express your support for these recommendations by emailing City Council at dccouncil@dccouncil.us.

You can also use SOME’s Action Tool to write to City Councilmembers to tell them that additional funding is needed. And the Fair Budget Coalition will rally outside of City Council (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) in support of affordable housing, TANF, and homeless services, this Wednesday at noon 12-1. It's during lunchtime, and a great opportunity to help out your low-income and homeless neighbors.

Stay tuned for more details as things unfold this week. (And for a more detailed description of the budget calendar, see the DCFPI Budget Toolkit.)

Councilmember Jim Graham, stepping up big-time.

Birthday Bash Roundup: Information & Education

Weekly Volunteer Jim Frank helps in the NW Food Pantry.*

Our birthday bash continues! I plan to celebrate this momentous day with an extra cup of coffee and a trip to Busboys & Poets to support Book Fruits, an organization that teaches creative writing to children in DCPS. Tonight, authors 8-16 years of age will be reading their work.

Looking back through the year, our archives are littered with in-depth analysis on poverty issues. One of the goals of this blog is to give our readers an insight into why, exactly, issues like TANF, housing, and mental health are so important to us. This means presenting the issues to our readers in an accessible way without diluting the arguments. Though the information below is nowhere close to exhaustive, it does give an impression of the myriad factors that can contribute to perpetual poverty.

Of all of our topics, there is no more complex and misunderstood one than housing. Whether merely defining terms, discussing the Section 8 wait list and the New Communities Initiative, getting the opinions of experts like Jim Knight of Jubilee Housing or BFC's own Margie Sollinger, or (most recently) covering Legal Clinic Director Vytas V. Vergeer's work with the tenants of Marbury Plaza, Beyond Bread covered a lot of material.  And yet we're nowhere near documenting everything there is to know about affordable housing in DC. 

Recently, staff member Valentine Breitbarth (graduating this month with a Master of Public Health) started our coverage of what will continue to be a big story in the upcoming year--the shift in role for the DC Department of Mental Health. Though the transition has been discussed for some time, DMH began the implementation of a plan to switch from providing direct mental health services to an indirect oversight role. Bread for the City's Representative Payee Program will be directly impacted by the DMH shift, so we will have no choice but to monitor the situation closely. 

One of our longest-standing partners is So Other's Might Eat, and one of their Advocacy Associates, Joni Podschun, has been contributing to this blog almost from the beginning. Lately she's been combing through DC's TANF legislation--digging into the nuances of its implementation, comparing our TANF program to those of other states, and exploring the ways TANF helps people.

Bread for the City also advocated vociforously for the expansion of food stamps, the passage of the so-called "Bag Bill" that will help clean the Anacostia River of harmful contaminants, and a more open budget process.  Whew! Expect more information in all of these areas in year two.

*see more pictures of our volunteers here!

Rent Strike at Marbury Plaza

The April issue of East of the River magazine includes the following story about Marbury Plaza, a housing project with which Bread for the City's legal department has been deeply engaged.

Marbury Plaza Gains Support
Tenants Seek Abatement Assistance

Rats. Mold. Leaks. Fires. It might seem the list of problems at Marbury Plaza, 2300 Good Hope Road SE, couldn't get worse. But tenants also face financial and legal complications.

The Lightstone Group owns the 672-unit apartment complex as well as many commercial properties around the country. Recently, according to New York Times and Wall Street Journal reports, the company defaulted on several loans. At least four properties are now in receivership, and the future of others is in doubt.

Meanwhile, more than 50 Marbury Plaza tenants are participating in a rent strike. The strike was launched in October of 2008, after previous efforts failed to achieve needed repairs in rental units and common areas. Several individual tenants were sued for non-payment of rent, and the nonprofit Bread for the City is representing some of those sued. Vytas Vergeer, legal clinic director, says mediation will be the first goal at an upcoming status hearing.

Tenants can file counterclaims against landlords in such cases, Vergeer adds, but a change of ownership complicates matters. In the event of foreclosure, the bank would be responsible for bringing apartments and common areas up to code, he says, but foreclosure could limit tenants' ability to seek restitution from current owners.

In a separate effort, the District's attorney general, Peter Nickles, wrote last month to the owner/manager threatening suit unless “the property is maintained up to code as required by law.”

In addition, tenants are meeting with the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs officials and the District's Tenant Advocate to explore the possibility of assistance from the city's emergency abatement fund.

When asked if he'd like to add anything else to the story, Bread for the City's Vytas V. Vergeer said, "Yeah, my middle initial." And so it has been done.

Beyond Bread: Healthcare, Hate Crimes, and Housing

~A couple weeks ago we ran a story about Audra, a woman who lost her job and had her savings ravaged by the costs of medication when her employee-provided health insurance ran out. The National Women’s Law Center saw this story as a lightning rod for the healthcare debate, and with our permission used it as the foundation for a story that was picked up by the Huffington Post. The NWLC is a great policy organization, and they share a number of our values. One of our next steps in advocacy is TANF legislation, an issues that NWLC cares about a great deal.

~The Washington Post is reporting that Maryland is on the verge of adding “the homeless” to the groups protected by hate crimes legislation. Senator Mooney said he started taking the issue seriously when he saw a video clip of a group of homeless individuals beaten to death with baseball bats. Indeed, just a few months ago there was some media attention when a homeless man was beaten to death in Columbia Heights and no one stopped to help him. The DC Council is said to be considering similar hate crimes legislation.

~DCFPI’s blog reports that DC is cutting funding for affordable housing by a third for FY10, despite the rising demand (right now there are almost 26,000 people on the housing wait list).

~A big “hey, thanks!” to our friends at FART in DC, a group of young professionals dedicated to the art of faux athletics. All of the proceeds from their events are given to local charities, and recently they chose Bread for the City to be one of their beneficiaries. Their next conquest: blow up float racing!!

Beyond Bread: This Week's News

~The New York Times says that New York City is seeing an influx of volunteers as people who are laid off get out of the house and do something with their free time. Unfortunately, they also write that the increase in volunteers is coming just as donations are going down and programs are being forced to scale back their efforts. An interesting problem to have, and one we are also dealing with here in DC.

~Remember last year when “Forced Out,” a series by Washington Post reporters Debbie Cenziper and Sarah Cohen, brought to light some of the tactics used by DC landlords to evict low-income tenants? We do too, and we’re happy to hear that they recently won the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Journalism! Debbie Cenziper does a great recap of the series that is very insightful.

~One Saturday a month, volunteer lawyers from local firms partner with the DC Bar Pro Bono Program to run advice and referral clinics out of Bread for the City’s two locations. Since I’m always here on those Saturdays with my own volunteers, I see the outstanding work they do. People flood into Bread for the City for all kinds of legal needs. The Pro Bono Program’s website has an incredible story this week about how they helped a teenager who recently lost her mother.

~We have a new friend! Martha’s Table launched their blog, “Tidbits from the Table,” today! They have a really nice-looking site and pictures of adorable kids. Who doesn’t love that stuff?

~Former Majority Leader Tom Daschle wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post about how he is not essential to health care reform. His main point is that reform will happen this year no matter who is in the position of HHS Secretary because the climate is right for it. Well, that's certainly good news for the uninsured, but reform takes a number of different forms. Ultimately the type of reform we get will depend a great deal on who has a seat at the drafting table, and that's where I think Mr. Daschle's argument falls apart. For many, many years Mr. Daschle supported plans to expand the community clinic infrastructure--a specific plan that will save money while increasing care in underserved communities. He also called current community health centers a godsend, emphasizing the need to champion primary care. A true "reform" in health care will mean more than getting insurance cards into the hands of citizens. It will mean giving them a place to go once they have it, and that's where I think Mr. Daschle showed his stars. Though not essential, I still maintain he certainly would have been helpful.

Access to Justice Commission Advocates for Continued Public Funding

Peter Edelman, Chairman of the District of Columbia Access to Justice Commission, went before the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary, requesting that the Mayor and Council maintain their funding of civil legal services for DC residents, which currently stands at $3.6 million.

Mr. Edleman provided excellent testimony. Some of the highlights:

• More than 3,000 people received legal assistance with public funds last year.


• More than 200 evictions were stopped, thereby saving the DC government $5.4 million in shelter costs.


• The average poverty lawyer in DC has school debt of nearly $100,000. Public funds pay for the District of Columbia Poverty Lawyer Loan Repayment Program-- a program that enables them to remain working for nonprofits serving the most vulnerable DC residents.

I loaded Mr. Edelman's full testimony to our website. If you're interested in the very specific and important services legal funding provides, you will certainly find it in this very lucid testimony.

I should note that Bread for the City Staff Attorney Su Sie Ju is a member of the Commission, and that three of our housing attorneys are fully funded by these public funds.