THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 9, 1996 TAG: 9609090040
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 85 lines
A new leasing plan that could change the economic mix - and image - of the city's 11 public-housing neighborhoods will be up for public hearing at 10 a.m. today at City Council chambers..
The Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority wants to add education and employment as criteria for prospective renters in public and subsidized housing. Under existing federal guidelines, people who are displaced, homeless, live in substandard housing or pay more than half their income for rent get first dibs. The changes would apply to half of vacancies.
The city's reasoning is that an infusion of motivated people into the neighborhoods would, by example, spur longtime residents to seek jobs or get training.
Income caps would not change. A family of four is considered ``very low income'' and eligible for public or subsidized housing at $21,050.
But whether those who are already motivated to improve their lives would opt to move into public housing is a subject of debate.
George Reed, a counselor at Norfolk Skills Center, said the plan didn't make sense to him.
People come to the center to learn how they can get training that will help them work their way out of public housing, Reed said.
``It's a pipe dream,'' Reed said.
Elsie Harold, another Norfolk Skills Center counselor, said that while she had encountered lots of folks who would do just about anything to get out of public housing, she never had worked with anyone who was struggling to get in.
But Ray Strutton, assistant executive director for NRHA's housing operations, disagreed.
``I think people on the outside have a distorted vision,'' he said. ``They may think it's idealistic to think that they'll want to get in, but even people working in minimum-wage jobs are finding it difficult to live in the private market,'' where frequently they find worse conditions at a higher price. ``There are people out there . . . who need a break.''
He said that the expected change in the makeup of public-housing neighborhoods would be a gradual one but would result in positive role models for residents who had become set in their ways.
Shaveka Williams says she thinks she's one who needs a break.
An 18-year-old single mother of two, Williams now lives in the Oakleaf Forest public-housing neighborhood with her mother and seven other relatives. She's working on her GED and wants a career in medicine. That would get her off welfare.
She's not employed now but is looking for a job, and she would like to get a place of her own in public housing. ``Anything would do,'' Williams said.
Jane Carter, a Norfolk Works career counselor based in Park Place, lauded the proposed changes in housing priorities as a catalyst for improvement.
``The majority in public housing or Section 8 (private rentals subsidized through a voucher system) are looking for opportunities for training, re-training or employment,'' she said.
They're ``the early birds, the wise ones,'' Carter said.
The pending implementation of welfare reform would result in recipients being tossed off the rolls after two years. Many public-housing residents are single mothers who receive welfare payments.
David Ollison, employment director for the Urban League of Hampton Roads, also applauded the proposal.
``There will be more genuine families,'' he said. ``Men who live in public housing now often aren't on the leases. This will bring in the working poor, so more men there will be legal residents.''
Patrice Trotman, Section 8 program manager for the housing authority, said that those on her Section 8 rent-subsidy waiting list of 4,000 would have to be re-evaluated should the priorities change, since employment history and educational background were not gathered when eligibility was determined.
Leaders of residents' organizations representing public housing have remained silent on the issue.
In recent years, the waiting list for public housing has hovered at about 1,900, the point at which it is cut off. Officials say the list is now much shorter, and new applications will be sought in October.
KEYWORDS: PUBLIC HOUSING NORFOLK REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING
AUTHORITY by CNB