HOPE VI, Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere, refers to the six objectives of the program, including changing the shape of public housing, reduction of concentrations of poverty, the development of broad based partnerships, establishment of strong supportive services, establishment of personal and community responsibility and the encouragement of home ownership.
The application submitted for 2010 seeking $15 million did not get scored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development because of technical flaws in the application, which was overseen by Atlanta-based Urban College.
Community officials know that a significant amount of local matching funds included in the grant application last year will not be available in the next application. Some $500,000 in HOME consortium funding will definitely not be available, and $75,000 in Community Home Improvement Program money may not be available as local match funding.
Urban Collage’s Stan Harvey told members of the city’s Community Development Services committee that Rome’s previous application was well short of other applicants when it came to local matching funds.
Assistant City Manager Sammy Rich explained that one of the issues the city was having involved earmarking $250,000 a year for three years from Community Development entitlement funding for the HOPE VI project. That much of an earmark takes away almost half of the city’s annual entitlement budget.
“That’s a challenge when we’ve got other needs,” Rich said.
City Manager John Bennett suggested stretching the match over five years, since the HOPE VI project is designed as a 52-month project. That would reduce the city’s commitment to $150,000 a year to reach the $750,000 threshold.
Harvey said the new application should score better after the housing authority completes demolition of the Altoview Terrace housing project on Spring Creek Street from East 12th Street to East 14th Street.
HOPE VI is perceived as a jump-start to the overall revitalization of the East Rome area bounded by the Norfolk Southern Rail line on the west, U.S. 27 and U.S. 411 on the east and Darlington Drive on the south. The northern boundary basically comes to a point at Maple Street and the railroad tracks. Most of the neighborhood northeast of the Maple Street and East 12th Street intersection is not technically included.
The project will focus on the development of as many as 500 new apartment, town homes, duplexes and single-family units along with commercial infill along the Maple Street and East 12th Street corridors.
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