NPA action on HUD leads to local housing victories across the country

Nearly seven weeks after 1,000 National People�s Action members surrounded the home of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez, NPA�s Leadership Team sat down in HUD�s boardroom to discuss next steps in the growing partnership between the community leaders and HUD.

The meeting included Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development Roy Bernardi, FHA Commissioner John Weicher and eight other top HUD officials who were directed by Martinez to work with NPA.

It was clear to NPA�s 13-person HUD Leadership Team that HUD officials had done their homework on the issues we presented them during the previous June 2 meeting with HUD Secretary Mel Martinez. The June 2 meeting came the day after NPA members turned up on his lawn. Martinez had previously ignored NPA�s meeting requests for over two years.

Emily Dunn, an NPA leader from Chicago , stated, øThey (HUD) treated us with respect and were prepared for the meeting with NPA. I think they are ready to listen.Ó

This was a much different meeting than NPA�s visit to Martinez �s backyard in June! øHUD is now that they are ready to work in partnership with grassroots community organizations. As long as HUD continues to listen to NPA and act on our recommendations, our communities will benefit,Ó stated Inez Killingworth, NPA co-chair.

NPA victories include:
 

•  HUD will help Communities United For Action protect their recent victory to save over 700 units of public housing in Cincinnati , OH from the wrecking ball.

•  HUD will work with the Anti-Displacement Project to implement an appeals process that could ultimately enable the tenant buyout of Cathedral Hill for low-income families in Springfield , MA .

•  HUD will strongly consider rolling out a home repair grant program for homes with FHA-insured mortgages in six NPA communities.

•  HUD will include the city of Buffalo in their new CDBG Citizen Participation Pilot program that will improve resident input on how local community dollars get spent in their neighborhoods. Bernardi also agreed to visit Buffalo and meet with Eastside PRIDE.

•  HUD will work with Syracuse United Neighbors in Syracuse to restructure the city�s Section 108 debt so that more community development dollars can get spent on home repair and foreclosure prevention projects. Bernardi and/or Paul Webster will visit Syracuse in the coming months.

At the end of the two hour meeting, Bernardi declared, øHUD will do their very best to do what is right and help NPA every step of the way.Ó HUD also committed to future meetings with NPA community organizations to discuss local housing problems.

NPA�s leadership team for the July 16 HUD meeting included leaders from Anti-Displacement
Project in Springfield, MA; Communities United For Action in Cincinnati, OH; Eastside PRIDE in Buffalo, NY; the National Training and Information Center in Chicago, IL; Organization for a New Eastside in Indianapolis, IN; and Syracuse United Neighbors in Syracuse, NY.