Latest news with #ChoiceNeighborhoods
Chicago Tribune
03-07-2025
- Chicago Tribune
GHA head placed on unpaid leave amid battery case
The Board of Commissioners for the Gary Housing Authority put Executive Director & CEO Taryl Bonds on unpaid administrative leave for two months due to 'a matter unrelated to GHA operations' as of July 1, according to a Thursday news release. Bonds was arrested and charged with two counts of strangulation and two misdemeanor counts of domestic battery following a June 20 incident when he allegedly choked two women in a dispute about cooking. His initial court appearance — when a No Contact Order will be discussed — is scheduled for July 7, according to court records. The board said the decision comes as part of an ongoing review process to ensure the effective management and oversight of the Authority's operations. 'We believe that this decision is in the best interest of the Gary Housing Authority and the community we serve,' said Cynthia Taylor, Chair of the Board of Commissioners, in the release. 'We are dedicated to upholding our commitment to the residents of Gary and ensuring that the Authority operates with integrity and effectiveness.' The board chose Damon E. Duncan to lead the GHA in the interim. Duncan owns Atlanta-based Clesia Ventures, LLC, a firm that GHA has engaged for its Choice Neighborhoods planning initiative. GHA said it has been in contact with the Indiana HUD Field Office and the City of Gary during this time to ensure a seamless transition and said that its services will continue uninterrupted, according to the release. Bonds released an emailed statement last week apologizing to the GHA, but said the charges were 'the result of an unfortunate disagreement between me and (a person living in his home)' and claimed it 'has not been accurately portrayed publicly.' 'I extend my deepest apologies for the embarrassment experienced by the Gary Housing Authority as a result of a personal family matter,' Bonds said. 'Most importantly, I regret the negative impact that this situation has had on my family, friends and loved ones.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
JHA hosts block party; ideas sought from residents to make neighborhood improvements
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Coopersdale Homes residents came together Wednesday to share some camaraderie during the West End Block Party and to also learn more about the community's ongoing Choice Neighborhoods planning grant program. The Johnstown Housing Authority received $500,000 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding last September to develop a plan for stabilizing and revitalizing the public housing complex and surrounding area. JHA has 30 months from the time of receiving the award to complete the plan. It is currently soliciting input from residents, city officials, nonprofits and businesses regarding what improvements could be made. 'It's important to hear from the people what they need in their units, in their neighborhood because you can't, as an outsider, tell someone else what they need, so it's just best to gather input from people,' Jaden Bennett, manager for JHA's Choice Neighborhoods project, said. Bennett has noticed some common concerns among residents. 'One thing that really stood out to us was there was mention that there isn't enough lighting for individuals that are walking to (local supermarkets) Giant Eagle or Save A Lot from Coopersdale,' Bennett said. 'There was a big emphasis on getting better lighting so that in the nighttime it's easier to see people, pedestrians that are walking to those places to get essentials. Also, transportation is a big barrier for a lot of individuals.' Shaqueena Murphy, a project ambassador and Coopersdale Homes resident, also mentioned the transportation barrier. 'We don't have any stores to go to around here,' Murphy said. 'You have to go all the way to Richland. Everybody don't have cars to travel, to get around, so it's like kind of hard to like get around to do anything.' After the authority's plan is developed, it will attempt to acquire federal money for implementation of its ideas. But even if that economic support does not materialize, JHA and the city will have an outline to use when possibly pursuing funding from other sources. 'To have that in place means really everything because now we'll know what people want and what people need,' Bennett said. 'No matter what the outcome is, we're able to better understand where some of the struggles are as a community, as a whole and really come together to create ' Dave Sutor is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New housing development in Newport News aims to bring the Southeast community home
Newport News leaders cut the ribbon Thursday to celebrate the completion of the city's latest housing development in its effort to revitalize the Marshall-Ridley community. The 18-acre Legacy Landing will replace the former Ridley Place with 155 mixed-income units, including one, two and three-bedroom apartments. The project is a long-standing collaborative effort between the city and the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority since breaking ground three years ago. This first phase includes 71 new apartments. The namesake building holds 41 of those with ground-floor retail and community amenity space, along with several townhouses. Construction has already begun on Legacy Landing's second phase, which will bring the total to 155 new homes, along with child care opportunities and a wellness trail for residents. Marshall-Ridley, in addition to private partners, is funded by a $35 million federal investment, including a $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhoods program. This first phase of redevelopment at Legacy Landing includes more than $6 million of grant funding alone to build, according to Patrick Stewart, Regional Vice President of Pennrose, the developer behind the project. 'It's literally an entire new neighborhood,' Stewart said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Choice Neighborhoods program focuses on transforming local communities creating more affordable housing opportunities and improving access to services. HUD awarded Newport News a $500,000 grant in 2016 to create transformation plans, and awarded the city the $30 million implementation grant in 2019 for Marshall-Ridley. Marshall-Ridley, which sits near 39th Street and I-64, is a historically Black neighborhood that at the time of planning saw a declining population with more than half of its 2,000 households subsidized. Ridley Place itself was a decades-old complex. The neighborhood's poverty rate and unemployment rate were more than triple citywide rates, with the median household income around $20,000, according to census data. Ridley Place residents were given Section 8 housing vouchers when their former home was torn down six years ago. According to city Chief Strategist Officer Eoghan 'Owen' Miller, many of them moved out of the city and have yet to return. The first two phases of the project created The Lift and Rise on Jefferson, two buildings containing 81 mixed-use apartments and opened in December 2022. Former Ridley Place residents were given the option to return. However, Miller said most families wanted to return to the building that replaced their former home. 'This is where they originally left from,' Miller said. 'So, we're anticipating that a larger amount of families coming back here. They're given the first right to return.' Stewart added Legacy Landing is already nearly at full occupancy, largely consisting of former Ridley Place residents. Vice Mayor Curtis Bethany said Legacy Landing is a commitment from Newport News to its Southeast community to provide sustainable housing opportunities for its residents. 'Legacy Landing is not only a collection of new buildings, it is the transformation of the former Ridley Place into a vibrant, modern, mixed-income community,' Bethany said. 'We are rebuilding a community, fostering economic growth and strengthening connections that will continue to shape the Southeast community.' The city expects construction on Legacy Landing's second phase to be completed by the end of the year. Devlin Epding, 757-510-4037,
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Winston-Salem's housing authority leader to resign effective June 30
Activists and tenants gather near Housing Authority of Winston-Salem headquarters in April to protest conditions in public housing. (Photo: Greg Childress) Kevin Cheshire, the executive director and general counsel of the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem (HAWS), is stepping down, effective June 30, after five years in the role. Cheshire said he will remain with the housing authority in an advisory role to maintain continuity while his replacement is 'brought up to speed' on the workings of the organization. 'This has been in the works for almost two years, at least a year and a half,' Cheshire said. 'My board has known this is the plan and the mayor (Allen Joines) has known this is the plan.' Cheshire said his pending departure is unrelated to the call from some tenants and local housing activists for his resignation over concerns about his management of the city's aging public housing high rises. Tenants have complained that Cheshire is inattentive to their concerns and has failed to maintain safe and sanitary housing at several apartment complexes managed by HAWS. 'I had sort of anticipated that the folks who were being the most vocal demanding my resignation had already gotten wind of the fact that my resignation was imminent, and that they were planning strategically to take credit for something they knew was already coming,' Cheshire said. 'Whether that's the case, I still have no idea. But no, it [calls for his resignation] didn't [play a role] because that decision had already been made.' In an online post, the group Housing Justice Now, a tenant advocacy group that has been critical of Cheshire's leadership, celebrated the departure as a victory. 'He has ignored needed public housing renovations while pouring millions into the HAWS office building, underutilized Section 8 vouchers, bungled a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods grant, pursued retaliatory evictions, and pushed through a meaningless rebrand of the agency,' the group said. 'Tenant organizing at Crystal Towers, Healy Towers, Cleveland Avenue, and across our city made it impossible for Cheshire to push through even more bad policies. Make no mistake, this resignation is an organizing victory! And we demand the next executive director be truly dedicated to low-income housing!' Dan Rose, an activist with Housing Justice Now, said Cheshire has not served Winston-Salem well. 'The fact that Mayor Joines believes he did shows that the problem is not isolated to one public official,' Rose said. 'Residents that are directly affected by the housing crisis should be selecting the housing authority's next leader; not the mayor's out-of-touch board of commissioners.' Andrew Perkins, chairman of the HAWS Board of Commissioners, said the board will be 'genuinely sorry' to see Chesire step down. 'We have known for over a year that he wanted to transition once he completed some very important initiatives for the Housing Authority,' Perkins said. 'Kevin and his team have worked closely with the board and have accomplished everything we asked of them and more.' Perkins said Cheshire and his team have made great progress in creating more affordable housing. He noted the $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Initiative redevelopment grant Cheshire helped to secure from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – the first to be awarded in North Carolina. Cheshire joined HAWS in 2013 as vice president of real estate development and general counsel. After a national search following the retirement of former executive director Larry Woods, Cheshire was promoted to the position in January 2020. 'I've been here 12 years, and this was never something I intended to do for 20 or 30 years,' Cheshire said. 'There were some very specific tasks that the board and I discussed when I first stepped into the role. I was committed to doing everything in my power to completing those tasks and then stepping aside to allow someone else to build on that foundation.'
