Just one short year ago, the communities of the Gulf Coast of our nation were devastated by unprecedented damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. From the unimaginable aftermath of that catastrophic event, our nation was faced with the reality of how truly unstable and fragile the housing structure for low income residents in our society is. This realization gave cause to entities like the Chattanooga Housing Authority (CHA) and others, tasked with the stewardship of assuring safe, decent, and affordable housing for all, to reflect on our mission and reason for being.

Historically, housing authorities attempting to provide safe and decent, affordable housing have, by virtue of their mandate, created barrios, ghettos, and places with less than suitable choices for family and community development. It is often the very statutes and policies which create the funding for housing and supportive services that divides families and encourages dependence on a system where fraud, low self esteem, and a total disruption of the family unit prevail. Residents of public housing are often made to feel less than human, sub-existing on a level most Americans can’t understand or won’t acknowledge. Cries of “not-in-my-neighborhood” and connotations like “those people” have forced citizens seeking safe and affordable housing, for themselves and their children, to the fringes of the housing market, where their further exploitation is not only likely, it is inherent. We can no longer allow the choices of safe, decent, and affordable housing to be relegated to those of high educational attainment and economic advantage. The paradigm of our community must be stabilized with the cornerstone of safe, affordable housing for all its citizens. As a society we can rise no higher than our foundation will support. We must realize that the first steps of our journey toward success as a community begin with our acknowledgement and accountability for those citizens among us most in need.

The Chattanooga Housing Authority recognizes its’ role in the creation and facilitation of affordable housing choices. Further, CHA also willingly accepts its’ role in the development of the greater Chattanooga citizenry. Development of a stable workforce is paramount to any regional economic growth plan. However, just as in other cities across our nation, critical discussions have escaped this community, many times overshadowed by our quest for economic growth.

We must initiate discussions that focus on the health and wellbeing of Chattanooga’s least fortunate citizens and most devastated neighborhoods. Discussions that include the conditions of neighborhoods where there are no commercial or residential development profits to be made. Discussions that would lead to the solutions necessary to provide a quality of services, available to all families, aimed at preventing the downward cycles of poverty. These discussions must also include a consolidated plan which addresses all not only the temporary shelter and care but more importantly the long term fate of the homeless and low income in our community. To date these topics have all but eluded this community. To often these topics have been bundled in a bureaucracy of federal grants, short-lived and poorly-funded initiatives, and misguided agendas which have historically been self serving, resulting in a continued perpetuation of public housing as we know it today.

The citizens of which I speak are currently washing the dishes of a single meal which possibly cost more than their weekly grocery bill, turning the beds of hotels which rent for more per night than the monthly rent of a two-bedroom substandard slum property. These are the citizens who we rely on to provide some of our most basic and necessary services. They provide the human infrastructure of many economic initiatives, fueling economic revitalization critical to any successful city and region.

Realizing that if public housing is to exist, as it should and must, many changes will be necessary to meet the ever challenging environment of reduced federal funding and increased regulatory compliance. To meet this challenge and survive, housing authorities will have to become more resourceful leveraging on their own strengths and assets and maximizing opportunities like creative mixed financing and incentivised tax credits. CHA and other housing authorities across the nation must focus on providing quality housing products which encourage choices by current and prospective residents. We must and will become a viable option to slum landlords and slum properties. We must partner with other agencies who are interested in developing community pride and spirit. Public housing as a last resort cannot remain as our unspoken creed; public housing as an option for our workforces and struggling families that provides a stepping stone to self reliance, wealth creation and potential homeownership must be our mandate. There are local partners who should and will be asked to join us in this mandate. These partnerships will be critical to the success of a comprehensive housing strategy. Additionally, partnerships with those who are charged with developing the spirit and health of residents will also be sought out.

In accordance with the charter of CHA, we will continue to provide housing options to those who qualify, and for those who desire more, we will provide options which create pride and the opportunity to prepare for the creation of personal and generational wealth building. Toward that end, we have developed a plan for the continuum of housing we are calling “Step Up Step Out.”

Beginning with the homeless, our plan provides a five-step graduated process whereby individuals are offered the opportunity to gain skills needed for personal advancement and the development of generational wealth building. Based on a balance of opportunity, accountability and reward, individuals are encouraged on the path, and up the continuum toward self reliance and potential homeownership. The only missing link currently is a unified effort for the intake and assessment of the homeless coupled with the consolidation of services and temporary housing. This consolidation is essential for our plan to be fully viable and successful, crossing the entire spectrum of the low income housing need in our community.

The Chattanooga Housing Authority currently provides housing to 19,000 of Hamilton County’s citizens; equivalent to or greater than many Hamilton County cities and communities. It is imperative that CHA utilize the tools in its toolkit such as non-traditional funding sources, development rights, and available tax credits to improve the current housing portfolio, and create new options for communities and neighborhoods in the city of Chattanooga and 10 miles beyond, as directed in our charter. This will be a challenge for CHA and all housing authorities across the nation which have often traveled an isolated and rocky road. We are appealing to all citizens of our service area to join in this endeavor to ensure that the right of safe, decent, and affordable housing is available to every family and citizen in Hamilton County. We believe that time has come for all of the partners and stakeholders to step up and step out. The fates of families lie in the balance. It is time to stop the rhetoric and bickering and just do it.

Bob Dull
Executive Director, Chattanooga Housing Authority