Atlanta Housing (2006)

Public Housing ... the name alone evokes many terrible images. In over a decade of change and hard work the Atlanta Housing Authority leadership has steadily transformed the ways they serve the working poor in the city. On Tuesday morning, September 12, at our first CityLights of the year, we heard from a team of their executives about their initiative: "CATALYST - rethinking community building".

As Renee Bentley, VP of Strategy and Planning, puts it, the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) exists to do God's work and serve God's children. As the AHA helps provide quality housing to Atlanta residents, they are also restoring safe communities, hope, and dignity.

AHA has taken down housing projects that had become concentrated areas of poverty and crime, such as Techwood Homes and East Lake Meadows, and replaced them with healthy, mixed income communities with jobs, recreation opportunities, and supportive schools. Since then, crime statistics have gone down and living conditions have improved, making the AHA approach a model for other communities around the nation.

Much of the AHA's success comes through partnerships with local employers, non-profits, universities, schools, and developers. For example, the Good Neighbor Program through Georgia State teaches residents basic living skills. Also, the homes residents enjoy are available from developers who choose to offer affordable units within their new communities, providing AHA residents opportunities to live in places such as the new Atlantic Station.

Surprisingly, the most controversial aspect of AHA is the requirement that at least one adult per household work a minimum of thirty hours a week to qualify for housing. However, AHA leaders such as Barney Simms, Sr. VP of Community, Govt. and External Affairs, see this requirement as key to helping residents build marketable skills and a sense of self efficacy.

AHA serves 19,000 families currently, and there are thousands more on a waiting list. There is much work to be done, but the AHA has no plans for stopping their good work. For more information about the AHA, please go to http://www.atlantahousing.org