July 2000

Solidarity
Fresno County Housing Authority

When a family hits hard times, finding affordable housing can be a big first step toward putting their lives back together. For the 8,000 families currently enrolled in their program, the Fresno Housing Authority is a godsend. "After you have conducted the inspection, negotiated the rent with the owner, and are able to say to the family, 'yes you can move into this home.' Out of a $700.00 rent, a family will only pay $200. This family, which is struggling to make it, hugs you, cries, and thanks you. That's the rewarding part of this job," says housing program specialist Lorraine Martinez. "It's great to know that you have assisted them on the path toward self sufficiency.

"With the county's high unemployment rate and for an increasing number of our working families, there is a tremendous need to find decent housing that's affordable. Once families overcome that challenge it's easier to achieve in other areas."

The Fresno Housing Authority owns and manages 300 units of conventional housing, provides rental assistance for low income families, inspects Section 8 privately owned housing to make sure it's decent, safe, and sanitary, and remodels existing housing. It also offers homeownership. Over a five-year period, a portion of the tenant's rent is put in an escrow account where it accumulates interest. At the end of five years, it's used for the purchase of a home. Most of the time, tenants don't have to come up with an initial down payment.

Once housing has been accepted under the Housing Authority's program, inspectors enforce federal housing quality standards and negotiate rent based on a tenant's income. Martinez has been with the Housing Authority 16 years and has seen it change. "In addition to providing housing, we work closely with social services to offer a wide range of programs to assist people, including education, job assistance, and counseling. Housing is only a first step."

Like all housing inspectors, Martinez spends a majority of her time in the car. She conducts 12 to 13 inspections a day. She does a lot of traveling. "Most landlords try to provide decent housing, but there are always the few who are slumlords and will do as little as possible to stay in our program. But the majority are good quality units and blend nicely into the neighborhood," says Martinez.

Inspectors do their job on a hand-held computer. "Instead of reporting everything on paper, we go through the unit and make our inventory report on this computer. Each room gets a pass or fail grade and we write our comments right into the computer. We then bring it back to the office, download it, and it prints out our report. This gadget saves us a lot of time and paperwork."

Housing Authority applicants usually meet with housing program specialist Denise Sykes. It's her job to determine eligibility. "We're seeing more people who need housing assistance. With welfare programs being cut and the county's high unemployment rate, people don't know where to turn and are being forced into subsidized housing to make ends meet."

The Housing Authority has a three year waiting list for its public housing, and five years for Section 8 housing. Even so, Sykes tries to help any way she can.

"I try to build a good rapport with clients and familiarize myself with social services that may help my clients. If somebody needs help, I try to have an answer or point them in the right direction even if I can't place the family into a house right away. It gives me a great deal of gratification when I can start families on the road to self sufficiency. That's why I do this work."

Housing specialist Wrenl Burge has come full circle. He was a former welfare recipient himself. This affords him a unique perspective as he counsels families trying to get off public assistance. "This work allows me to reflect on my past while at the same time helping families. Sometimes people just need motivation and incentive. I use myself as an example of what is possible. I feel blessed I am able to do this."

Burge has been with the Housing Authority 18 years and knows everybody. "I used to be on this program so I'm able to look at my job from the point of view of both the Housing Authority and the tenant. The important word in our world is 'authority'. The last thing you want to do is walk across someone's threshold and make them feel uncomfortable in their own home. I will never do that. It's been done and it's wrong, though some people still sometimes do it. If I find someone abusing their authority status, I call it to their attention."

Today, Burge is re-inspecting a house that did not pass the once-a-year inspection. He is back to make sure recommended repairs were made. He first checks for exterior chipped paint, which is the owner's responsibility. The house had been painted with lead-based paint and Burge doesn't want children swallowing it and getting lead poisoning. The owner has been required to scrape it and re-paint it. It looks like it has been re-painted. Burge checks the items off on his trusty hand-held computer. He next checks whether the owner has installed smoke alarms on each level, a housing code requirement and also the owner's responsibility. Both have been installed. The house passes.

"Our inspections ensure safe, sanitary, and decent housing. This is valuable not only for the tenant, but for the owner as well. We look for things that could be damaging, or that owners or families might not be aware of. For example, I just checked the hot water heater. If it leaks and is not promptly taken care of, it could later cause the owner extensive foundation damage. But if I notice it first, all they spend is $25 to repair a leaking hot water valve. Much cheaper than a $10,000 repair bill."

Not only does the Housing Authority help applicants find housing and inspect existing housing, they build and re-model housing of their own. It's contract compliance specialist Bill Weatherby's job to make sure that contractors do the work properly and pay their workers, many from welfare to work programs, prevailing wages.

"The is a very gratifying job. We give people better housing than they are used to, and workers learn new skills and put out a good product. It's a win, win situation."

Unlike private contractors, the Housing Authority is in it for the clients, not for profit. They go into a unit and modernize it, put in new kitchen cabinets, air conditioning, and washers and dryers. "The transformation is remarkable. When we get done, the house looks brand new. We see people who have moved out when we started the work and then come back. They get these big, big smiles on their faces. It's fantastic. It also helps the neighborhood properties look nicer."