| |
 |
For Immediate Release
October 7, 2003 |
Contact: Patricia Dashiell
(202) 895-8900 |
|
Edgewood Terrace Residents Triple Incomes Since 1995 Opening of Highly Acclaimed Housing Complex
|
Draws Working Families To Neighborhood,Reduces Crime, Drug Use and Improves Quality of Life. Officials Mark Completion Of Housing/Community Services Complex
|
Washington, DC - Local, federal and private sector officials announced today that current and former residents of the highly-acclaimed Edgewood Terrace housing complex tripled their incomes after completion of career training courses - one indicator of the success from the eight-year effort to turn an area, once described as "Little Beirut," into an "Electronic Jobs Village," providing not just affordable housing but also job training and other community programs.
The average income of the 125 adult residents who have taken the 18-week career-training program at Edgewood Terrace was $9,400, prior to enrollment. After completion, the average income almost tripled to $26,800 at time of graduation. Another 435 adults, most of whom live in nearby Edgewood Terrace neighborhoods but do not live at the housing complex, increased their income on average from $11,000 to $25,000.
Income of residents living in The Vantage and The Parke, the first of four reconstruction phases of Edgewood Terrace, has risen from $10,064 in 1995 to $22,970, with and without career training enrollment. This increase is an indication of both actual income growth of existing residents and the fact that higher income families are now attracted to live at Edgewood Terrace, a community once considered to be the housing of last resort. (See attached fact sheets for more detailed data.)
"The income growth at Edgewood Terrace clearly demonstrates that a well-planned, mixed-income development creates a stable living environment which, in turn, feeds on itself -- creating more job opportunities for lower-income families," said Leslie Steen, President of Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC), the nonprofit developer of the complex, which provides housing and community programs to more than 3,500 households.
Steen said CPDC's goal was to provide existing low-income residents with opportunities to increase their incomes while returning Edgewood Terrace to a mixed-income community by attracting higher income residents to the vacant apartments.
-more-
To meet the needs of this community CPDC created three new - 1st in the nation - and meaningful affordable housing financing mechanisms. These mechanisms were necessary to achieve the goal of revitalizing the community and allowing a mix of incomes to live at Edgewood Terrace while not displacing and providing affordable housing for the existing very low-income residents. CPDC worked with US Department of Housing and Community Development to create (1) a new property disposition program; (2) a new loan mechanism for public housing to borrow collateralized by future modernization funds; and (3) a first ever use of the FHA Sec. 202 program combined with public housing mixed-finance and low income housing tax credits.
Standing in front of The View, part of the last renovation phase, Steen's remarks and those by other local, federal and private partners marked the completion of renovation at the Edgewood Terrace complex, located in Northeast Washington, D.C. Attending the press conference were Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams, Director of the District of Columbia HUD Field Office David Reeves, Department of Commerce Associate Administrator for National Telecommunications and Information Applications Dr. Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, D.C. housing officials, financial partners representing Sun Trust Bank, M&T Bank, Federal Home Loan Bank, Fannie Mae and Bank of America, and a number of residents and former residents of Edgewood.
Eugene F. Ford, founder and chairman of the board of CPDC, applauded the residents: "While it is true that we need many financial partners to turn around the Edgewood Terraces of America, it is also true that no amount of money can make a community improve for the better. The residents of a community must make it happen. The residents of this community did."
Once notorious for its drug markets, violent crime and run-down apartments, the Edgewood Terrace complex is now the center of a revitalized neighborhood, providing not just affordable housing but an array of community programs, including in-home broadband internet access from each apartment to a first-of-its-kind, community local area computer network. Thanks to partnerships with Microsoft, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Department of Commerce. This residential in-home community local area computer network features the entire Microsoft Office Suite, Microsoft Outlook other software for education, job training and job searches as well as sophisticated on-site career assessment tools and computer training in the CPDC computer learning centers called Gateway Learning Centers.
Nach Maravilla, a resident of Edgewood and Treasurer of the Edgewood Technology Advisory Board (eTAB), said: "Edgewood has been a dream come true for my family. We once lived in Springfield, and my wife had to commute to her job in the District. Now she is close to her work. And, my home business has grown because of the Internet access we have in the apartment and on site. I never thought we would be so lucky."
Greta Elliott-Meredith, who lives a block and half from Edgewood, said: "Before the renovations, you couldn't walk or drive through this neighborhood without seeing drug dealers and getting approached by them. Now, there is none of that. The house across the street from me sold for $199,000 the other day. I would have never believed that before CPDC began the revitalization efforts of Edgewood Terrace."
-more-
Kim Bright, who also lives near Edgewood, said neighborhood residents have been pleased with the results. "The programs located on the property are offered not only to residents, but also to the greater community. The computer center has provided numerous children, adults and elders to access technology and has opened the doors of opportunity, which may have been overlooked had this not been accessible to them; empowering the community. These programs foster a cohesive community environment."
Edgewood Terrace also offers out-of-school-time programs for children and youth that focus on project-based educational enrichment activities. In addition to homework help and tutorial sessions, the youth programs offered at Edgewood Terrace implement innovative uses of state-of-the-art technology to support academic enrichment in reading and math. Recently, youth enhanced their mathematics skills and literacy in a 6-week project-based unit where they built a scale model of the Edgewood Terrace housing community.
Providing health care services, recreation and other social activities for seniors are priorities for Edgewood Terrace as well. Currently, a technology initiative is under development to implement an in-Home Bio -Medial initiative and telemedicine program in partnership with Catholic University Bio-Medical Engineering department at Edgewood Terrace. If all goes as planned this program will link seniors with area hospitals to create a "successful aging in place" program for seniors at Edgewood.
A summary of the contributions of the various financial and community development partners appears below:
U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development: Provided $23,326,000 in a property disposition grant, including funds that seeded the electronic village, and later $6,571,400 in a capital grant for the senior housing.
U.S. Department of Commerce: Provided a $500,000 Technology Opportunities Program grant to help create the Edgewood Electronic Village - Local Area Residential Network - Broadband access from each apartment.
Microsoft Corporation: Provided over $2 million of software -- from desktop to server operating system software -- to implement the electronic village.
D.C. Housing Authority: Provided a $7 million Modernization Fund loan to help finance construction and renovation and project based Section 8 and public housing operating subsidies to fund the ongoing operations.
D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development: Provided $5,219,000 in loans, a grant of almost $1 million, and 9% tax credits resulting in $2.4 million in equity.
D.C. Housing Finance Agency: Issued tax-exempt bonds $8 million in tax-exempt bonds, which qualified the development to receive low-income housing tax credits yielding $5.8 million in equity.
-more-
Federal Home Loan Bank: Provided $1.7 million in Affordable Housing Program loans.
Sun Trust Bank: Purchased $5.8 million worth of tax equity and provided a letter of credit for $8 million in tax exempt bonds; loaned $1.2 million; and, arranged for $1.7 million in Federal Home Loan Bank loans.
Fannie Mae and Bank of America: Jointly provided the first in the nation loan to a Public Housing Authority collateralized by future Public Housing Modernization Funds.
For other facts about Edgewood Terrace, see the fact sheets in the press packets about each phase of development.
|
### |
| CPDC's mission is to develop vibrant communities through innovation and partnerships. To accomplish this, CPDC creates and preserves financially sound, socially responsible affordable housing for low- and moderate-income individuals and families and, in cooperation with community residents, develops community programs that strengthen communities and increase opportunities for growth. |
|
|
|
