2006 Moving To new Ways Annual Report

Seattle Housing is one of about 30 housing authorities across the country participating in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) “Moving To new Ways” (MTW) demonstration program. Under MTW, SHA has the opportunity to test innovative methods, improving housing to better meet local needs. In December 2006, the Board of Commissioners adopted Seattle Housing's fiscal year 2006 Moving To new Ways Annual Report, which summarizes the year's activities and accomplishments. Some of these activities and accomplishments are highlighted below.

People Served in 2006

• SHA housed 11,869 households, including people with Housing Choice Vouchers, those in public housing or residents in the Seattle Senior Housing Program. The number of people served by SHA slightly increased from 2005.
   

• Most residents served by SHA have annual incomes well below 30 percent of the area median income. The average income for SHA residents slightly increased from about $11,300 to $11,613. This is an average among Housing Choice Voucher participants, residents of public housing and Seattle Senior Housing residents. 
   

• 12,284 households were on one or more wait lists for housing assistance at the end of the year.

	A participant of The Job Connection		HRG and Aids Housing completed The Genesee at Rainier Vista this year		Residents celebrate the completion of their building rehab under the homeWorks program

Milestones in Community Revitalization

• The first phase of the renovation under homeWorks, SHA's high-rise revitalization project, got underway. Three out of the eight buildings in the first phase were completed. Design development documents were created for the seven buildings in the second phase of the project.
   

• The SHA Board of Commissioners made the redevelopment of Yesler Terrace a priority for the next ten years. Yesler Terrace redevelopment is a key component in SHA’s strategy to continue to serve Seattle’s low-income residents, given the on-going withdrawal of federal support for low-income housing. In FY 2006, SHA hired a program manager for the project and initiated the planning process which will likely take three years or longer.  
   

• At Rainier Vista, AIDS Housing of Washington and Housing Resources Group completed construction of The Genesee, a 50-unit building including 22 units for people with disabilities funded through Section 811.

	Residents and community members helped build the centrally located park at Rainier Vista		High Point hosted the Green Living Expo which  showed off its "green" features, including the stormwater retention pond		Residents and providers celebrate the opening of a P-Patch garden at Rainier Vista

Housing Resources

During Fiscal Year 2006:

• Private builders completed approximately 350 homes for sale in SHA communities: 50 in Rainier Vista, 200 in High Point and 102 in NewHolly.
   

• Rental housing in the first phase of redevelopment at High Point was completed and leased up by year end. This includes 200 units of public housing, 144 units of workforce housing, and 75 units of housing for low-income seniors.
   

• Six new High Point replacement units were added with the purchase of two triplexes in the Delridge neighborhood.
   

• SHA sold 29 Scattered-Sites units, bringing the total sales to 93 of the 150 units identified for which disposition has been approved by HUD.
   

•  SHA purchased 14 Scattered-Sites replacement units, bringing the total units replaced to 54. At year end, SHA had another 14 units under contract to purchase.

• In May 2006, SHA opened the Housing Choice Voucher wait list and selected 4,000 applicants by lottery to be on the list.

Performance Indicators

SHA met or exceeded goals for the performance indicators on which HUD rates housing authority performance:

• SHA responded within 30 days to 95.4 percent of routine requests for maintenance work, and within 24 hours to nearly 99 percent of emergency maintenance requests.
   

• SHA completed 3,200 comprehensive inspections in public housing and all scheduled critical item inspections in other units.
   

• At the end of the year, the Housing Choice Voucher program had 6,771 households, an increase of 227 participants over Fiscal Year 2005. The program also saw a net increase of 100 participating landlords bringing the total to 2,600 landlords. 
   

• The Housing Choice Voucher program met or exceeded all its performance goals for property inspections.
   

• The Job Connection -- SHA's employment services group made 172 job placements, 77 percent of which were full-time and 68 percent of which included benefits. The average hourly wage at placement was $11.70.
   

• The vacancy percent in public housing programs continued to be low at 2.5 percent.

For the complete report in PDF format click here.

Each July during Moving To new Ways, SHA adopts an annual plan that describes activities planned for the following fiscal year. Click here for information on SHA's Fiscal Year 2007 Annual Moving to new Ways Plan.

For more information about SHA's annual report or the Moving To new Ways program, contact Andria Lazaga at alazaga@seattlehousing.org or (206) 615-3546.