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LHA Meets Hiring Initiative for New Fiscal Year

LHA

In 2017, the Lowell Housing Authority established a commitment through a Board resolution to conduct more effective outreach in the Acre neighborhood to open doors to employment opportunities for the residents who call this section of the City home. This is an initiative encouraged by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and was supported by the Lowell Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners.   The LHA ramped up its recruiting efforts this past summer and hired four new maintenance custodians, two of whom are from the Acre neighborhood. Our new maintenance employees will be responsible for ensuring our properties look their best, and bring with them diverse work experiences, including janitorial services, warehouse and machine operation, technology support, and landscaping which will be assets to the agency moving forward.

 

This summer the agency also hired a program manager to oversee our after-school program at our North Common Village property. Steven Doung—once a student of the Learning Zone—comes to the agency with experience in ESL instruction, financial literacy training, tutoring assistance, and has worked with children of all ages.

 

We are pleased to welcome Cheara Nhar and Seng Sao, who are residents of the Acre. We are also excited to welcome Joshua Kazanjian, Thomas Lafferty, and Joseph Sullivan to our maintenance team, and Steven Doung to our Family Self-Sufficiency Department. Hiring local further strengthens the LHA’s commitment as a proud partner in the Working Cities Initiative. The Working Cities Initiative is a collaborative organization between public and nonprofit organizations with collective goals to create opportunities in the Acre by increasing family sustaining wages, and facilitating economic growth in the community. We look forward to the many contributions our new employees will make to our agency, as we embark on another year of providing stable, affordable housing and quality support services for our residents.

LHA To Construct Historical Exhibit at the Mercier Center

NCV historical

In 2017, the LHA established a goal to rebrand the agency to address the unfortunate stigma that is often associated with living in affordable housing.  To further this goal, the LHA began the process of renaming its developments to make the properties more relevant and to instill a deeper connection between residents and the community. The agency has begun the process of installing new signs at each of the developments, which is anticipated to be completed by the beginning of summer.

The Lowell Housing Authority is sensitive to, and grateful for the many contributions of the influential community figures, who through their leadership have ushered the Authority to where we are today. The legacies of building dedicatees will continue to be honored respectfully with an interior portrait and biography for each notable LHA historical figure. This feature will be just one component of a comprehensive historical exhibit envisioned for the Mercier Center.  The full exhibit will chronicle life at Lowell Housing Authority, our programs and services throughout the decades, and most importantly capture the unique vignettes of the residents, who over the years have called LHA home.

The Lowell Housing Authority is seeking stories from residents who have lived, or currently live in housing.  This is our story.  Let us tell yours. To learn more or contribute to this project, contact Gary Wallace, Executive Director, [email protected] or call 978-364-5311.

 

LHA Awarded Over $400k in Grant Funding

LHA

Dear Friends,

Over the last few weeks, the agency has been busy closing the books on another year of administering housing and support services for our residents. While we were focusing on our final reports, we were pleasantly surprised with some exciting news that we would like to share with you.

The LHA is pleased to announce that the agency has been recently awarded 28 Mainstream Vouchers by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an award of $285K. These vouchers will be utilized to provide permanent housing to non-elderly persons with disabilities, and who are at risk of institutionalization or homelessness. The Mainstream Voucher program further assists disabled persons achieve stable, independent living by encouraging community collaboration between housing providers like the LHA and support service providers to connect voucher holders with essential services. We look forward to continuing to work with our community partners to provide our new residents with the services they require to achieve their highest level of self-sufficiency.

In addition to being awarded funding for stable housing for disabled persons, our agency was notified that we would be a recipient of a $116K HUD Capital Fund Emergency Safety and Security Program grant. These funds will enable the agency to make physical safety and security improvements to our properties in an effort to reduce crime in the community. The LHA applied for the grant in 2017, and was part of a lottery in 2017 to receive this significant funding award. The agency was the only public housing authority (PHA) in Massachusetts to get the award, and only 1 of 8 PHA’s to be selected across the country. The agency will be using these funds to install more sophisticated security equipment and facilitate upgrades at our developments. With these improvements, we will be able to respond more efficiently to reports of criminal activity in and around our developments to ensure the safety of all of our residents.

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