At the end of January I took over as Executive Director for the Louisville Metro Housing Authority (LMHA), an agency that provides housing for over 30,000 people in our city. Our staff of 290 operates 36 developments throughout Jefferson County and provides over 11,000 Section 8 vouchers to help people afford rent in other properties. LMHA is a large organization with an even larger mandate – to provide safe, stable housing for Louisvillians who can’t find a home affordable to them in the private market.
Like many housing authorities throughout the country, LMHA faces headwinds in fulfilling our mission. We have fallen short in many areas and must get back to the basics – being a good partner to the people we work with and a good landlord for the people we serve. To know how to get there, it’s helpful to know how we got where we are now.
Ninety percent of LMHA’s funding is federal, which means Congress decides how much money we get to operate annually. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) then allocates resources and writes regulations for housing authorities. Over the years, the costs of keeping public housing in good repair have continually outpaced funding.
Those are the parameters LMHA must budget and plan with each year for our public housing and mixed-income communities, our voucher program, and the special programs we offer residents for financial empowerment and more. This process is guided by me – the Executive Director – in collaboration with our Board of Commissioners.
Despite the funding situation, I have hope that we can make positive things happen. To do that I will work closely with our residents, our Board, and our partners to lead LMHA in a new direction – one where all our residents feel pride in their homes, our staff is excited to come to work, and where the entire city of Louisville cheers us all on.
This is going to take time, energy, and a multitude of resources, but there are immediate steps we can take to deliver short-term solutions, while building strategies for long-term success.
Our first focus is on resident engagement and services. We have to rebuild a regular communication process so that our residents feel heard, have confidence that we’re being responsive to their needs and are aware of the work LMHA is doing.
Second, LMHA must bolster safety and security at our properties. We are taking a holistic approach to community safety and resident service needs by partnering across city agencies. We’ve also improved our relationship with the police department and are investing in critical upgrades to secure entrances
and restore order. Our goal is to instill a sense of safety and security rather than chaos, which every person deserves in the place they call home.
Third, we must stabilize the physical conditions of our properties. This is LMHA’s most basic responsibility as a landlord, and it is unacceptable that conditions have deteriorated at Dosker Manor, Avenue Plaza and Parkway Place. We will do better by fully staffing maintenance, property management and security. We will also address deficiencies more quickly and work to clean up and invest in properties to restore a sense of pride in the community.
And, finally, we are planning now for the future. In the long-term we will do what we have done many times before at Park Duvalle, Beecher Terrace, Liberty Green, and Sheppard Square. We will reimagine what public housing can look like and bring our properties into the present day by delivering modern living accommodations that are clean, safe and a great place to live.
We’ve got ambitious goals and we are determined to deliver meaningful results. To succeed, LMHA needs a bigger team with key leadership positions to bring new ideas and energy. We’re also going to fill staff vacancies for teams that directly interact with the Louisvillians we serve and our properties, particularly in the Section 8 department and on our maintenance team.
To successfully fund this plan, we are going to need more resources and more partners. We will draw on the expertise of our partners and work with the best and brightest here and across the country to innovate how we operate.
I won’t sugarcoat it – this is a big challenge. But let me end this note by sharing why I am so optimistic and energized by what I’ve seen during my short time in this role.
Everyone wants LMHA to succeed. From our dedicated team members to residents, the Mayor, our board, HUD, city leaders and community partners, the message has been loud and clear: the city of Louisville needs LMHA. By working together, we’ll make sure LMHA’s future is bright.
