LACK OF TRUST BETWEEN RESIDENTS, DEVELOPERS
Many Marshall-Ridley Choice Neighborhood residents hesitant to buy into promises
More than a year since the Marshall-Ridley Choice Neighborhood in Newport News received a $30 million grant for transformation, the appearance of the housing in the area has not changed much, but steps in the transformation are underway.
One of the centerpieces of the project, which has been in the works about five years, is creating new and mixed-income housing. Officials said the first new apartment building, slated for vacant land between 27th and 29th streets along Jefferson Avenue, has financing in place, and Ridley residents have started relocating to new homes.
Even as residents have moved or prepared to move, some cast doubts about the big picture of transformation in the neighborhood, questioning why this effort to create new housing and opportunities is different than ones in the past. And amid the pandemic, they said they don’t feel engaged, sometimes sensing their concerns are unheard.
“A lot of residents don’t trust easily,” said Quionna Tynes El, who lives in Ridley and has a voucher to move. “I think good things are coming out of this plan … but there needs to be more to build trust.”
Officials acknowledged that communication has been difficult in the last several months — in-person meetings have been all but impossible, as had moving. Officials also have initiatives that they hope will involve more residents, maintain connections after they move and keep them involved.
Building trust
The plan involves the demolition of the 259 apartment public housing units in Ridley Place and construction of 487 new apartment units, townhouses and singlefamily houses, including more than 200 moderate-income and market rate homes. Officials have said the $30 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development would catalyze the plan, which involves an anticipated $300 million in investment from various sources.
According to the transformation plan, 61% of homes in the Marshall-Ridley area are either public or Section 8 units, and the area has higher rates of poverty, unemployment and crime than the rest of the city. The plan details the causes of these issues, which include many middle class families leaving the area and a lack of public and private investment in the decades since.
“In impoverished areas, citizens feel they’ve always felt left out and disenfranchised — and here they have been disenfranchised,” said Ernest Thompson, a resident of the area and head of the project’s Citizen Advisory Committee, during a Zoom meeting Thursday. “So, when it comes to what is going on now. How do we speak to people in a way that empowers them, how do we convey to people that they actually are a part of the process?”
He drew attention to the meeting’s low turnout — only a handful
of Ridley residents attended — as an example of a need to do better reaching people and building trust, and several officials agreed.
Tynes El said in a phone interview that the process of moving is intimidating and can overwhelm someone from reaching out or tuning in for a meeting.
“There’s a high level of need in this community,” said Kenya Sikes, who lived in Ridley for 10 years before recently moving. “I think some families just need more assistance that’s really not available.” Challenges in her life led her to move to Ridley, and she said the opportunity to move out has been refreshing, like a new start.
“It’s a lot (of stress) to live in public housing, and a lot of people want out,” she said. Still, even with the chance to move from Ridley, mistrust deters people from learning what’s going on.
Karen Wilds, director of the redevelopment and housing authority, said even after the grant and some plans moving forward, she’s familiar with these doubts about the transformation. She acknowledged the Choice Neighborhood Initiative wasn’t the first effort to reinvest in the Southeast Community, which began to see decline and disinvestment as residents moved to the suburbs in the middle of the 20th century.
What’s different, she said, is the Choice Neighborhood Plan is comprehensive, bringing in government and private resources to benefit housing, residents, economic opportunities and the sense of community.
Kareeda Robinson, who moved to the Denbigh area after living in Ridley for 10 years, said her doubts stem from not knowing how the $30 million grant has been implemented so far. Additionally, she pointed out the vacant land across from Ridley, the former site of the Harbor Homes community. She said residents of the area thought new housing would be built there, but it’s still vacant.
It’s now the planned site of a new East Coast Repair and Fabrication facility expected to create 300 jobs and provide industry training.
“We hear about initiatives, and nothing happens,” Robinson said.
Officials from Hampton Roads Community Action Program, the organization focused on helping residents of the Choice Neighborhood, said bridging the gap between those who have been denied opportunities and the various programs designed to benefit them has always been a focus — one that’s become especially prominent in the pandemic and in the national movement for justice and equity.
Kevin Otey, chief operating officer of HRCAP, said the organization is developing different tools for residents, including a daily chat line for them to call in and ask questions or have discussions. A website and app are also in the works to connect residents to various resources, especially after they move from Ridley.
Officials said they were trying to be creative to reach people, but they have to rely on residents to participate.
“It’s really critical to us that they understand all of the resources that are available, and we want them to access the resources, but it is a partnership,” said Edith White, chief executive of HRCAP. “Residents also need to do their part to participate in community meetings, communicate with their tenant council, stop by the lift and connect center, call us.”
She said in a group this size, there are members of that group who come out to meetings and functions and get involved and there are members who are harder to reach.
Relocation and potential return
Thus far, nearly all of the 60 families in the first phase of relocation have moved from Ridley or found a new home, and many residents still living in Ridley have vouchers in hand.
Wilds said she’s emphasized to staff to be empathetic to the people moving and understand that it’s a stressful process to be told you have to leave your neighborhood. The housings authority is covering all moving costs, including setting up utilities, and HRCAP also has a caseworker program to offer individual help to each Ridley resident even after they move.
Robinson said the process of using the voucher to find a new home was confusing. She wanted to remain in the Southeast Community to care for a relative and because transportation for her job was connected to the neighborhood. She found a house she liked near Ridley, but wouldn’t be able to rent it based on rules of the voucher, she said.
Robinson felt there should be more freedom with choosing where to live and that two months was not enough time to find a suitable place with all the challenges of the pandemic.
Sikes also did not get to move into the first house she wanted. Under Section 8 rules, rentals have to pass an inspection, and she said a boarded up fireplace that the owner said would be fixed would’ve been caused an automatic fail. Sikes said her caseworker helped her look at properties, even driving her from work to appointments, and identify which were suitable under Section 8. It was a frustrating process, Sikes said, but she enjoys her new apartment, saying she feels more secure and likes the environment.
Under federal Choice Neighborhood rules, all residents displaced by transformation efforts are guaranteed a place to live if they choose to return to the area.
Wilds said her staff has tried to make that clear throughout the planning and implementation processes, but she still hears from residents who doubt they will have the opportunity.
The first new housing in the transformation area will be in two new apartment building about 10 blocks north of Ridley. Each building will be four floors with the first floor reserved for commercial space. There will be 81 units total, a rooftop terrace and green space. Wilds said the housing authority will receive tax credits, grants and loans to fund the project, and work is planned to start near the end of 2020.
“We’ll encourage everybody to move back, if that’s what they want to do,” Wilds said, adding that all costs to move back into the neighborhood would be covered as well.
Sikes said her main goal looking ahead is to move past assistance, so she doesn’t intend to move back into public housing even once the opportunity is there.
Robinson also said she likely would not move back. She expressed doubts about the construction plans and new housing slated for the area and transformation beyond just the housing and buildings.
She grew up in the area and wants to see changes, but hasn’t seen the steps to address other issues like crime and feeling safe.
Tynes El, a server who has not been able to work in the pandemic, was adamant that she wanted to return and take advantage of the investment in the neighborhood, where she’s lived since 2010.
“I want to take ownership,” she said. “I want to own a business here. I want to own a home here. I want to build up here and see my peers to be able to take advantage of opportunities.”