Housing authority logs 80 years

Despite efforts, need for housing help in Lorain County staggers care agencies

The Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority is celebrating an 80-year anniversary this year.

Homer Virden, executive director of LMHA, said the past four decades have been filled with triumphs.

But at the same time, the face of public housing has changed in a nearly “generational” way, Virden said.

“We went through the 1950s and they built Leavitt Homes and Westview Terrace, which were the family sites,” he said. “Then the high rises came in the late 1960s and ‘70s, and then there was a void period then moving to a new concept with the scattered site design of housing.

“It’s, sort of, reinventing the housing.”

To celebrate its anniversary, the Housing Authority produced a calendar which contains a wealth of information about the organization.

According to the calendar, the Housing Authority housed 4,761

families; 198 of them in multifamily housing, 1,405 are in public housing and 3,158 currently are taking part in the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Of the families housed, 97 percent, or 3,794, are extremely low-income making less than 30 percent of the annual median income;

87 families are very low-income making less than 50 percent the annual median income; and 10 are low-income making less than 80 percent the annual median income.

The report said there are 3,893 families on the waiting list.

Virden said the calendar serves the same purpose as an annual report, but with an added benefit.

“If I give you just the information, most folks would

just put it on the shelf,” he said. “If I give you a calendar, every month you’re getting another piece of information.”

Virden said the best success of the Housing Authority over these 80 years, has been the residents and how they’ve improved their lives.

“To see folks become successful and using the Housing Authority as a stepping stone,” he said. “When a resident moves into the high rises and it becomes their home, when they go from being homeless to having a home. Those are the success stories.”

Virden also highlighted the development of the Housing Authority’s staff

as a success.

“Seeing people develop is the success of the 80 years,” he said. “The Housing Authority is people; it’s not just bricks and mortar.”

Looking to the future, Virden said the Housing Authority developed a plan to revitalize two of its properties and that despite the concern among certain sections of the country; the Trump administration has not had a negative impact on its operation.

“Actually, there’s been a slight bump in our modernization funds that we’ve received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and a slight bump in our subsidy,” he said. “Those are a positive trend that we’re seeing.

“You hear all the negatives and everything like that, and when you actually receive your allocation, it’s sort of a blessing and a surprise that we had some slight increases in funding.”

The report said there are 3,893 families on the waiting list.