WHA Welcomes Grantz To Round Out Board
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Father Brian Grantz of St. Anne's Episcopal Church joined the Warsaw Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Monday as its seventh member, bringing the board to its new capacity.
Grantz was appointed to the board by Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins in answer to recent changes in regulations made by the Indiana General Assembly. The board previously comprised five members and the changes also included adding a client representative. A city council representative serves the board in a nonvoting role and is an eighth member.
Grantz joins Bob Kline, Sherri Ruggier-Milton, Dennis Cultice, Tom Lemon, Axa Troncoso and Joel Curry on the WHA board. Bill Rhoades is the city council representative.
Board members heard from two Family Self-Sufficiency graduates who were presented with their escrow checks and certificates prior to the start of the meeting.
Natalie Henry completed a nursing program and is working at Kosciusko Community Hospital. She plans to use the money she accumulated while on housing assistance toward paying off her car.
Valerie Hamilton's schooling led to her becoming a paralegal. She is employed by Kolbe & Kolbe Attorneys at Law. Hamilton plans to further her education, with a goal of becoming an attorney. She will apply her escrow check to the purchase of a new house.
The FSS program provides clients receiving housing assistance with communication skills, education, a community referral system, goal planning, home ownership planning, individualized budget planning, job interviewing, one-on-one case management, organizational skills, parenting education, resum writing, self-esteem improvement and time management skills. The overall goal of the program is achieving financial independence.
Additionally, participants earn an escrow savings account built by WHA funds when the client's earned income increases. The client is awarded the money upon successful completion of the FSS program.
In business matters, WHA Executive Director Laura Kaufman said the program utilization is at 105 percent, with 184 clients receiving Section 8 rental assistance. The agency is allotted 175 vouchers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Kaufman said the over-utilization is helping make up for the time period during which it was under-utilized.
To reduce the number of clients and keep the usage closer to 100 percent, the WHA is not replacing all the slots vacated by clients who leave the program for various reasons. For instance, there were 10 clients terminated from the program during August and only seven new contracts were completed.
Kaufman said the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, should see the administrative fees and rent totals nearly equal. She also said the overall increase in the number of clients now on the program is attributed to a team effort among the WHA staff.
"You've all done a tremendous job," said board president Kline.
On the down side, the waiting list to receive rental assistance is getting longer, Kaufman said, with 31 families currently searching for housing. With the vouchers at capacity, it will take about six months for a new client to be brought onto the program.
If the WHA can show a continued need for housing assistance, there is a possibility the agency can apply to HUD for additional vouchers as early as 2003.
The 2002 budget was approved for a total of $539,882, with $435,600 of that amount used for rental and utility assistance and $104,282 in administrative expenses.
The WHA board meets at 5:15 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month in the law offices of Lemon, Armey, Hearn & Leininger. [[In-content Ad]]
Father Brian Grantz of St. Anne's Episcopal Church joined the Warsaw Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Monday as its seventh member, bringing the board to its new capacity.
Grantz was appointed to the board by Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins in answer to recent changes in regulations made by the Indiana General Assembly. The board previously comprised five members and the changes also included adding a client representative. A city council representative serves the board in a nonvoting role and is an eighth member.
Grantz joins Bob Kline, Sherri Ruggier-Milton, Dennis Cultice, Tom Lemon, Axa Troncoso and Joel Curry on the WHA board. Bill Rhoades is the city council representative.
Board members heard from two Family Self-Sufficiency graduates who were presented with their escrow checks and certificates prior to the start of the meeting.
Natalie Henry completed a nursing program and is working at Kosciusko Community Hospital. She plans to use the money she accumulated while on housing assistance toward paying off her car.
Valerie Hamilton's schooling led to her becoming a paralegal. She is employed by Kolbe & Kolbe Attorneys at Law. Hamilton plans to further her education, with a goal of becoming an attorney. She will apply her escrow check to the purchase of a new house.
The FSS program provides clients receiving housing assistance with communication skills, education, a community referral system, goal planning, home ownership planning, individualized budget planning, job interviewing, one-on-one case management, organizational skills, parenting education, resum writing, self-esteem improvement and time management skills. The overall goal of the program is achieving financial independence.
Additionally, participants earn an escrow savings account built by WHA funds when the client's earned income increases. The client is awarded the money upon successful completion of the FSS program.
In business matters, WHA Executive Director Laura Kaufman said the program utilization is at 105 percent, with 184 clients receiving Section 8 rental assistance. The agency is allotted 175 vouchers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Kaufman said the over-utilization is helping make up for the time period during which it was under-utilized.
To reduce the number of clients and keep the usage closer to 100 percent, the WHA is not replacing all the slots vacated by clients who leave the program for various reasons. For instance, there were 10 clients terminated from the program during August and only seven new contracts were completed.
Kaufman said the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, should see the administrative fees and rent totals nearly equal. She also said the overall increase in the number of clients now on the program is attributed to a team effort among the WHA staff.
"You've all done a tremendous job," said board president Kline.
On the down side, the waiting list to receive rental assistance is getting longer, Kaufman said, with 31 families currently searching for housing. With the vouchers at capacity, it will take about six months for a new client to be brought onto the program.
If the WHA can show a continued need for housing assistance, there is a possibility the agency can apply to HUD for additional vouchers as early as 2003.
The 2002 budget was approved for a total of $539,882, with $435,600 of that amount used for rental and utility assistance and $104,282 in administrative expenses.
The WHA board meets at 5:15 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month in the law offices of Lemon, Armey, Hearn & Leininger. [[In-content Ad]]