Volume 6 Number 5
May 2009

In this Issue
Local Partnerships Promote Long-Term Prosperity
Storm Windows Can Make a Difference
Land Banks Help Stabilize Properties
The Status of America's Housing
In the next issue of ResearchWorks

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• Service coordinators organize the provision of supportive services to low-income elderly and nonelderly residents with disabilities who reside in HUD-assisted multifamily housing. Multifamily Property Managers' Satisfaction with Service Coordination is a new report that examines property managers' level of satisfaction with service coordination at their sites. We'll look at the services available, how they can be funded, and how they are helping residents to live independently and to age in place rather than face institutionalization.

• The city of Schenectady, New York plans to beautify and green its community, and to enhance its supply of affordable housing. The city — in partnership with multiple organizations — relied on multiple funding sources to build a LEED-certified prototype unit that is affordable to area households. The result is a green, affordable home recently honored with the 2008 HUD Secretary's Best in American Living Award. This prototype is generating additional units in Schenectady, two of which are completed. We'll examine the features of this prototype, the neighborhoods in which the completed units are located, and the partnerships and funding resources utilized in the development process.

• The University of Texas at El Paso is using its Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) grant to accelerate development and use of technologies that will improve the quality, durability, energy efficiency, environmental performance, and affordability of housing for colonia residents. The program also includes revolving loans, hardship grants, materials for new homes, and educational materials targeted to colonia residents. We'll highlight the history and accomplishments of this project.

• At HUD, sustainability has become a new framework for addressing the challenges facing metropolitan areas. The Office of Policy Development and Research is helping to develop a toolkit of HUD initiatives that will provide new resources to communities in addressing the challenges resulting from climate change and growth patterns at the local level. We'll see how the priorities of energy efficiency, green building, and coordination of housing and transportation will shape the activity of the new Office of Sustainability at HUD.