Expanding Housing Choices for HUD-Assisted Families

ENDNOTES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This report was prepared by John Goering, of HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R), who is responsible for the implementation and ongoing evaluation of the Moving to Opportunity demonstration. He was assisted by Katherine Carnevale and Manuel Teodoro, both student interns in PD&R.

Many other HUD staff have contributed to the design and implementation of MTO. These have included, most notably, Deputy Assistant Secretary Margery Turner who has taken MTO on as a project of particular importance and provided as many resources as possible to make it work. Jerry Benoit, Maddie Hastings, and Bill Murphy in HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing provided a crash course on how to run a Section 8 demonstration, and their good will, patience, suggestions, and criticisms have kept the demonstration running smoothly. Joan Kraft, Garland Allen, Mark Shroder, Larry Pearl, and Pam Walsh have also provided useful advice and assistance at many key stages.

At Abt Associates, Judith Feins, Anthony Phipps, Mary Joel Holin, Debri Magri McInness, Heather Doyle and, more recently, Susan Popkin have been indispensable to the design and implementation demonstration. In addition, Mary Davis and Kale Williams provided invaluable training assistance and guidance in designing MTO. And, of course, Alexander Polikoff, executive director of Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, has played an indispensable role in both originating and supporting the MTO demonstration.

But MTO could not possibly have gotten so far, so fast without the combined efforts of colleagues and friends at the five public housing authorities and non-profit organizations that have taken on the challenge of implementing MTO. All of the credit for changing the lives of so many families belongs to them.

Specifically, the authors wish to thank Robert Gajdys and Ruth Crystal from the Community Assistance Network; Tanya Tull and Tracy Scruggs from Beyond Shelter; Michelle White, Cynthia Pullen and, more recently, Rose Wright from the Fair Housing Congress; Barbara Lowry and Laura Shubilla from Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation; Aurie Pennick and Jonitia Epison from the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities in Chicago; and Jennifer O'Neil, Sheri Williams and Jim Wessler from the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership.

And at the five MTO housing authorities, the authors acknowledge the special contributions of Tom Santry and Theresa Imbruglia of the Boston Housing Authority; Gary Markowski, Floryne Howard, Reba Anderson-Graham, Estella Alexander and Commissioner Dan Henson of the Housing Authority of Baltimore City; Harold Sole and Alan Stone of the New York City Housing Authority; Denise Richardson of the Chicago Housing Authority and Steve Renahan, Jennifer O'Neil, and Sheri Williams of Chicago's new Section 8 contractor; and Steve Renahan, Mary Maher and Dawnette Gilkey of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles.