New Haven Independent: A Downing Street Homecoming

A Downing Street Homecoming

by Allan Appel | November 20, 2007 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

A licensed nurse moved her family from a Section 8 apartment into her own home, with help from neighborhood-building efforts aimed at strengthening Fair Haven’s Chatham Square.

Charice Darden grew up not only in Fair Haven, but on Downing Street. Now she gets to move back to the very same street, just a block or two away. She can introduce her 10- and 6-year-olds to the Quinnipiac River, which Monday morning rolled in the distance with the windy turbulence of a real winter’s day, and to the park and neighborhood she knew and loved as a kid herself.

Darden celebrated the purchase of her first house at her new address, 69 Downing St., with an award of recognition for her efforts and a festive moving-in party Monday. The event recognized programs encouraging homeownership by the Mary Wade Home — Darden’s employer — the Chatham Square Neighborhood Association, and the Housing Authority of New Haven.

Darden, a licensed practical nurse with the Mary Wade Home now for two years, was the beneficiary of Mary Wade’s employee housing benefit program, an outright grant of $5,000. The program encourages stabilization of the neighborhood, preservation of the attractive and often historic homes. It encourage employees to live nearby.

Darden’s purchase accomplished all that. Mary Wade’s director, David Hunter (pictured in the middle with Lee Cruz, senior philanthropic officer with the Greater New Haven Community Foundation, which funds the stabilization efforts through home ownership around Chatham Square Park) toasted Darden as “a great nurse, a great mom, and now a great neighbor.”

The tall green house with peaked roof is almost 100 years old and is surrounded by gnarled trees nearly as old that stand on a corner with river views. It’s almost a nostrum that buying a house will be for most Americans the largest economic transaction of their lives, and an often financially daunting proposition. For lower-income people, that’s especially so. So Charice Darden, a single mom, who’d been living in Section 8 housing in the neighborhood around St. Raphael’s Hospital, prepared herself, and prepared herself well.

Not only did she qualify for her employer’s benefit, she learned about the Homebuyer Incentive Program, funded by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven for the area around Chatham Square Park. She attended a meeting of the Chatham Square Neighborhood Association, where she met a realtor, Marilyn Rosa (on the right, along with her attorney William Raccio, and, left to right, Itsu Almodovar and Maria Carmona of HANH), who eventually found this house for her. In the interim, she was able also to qualify for Chatham Square’s incentive program, to the tune of receiving $10,000, matched dollar for dollar, to be used for down payment or closing costs.

And that’s not all. As a HANH resident, Darden enrolled in HANH’s Family Self Sufficiency Program. She took courses on credit, financial management, home upkeep and more. It’s a serious program, with a minimum of monthly meetings, and many people take five years to qualify. Darden did it in one year. As a result, the Section 8 support for renting, will now transfer to help Darden with monthly support for the payment of the mortgage on her $220,000 home; she also has an adjacent apartment in the house that will provide revenue.

She is thrilled — and then some. She happily gave tours of the house to all comers, but there was special pleasure in her showing what she called the “kid zone,” the third floor area, to her Mary Wade colleagues, Michelle Fleischer (seated) and (left to right) Kim D’Amato and Sharon Thomas. Here her kids will play, and she hopes transfer to the local schools - Clinton Avenue, Fair Haven Middle — where she also went.

Some six other people at Mary Wade are in the pipeline for similar employee housing benefits. At HANH, according to Maria Carmona and Itsu Almodovar (on the left, front and rear, in the photo above), 19 other Section 8 renters have been able to move into their own homes, several others in Fair Haven, a number in the Hill, and throughout the city. “Charice,” said Carmona, “has been one of our best and most enthusiastic home-buyer students.” She added that HANH, which is making a real push in the home ownership area, has about another hundred people at various stages in the program.

Lee Cruz said that the area’s home ownership initiatives are producing other fruitful results. Two other homes in the immediate area around Chatham Square Park are on deposit. And Mary Wade’s “senior campus” is evolving, as another anchor in the historic neighborhood.

David Hunter said that the Mary Wade Home in its origins was a refuge for single mothers widowed by their soldier husbands during the Civil War, or even dispossessed and impoverished when soldiers returned and took back the many jobs that the women, in the interim, had occupied. It was only at the turn of the 20th Century that Mary Wade’s focus shifted to the elderly. “So we’re thrilled,” he said, “to be not only serving the elderly but a young woman like Charice Darden, who is truly one of our shining stars.”

Darden said her plans are to stay in the neighborhood, get her kids enrolled in the local schools, do some home fix -p. Her career plans now call for her to stay at Mary Wade too, of course; she is going to get her registered nurse’s degree, too. And guess what: Mary Wade provides tuition support. Plus, through a home repair incentive program Chatham Square Neighborhood Association also can make available to Darden up to $2,000 for exterior repairs, greater energy efficiency, or to fix up a rental unit.

Everyone attending this gathering was aware that on perhaps the most important level, Charice Darden’s success story is far less about mortgages, benefits, and incentives and far more about the sense of community that undergirds it all. For those wanting to learn more about the Mary Wade Home or the Chatham Square Neighborhood Association, click here and here.

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Comments

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | November 20, 2007 3:37 PM

I Hope She Did Not Get One Of Those Subprmie Loans.

Posted by: mary | November 20, 2007 5:52 PM

Wow What a great story!!!!!!GOOD Luck and Welcome back to the neighborhood.

Posted by: Lee | November 21, 2007 12:05 PM

The key to stable neighborhoods is resident sense of ownership; evidence the 2006 study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/communitydevelopment/w06-1_impact_of_housing_on_community.pdf

Residents of Chatham Square, with help from the Community Foundation, have been working to change the image of a neighborhood where they live and that they know to be a great place. The strategy is based on the healthy neighborhood approach developed by Fall Creek Consulting.

http://www.fallcreekconsultants.com/healthy_neighborhoods.php

The outcomes:
1 branded neighborhood -- The New Haven Independent, The New Haven Register and Channel 8 have all referred to the neighborhood by the resident selected name of Chatham Square.
3 resident home purchases linked to resident efforts and networking; not surprising given the diversity of the neighborhood: one couple from out of state, one couple with a child moving in from a shoreline town and one single mom moving back to the neighborhood where she grew up to raise her children.

Other accomplishments:
22 current homeowners repaired their homes with a small incentive repair grant.
6 unsubsidized homeowner repairs documented during the same time period and
6 low-income residents helped with grants that are more substantial, not from foundation. It should be noted that funds for the above mentioned did not go directly to the homeowners; the foundation works through implementing not-for-profit organizations.

Just for fun residents organized:
3 community festivals, the 2007 Summer Festival in collaboration with the City.
2 children's summer programs in the park; this year the children produced a neighborhood photo collection that will be exhibited at XO Photography Gallery.

In addition, recognizing like homeownership traffic (people cars and bicycles) is a barometer of a healthy neighborhood residents are planning and raising a portion of the funds for a neighborhood traffic study.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/02/these_boys_alon.php

Some may argue that these tasks are the responsibility of government or fall into the domain of not-for-profit organizations but residents of the Chatham Square neighborhood are not waiting for others to improve the quality of life where they live, they are taking up that responsibility themselves. The lesson learned subsidies and external assistance helps but great places to live are made, and kept that way by residents. If you want to know more talk to the people that make it happen, someone who is creating and sustaining community where they live, talk to a resident of Chatham Square.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/neighborhoods/chatham_square

Posted by: David Hunter | November 21, 2007 12:31 PM

To "ThreeFifths" and all interested,

You raise a good and important point, particularly for first time home-buyers in the community.

As part of this homeownership assistance program, Mary Wade identified and approved appropriate lenders who do not engage in predatory lending. We have pre-approved documents between the banking institutions and Mary Wade. All Mary Wade employees must use one of these lending institutions to benefit from our program.

Our goal is to help employees enter into solid homeownership for the forseeable future and to enjoy all the benefits of raising a family in their home, and in our Fair Haven Community.

Best Wishes, David Hunter
PS Many thanks to Allan Appel for covering and writing a wonderful article and his support to the Community through the power of the pen.

Posted by: -FairHavener- | November 21, 2007 6:52 PM

Yes, this is definitely great. Having more homeowners here is a positive thing. I am a little skeptical about the multi-family, providing revenue aspect. Renting property is a tricky business that even pros struggle with. I am not sure if this is the best idea for a first time homeowner - though it is not my decision. I hope it works out. Anyway, I am always happy to see a new homeowner move in. Congratulations.

Since David Hunter is here, I would like to ask a few questions about Mary Wade's neighborhood involvement.

Why, when it is stated that Mary Wade's program "encourages... preservation of the attractive and often historic homes", do Mary Wade officials act contrary to that position regarding their own property? For instance, as some locals may remember, there was a beautiful Greek revival type home on the corner on Pine St and Clinton Ave (71 Pine St) that Mary Wade allowed to deteriorate to the point that restoration was impossible. People were allowed to go in and pillage any architectural details they could. The windows were left wide open for nature to take its toll. Eventually Mary Wade officials demolished it (neighborhood residents were not happy to say the least). The once beautiful home was previously owned by Habitat for Humanity. Now it is a vacant lot.

And what was the real reason for the house move (vs demolition that is)? I seriously question that the house, moved from 77 Pine St around the corner to Clinton Ave (that we read about here at NHI), was moved out of the kindness of Mary Wade's heart - an act to preserve our architectural history for the community if you will. I know that if Mary Wade officials made public their intentions of demolishing another historic house the neighborhood would have tried to intervene. Or was it cheaper to move the house than it was to demolish it? Did Mary Wade get an estimate for the house's demolition? That would be interesting to know. It would be even more interesting to learn that Mary Wade officials moved the house because it was cheaper than demolishing it.

Why did Mary Wade cover the same historic, cottage style home with vinyl? What does that say about the concern for the "preservation of the attractive and often historic homes"? Not much I'd say. Covering the house with vinyl is not preservation, with which more anon. Scraping and repainting the house (or replacing pieces of wood siding, etc) would be considered preservation.

You cannot cover historic, antique, older homes, etc with vinyl unless you completely gut the interior and put in a vapor barrier. Old homes need to breathe. Before vinyl is installed a thin, usually blue, insulation is applied to the existing, exterior siding. Then the vinyl is nailed over the insulation. Both of these - especially the insulation - prevent moisture inside the home from escaping. This causes the wood framing (along with the plaster and lathe and original wood siding) to absorb a lot of moisture and eventually rot.

So, by covering your antique, historic, and old homes with vinyl, you are pretty much taking action Against Preservation and direct Action For the inevitable rotting of the structure. Not to mention destroying the historic character of the home by covering it with a completely inappropriate material (that is made from toxic chemicals and petroleum I might add). Thanks a lot.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | November 21, 2007 8:03 PM

David Hunter
I Hope You Are Right But After Looking At Nightline The Other Night I Would Not Trust Any Lenders At This Time.

Posted by: Terence | November 29, 2007 4:44 PM

This program is through the FSS program is only available with McCue mortgage using CHFA's first time homebuyer program, so no sub-prime or predatory loans here.

Posted by: David Hunter | December 8, 2007 12:21 PM

Dear Fairhavener,
I apologize for the delay in responding, as I had not returned to this page for awhile.

It is interesting how one can be revealed by one's questions! I invite you to call me and I am happy to meet and discuss all of your concerns. In fact, I believe it would be beneficial for the Fair Haven Community for us to meet, and I would welcome the opportunity for us to finally talk.

You have missed the many meetings we have had with the neighbors where the concerns you have raised were discussed fully, and openly. These planning meetings were facilitated by Kenneth Boroson and Regina Winters.

Mary Wade has invested in the neighborhood in an effort to: (1)maintain a positive role here, (2)to protect our investments, (3)to preserve the residential neighborhood, (4)to provide a safe place for mature adults to live a for people to work, and (4)to expand our mission of service.

We believe our master plan accomplishes these objectives and the neighbors supported our plan with an unanimous vote followed by more than 75 letters and signatures of approval that were sent to the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Since those planning sessions, Mary Wade has been working toward accomplishing the projects that both Mary Wade and neighbors had agreed upon.

We all have benefited and our mutual participation has been accomplishing the above objectives. Also of importance, since 2001 property values in our neighborhood have increased by nearly 150%!

I urge you to meet with me, and for you to join our efforts for positve change in the Fair Haven Community.

New Haven Independent

A Downing Street Homecoming

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