New Haven Independent

Like the famous advice columnist “Dear Heloise,” Bell (pictured) is on a mission to bring high standards to the living rooms and kitchens in public housing projects.

On Tuesday, at the authority’s monthly board meeting, Bell, the agency’s assistant executive director, unveiled a new effort to encourage public housing tenants to do a better job to make their places livable.

She put together an instructional pamphlet. And she’s starting a class for residents who don’t maintain their apartments as they should.

The pamphlet is titled “Home Clean Home” and appears to be as straightforward as, Bell hopes, that it will be helpful:

The pamphlet is subtitled “Tips to Good Housekeeping Habits.” It states that it “is designed to provide residents with information on the importance of keeping their homes clean and to assist with them staying in compliance with their lease.”

Here are a few other suggestions pertaining to making your bathroom clean: “Use a baking soda paste on tough grime and an antibacterial cleaner for disinfecting the toilet bowl.”

Bell, a no-nonsense executive who is a nurse by training with a master’s degree in public health, said that tenants can be evicted if they let the level of hygiene in their apartments go beyond proper norms.

The program begins next month with two classes of ten people each. They will be taught at the QuinnipiacTerrace development in Fair Haven and in the community center in West Rock on Wilmot Road.

Those eligible for the class are people who live in the more than 2,500 units of low- income authority-run housing throughout the city.

Bell was also careful not to blame tenants. “Low-income people,” she said, “have so many barriers to overcome, sometimes they forget. And, of course, we’re not talking about keeping your place messy. We all do that. But if you really let a place go, a tenant can be evicted.”

The booklet and the class were put together by Bell’s leadership team which included Edith Peters and Melanie Post, program managers at West Rock and Quinnipiac Terrace. Property managers throughout the Housing Authority of New Haven (HANH) portfolio of residences make regular inspections of apartments. They referred enough people to Bell that she sensed a need to respond.

If there ever were a hands-on class, Bell indicated, this will be it. “People will learn how to clean a kitchen and a bathroom literally by actually doing it,” she said. “And they will also learn how to organize a schedule of cleaning.”

The booklet is designed around different tasks to be performed throughout a week. Besides what you would expect in a simple how-to, on Day 4 the booklet suggests, for example, that tenants involve their families in the cleaning.

“Your children should contribute,” it says. “You don’t want to give them too much work, but you should give them enough to teach them responsibility. By including them in the housework, they will learn teamwork and life skills.”

Bell also called the class a way for HANH staff to determine if a tenant needs assistance beyond tips for making the porcelain sparkle. “We might find that a person is very depressed and therefore not cleaning. We may choose to help treat the depression first.”

Among the other incentives for keeping apartments clean, the booklet advises that if you clean with regularity and on a schedule, you will not only be lease-compliant, “but it will free up your weekends.”

Oh, and for the sinks in the bathroom, if general purpose spray cleaners are not to your liking, try mixing in some vinegar. That should do a good job on the sink, tub, and faucets.

As to keeping her own condo tidy, Bell said, “I do a little bit every day.” Just as the booklet advises.