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Albemarle County Housing Project
Receives the State’s Highest Award For Housing
Revitalization of Esmont Deemed The Best Housing Development
Project for 2003.
From left to right: Joy Matthews
- Ablemarle Housing Committee
Theresa Tapscott - Executive Director,
AHIP
Ron White - Chief of Housing, Albemarle County
Michael Schewel - Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade
The
Porters / Yancey Neighborhood Revitalization Project in the southern Albemarle
village of Esmont has been awarded Virginia’s highest honor for housing. On
Thursday, November 13, 2003, representatives from Albemarle County’s Office of
Housing, Albemarle Housing Improvement Program, and Habitat For Humanity Greater
Charlottesville accepted, on behalf of the Porters / Yancey Neighborhood
Project, The Virginia Housing Award for The Best Housing Development in 2003 at
the annual Governor’s Housing Conference held in Norfolk.
 Nominations for the award are submitted to the Virginia
Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) “from any individual,
organization or entity that is involved in developing or providing housing
projects and housing-related services, programs and resources.” Select members
of DHCD and The Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) evaluate the
nominations for Best Housing Development and select winners based on “a
housing development that is innovative in its concept and design and exceptional
in meeting the needs of the targeted client population”.
The Porters / Yancey Neighborhood Revitalization Project fit
the bill by mixing housing rehabilitation with homeownership opportunities;
renovations to a community center with building a new county park; and removing
dangerous dilapidated structures with building 5 new homes with environmentally
responsible and sustainable products.
In the early 1990’s the three-mile strip of Rural Route 627
that composes the Porters Road-Yancey School Neighborhood
was riddled with sub-standard housing and dilapidated, abandoned structures.
Young people were moving out of the neighborhood because of a lack of housing
opportunity, recreational facilities, and concerns about the local schools.
Crime and drug trafficking were on the increase, and long time residents were
beginning to wonder if anyone cared.
A drive down that small stretch of road today will reveal a very different
place. Today you will see a “new and improved” Esmont Lodge No. 744 of the
Grand United Order of Odd Fellows. This pillar of the community serves as a
meeting place for community groups, provides a site for a meals program for the
Jefferson Area Board for the Aging and houses a sub-station for the Albemarle
County Police. You will see 31 homes that have been
completely rehabilitated by Albemarle Housing Improvement Program (AHIP).
Across from B.F. Yancey Elementary School is the county’s new Simpson Park
complete with baseball/softball fields, tennis and basketball courts,
a picnic shelter and a water park. Next door to the park
is Porters Village, a subdivision of 11 new homes developed and built by Habitat
For Humanity Greater Charlottesville and volunteers. Four more new homes by
Habitat are scattered throughout the community
And finally you will see five new homes being built
by AHIP with sustainability and environmental stewardship in mind for 5 first
time buyers. What you won’t see are 13 dilapidated, abandoned
structures that scarred the landscape for decades.
“It would be impossible to measure all of the
outcomes achieved during the past ten-years in the Porters Road-Yancey
Neighborhood”, states AHIP Executive Director Theresa Tapscott. “The funds,
numbers, and statistics are impressive but cannot possibly touch on the
intangible benefits achieved. Families feel safer in their homes because of the
improved housing, the police presence and the elimination of dangerous, run-down
properties. Children have a wonderful park in which to play.”
Albemarle County Executive Bob Tucker cites the value of partnership in this
successful community restoration program, stating, “The collaborative efforts
brought together in this neighborhood project have been truly remarkable, and
created an outpouring of energy and resources that no one entity could have
achieved on their own. Thanks to these combined efforts, Porters Road is truly
an example of a neighborhood transformed.”
About AHIP
The Albemarle Housing Improvement
Program (AHIP) is a private, non-profit housing and community development
organization dedicated to helping low-income Albemarle County and City of
Charlottesville residents have the opportunity to live in safe, decent, and
affordable housing. AHIP pursues its mission by facilitating programs and
services, and assisting low-income families and individuals to acquire and/or
maintain a home. It is AHIP’s conviction that the opportunity to live in
adequate shelter is a basic human right.
FUNDING STRATEGY
| CDBG Multi-Year Grant: |
$ 771,000 |
| Albemarle County Matching Funds |
$ 870,000 |
| Other CDBG Matching Funds |
$1,029,000 |
| Habitat for Humanity |
$1,200,000 |
Private
Contributions
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Charlottesville-Albemarle
Foundation $
592,000
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Anonymous Foundation $ 86,000
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In-Kind Material Donation/Buy Downs $ 25,000
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Blue Ridge Rotary Club $ 10,000
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Mitford Children’s Foundation $ 5,000 |
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$ 718,000 |
PARTNERS
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Porters-Yancey Neighborhood |
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Southern Albemarle Association |
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Esmont Lodge No. 744 of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows |
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Yancey Elementary School |
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Blue Ridge Rotary Club |
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Mitford Children’s Foundation |
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Jefferson Area Board for the Aging |
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Habitat for Humanity |
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United Way of Charlottesville/Albemarle |
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University of Virginia Student Volunteers |
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Leadership Charlottesville |
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Group WorkCamps |
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Virginia Housing Development Authority |
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Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development |
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First Virginia Bank-Blue Ridge |
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Bank of America |
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Rural Development Service |
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Charlottesville-Albemarle Community Foundation |
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BAMA Works |
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Albemarle County and the County’s Neighborhood Team |
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Albemarle Housing Improvement Program |
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OUTCOMES |
PLANNED |
ACHIEVED |
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Homes Rehabilitated |
29 |
31 |
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Structures Demolished |
15 |
13* |
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New Homes-Habitat |
12 |
19 |
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New Homes-AHIP |
5 |
6 |
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Community Center Renovated |
1 |
1 |
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Park Constructed |
1 |
1 |
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Rent to Own Properties |
3 |
3 |
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Senior Meals Program |
0 |
1 |
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Police Substation |
1 |
1 |
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*Two homes slated for demolition were rehabilitated |
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Contact AHIP