What about Moving-to-Work?

ARE YOU TAKING WHERE YOU LIVE FOR GRANTED???

TAKE ACTION TO AVERT THE PLANNED EXPANSIONS OF HUD’s
MOVING-TO-WORK PROGRAM

January 2007

In its Annual Plan, NYCHA announced that if HUD expands its Moving-to-Work program, NYCHA will apply to participate in it program. It is important that public housing residents and allies know about the Moving-to-Work Program and what can happen if the program is expanded and NYCHA is able to participate.

WHAT IS “MOVING-TO-WORK”?

The idea behind Moving-to-Work is that housing authorities can be more effective if the federal rules and regulations governing the way they spend money, enforce rules, allow residents to take part in decision-making, and hear residents’ grievances are more flexible.

NYCHA wants to participate in Moving-to-Work so that the spending flexibility it provides can help cover NYCHA’s $168 million annual deficit. We believe the NYCHA deficit is a serious and real concern, but we oppose NYCHA’s participation in Moving-to-Work.


WHY OPPOSE MOVING-TO-WORK?

Because the flexibility and deregulation that come with Moving-to-Work may help NYCHA financially, the flexibility and deregulation also leave residents homes vulnerable by taking away important protections.

For example, Housing Authorities in other cities around the country that have participated in Moving-to-Work have used it to:

Eliminate the Brooke Amendment, forcing families to pay more than 30% of their income on rent.
Impose time-limits on how long residents can live in public housing. The limits range from 3 – 7 years.
Impose work requirement on residents, evicting families who do not comply.
Demolish public housing or transfer it to private developers.

Along with these risks, Moving-to-Work would also allow NYCHA to:
Waive 964 Regulations—the “Bill of Rights for Resident Participation”
Waive Section 3, which requires residents to be hired for construction projects in public housing
AND
Take away money intended for Section 8 subsidies—rent vouchers for low-income families in private market housing—to pay for public housing. This is taking money from one group of low-income people to and giving it to another group of low-income people, A.K.A., “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.”

NYCHA claims that it will not use Moving-to-Work to waive the Brooke Amendment (in other words, RAISE RENT), to impose time limits or work requirements, or waive 964 Regulations—the “Bill of Rights for Resident Participation.” But we do know if NYCHA’s chairs and board members will change their minds, or who the chairs and board members will be in the future!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Simple Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Home

Contact your elected officials Congressional Representatives and Senators!
Join your fellow residents at mobilizations at City Hall, in Albany, and in Washington!
Keep in touch with your development and district representatives!
Tell your neighbors and Resident Associations about the risks of Moving-to-Work and why they, too, must be involved!
Keep in contact with NEIGHBORS EMPOWERING NEIGHBORS to keep up-to-date on what to do to help the fight to protect public housing. See our website: http://residentsunited.blogspot.com
OR call: 212-560-2522


WE FOUGHT NYCHA’S MOVING-TO-WORK APPLICATION IN 1997 AND WON!!! WITH YOUR SUPPORT, WE CAN DO IT, AND MORE, AGAIN!

the home you save will be your own

NEIGHBORS EMPOWERING NEIGHBORS brought to you by: Citywide Council of Presidents (CCOP), The NYCHA Resident Advisory Board (RAB), The New York City Public Housing Resident Alliance (NYCPHRA), Public Housing Residents of the Lower East Side (PHROLES), ACORN, The Community Service Society (CSS), Community Voices Heard, Housing Here & Now, Legal Aid Society, Tenants & Neighbors