THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408120634
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SARAH HUNTLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Zelma Morris tottered around the orderly, two-bedroom Berkley apartment that she's lived in for 13 years and talked about the long-awaited repairs that are slated to start in a few weeks.
``It's been so long. I'm supposed to get a new bathroom, and from what I understand through the gossip, you know, they are going to fix the air conditioner,'' Morris, 72, said as she pointed to unglued tiles and a loose splash guard in her bathroom. Then she walked into the kitchen and gestured toward her 20-year-old stove.
That was George H. Banks' cue. ``That's gonna be a new stove. Don't you worry. Yep, all of that is going to be new stuff,'' said Banks, chairman of the Beacon Light Civic League, growing more excited with every word.
Banks' promises Thursday morning were far from empty. In fact, they were backed up by $1,053,406 from the federal government.
Forget about bake sales and fund-raising barbecues. The nearly 375 members of the Beacon Light Civic League, a nonprofit community organization that covers the city's Berkley and Campostella sections, went after the big money. And they got it.
Just a half-hour before his visit to Morris' apartment in Bell-Diamond Manor, Banks and other civic league members accepted the grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The HUD award will be used to replace appliances and bathroom fixtures, repave parking lots, repair old roofs and upgrade electrical wiring for 128 low-income apartment units on Middlesex and Craig streets.
``This used to be one . . . of the most wretched housing areas,'' Berkley native and civic league president Horace C. Downing said. ``But these apartments became a showcase for the community. We've stuck with the planning to make sure they stay that way.''
Edith R. Jones, the civic league's financial secretary, recalled the monthly meeting where members heard they would get the grant. ``There was cheering. We had been stretching (the budget) to keep the place up. This was what we needed, when we needed it,'' she said.
Thursday's HUD commitment to Bell-Diamond is the most recent in a long list of accomplishments by the ultra-active Beacon Light Civic League. Spurred by President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty, the league began its relationship with HUD in 1968, when it applied for and received federal funding to construct low-income housing.
The league now owns garden apartments and townhouses, with rents ranging from $260 to $315 a month. The property is managed by Realty Management Associates, Inc.
``Most of the success can be attributed to a strong nonprofit group that is really focused on service,'' said Charles Gardner, assistant to HUD's state coordinator. ``HUD knows it is important for us to maintain a relationship with the decision-makers, the residents. This nonprofit league has made that possible.''
Gardner said Beacon Light's application, which was prepared by the property managers, was put through a competitive review process, including on-site visits and consultations. Because the league owns the apartments and is nonprofit, it is not required to raise matching funds, Gardner said.
``We think this is the only civic league in the country that has this good of a relationship with HUD, that they could ask for $1 million and get it,'' Mayor Paul D. Fraim said.
A Chesapeake firm, Goode Construction Inc., will begin the renovations in a few weeks. The project is expected to take about six months.
KEYWORDS: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
by CNB