THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 22, 1995 TAG: 9502210099
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 172 lines
EVEN NOW, the memory is painfully clear to Annette Rodgers.
It was the fall of 1992. She was a single mother of four rambunctious boys, each younger than 10. She had almost no job skills, had knocked around from apartment to apartment struggling to pay rent on a welfare check that was never enough.
``I was basically homeless,'' said Rodgers. ``I really didn't know where I was going day to day. I felt like it was the end of the world.''
With hardly enough money to call savings, she settled into a neighborhood with a reputation for more violence than almost any place at the Oceanfront.
The irony of ``Friendship Village'' was not lost on any resident. Drug dealers roamed freely. The police arrived nightly to make arrests. Gunfire was common, and the thought of letting the children out to play was a cruel hoax.
The apartments were not much to look at either. Small and a bit confining, they were built in 1971 under the flight path of fighters assigned to the Oceana Naval Air Station. The deafening roar of F-14 Tomcats was - and remains - a daily experience.
Rodgers' move into the troubled complex did not promise a better life two years ago, but so much has changed that to hear her tell it today the community is hardly the same place.
``This is just a great place to stay,'' said Rodgers. ``It's a lot more comfortable now and I feel safer here.''
A large part of that change involved the way VMH Inc., formerly Virginia Mountain Housing, manages the 109-unit complex off Birdneck Road, tucked behind Seatack Elementary School.
A non-profit corporation based in Christiansburg, VMH became the managing general partner of Friendship Village in November 1992 and began trying to make it a better place to live. First came an $800,000 property renovation, including replacement windows, doors, heat pumps, aluminum siding, plumbing upgrades and new shingles for some roofs. VMH also converted the utilities to single meters for the residents.
``We talked to some people who said they had been here for 22 years and could never remember when their apartment was painted,'' said Terry Rickard, VMH's maintenance supervisor for multifamily homes. ``Some of these units were pretty rough looking.''
Providing affordable housing for low-income people, however, involves more than throwing money at the problem.
``Until people develop a sense of ownership, there will always be dilapidated low-income housing,'' said Barbara L. Barnes, director of housing management for VMH. ``Before people can address these problems, they need to look at them in a personal way.''
That brings the story back to Rodgers.
Not long after Rodgers moved in she saw a job posting for VMH.
``I gave it some thought,'' Rodgers recalled shyly. ``I thought it was a secretarial job.''
Though unaware then, Rodgers was the only applicant for the assistant property manager job. Barnes wasn't surprised.
Most low-income residents, no matter where they live, are accustomed to being told how to live and what kind of amenities, if any, will be granted a housing complex, Barnes explained. Few are invited to take part in running their lives.
VMH, she said, tries to get residents - they're never called tenants - to take an active part in their community, to decide how money will be spent and - to borrow a buzzword from American boardrooms - ``empower'' residents to take charge of their lives.
Rodgers now helps coordinate resident and management relations, wears a suit to work each day, and keeps a closer eye on her growing children.
``I'm happier now than I ever have been,'' Rodgers said.
Giving her - and other residents - a say in how the community is run is a guiding principle for VMH, which also manages Lynnhaven Landing and Sea Haven apartments in Virginia Beach. The company boasts increased resident participation in all aspects of community life at Friendship Village.
Consider the new playground.
Not long after VMH acquired the property, Barnes learned of a Housing and Urban Development drug elimination program and applied for a grant. In April 1993, the community was awarded $163,000. Instead of deciding for itself how to spend the money, VMH involved the residents.
``We included them in that application,'' Barnes said. ``They were part of the decision on how we would use the money if we were awarded the grant.''
The residents considered several options but, with VMH guidance, chose improvements they had long sought but never received.
``They could have chosen to lease a van for a year, but after a year it would have been gone. They wanted to spend the money on things that would stay,'' Barnes said. ``They decided on additional exterior lighting, a perimeter fence and a new playground.''
Today, the playground - swing sets and sliding board - sits amid crushed gravel in a formerly rubble-strewn field.
It's not surprising that the playground was a priority among residents.
Of the complex's 520 residents, 400 of them are children - almost all of whom are from single-parent families headed by women, said Barnes.
Each parent pays 30 percent of her income toward rent, and the rest is subsidized.
Not only did VMH encourage residents to take charge, but it began to more aggressively enforce housing standards.
``We have quarterly housing inspections now,'' Barnes said. ``We went from annual inspections to semi-annual to quarterly. It shows people what our standards are and what their responsibilities are. We hold them accountable and I think it has made a tremendous difference at Friendship Village.''
J. Samantha Hartley heads the Friendship Village Residential Council, which functions as a civic league for the neighborhood. Hartley, 25, grew up in the Village and remembers well the troubles that plagued the community.
``Things have changed a lot,'' Hartley said from inside the neighborhood community center, a five-bedroom apartment converted at VMH expense. She was watching a video of a step show that included some residents - the Friendship Show Stompers, who were brought together under Hartley's leadership.
``The crime has gone down a lot, basically through the help of the police and the community,'' she said. ``We had a lot of people who caused trouble out here all the time. But now we hold town meetings every second Tuesday. People are taking charge of their lives. And we help people who need help.''
The center houses a computer, which local children use to play games on, and a battery of sewing machines. Bible study is offered every Wednesday night.
``We just try to keep the children busy,'' Hartley said.
Of all those noting changes at Friendship Village, none sees them quite like Jay S. Javey, a police officer assigned to the city's Second Precinct.
He remembers answering calls in the ``old'' Friendship Village.
``It had a lot of problems,'' Javey said. ``We always had to send more than one (police car) on whatever call it was. At nighttime, more than two or three (police cars) used to respond. If two cars responded, then two more would check in with the first two.
``It was definitely an open market for drugs.''
Part of the solution was simple law enforcement, he said, but equally important was getting the community involved.
``The community got together. The good citizens just got tired of the drug dealers. With our help, they managed to clean up their neighborhood to the point that now it's a very comfortable place to live.
``A few years ago, we had to be very careful when we went in,'' he added. ``Now I would say there is a more relaxed attitude among the officers, and people notice the change. People are not hanging around the corners drinking and selling drugs.''
The lesson for Barnes is clear.
``You have to have sound management practices or you get into dilapidated housing that is so common in low-income neighborhoods,'' she said. ``It means keeping up on the maintenance, raising rents on a reasonable basis at a reasonable frequency, having resident orientation so that residents know what you expect and what is expected of them.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
A FRIENDLIER VILLAGE
[Color Photo]
Staff photos by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Until people develop a sense of ownership, there will always be
dilapidated low-income housing,'' said Barbara L. Barnes, director
of housing management for VMH, Inc. ``Before people can address
these problems, they need to look at them in a personal way.''
A girl walks home after getting off the school bus at Friendship
Village. Of the complex's 520 residents, 400 of them are children -
almost all of whom are from single-parent families headed by women.
``I'm happier now than I ever have been,'' says resident Annette
Rodgers, who now helps coordinate tenant and management relations,
wears a suit to work each day, and keeps a closer eye on her four
growing boys.
Vanessa Hartley, 33, has lived at Friendship Village for nine months
and is now vice president of the community council. Despite the
storied history of her neighborhood, Hartley is happy about living
there. ``It's not who you look to, it's how you make your home,''
she likes to say.
Sea Young Lee, a native of Seoul, Korea, has seen many changes at
Friendship Village in the 12 years she has lived there. ``It was
scary, with parties all night long, and people coming and going.
Today, it is a very nice place.''
by CNB