Council unanimously approves partnership with NeighborWorks

Recent News from the Oshkosh Northwestern

Council unanimously approves partnership with NeighborWorks
By Jeff Bollier • of the Northwestern • November 24, 2010

The Oshkosh Common Council unanimously approved an agreement to provide neighborhood revitalization programming in Oshkosh once remaining framework is laid.

Councilors approved, 7-0, the partnership with Neighborhood Housing Services of Southeast Wisconsin, a NeighborWorks chapter based in Racine, that will allow the group to extend similar housing and neighborhood support programs into Oshkosh under the Great Neighborhoods Program.
Councilors also approved a $250,000 allocation for the Great Neighborhoods Plan in its 2011 Capital Improvement Program on Tuesday while the Oshkosh Area Community Foundaiton has allocated $50,000 to help launch the effort.
Domenick Martinelli, the Racine group’s executive director, said the same agreement will be considered at his board of directors December meeting and that the national NeighborWorks organization has indicated no opposition to the service expansion.
He also said his staff will identify key measures and conditions in Oshkosh to use as a baseline to evaluate the program’s progress going forward.

Bill Wyman, an east side resident, will serve as chairman of a steering committee that will oversee the program locally and direct allocations. The committee will be established in the coming weeks and will include seven to 10 people.

Wyman said the committee’s first task will be to hire a director.

"Once we hire someone, we’re going to get to work," Wyman said.

Extending the NeighborWorks chapter to Oshkosh was key to the agreement because it can acquire Federal Housing Authority properties, rehabilitate them and sell them to home owners to help fund ongoing NeighborWorks operations in Oshkosh.

Oshkosh Area Community Foundation Executive Director Eileen Connolly-Keesler said she identified several grants Great Neighborhoods might be able to apply for to increase funding as well.

-- Jeff Bollier: (920) 426-6688 or jbollier@thenorthwestern.com.

December 2010 Agenda

Winnebagoland Housing Coalition
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Hooper Community Center, 36 Broad Street, Oshkosh Wisconsin

Mission - The Winnebagoland Housing Coalition will maximize resources to identify and address affordable housing needs in our community.

MEETING AGENDA

Introductions

Approval of Minutes: November 3, 2010

Special Topic:
Housing First- Debra Cronmiller, Executive Director Fox Valley Emergency Shelter

New Business:
Call for Leadership Nominations: Winnebagoland Housing Coalition Co-Chairs

Committee Reports:
Warming Shelter-Tina Haffeman
Case Managers Network- Amy Lang
Landlord Education Initiative-Justin Mitchell
Intra-community Relocation Assistance –Bob Poeschl

Unfinished Business:
January 2011 Point in Time Count-Patty Loosen
Continuum of Care Chart Update-Tina Haffeman
Help for the Homeless Drive-Amy Lang
Agency Sharing and Announcements


Next Meeting: January 5, 2011, at 9:00AM, Hooper Community Center


Adjourn

Access a copy of the agenda for download and printing here.

November 2010 Housing Coalition Minutes

Winnebagoland Housing Coalition minutes for the November 2010 meeting are available for printing and download here.

Habitat for Humanity Accepting Applications for Partner Homeowners

A message from Habitat for Humanity of Oshkosh:

As you may have heard, Habitat for Humanity of Oshkosh is currently accepting applications for partner homeowners. I am reaching out to you, as a human service leader, in helping us reach out to Oshkosh families in need. I have linked information about our family selection process. Please share this with your employees and individuals that may qualify to be a Habitat homeowner.
· http://www.habitatoshkosh.org/docs/Human_Services_Cover_Letter.pdf
· http://www.habitatoshkosh.org/docs/General_FS_Brochure.pdf
· http://www.habitatoshkosh.org/docs/About_Family_Selection_PP.ppt

We would also be happy to schedule a meeting with you to present this information to your organization or to drop off some media about family selection.

If you have any questions or suggestions on how to reach individuals that me need a “hand up” to accomplish their dream of homeownership, please give us a call at (920) 235-3535 and speak with Erica.

Thank you for taking the time to look through the information and helping us reach out to Oshkosh families in need.

Sincerely,

Erica Wolff, Linda Nolan, Nicole Peterson, Sherry Taylor, Jacki Ronson and Amy Montgomery
The Family Selection Committee
Habitat for Humanity of Oshkosh
P.O. Box 2692
Oshkosh, WI 54903

Help for the Homeless Drive

Amy Lang reported at our November meeting that the upcoming Help for the Homeless Drive (March 2011) could use some assistance from the Winnebagoland Housing Coalition in securing additional sites to place collection boxes. Amy has shared a list of participating sites so that we know where support has already been secured.

Please consider contacting local businesses, organizations and/or service clubs that you are connected with to inquire about placing a collection box. This effort collects "new toiletry and cleaning products" for homeless persons.

Additional details about the Help for the Homeless Drive can be obtained here.

"Engaged Residents Key to Neighborhood Improvement"

Recent Housing News from the Oshkosh Northwestern

Engaged residents key to neighborhood improvement
By Jeff Bollier • of the Northwestern • November 12, 2010
(920) 426-6688 or jbollier@thenorthwestern.com.

On the corner of East Tennessee Avenue and Grand Street, there's a house with a "rent to own" sign in the front yard that sorely needs a paint job

David Boehlke, a consultant and neighborhood revitalization specialist, told the community leaders surrounding him Thursday that he'd rather not spend neighborhood revitalization dollars to paint that house. He'd rather find the right owner to buy the house: Someone who would live there and paint it because it's their home.

It's a small tweak in how Oshkosh approaches neighborhood revitalization, but one he suggested the community get used to if it wants to partner with Racine's NeighborWorks chapter to build strong, clean neighborhoods. Boehlke and representatives from Racine's NeighborWorks chapter met with community leaders Thursday to tour Oshkosh neighbors and provide insight into how the group would approach revitalization efforts as the partnership edges closer to a reality.
"This effort is not about the number of properties the city can repair or the number of units it can sell," Boehlke said. "It will be about changing how people look at and invest in their neighborhoods. You can't fix a neighborhood by doing the things that haven't been working."
Boelhke, who has helped turn around neighborhoods in Baltimore, Battle Creek, Mich., and New Orleans, said a NeighborWorks partnership would require the community to focus on the positives a neighborhood can offer and give them identities. It also would require engaged residents who take ownership in their properties and responsibility for making their neighborhood better.

"A lot of communities start out thinking they will do this or that to change neighborhoods, but this is about giving neighbors a choice," Boehlke said. "If people do not have the skills to do repairs or the resources, it's NeighborWorks' job to compensate for that. But many of the things you need to accomplish have nothing to do with city programs."

-->During a tour of Oshkosh neighborhoods Thursday, Boehlke laid out four items to accomplish to begin changing perceptions about neighborhoods:

—Name neighborhoods and give them a sense of identity residents can build on.

—Build property values and equity investments in neighborhood homes to raise property values and push out property investors who buy cheap properties and do little to improve them.

—Set high design standards at the municipal level so neighborhoods and older homes within them are preserved.

—Engage neighbors on a block-by-block basis so they know who each other are and can work together to improve conditions in their area.

Oshkosh Common Councilor Steve Herman said the change in approach could be what the city needs as it prepares to take a second crack at revitalization efforts. A city-led program of code enforcement, beautification and renovation assistance in the Near East Neighborhood fizzled out a little over a year after it began just as residents felt it was starting to make progress.

"The old approach didn't work and people got upset," Herman said. "Our issue for a long time has been an image problem. I think citizens have wanted this kind of change in approach for a long time."

Ron Hansche, who lives on the east side near Stevens Park, said he believes the new approach can work, provided residents, community organizations, the city and NeighborWorks can get people involved in the effort.

"In our neighborhood, it's tough to get enough people to step forward and lead these kinds of efforts," Hansche said. "We need some help developing neighborhood organizations. And hopefully, NeighborWorks will do that."

Councilors are expected to consider an agreement between the city and NeighborWorks-Racine at their Nov. 23 meeting. Should the project go forward, NeighborWorks staff would begin developing a program of work vetted by a local steering committee that east side resident Bill Wyman has volunteered to lead.

Oshkosh resident Mike Taylor said he has approached revitalization efforts by thinking of what groups might be able to come in and plant trees to spruce up a neighborhood or where money could be find to fix up dilapidated homes. After Thursday's discussion, he said he had been looking at it wrong.

"You can't think about who will come in and help make these improvements. Instead, you have to instill ownership and responsibility in the residents," Taylor said. "It's really a paradigm shift, kind of offering a hand up instead of a handout." — Jeff Bollier

View the Northwestern's Photo Gallery related to this story.

Neighborworks Looks at Moving to Oshkosh

Recent Housing News from WBAY.com

NeighborWorks Looks at Moving In to Oshkosh
Updated: 'Thursday, November 11, 2010
By Emily Matesic

The City of Oshkosh is under the microscope today as officials with NeighborWorks, a neighborhood revitalization organization, decides if it wants to start a chapter in the lakefront community.

A room full of people Thursday was a good indication of how much Oshkosh residents care about their community, and that's exactly what NeighborWorks looks for when it chooses a community to work with.

"Quite frankly, I think it's a great community. There's terrific potential in the neighborhoods. We have a problem with too many people, not a lack of people, so I think it's a great combination," Domenick Martinelli of NeighborWorks said.

But the convincing isn't going to get done by sitting in a room, so late Thursday afternoon some at today's meeting headed out for a walking tour on the city's east side, the oldest section of town.

That's the area community officials would like to tackle first.

"The neighborhoods have been organizing. They want to organize in this community, so NeighborWorks is going to be able to help them do that," Eileen Connolly-Kessler said. She's CEO of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation.

"We want to make sure that elderly people can stay in their homes if they want that option. We want to make sure that low-income people have some resources and tools to be able to keep their properties up," she said.

The idea of NeighborWorks isn't to simply rehabilitate rundown homes. Instead, its purpose is give neighborhoods an identity to make people want to settle in them.

And officials with NeighborWorks say Oshkosh fits the mold of communities it likes to help.
"The houses are old and worn out and they've gone through a lot, and now it's time to refocus on that and say, what's the future of these neighborhoods going to look like? And then we go from there," Martinelli said.

While NeighborWorks hasn't signed on the dotted line, we're told things look promising for the partnership. The first project of rehabilitation in Oshkosh could begin as early as next spring.

Visit WBAY's website to view video coverage here.

UWO's Business Success Center to present at January Meeting

A message below from Colleen Merrill of the UWO Business Success Center. She will be conducting a special topic presentation at the January 2011 Winnebagoland Housing Coalition Meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Would you like to connect more with your community and The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh? Do you have some projects that you just cannot get to? Do you have some questions that just have not been answered because you lack the resources to do the research? I am here to provide solutions.

I am the director of the Survey Success Center at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. One of our main focuses is market research that can offer solutions to many issues businesses, not-for-profit, and organizations have.

We are launching our new survey call center and would love to offer your organization our services which can include; development of survey tools, collection, management, and detailed analyses. We are the gateway to resources at the University.

I look forward to sharing more with you on the Survey Center at the January coalition meeting. I will also explain our other services which include:
· Economic Impact Study · Student Interns
· GIS Analysis and Mapping · Employee Handbook Development
· Performance Appraisals · Compensation Systems
· Business Consulting · Operations Management
· Accounting/Finance

Our mission is to provide value to our community by finding solutions to your needs. We find faculty that are experts in their field and are dedicated to your project.

Colleen S Merrill
Business Success Center
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
(920) 424-2009 / merrillc@uwosh.edu

FREE Oshkosh Bus Service on 11/26

Mary Ann Offer of the Oshkosh Diversity Council recently shared the following news. I thought this might be of interest to you and/or your clients.

Go Green & Save Green
The Oshkosh Transit System will be providing free bus service on Friday, November 26, 2010 (a.k.a., Black Friday). This will give the community a chance to try transit, ride one of our new hybrid buses and access local businesses. This offer includes all Oshkosh Transit bus routes, including Route 10 service to Neenah. No coupon needed for this 100% off sale. Just board, relax, and let OTS do the driving.

Do you know what the ADRC's Benefit Specialists Offer?

Beth Biesinger of the Winnebago County ADRC shared information during our November 3, 2010 housing coalition meeting about the services offered by benefit specialists Candace Corbett and Joan Jaworski.

Joan & Candace offer a number of important services that may be useful to you or clients that you are working with. For more information download a copy of the Benefit Specialist Brochure.

Salvation Army Update

During our November 3, 2010 Winnebagoland Housing Coalition meeting, Jean Narel and Andrea Peterson shared updated materials on the Salvation Army's social service programs. You may find the following downloadable pieces of information useful when making referrals to clients in need of the Army's services.

one page social service program flyer

tri-fold social service program brochure

If you have questions about the Salvation Army's social service programs contact Jean Narel or Andrea Peterson at 232-7660.