HOPE VI - Enterprise Testifies on HOPE VI Reauthorization

COLUMBIA, Md., Doris Koo, president and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners, testified today before the House
Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity on enhancements to the federal HOPE VI program.
 Congress created the HOPE VI program in 1992 to revitalize severely distressed public housing by leveraging significant private and public
resources to catalyze broader reinvestment in troubled neighborhoods. Since the program's inception, Enterprise has partnered with housing authorities,
city governments, community-based organizations and the private sector on more than 20 comprehensive public housing redevelopment efforts facilitated
by HOPE VI.

 "This program has made a significant difference in communities formerly
plagued by concentrations of poverty and lack of access to transportation,
services, and quality schools," Koo stated. "We must ensure that HOPE VI
developments continue to provide residents an opportunity to return to
healthier, more vibrant communities. We strongly support the approach of
linking community revitalization strategies with school reform and
providing wrap-around services to residents before, during, and after any
relocation."
 For families with children, choices about housing and education are
intertwined. Poor schools drive families out; strong schools help create
communities of choice. Community and supportive services for public housing
residents are critical components in a successful redevelopment effort, as
these services provide the crucial link between housing and opportunities
for residents to move up and out of poverty into the mainstream of American
life.
 Large-scale, catalytic redevelopments like HOPE VI also provide the
best opportunities and rationale for green, sustainable development. Koo
applauded Representative John Olver (D-Mass.), Housing and Community
Opportunity Subcommittee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), House
Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), and their colleagues
for supporting the HOPE VI Green Building and Technical Assistance Act of
2007 (H.R. 2536). This legislation would require that new HOPE VI
developments meet energy-efficiency and environmentally sustainable
criteria for residential and commercial buildings, and would also provide
technical assistance to applicants.
 Koo said, "We must think more broadly about long-term sustainability
and how to ensure that communities remain healthy and viable over time.
Low-income families have the most to gain from living in housing that not
only cuts down on their monthly utility bills but is also a healthier place
to live."
 Enterprise is a leading provider of the development capital and
expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild
communities. For more than two decades, Enterprise has pioneered
neighborhood solutions through public-private partnerships with financial
institutions, governments, community organizations and others that share
our vision. Enterprise has raised and invested $7 billion in equity, grants
and loans and is currently investing in communities at a rate of $1 billion
a year. Visit http://www.enterprisecommunity.org to learn more about
Enterprise's efforts to build communities and opportunity, and to meet some
of the half a million people we have helped.