The Lowell Housing Authority hosted its Annual Meeting of the Board of Commissioners last night. This meeting is a special night for the Authority. The agency reports on the progress of last year’s goals and looks towards the future by establishing new agency goals for the coming year. Beyond business as usual, the agency takes the time to acknowledge our community partners, recognize an employee of the year, and most importantly celebrate the accomplishments of our residents.
In 2019, the agency set the goal to disposition our scattered site properties, and have since realized $8.5M in sales revenue of all 87 properties. These funds will be used to develop additional affordable housing in the City of Lowell.
Strengthening our team was an important objective for the agency in 2019. Property managers received training in many areas including reasonable accommodations, fair housing, documenting violations, repayment agreements, REAC compliance and crime prevention. Two of our assistant properties also received their Public Housing Manager Certifications, and a member of our finance team received certification from the Massachusetts OIG in Public Procurement (MCPPO).
The strength of our team is critical to the financial health of the agency. Our Asset Management properties continue to be revenue producing, and the agency received a 24/25 financial indicator score at the close of 2019. The agency also continued to expand upon a 2006 Energy Performance Contract between the LHA, HUD and Ameresco. An application to extend the contract for another 8 years was submitted to HUD in July, with approval anticipated this April. The agency hopes to improve lighting, install efficiency toilets, replace heaters and boilers, and roof replacement and insulation upgrades.
We continued to engage our residents and stakeholders in 2019, increasing our audience on Facebook and Twitter, and developing e-technologies to better serve our residents. We also conducted technology workshops at our elderly properties to bridge the digital divide.
All of our work would not be possible, without the confidence and commitment from our community partners, our dedicated staff, and the support from our residents. We take the opportunity each year to acknowledge their contributions to the LHA’s success.
Congratulations to our 2019 award winners!
Community Partners of the Year
Residents of the Year
Employee of the Year
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