Upcoming Events
More events coming soon!
Past Events
SEFW CNI Transformation Plan Draft
On September 20th, 2024, the SEFW CNI Transformation Plan Draft was submitted to HUD.
Never got a chance to see the draft plan? You can find the SEFW CNI Transformation plan Draft under the ‘Important Documents’ section.
SEFW CNI Community Meeting
On September 12th, 2024, the Fort Wayne Housing Authority hosted a community meeting where SEFW CNI residents, stakeholders and partners were able to review the SEFW CNI Transformation Plan Draft. We’d like to thank Legacy One for hosting the event and the SEFW CNI community for coming out and providing their feedback!
If you couldn’t attend, please see the event presentation under the ‘Important Documents’ section.
SEFW CNI TOWN HALL VISIONING SESSION II
On February 15th, 2024, the Fort Wayne Housing Authority hosted the second visioning session for the SEFW CNI program. We’d like to thank the McMillen Park Community Center for hosting the event and the SEFW CNI community for coming out and sharing their thoughts and opinions with us! The collected information will be used to formulate the SEFW CNI Transformation Plan.
If you couldn’t attend, please see the event presentation under the important documents section.
HUD Site Visit
On May 4 and 5, 2023, staff from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) conducted a site visit meeting in conjunction with the FY 2022 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant for the Southeast Fort Wayne Neighborhood. During the site visit, HUD staff met with the staff from Fort Wayne Housing Authority (FWHA) and key partners to discuss our Transformation Plan process and tour the targeted site and neighborhood.
Focus Group Meetings
From August to October 2023, the SEFW CNI Focus Groups virtually met to discuss a variety of topics. The eight focus groups consisted of field experts and Tall Oaks Apartments Residents who provided their opinions about the topics.
The focus groups were:
1. Housing & Development
2. Neighborhood Housing
3. Economic Development
4. Youth & Education
5. Health & Wellness
6. Environment & Sustainability
7. Mobility & Connectivity
8. Doing While Planning
Town Hall Visioning Session
On November 8th 2023, the Fort Wayne Housing Authority hosted the first visioning session for the SEFW CNI program. The event gave the SEFW community a better outlook of the Choice Neighborhood program and an opportunity to voice their opinion about what the SEFW CNI neighborhood needed and what their vision for their community is.
This will not be the last chance to give us your opinion! We shall have another session in 2024 to capture your views!
Committee Meetings
In December 2023, the Fort Wayne Housing Authority met with the Steering, Advisory and Resident committees to discuss the data collected from the SEFW CNI community and how best to use their expertise in our efforts to revitalize the SEFW CNI neighborhood.
Overview
The Choice Neighborhood (CN) is a program by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) represents the next generation of neighborhood revitalization policy, as it builds upon the HOPE VI public housing revitalization program launched in 1993. HOPE VI provided funds for local leaders to redevelop some of the nation’s most severely distressed public housing and create stable mixed-income communities. Choice Neighborhoods takes HOPE VI to the next level by broadening the properties and activities that resources can be targeted towards. The goal is to ensure that the redevelopment is an even more robust anchor that spurs neighborhood stability and elevated levels of investment. While housing was the main objective, experience has shown that this redevelopment (CN) has also been associated with reduced levels of poverty, crime, and unemployment, increased income and property values, and the creation of investment, business growth, and local jobs.
The three core goals of CN are:
- HOUSING: Replace distressed public and assisted housing with high-quality mixed- income housing that is well-managed and responsive to the needs of the surrounding neighborhood.
- PEOPLE: Improve the outcome of the households living in the target housing related to income and employment, health, and education.
- NEIGHBORHOODS: Create the conditions necessary for public and private reinvestment in distressed neighborhoods to offer the kinds of amenities and assets, including safety, good schools, and commercial activity, that are important to families’ choices about their community.
THE PLANNING GRANT takes place over a 24-month period (2 years) in which the planning partner develops a transformation plan for the neighborhood boundary submitted during the planning grant stage. The transformation plan will be built by the residents of the PHA, neighborhood, education officials, law enforcement, public housing agency, city, and planning partners. The planning grant maximum award is $500,000.
“This award will provide Fort Wayne Housing Authority, the City of Fort Wayne, residents, and stakeholders an opportunity to bring the community and planning partners together to create a viable and actionable Transformation Plan for southeast Fort Wayne.” “The board and staff of Fort Wayne Housing Authority see this as a unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revitalize an important neighborhood in our community through housing investments, enhanced services for our residents, and physical neighborhood improvements.” – George Guy, CEO/Executive Driector
Tall Oaks Apartments is the distressed public housing property that forms the foundation for the Southeast Fort Wayne (SEFW) Choice Neighborhoods planning project. Tall Oaks Apartments is a seven-story apartment building that was built in 1970. The building has 105 dwelling units of public housing (one-bedroom or two-bedrooms) and is currently a family-oriented site. The building is located at the intersection of E. Tillman Road and Decatur Road.
This map outlines the boundary area that was selected for the Choice Neighborhoods grant application. The boundary area has been identified as the Southeast Fort Wayne Choice Neighborhoods project. The red star indicates the location of the HUD distressed property, Tall Oaks Apartments.
Planning Process and Timeline
Key HUD Milestones
Early Action Activity
Through vigorous resident engagement at Tall Oaks Apartments, the concern for pedestrian safety surrounding the housing site was paramount. From this concern came the resident-led idea of installing pedestrian safety improvements. These improvements include installing new interconnected Solar Powered “Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons” (RRFBs) at the intersections of Tillman Road and Decatur Road, and Decatur
Road and Woodside Avenue.
In addition to the pedestrian safety improvements, the residents of Tall Oaks Apartments noted access to fresh produce as a major challenge. With this information, the residents expressed their interest in erecting a Community Garden to provide fresh foods and the ability to engage with additional residents within the Southeast Fort Wayne (SEFW) community. Tall Oaks residents will be involved in the planning process of the community garden by way of a Community Garden Committee that will work with Fort Wayne Housing Authority Staff, Clesia Ventures Team and the City of Fort Wayne staff to develop a plan for this portion of the Early Action Activity.
Rendering of potential community garden
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
MORE INFORMATION
For questions or more information, please email us at [email protected]