Address at the Executive Directors’ Meeting of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities
President Charles Middleton

June 22, 2006

Acknowledgements

• Secretary Alphonso Jackson
• Assistant Secretary Orlando Cabrera
• CHA CEO Terry Peterson
• Sandi Henriquez, President of CLPHA
• Sunia Zaterman, Executive Director of CLPHA

Introduction

It is an honor to be with you at the Executive Director’s meeting of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities.

As you have seen and heard, under the leadership of my friend Terry Peterson, a 1995 Master of Public Administration graduate of Roosevelt University, Chicago has been undergoing a metamorphous in public housing that makes all of Chicago proud.

In fact, as a resident of Chicago’s South Loop community, I live not far from several of the CHA’s dramatic initiatives.

I would like to talk with you today about the human side of public housing and how organizations can work together to make life better for urban residents of all backgrounds.

Chicago

Chicago is a large, but compassionate city. Concern for the well-being of others is one of our basic tenets.

Under Mayor Daley, Chicago is confronting two of the most difficult problems facing cities today: the quality of public education and the rising cost of housing. 

Throughout the City, every company and non-profit organization is concerned about these two issues, and many are involved in one or more efforts to address them and to make Chicago a better place to live and work.

Roosevelt University’s Mission

Roosevelt University has been part of Chicago’s history since 1945. Not only were we one of our nation’s first institutions of higher education to admit all qualified students without regard to race, religion or gender; we were founded explicitly on the principles of inclusion and access to assure equality of opportunity for everyone, and I mean everyone, who could succeed in college-level work. 

Roosevelt is located on Michigan Avenue in the heart of the Loop, where we have been for all but the first of our 61 years.  We are the quintessential private urban university.

In addition to Terry Peterson, our alumni include Harold Washington, the late Mayor of Chicago, and many other leaders in business, education, the performing arts and government.  They may be found in all 50 states, and in 72 other countries.

Terry Peterson

Leadership is key to the success of any organization.

In Chicago, we are fortunate to have as our leader Mayor Daley who sets the direction.

Terry Peterson was appointed as the CEO of the CHA by the Mayor in 2000.
Terry realized immediately that new CHA buildings would not be adequate to address the issues facing residents and their communities.  The CHA’s Plan for Transformation would not succeed unless human problems were addressed as well.

In the Chicago tradition of cooperation, Terry first reached out to other agencies – starting with the Department of Planning, the Department of Human Services, the Board of Education, the Police Department, and the Park District for their help.

Then he wisely decided to expand this outreach and began asking local universities, businesses and community organizations to join these endeavors. 

RU’s Charge

Terry called me in January, 2003, about six months after I became President of Roosevelt.

He said he would like his alma mater to work with the residents of Wentworth Gardens, a two-story housing complex located about 8 miles from the University near U.S. Cellular Field, home of the World Champion Chicago White Sox. It had about 422 units, with about 300 residents. 

New to the City myself, I was immediately impressed by the passion Terry brings to this work and by the imaginative ways in which collaboration could and does enhance the quality of life in the communities we serve.  So, my saying we’d do our best seemed like a natural thing for Roosevelt to do. 

RU’s Team

I assembled a team of about 10 Roosevelt administrators and faculty members that met several times with the residents of Wentworth Gardens – both in their community and at the University.

Our initial aim was to listen to the residents – to find out what they needed, and to discuss how the University might work with them to help attain their goals.  We had no preconceived agenda and were determined not to bite off more than we could chew.

Realizing that leadership is key, I asked Al Bennett, a professor of public policy and education and the former dean of one of our colleges, to head up our team.

Wentworth Gardens

Like Roosevelt University, Wentworth Gardens was founded in 1945.  Since that time it has earned a solid reputation in Chicago for community activism, strong community identification and self sufficiency.

Although it is not far from Downtown Chicago, Wentworth Gardens is socially and economically isolated.  It has a major expressway to its east and the ballpark to its north and some pretty tough neighborhoods to its west -- making it difficult for residents to connect to the rest of the city.  The facility also has few male role models and is dominated by single mothers and their children. 
These women are the heroes of the community.

Led by 83-year-old Hallie Amey, known to everyone as Miss Amey, they have taken an active role in its leadership.  Miss Amey is one of the nicest, earnest, most dedicated, and determined people you will ever meet.   She also serves on the CHA Board of Commissioners.

Relationship Building

The first phase of our joint work was devoted to relationship building.  The CHA, the Wentworth leadership and Roosevelt University had to get to know each other and to establish mutual trust.

How would we decide on the work to be done?  How would we resolve differences of opinion on how to attain our goals?  How would we create and then manage our opportunities? 

The first important lesson we learned is that although the organizations were in agreement that this relationship would benefit all, the effort would not have gone forward without building camaraderie between the individuals involved. 

We jointly formed an advisory board and a steering committee.  Members consisted of faculty and staff from Roosevelt, members of the Wentworth leadership team and residents, teachers and administrators from the local elementary school, and members of the business and civic communities.  By involving other groups we were able to broaden participation and develop a new level of cooperation. 

Goals

After several months of conversation, the Wentworth/Roosevelt collaboration came up with a list of goals.  They were to:

• Increase educational and occupational opportunities for all residents, including adults;
• Eliminate the social and economic isolation of Wentworth residents;
• Engage resident youth in a range of activities from tutoring to internships;
• Improve the parenting skills of Wentworth Gardens residents; and
• Create awareness of public housing issues at Roosevelt University.

Real Work

During the past few years, I’m proud to say that our collaboration can point to a number of accomplishments: 

• Roosevelt University has funded annually two four-year scholarships for high school graduates who are residents of Wentworth Gardens.
• Some of our Jump Start /Americorps Reading Program students have done their service by working with 5-year-olds at the Abbott School in the Wentworth Gardens community. 
• Roosevelt has created a summer internship program for high school juniors and seniors who reside in Wentworth Gardens. 
• Each year, the University holds a service learning day when students, faculty and staff go to Wentworth Gardens to work along side the residents in community projects and to play with the children.
• Last September, the CHA, the White Sox, Roosevelt University and the Chicago Park District hosted a fundraiser at US Cellular Field to create an endowed scholarship in honor of Miss Amey, the legendary leader of Wentworth Gardens. 
• At the same time we announced the scholarship, we presented Miss Amey with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in recognition of her many contributions to the Wentworth Gardens community.  The honorary degree was presented on the field near home plate and was shown on the large screen for all the fans to see. 
• We are currently pursuing a partnership with members of the hospitality industry to create jobs-to-work programs for Wentworth Gardens adults, and
• We recently submitted funding proposals to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Chicago Community Trust to develop programs that will help instill pride in the resident’s community, culture and religious heritage. 
• Although our partnership has many facets – there are two that are most critical:  Improving the quality of education and educational opportunities for all Wentworth Gardens residents, and creating jobs, including entrepreneurial opportunities.  These receive our primary attention.

Christmas Party with Mark Buehrle  

One of my favorite stories about our collaboration occurred on a cold December afternoon in 2004. 

It was about 4 p.m. and I was asked to stop by a holiday party on campus that Roosevelt was sponsoring for about 100 children and adults of Wentworth Gardens.

When I got to the meeting room, not only were there many Roosevelt employees there, but Chicago White Sox All-Star pitcher Mark Buehrle was there as well, wearing a Santa hat.

He was quite a hit passing out the Christmas gifts that Roosevelt employees had donated for the children and as well as food vouchers he personally purchased for their parents and guardians.

To me, that moving experience demonstrates what can happen when organizations work together.

Lessons Learned/Challenges for Programs in Other Cities

There are four lessons that we’ve learned that I would like to share with you:

1.  Trust is essential.  Historically, universities – not all, but a significant number – have a bad reputation in urban communities.  All too often they either ignore the neighborhoods in which they are located, or they charge into these communities, conduct their research on social issues and other topics, and depart. 

Many, even when they establish partnerships, arrive not to listen, but to act.  They think they already know the answers to issues facing urban communities and all they need is a site in which to apply them.  As a result, not a lot of residual good will is present when universities discuss “equal” partnerships.

We were aware of this history going into our discussions at Wentworth Gardens, and as a result, every decision that has been made has been arrived at collaboratively.  We firmly believe that we are learning from each other.  Roosevelt University does not have all of the answers; in fact, we don’t even know all of the questions!

2.  Leadership is important.  The Wentworth Gardens/Roosevelt Collaboration has benefited from having strong leadership and support from Wentworth Gardens, the CHA and the University. This is especially true of the leadership team at Wentworth Gardens, where individual leaders have partnered with other leaders outside their community to attain common goals.

3.  A university can bring many things to the partnership.  Once mutual trust is established, a university with its vast resources can provide the community with an array of useful services.  These could include tutoring, financial advice, family counseling, and part-time employment.  In addition, the university’s students can work with residents through special class projects. And then, there are those scholarships!

4.  Expand and diversify participation.  We quickly realized that if this collaboration was to be a success, we needed as many partners as we could interest in being involved.  We reached out to local churches, local schools, the Chicago White Sox, the district police commander, and the business and civic community.  We are still expanding the membership of the collaboration.  This will be especially important as we try to find additional opportunities to respond to the changing circumstances of a dynamic community.

Conclusion

All of us at Roosevelt are very proud of the fact that our University is the only university in the country named after both President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. 

So it is fitting for me to conclude my remarks with a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt, which really sums up what community involvement is all about: 
"In a Democratic society,” she said, “we must live cooperatively, and serve the community in which we live, to the best of our ability. For our own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others."

This is our motto in the Wentworth Gardens Chicago Housing Authority partnership. 

Is it surprising that Roosevelt University educated the man who made it all possible?  Not to me.  So thanks, Terry, for challenging us so effectively, and thank you all for being such an attentive audience.

I would now like to hear from you.  What questions or comments do you have?  I also will be available at the end of our session if you would like to talk about ways you can establish similar partnerships in your communities, and how I might help.