Ensuring Resident Need Satisfaction with Effective Housing Management

Tyra Johnson Brown, Director of Housing Policy and Community Development, Mayor LaToya Cantrell, City of New Orleans

Tyra Johnson Brown, Director of Housing Policy and Community Development, Mayor LaToya Cantrell, City of New Orleans

• What strategies are in place to ensure optimal utilization of housing resources while addressing the needs of residents?

The City of New Orleans Office of Housing Policy and Community Development facilitates the development and preservation of quality housing and suitable living environments for persons of low-to-moderate income levels, through strategic investments and partnerships with public, private, philanthropic, non-profit, and resident stakeholders. Over the past few decades, housing costs have increased faster than incomes and households continue to struggle to stabilize their housing. The entire country is addressing the affordable housing crisis. As resources are deployed to the City of New Orleans, this office provides real time information on the programs available through expanded public engagement including but not limited to hosting community meetings with direct connections to the services needed for optimal utilization. Citizen engagement is the first phase of our strategy. Another phase of the strategy includes social action. Understanding the community and having empathy for social change is absolutely necessary. Social action empowers communities and can lead to social change.

• If your firm can give consent for this, can you share your experiences from initiatives implemented to enhance the overall satisfaction and well-being of residents?

The City of New Orleans has implemented various housing initiatives to address the affordable housing crisis. These initiatives consist of providing gap financing to developers for the creation of affordable housing, launching owner/occupied rehabilitation programs which allow homeowners to preserve their existing housing, and increasing homeownership opportunities which creates generational wealth for families. These initiatives have enhanced the wellbeing of the residents of New Orleans.

• What are some of the challenges in managing housing facilities that current services are unable to provide an optimal solution?

Current challenges in the housing industry include increased insurance rates, interest rates, and higher labor, supply and construction costs. These challenges exacerbated after the COVID pandemic and continues to affect the ability to build affordable housing units to address the housing crisis.

• Any advice, suggestions, or warnings, you would give to professionals in your similar role working in other firms in housing management in terms of do’s or don’ts?

Do's:

- Engage the community prior to developing initiatives. The community is the expert on their needs and their buy-in is required for the initiatives to be successful.

- Develop a plan with the community that will be implemented based on their recommendations and incentivize more homeownership opportunities.

Don'ts:

- Assume you know the needs of the community without the proper engagement and inclusiveness.

- Create bad housing policies to gain political wins.

• Are there specific technological tools or innovations that have been particularly effective in improving housing services?

Incentivizing affordable housing developers and creating inclusionary zoning are proven and effective tools to improve housing services. These initiatives have been used by the City of New Orleans. Related to building housing, 3D volumetric construction is a technological tool that has been proven as an effective mechanism. These three-dimensional units are produced in a specific facility and transported to the job site for assembly.