Live & Learn

Debra Myles was a young mother of three children when she moved her family into Park Haven Apartments in Brooklyn Park, Minn. She was struggling—working overtime at the bank—just to put food on the table. Then she was laid off.

She visited the community's compliance officer, who told her about an empowerment program at the on-site learning center. She also attended a family strengths program and eventually even became a building captain—all while she was seeking employment.

“These efforts have helped to encourage her as well as build on her current talents and skills, making her a more valuable member of the workforce,” says GillEtte Williams, Park Haven's resident services director. “Ms. Myles now has a new focus, is ready for new challenges. Today she's going on a job interview.”

Williams continues: “Our success is measured by the quality of life, and our goal is to motivate change in the lives of our residents by focusing on building a stronger community day by day.”

LEARNING CURVE: On-site programs help stabilize residents' lives and rental communities. Here Gillette Williams, resident services director for Park Haven, works with resident Debra Myles.

Building a safe, sustainable, and profitable community of low-income or Section 8 multifamily housing can be a challenge. Crime, nonpayment of rent, high tenant turnover, and vandalism are just a few of the problems facing managers—and residents—of these developments.

But learning centers, which promote individual education, personal responsibility, and civic pride, can stabilize communities and keep operating costs in check. These on-site facilities host after-school programs, personal growth opportunities, and renter education classes that not only improve the community, but also improve the bottom line by dramatically reducing tenant turnover, maintenance costs, and nonpayment issues.

At Park Haven Apartments, an affordable community owned and managed by Dominium, the learning center has made a difference for many residents.

“Many low-income families [were] not aware of their potential in the community because their main focus was day-to-day survival,” Williams explains. “This resulted in a high number of police calls and domestic abuse, high unemployment, and a lack of education and community involvement.”

The 176-unit affordable community was renovated in 2000 to include better amenities and the community learning center. The 3,354-square-foot stand-alone building, which cost approximately $500,000, is centrally located within the community.

Today, residents have more pride in their community and get involved in its upkeep and maintenance. They're also paying rents (ranging from $468 to $810) on time, thanks in part to programs offered at the center in budgeting and job skills. “Families are more hopeful for the future,” Williams says. “The value is immeasurable.”

But big results don't require big spaces. Many developers achieve similar improvements in resident life and property management by converting just one residential unit to a learning center.

In Los Angeles' Baldwin Hills and Baldwin Village neighborhoods, crime was a serious problem. The one-square-mile area, policed by a four-person law enforcement patrol, logged 10 homicides in a six-month period.

Despite the crime, Learning Links Centers bought five multifamily properties consisting of 104 units in the area. After the upgrade, one unit at each property was taken offline to accommodate a learning resource center with a computer room, classroom, and mini-library. The developer also made several units available to teachers at a discounted rate in exchange for teaching and tutoring at the on-site facility.

“Even though we took several units off the market, we've lowered our maintenance costs because residents take pride in the building,” says George Pino, Learning Links Centers' chief financial officer. “They take care of a lot of repairs themselves.”

Adds CEO Joe Killinger: “Our vacancy rate is down quite a bit, too, because people want to live here now.”

While lower maintenance and better rental payment are definite upsides to learning centers, Killinger and Pino also like working for the greater good. “It sounds altruistic, but it works,” Pino asserts.

Since Learning Links Centers' upgraded properties re-opened, the area's crime rate has gone down 13 percent. Thanks to improved tenant involvement and advocacy, the L.A. Police Department expanded the community policing initiative to include 16 officers.

Creating a facility isn't enough to turn a community around. Successful communities are built through a combination of a great learning environment and great learning opportunities.

“What most parents and their kids need when they are looking for support is confidence and acceptance,” explains Marilyn Lowrey, consulting educator with Teaching That Makes Sense, a national education consulting firm based in Chapel Hill, N.C. “Above all, they need to know that they are not bad people just because they might not be well-educated.

“They need to feel that they can learn things,” adds Lowrey, a former classroom teacher and Title I director for the Independence, Mo., schools. (Title I is a federal program designed to promote better achievement among disadvantaged students.) “And they need to feel that you care enough about them to meet their unique needs. Don't forget that the reason they're coming to the learning center is to get special attention they can't get anywhere else.”

At Clipper Cove, a 384-unit community owned by the National Housing Partnership Foundation and managed by Corcoran Jennison Management, learning center programs create a competitive advantage.

“It's an additional marketing tool,” says Darlesa Brown, property manager for the Boynton Beach, Fla., community. The center's programming, which includes after-school care and tutoring as well as other classes, is a particularly appealing amenity for working parents who often struggle to find affordable care for their school-age children.

Residents are charged $48 per month per child enrolled in the youth program, far less than rates for similar off-site programs. Currently 23 children participate. The learning center's annual budget, including staff and supplies, is $80,000.

“The majority of comparative properties in the submarket area have more updated, luxury qualities,” she says. “This helps us to stay competitive.”

Property managers cite two challenges to creating successful learning opportunities for tenants: funding and participation.

“Funding is usually what holds good programs back,” Lowrey says. “It's not so much the amount of money a program can get, but how consistent it is. Not knowing from one quarter to the next if you'll be able to sustain programs makes it hard to figure out how to serve your community.”

Partnerships and grant funding earmarked for economically disadvantaged communities are the key to keeping programming costs low.

“Participation from local community service organizations, area businesses, agencies, and the government has allowed our residents to obtain services free of charge through in-kind services, donations, referrals and volunteerism, says Jeff Huggett, project partner for Dominium.

Learning Links Centers expanded that approach, creating the Education Advantage Foundation, a nonprofit that provides educational opportunities to at-risk kids in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area. “EAF secures computers, books, and all the infrastructure as well as paying for utilities,” Killinger explains. The foundation also provides scholarship assistance for residents.

Good results can only be achieved if tenants participate in the programs.

“Many successful programs are based on the idea that if you can raise the educational level of the parents, you can raise it in the kids,” Lowrey says. But getting parents involved can be a challenge.

“Recognize that the people you are trying to help have probably had a lot of so-called ‘help' in the past and that much of it probably hasn't helped,” Lowrey continues. “You've got to be patient and give people time to get to know you and to see that you are sincere in bringing them a different—and better—experience.”

Learning Links' Pino agrees. “We built trust by addressing the whole issue of family education, not just focusing on the kids.” That got a few families interested. “When the others start seeing them getting better—reading, using the computer—they come around.”

Dominium's Park Haven serves at least one member of all 176 tenant families and also invites other members of the community to participate in programs. All told, the center serves 400 people.

“Ultimately, this is an investment in the property that helps it run more smoothly by improving the residents' quality of life,” Huggett says. “The broader community benefits as well, because the property becomes a much better neighbor.”

–Margot Carmichael Lester is a free-lance writer in Carrboro, N.C.

Here are the keys to creating a good learning environment, according to Marilyn Lowrey, consulting educator with Teaching That Makes Sense in Chapel Hill, N.C.:

• Get a strong director. People in the community need to know there's a smart person in charge and that they can count on them.
• Be accessible. Be honest. Be available. Be consistent. The usual things we all have to do to earn and build trust.
• Offer programs for parents, kids, and parents and kids together. Anything you can do to get kids and parents in the same room enjoying themselves and learning something will make everyone feel like this is a community they want to belong to.
• Consider activities that involve what teachers call “shared literary experiences.” Typically, these involve reading a book together or reading to a group. They can also involve writing together in large groups.
• Create a comfortable and welcoming environment that encourages academic work but that is different from school; many parents and their kids need a break from the feeling of being at school.
• Remember that time is always a factor. It just seems like there's never enough time with the kids or the parents to do what needs to be done. Scheduling is very important.

EVERYBODY WINS: Getting kids and parents in the same room having fun and learning something helps Park Haven residents feel like this is a community they want to belong to.

Full Schedule

Park Haven in Brooklyn Park, Minn., offers a wide range of programs, free of charge, to its residents. They include:

• Job preparation and skills workshops
• English as a Second Language classes
• Multi-language nutritional programs
• Renter's education and budgeting classes
• After-school and summer tutoring programs
• Social issues and family violence discussions
• Computer classes