Dogwood Manor renovation project manager Mark Bell, center, leads a tour of a renovated apartment at the conclusion of a Chattanooga Housing Authority board meeting held at Dogwood Manor on Tuesday.
Dogwood Manor resident Pamela Eason speaks during a Chattanooga Housing Authority board meeting at Dogwood Manor on Tuesday.Chattanooga Housing Authority wants to set the record straight.
Low-income housing opportunities are still available. Only 47 units of subsidized housing have been lost in the past 14 years and only one person became homeless with the sale of Harriet Tubman public housing development site.
Chattanooga Housing Authority Executive Director Betsy McCright provided the information at Chattanooga Housing Authority's monthly board meeting Tuesday.
Public housing units decreased from 3,375 units in 2000 to 2,717 units in 2014, according to CHA. But Housing Choice Vouchers increased from 3,012 in 2000 to 3,623 to 2014, according to CHA.
With the increase of vouchers, the total of subsidized housing units decreased by only 47 units from 6,387 in 2000 to 6,340 in 2014, according to housing officials.
CHA said earlier this year that only 30 percent of people with Housing Choice Vouchers are able to use them, but that number has improved since October when it increased rental payments to landlords.
Housing officials hosted the monthly board meeting at Dogwood Manor on Tuesday to show off the building's $5 million renovation. CHA board Chairman Eddie Holmes said he wanted the community to see how CHA spent money from the sale of the Harriet Tubman property.
The renovation includes new appliances, carpet and plumbing.
But community leaders still had comments and questions.
Cynthia Stanley-Cash, president of the North Brainerd Community Association, said she sees homeless families walking in her neighborhood because they have no place else to go.
She challenged CHA to get help and housing for the former Tubman resident who became homeless.
Dr. Elenora Woods, president of the Alton Park Development Corp. and NAACP housing chair asked CHA to give more financial accountability. She asked CHA how many Housing Choice Voucher units are available. CHA said it had no count, but it does know units are available that people don't want.
Perrin Lance, co-founder and president of Chattanooga Organized for Action, said after the meeting that regardless of what Chattanooga Housing Authority's portfolio shows, "the affordable housing stock is decreasing unquestionably in Chattanooga."
"If we close College Hill Courts and East Lake Courts there will be no place for these people to go," Lance said
Dogwood Manor resident Pamella Eason said she loves her renovated apartment, but she's freezing cold in it and she's having health problems like increased arthritis pain as a result.
She said several residents in the building have the same complaint. No one else stood, but several people applauded as she spoke.
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 757-6431.