Keene Housing Authority named 2007 Housing Hero
Citizens Bank Foundation to provide $50,000 recognizing Stone Arch Village Senior and Family Housing in Keene as an innovative affordable housing developmentManchester, N.H. (March 16, 2007) - Citizens Bank New Hampshire has named the Keene Housing Authority as the recipient of its 2007 Housing Hero award. As part of the award, the Keene Housing Authority will receive a $50,000 grant from the Citizens Bank Foundation and the opportunity to tap into the expertise of Citizens Bank’s CEO through the “President to President” program. The Housing Heroes grant program is an extension of the Citizens Housing Bank, a low-interest loan program designed to increase the affordable housing supply in the state.
“We are thrilled to award the Keene Housing Authority with Citizens Bank’s Housing Hero award for its Stone Arch Village development in Keene,” said Cathy Schmidt, president and CEO of Citizens Bank New Hampshire, who presented the award Thursday night at the Keene City Council meeting. “Citizens Bank recognizes the critical need for affordable housing in the state and we are pleased to celebrate the impact that non-profit developers such as the Keene Housing Authority are making in the lives of New Hampshire residents.”
The Housing Heroes award was designed to spotlight a housing development that demonstrates innovative solutions to the challenge of increasing affordable housing, effective use of resources, leadership and strong fiscal responsibility. Last year, Citizens Bank awarded its Housing Hero award to the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund for its Pepperidge Woods development in Barrington. The bank’s inaugural Housing Hero award in 2005 went to CATCH Neighborhood Housing for its Willow Crossing development.
“There continues to be a critical need to provide affordable housing in Keene,” said Keene Mayor Michael Blatsos. “Having an adequate supply of housing is critical to the economic vitality of a community, to help maintain and attract businesses to the region. We applaud Citizens Bank for recognizing the value in supporting the Keene Housing Authority’s worthy efforts to bring quality affordable housing units onto the market.”
The Keene Housing Authority was selected as the 2007 Housing Hero because of its excellence and leadership in developing affordable housing for seniors and families.
“Our approach at Stone Arch Village reflects our values, mission, and vision to meet the growing demand for affordable housing in the Monadnock region,” Hiebert said. said Curtis Hiebert, director of the Keene Housing Authority. “By providing 57 units of low-cost, good quality housing, we are meeting the needs of many in the community who were struggling with housing costs. We are delighted to be honored by Citizens for this initiative and thank them for their foresight in understanding the need for long-term affordable housing in the Keene area and throughout the state.”
Stone Arch Villages, located at 828 – 835 Court Street, is a new $11 million development with 57 units of affordable rental housing completed in 2006. Named after a nearby stone arch bridge of historic significance, it provides family and elderly affordable rental housing, office space for Keene Housing Authority and commercial space for future expansion. The project was developed with other local non-profits including Southwestern Community Services and the Monadnock Collaborative.
Located only two miles from downtown, this village–style development combines both family and senior housing in separate buildings on a single lot, and is very convenient to transportation and services. The units incorporate several special features in its design including:
• The design of the family housing is a townhouse style with maximum effort on private living space. Each unit has their own backyard patio with a decorative partition. There is also ample lighting and storage space in each of the family units. A playground will be installed in the spring and the apartments are located adjacent to public baseball fields and a local farm.
• The physical design of Stone Arch Senior is outstanding with the feel of a resort village. There are numerous community sitting rooms decorated to appeal to the tastes and interests of the elderly population. The sitting rooms include comfortable chairs and sofas, bookshelves and game tables, and one even has a cathedral ceiling.
• Stone Arch Village Senior provides daily on-site meals in a spacious community meal room designed exclusively for this purpose. The meals are provided by Home Health Care and Hospice at no charge to the residents. The service coordinator is able to meet with the resident and conduct an assessment to determine what type and level of services may be needed by the resident and then makes appropriate referrals to the local services.
• Public transportation comesto both Stone Arch Senior and Stone Arch Family making it a great location for those who do not have their own transportation.
• The project has qualified for the EnergyStar certificate from PSNH for its energy efficient design and construction, as a result of the installation of an efficient heating and hot water system, lighting and ventilation systems.
As part of the $50,000 grant from the Citizens Bank Foundation, $10,000 is designated for a resident-related program. The Keene Housing Authority will use these funds to establish a resident leadership training program to determine the needs of the housing community. Through this process, residents would identify possible strategies for the use of the resident-initiative funding such as on-site development of nature and walking trails, youth activities, scholarship funds, neighborhood watches, special events or other initiatives identified by the residents to improve the quality of life within the development.
“We are truly honored to be recognized by Citizens Bank as a Housing Hero,” said Hiebert. “We will use the resources that this award brings to further our efforts to provide permanently affordable housing throughout the Monadnock region. We are very grateful to Citizens Bank for this recognition and for their ongoing support.”
The Housing Heroes grant program, in an effort to recognize a successful project that has created affordable housing units in the state, was available to any non-profit developer who has completed an affordable housing project in the past two years.
The Citizens Housing Bank Community Loan Program, a $200 million loan commitment, was designed to address this need by providing non-profit developers with the low-cost funding they need to create a new supply of affordable housing units for rental or homeownership and increase neighborhood stability through new homeownership opportunities. Up to 1,200 units are expected to be created directly from the program.
About Citizens Bank New Hampshire
Citizens Bank New Hampshire, with 79 branches and 165 ATMs, is a $10 billion state-chartered, full-service commercial bank headquartered in Manchester. It is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $161 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. Citizens has more than 1,600 branches, approximately 3,100 ATMs and more than 25,000 employees. It has a 13-state retail branch network plus non-branch retail and commercial offices in about 40 states. Citizens is the eighth-largest commercial banking company in the United States ranked by deposits and ninth in assets as of September 30, 2006. Citizens is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc).
About Keene Housing Authority
The mission of the Keene Housing Authority is to provide and/or advocate for decent, safe and affordable housing for individuals, families, elderly, and disabled persons of low and moderate income within the Monadnock Region; and to provide and/or advocate for any and all services and programs that will assist in improving the social and economic welfare of such individuals and families.
Keene Housing Authority’s Moving to Work Demonstration program is a national model for Public Housing and Section 8 voucher reform. The Keene Housing Authority was awarded a national grant from HUD to provide Homeownership Education and Counseling for fiscal years 2006 – 2009. The organization’s Resident Self-Reliance program, nationally recognized by HUD for its innovative success, provides service coordination and case management to help families become economically self-reliant. In 2005, the Keene Housing Authority provided housing assistance to approximately 875 households. Another recent accomplishment is its management of Cheshire Housing Trust, a local non-profit housing agency.
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