News & Events at
Sarasota Housing Authority
Sarasota Housing Authority is pleased to announce that our efforts under HUD Receivership and a new administration have gained significant positive media attention. We strive not only to provide decent and safe affordable housing but also supportive services that lead toward self-sufficiency. We invite you to read through the following articles and events on SHA and our work.
May 7, 2008 - Janie Poe Phase I Groundbreaking Event - 4 Articles:
- Herald Tribune Op Ed
- Herald Tribune Editorial, ABC Chanel 7 story, and a Herald Tribune news article
11/29/07 - Nourishing hope at Janie Poe - When I arrived at the give-thanks dinner last Tuesday at Janie Poe public housing complex, I planned to listen, not eat. But before long there was a plate in my hand ... page 1 page 2 (pdf)
9/27/07 - Rethinking Public Housing -The Venice Housing Authority faces a difficult decision on what to do about Grove Terrace, a dilapidated and poorly run public housing project. All options should be explored publicly before the authority and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development make a decision. Whatever that decision is, those officials should make it clear that public housing is still a community need... more (pdf)
9/27/07 - $17M Awarded to Revitalization Project in Florida -The Sarasota Housing Authority (SHA), the county of Sarasota and the city of Sarasota recently signed an inter-local funding agreement to allow nearly $17 million to be allocated for the revitalization of the Newtown Redevelopment Project (NRP). This money will be awarded to Michaels Development Co. (MDC), which is heading up the project. more
9/25/07 -Sarasota CRA expanded to include Newtown -It took more than a decade, but the historic Newtown community in Sarasota officially became part of the city's downtown redevelopment taxing district Monday.The new designation will allow the historically black neighborhood to become eligible to receive more than $20 million in revitalization funding. more (pdf)
9/25/07 - Bradenton Herald: Sarasota CRA Expanded to include Newtown - It took more than a decade, but the historic Newtown community in Sarasota officially became part of the city's downtown redevelopment taxing district Monday. The new designation will allow the historically black neighborhood to become eligible to receive more than $20 million in revitalization funding. more (pdf)
9/25/07 - ABC7: Funds to renovate housing complex awarded - Money has been award to the Sarasota Housing Authority to begin renovating its Janie Poe housing development. This after the city's housing authority was put on a federal "trouble list". more (pdf)
8/25/2007 – Residents wary of HUD departure - Public housing residents say things improved when the federal government took control of the Sarasota Housing Authority two years ago. They hope [return to local authority] is not a step back to the days before the federal government stepped in, when they had no power and no say in how the authority was run. more
8/23/2007 – Putting public housing in order -Running a local public housing agency "isn't rocket science," HUD receiver Carmen Valenti likes to say. But fixing an organization beset by disrepair and financial hardship isn't easy. Valenti was assigned that task in 2005, the year that Sarasota asked the federal Housing and Urban Development department to take over the local agency in charge of 400 low-income apartments. more
6/22/2007 – PRESS RELEASE – ROSS Early Childhood Center Opens
Children First and the Sarasota Housing Authority will present an Open House on Monday, June 25th at 8:30 a.m. at 1912 North Orange Avenue to celebrate the grand opening of the ROSS Early Childhood Center.
The ROSS Early Childhood Center, located on Housing Authority property, is funded in part by the HUD Resident Opportunities & Self Sufficiency (ROSS) grant that was awarded to the Sarasota Housing Authority in February of this year. more (pdf)
2/21/2007 – PRESS RELEASE – Buchanan Announces SHA to Receive ROSS Grant
In a press release with HUD Tampa Field Office Director, Karen Jackson-Sims, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan announced today that the Sarasota Housing Authority has won a Resident Opportunity and Self Sufficiency (ROSS) Grant.
The Sarasota Housing Authority will receive $150,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help residents of public housing achieve economic independence. more (pdf)
7/14/06 – Youths Take in Reds Game as FCAT Reward
The Housing Authority of the City of Sarasota took 23 children from Janie Poe to a Sarasota Reds game Wednesday as a reward for passing the FCAT.
Bill Russell, executive director of HACS, said he wanted to do something to recognize children who are doing well in school. more (pdf)
12/14/2006 – Start of something big - In place of shabby, uncomfortable -- even unhealthy -- public housing, imagine a neighborhood that revitalizes Newtown with new homes that serve low-income familits and the work force. more (pdf)
10/26/2006 – A Commitment to Improvement
They want out. And they're determined that nothing will get in their way, especially not the defeatist attitudes of others. They are about two dozen tenants of the Sarasota Housing Authority's projects in Newtown. more (pdf)
6/30/2006 – Authority Hosting Carnival for Residents - Bill Russell, Executive Director of the Sarasota Housing Authority, will sit in a dunk tank today during a carnival for the Housing Authority's tenants. more (pdf)
Executive Director, Bill Russell watches as children enjoy carnival games.
6/4/2006 – Join the Good Deed Chain - One good deed begets another, the saying goes, and we hope its true for Sarasota's public housing.
Several organizations have pledged to provide services, job training and other help for public housing residents who seek self-sufficiency. more (pdf)
1/11/2006 – Housing Advisor Urges Changes - Sarasota's dilapidated publc housing complexes should be replaced with mixed-income neighborhoods, an adviser to the Sarasota Housing Authority said Tuesday. more (pdf)
5/13/2005 - A New Beginning - Next week, a new director takes the reins of Sarasota's public housing, a job that comes with decades' worth of baggabe. The local community must help him overcome it. more (pdf)
6/17/2005 – Rebuilding Trust - Sarasota's run-down public housing faces a difficult transition. It needs to revew, adapt and transform itself, without neglecting its core mission: safe, decent homes for the poor. more (pdf)
