The Philadelphia Housing Authority is moving families from 136 scattered sites homes that have been deemed to need major repairs, to safer, more suitable housing.
The housing authority recently inspected all of its nearly 4,200 occupied scattered sites homes, which are located throughout North, South and West Philadelphia, and determined that 136 properties required major repairs.
“We understand that moving to another property is inconvenient,” said PHA Executive Director Carl Greene. “But the safety of our residents is our top priority. We will do everything we can to insure a smooth transition, including providing a mover and paying for the costs of the move.”
PHA began the process with a computer query that pulled up the units that had the most service requests. Based on this information, they began inspecting the homes and found problems ranging from deteriorating foundations to main drain issues.
PHA has already begun moving residents to their new homes, and the process will continue over the next few weeks as residents are given time to view and select their new homes. PHA staff members are personally going from door to door, explaining to each family why they need to move and offering assistance.
Residents are able to request to remain in the same neighborhood or ask to move elsewhere. PHA is ensuring that the new houses or apartments are of the appropriate size for the families and will meet the needs of residents with disabilities who require accessible housing.
“The majority of these residents are elated that PHA is moving them to either new or newly renovated homes. Our mission is to improve the quality of living for our clients and to improve the neighborhoods in which we have property. We are fortunate to have the resources to continually upgrade the quality of our portfolio” said Greene.
After the residents have been moved out of their current homes and into their new locations, PHA will evaluate the condition of the properties and make a decision about their future. In most cases the homes will be renovated.
This program comes in addition to a federal stimulus-funded program to completely renovate 360 scattered site homes throughout the city. These homes, which had been vacant for many years, are now providing much needed homes for disabled citizens, seniors and low-income families.
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