Five-year-old Broad Acres resident Brinashna Johnson successfully crosses the monkey bars for the first time at the community's playground.
Rick Parker always tries to end his public housing lecture with the same H. L. Mencken quote: “There is a well-known solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.”
Parker said that “when it comes to complex social issues like poverty,” this belief definitely applies.
Parker is the executive director of Athens Housing Authority which oversees all 1,255 public housing units in Athens.
The term “public housing” often has a negative connotation.
Senior criminal justice major Julie Close from Locust Grove, Ga., said “dirty” is the first thing she thinks of when she hears the term “public housing.”
“The public housing here is just so unkempt,” Close said.
Parker strives to eliminate stereotypes such as this about the housing programs, residents, and communities he oversees.
“What we run, own and administer is a deep subsidy program,” Parker said, “Rent is based on their income, not based on the value of the unit.”
Residents are charged a rent payment equaling 30 percent of their monthly income, the average percentage an individual is supposed to pay on their housing and utilities each month. Set up by the federal government, this system clearly outlines that if a person’s income increases, then so does their rent payment.
The Athens Housing Authority mission is to “provide secure, affordable, quality housing and resources which encourage and sustain independence” for some of the nearly 11,000 households living in poverty in Athens-Clarke county. The 28.3 percent poverty rate classifies Athens as a “housing-stress” county.
“This means that the cost of housing exceeds a large percentage of the population’s income,” Parker said. “[The residents], for a whole host of complex societal reasons, are having a hard time making it.”
Although the system used to determine rent was federally designed, Athens Housing Authority is not a government operation, but rather an independent agency.
“There are no local dollars involved at all except the residents’ rent,” Parker said.
Public housing may not use local dollars, but it definitely is a local presence, even to students.
“Close to about half of our total units are within close proximity to campus,” Parker said. “The city grew up around the housing authority.”
The project housing areas’ proximity to campus is often shocking to students.
“I was really surprised to see the government housing so close to campus,” first-year biology student Ashley Williams from Marietta, Ga., said. “But I think it's beneficial to students because it opens their eyes to the state of poverty, even in Georgia. It provides a great opportunity for outreach and education.”
Parker encourages student involvement in the housing projects, bragging specifically about organizations such as the Wesley Foundation, where students mentor kids from a local project community.
“[Students are] all part of the fabric of community,” Parker said, “and caring about what happens in the community is just enlightened self-interest.”
Rayshondra Borders, a resident at Broad Acres housing project, said she feels as though the student body is a part of her community.
“I love it when [students] come by to play with the kids,” Borders said, laughing. “It gives me a break. It would be better to see more big brother and sister programs.”
Still, with a student body of over 35,000, Parker acknowledges that only a small percentage of that population has gotten involved in public housing programs.
“Let’s be honest. People love to hate the poor. We all want to think that we make it entirely on our own,” Parker said. This, he supposes, is why not everyone feels the need to be involved with volunteer and development programs in the housing communities.
“It scares us to death that there—but by the grace of God and a couple of paychecks—be I. It’s just easier to blame the person.”
Parker believes the people he serves are worth his time, and the student body’s.
“The vast majority of the people I serve are some of the finest people you’ll ever meet in you life,” Parker said. “Some of those folks are my heroes. Are some of them real pains? Yes. But I have neighbors like that. There’s more binding us together than driving us apart.”
Rick Parker always tries to end his public housing lecture with the same H. L. Mencken quote: “There is a well-known solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.”
Parker said that “when it comes to complex social issues like poverty,” this belief definitely applies.
Parker is the executive director of Athens Housing Authority which oversees all 1,255 public housing units in Athens.
The term “public housing” often has a negative connotation.
Senior criminal justice major Julie Close from Locust Grove, Ga., said “dirty” is the first thing she thinks of when she hears the term “public housing.”
“The public housing here is just so unkempt,” Close said.
Parker strives to eliminate stereotypes such as this about the housing programs, residents, and communities he oversees.
“What we run, own and administer is a deep subsidy program,” Parker said, “Rent is based on their income, not based on the value of the unit.”
Residents are charged a rent payment equaling 30 percent of their monthly income, the average percentage an individual is supposed to pay on their housing and utilities each month. Set up by the federal government, this system clearly outlines that if a person’s income increases, then so does their rent payment.
The Athens Housing Authority mission is to “provide secure, affordable, quality housing and resources which encourage and sustain independence” for some of the nearly 11,000 households living in poverty in Athens-Clarke county. The 28.3 percent poverty rate classifies Athens as a “housing-stress” county.
“This means that the cost of housing exceeds a large percentage of the population’s income,” Parker said. “[The residents], for a whole host of complex societal reasons, are having a hard time making it.”
Although the system used to determine rent was federally designed, Athens Housing Authority is not a government operation, but rather an independent agency.
“There are no local dollars involved at all except the residents’ rent,” Parker said.
Public housing may not use local dollars, but it definitely is a local presence, even to students.
“Close to about half of our total units are within close proximity to campus,” Parker said. “The city grew up around the housing authority.”
The project housing areas’ proximity to campus is often shocking to students.
“I was really surprised to see the government housing so close to campus,” first-year biology student Ashley Williams from Marietta, Ga., said. “But I think it's beneficial to students because it opens their eyes to the state of poverty, even in Georgia. It provides a great opportunity for outreach and education.”
Parker encourages student involvement in the housing projects, bragging specifically about organizations such as the Wesley Foundation, where students mentor kids from a local project community.
“[Students are] all part of the fabric of community,” Parker said, “and caring about what happens in the community is just enlightened self-interest.”
Rayshondra Borders, a resident at Broad Acres housing project, said she feels as though the student body is a part of her community.
“I love it when [students] come by to play with the kids,” Borders said, laughing. “It gives me a break. It would be better to see more big brother and sister programs.”
Still, with a student body of over 35,000, Parker acknowledges that only a small percentage of that population has gotten involved in public housing programs.
“Let’s be honest. People love to hate the poor. We all want to think that we make it entirely on our own,” Parker said. This, he supposes, is why not everyone feels the need to be involved with volunteer and development programs in the housing communities.
“It scares us to death that there—but by the grace of God and a couple of paychecks—be I. It’s just easier to blame the person.”
Parker believes the people he serves are worth his time, and the student body’s.
“The vast majority of the people I serve are some of the finest people you’ll ever meet in you life,” Parker said. “Some of those folks are my heroes. Are some of them real pains? Yes. But I have neighbors like that. There’s more binding us together than driving us apart.”
Edited by Antionette Rollins
This is a compelling story with several nice interviews and good quotes. The lead itself is good, but incomplete. Parker must have some "simple" but "wrong" solutions in mind when he uses this quotation -- what are they? Is public housing a good solution to poverty, or not? What's the best solution, or collection of solutions, in his opinion? Who has solutions that are different from Parker's?
ReplyDeleteVery nice photo and good cutline. The headline, though, reads like an editorial. Put information in the headline, not opinion.