Message from the President
Dear Friends,
In August, Cook Inlet Housing Authority was honored to take HUD Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, Orlando Cabrera, as well as Deputy Assistant Secretary for The Office of Native American Programs, Rodger Boyd, on a tour of our properties.
In anticipation of this visit, I spent time with staff discussing how to best utilize the few hours we had with our guests from Washington DC. Most importantly, we asked ourselves: what one key message would we want them to take away from their visit with us?
We planned to drive them by Strawberry Village Cottages -- CIHA's first venture into the family rental housing market. We made sure the tour route allowed us to pass by Brother Francis Shelter. Of course we included quite a bit of time in Mountain View before ending the tour at Centennial Village -- our elder housing campus in East Anchorage.
All of these properties look quite different from one another, but they share the common purpose of providing high-quality, attractive housing that CIHA is proud to own and our clients are proud to live in.
When CIHA builds new housing, we adhere to one simple, yet important philosophy: our clients deserve a nice place to live. CIHA builds homes that encourage families to plant roots, providing a solid foundation upon which they can build a better life. This is the crux of the message we wanted to share with our guests, and it's the message I'd like to share with you today.
When a new employee comes on board at CIHA, one of their first assignments is to watch a short video by Bill Strickland, founder and president/CEO of a highly successful social enterprise, Manchester Bidwell Corporation in Pittsburgh, PA. Strickland's message is simple, but powerful: give people the tools they need, treat them with respect, and they will perform miraculous deeds.
"The worst thing about being poor is what it does to your spirit," says Strickland, "not just your wallet ..." Cook Inlet Housing Authority is committed to helping renew people's spirit by providing them with a place they enjoy living in -- not someplace they are forced into by circumstance.
Pride is a powerful motivator. If families take pride in their home, they begin to take pride in themselves, in their neighborhoods and their communities. A good home can pave the way to better education, better employment and a better life for families in our community.
Our commitment to quality is also a commitment to protecting Cook Inlet Housing Authority assets, and ensuring that we're able to continue helping families far into the future. Quality construction up-front keeps maintenance costs down. Building homes that our neighbors feel are assets to the community aids us in overcoming the stigmas associated with affordable housing and the families we serve.
It's essential that we create and maintain housing in a manner that reflects well on us, our clients, our neighborhoods and our community. CIHA has established itself as a professional organization that others feel comfortable investing in.
We are so thankful for the invaluable partners who believe in us and the families we serve: our friends at Wells Fargo, Venture Development, First National Bank Alaska, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Koonce Pfeffer Bettis, Neeser Construction, Boslough Construction, CharterMac Capital; and people like John Hagmeier, Bob Petersen, Tim Potter, Diane Kaplan and Mark Korting, who is featured in this edition of the newsletter. These partners make it possible for us to strive for quality as well as efficiency, and they further help us stretch affordable housing dollars to better serve families and the community.
For those of you who might not be as familiar with our work, please let me know if you'd like to tour our properties. I know our guests from Washington were pleased with our results, and I think you will be too.
Best Regards,
Carol Gore