Chattanooga Housing Authority marketing to low-income and disabled

cha-marketing-to-low-income-and-disabled cha-marketing-to-low-income-and-disabled

By Yolanda Putman February 2, 2013 3 min read

Doug Wrinn, CHA’s director of asset management

CHA Upward Mobility Program• 20 adults participating in Fairmount• 4 noncompliant residents at Fairmount• 52 adults in the program at Maple Hills• 5 people are noncompliant

The Chattanooga Housing Authority is required to make 5 percent of its new housing units handicap accessible, but when the housing agency went through the 550 applicants who applied to live at its two newest housing sites, no applicant needed one of those units.

CHA’s Board of Commissioners voted this month to change its admissions policy from relying solely on a lottery system for selecting residents so it may fill the units at Fairmount Apartments in North Chattanooga and Maple Hills near East Chattanooga.

“When you write rules, it doesn’t take long to find out that something doesn’t work right, so you’ve got to go back and fix it,” said Doug Wrinn, CHA’s director of asset management.

Instead of using a lottery system to select residents, housing officials will start marketing directly to agencies like Siskin Hospital, Signal Centers and others for potential residents who have disabilities and need low-income housing.