Getting citizens to show up at public meetings can be dicey.
“We’re required to have two public meetings a year,” says Memphis Housing and Community Development (HCD) planning administrator Mairi Albertson. “We don’t always get the level of participation we want, especially at the evening meetings.”
Every few years, HCD prepares a three-year strategy to submit to the federal government. That plan is based on a housing market analysis, a homeless-needs assessment, and community input.
“We wanted to find a way to get a little bit more from people and give them an opportunity to share their priorities with us,” Albertson says.
The result is an 12-question survey on homelessness, housing, and job creation. The survey is anonymous and will be used by the HCD to allocate future federal funding.
Each year, HCD receives 95 percent, or about $15.5 million, of its funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
To take the survey, click here. The deadline to do so is April 1st.
“The plan is due to HUD May 15th,” Albertson says. “Our goal is to have all the information from the survey and the research study so we can incorporate those into our plan.”
But if a public meeting is more your style, HCD will be hosting one Wednesday, April 7th, at 6 p.m. at the Benjamin Hooks Central library.
Citizens may also submit their comments in writing by mail or fax to:
City of Memphis
Division of Housing and Community Development
Planning Department
701 North Main Street
Memphis, TN 38107
Fax: 901-576-7426
