This week we were honored to have our very own Ken Clark present to the club about public housing. Before Ken began his presentation, President Laura Lane McKinnon announced that RCSE was once again going to have a Back to School School Supply Drive benefitting Haven Elementary. She encouraged all members to donate supplies or money that Andrew and Kerri will use to purchase the supplies. Once all Rotary business items were discussed, Laura Lane introduced Ken Clark.
Ken is the Deputy Director of the Housing Authority of Savannah. He began by giving a brief summary as to what the Housing Authority does in our community. It is a subsidy administrator, owner, lender, investor, and bond issuer. Recently, there has been a change in public housing names which is important because a name can give you more resources. Public housing is about connection. Connecting people to subsidies, capitol to projects, and people to services. The Housing Authority doesn't have one big bucket of money (but that sure would be nice!). Instead, there are about 10-12 buckets of money with each bucket having their own restrictions, constraints, and eligibility limits which is why philanthropy is such a huge help with housing. Brenda Pollen spoke about a program called A Place to Dream. Since this program started in Savannah, almost 300 beds have been given to children so they will have a place to sleep. Senior citizens who live in public housing crochet blankets and a lovable for each child. Ken ended his presentation stating that we should think of public housing as a verb. We need to come together to help with shelter needs of those people in our community.