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00:00:00 - Introduction to Donna Denman

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Partial Transcript: Donna, could you just state your name and spell it out?

Segment Synopsis: Donna introduces herself.

00:00:08 - Donna's Relationship to the Dayton Plan

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Partial Transcript: And your relationship to the plan?

Segment Synopsis: Donna discusses her history with the Dayton Plan and the MVRPC. She says that she worked as the director of the Greene Metropolitan Housing Authority, which had been the Yellow Springs Housing Authority, until the MVRPC helped expand their jurisdiction to all of Greene county. She says that she originally started at the Yellow Springs Housing Authority as a college internship while the organization was in its expansion, where she worked on an affordable housing project in Fairborn, that assisted in the relocation of some families and elderly residents. She goes on to describe the Section 23 leasing program, which the Housing Authority used to help relocate residents to affordable housing without categorizing them as such, which she says would have caused stigma.

Keywords: Fairborn; Greene County; Greene County Housing Authority; MVRPC; Wright State University; Yellow Springs; Yellow Springs Housing Authority; affordable housing; section 23; subsidized housing

Subjects: Housing authorities; Jurisdiction; Low-income housing

00:03:21 - Development of the Greene Metropolitan Housing Authority

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Partial Transcript: They wanted a person who had a more academic background to run the Housing Authority, so the Housing Authority and I grew together.

Segment Synopsis: Donna talks about the processes by which a housing authority gains jurisdiction in a community. She says that a housing authority has to have a cooperation agreement, which they did with Yellow Springs first, and then with other municipalities. The agreements were made to work on various types of affordable housing projects. She goes on to discuss the changes that came in 1973 with the "Nixon moratorium," which replaced the Section 23 housing with Section 8 housing, and made housing less affordable for residents.

Keywords: Cooperation agreements; Nixon Moratorium; Section 23; Section 8

Subjects: Housing authorities; Jurisdiction; Low-income housing

00:09:02 - Public Opinion and Affordable Housing

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Partial Transcript: We were hoping to have more scattered sites, because if you look at what the biggest impediment to assisted housing is it's public opinion.

Segment Synopsis: Donna talks about the struggle to get approval for affordable housing projects from communities. She cites prejudice as a major barrier to the success of various projects, and says that many towns were hesitant to accept certain assisted housing programs because of stigma, as well as because of the lower taxes payed by subsidized units. She says that most municipalities with whom agreements were made preferred the leasing programs that were not categorized as subsidized housing, because taxes were still being paid, and because agreements did not have to be made in the same way as section 23 housing. She goes on about the advantages and disadvantages of section 8 leasing, which she says is good because it allows for families to have more independence in finding their own housing, but had some problems because the rents were less controlled and could be a burden for renters.

Keywords: Cedarville; Housing and Community Development Act of 1974; Xenia; Yellow Springs; leasing; prejudice; public housing

Subjects: Classism; Low-income housing; Public opinion; Taxation

00:16:35 - Affordable Housing Projects in Yellow Springs

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Partial Transcript: We couldn't build any more public housing units, so we got involved in a program with FHA.

Segment Synopsis: Donna relates how the Housing Authority began to work with FHA in Yellow Springs on a new-construction section 8 housing project, that would combine income levels between "very low" income, "lower" income, and "middle" income. She says that the village of Yellow Springs donated land for this particular project. She says that there was some protest from the other residents, but that the village of Yellow Springs over all was supportive of the project.

Keywords: Diversified housing; Home, Inc.; Yellow Springs; cluster housing; lower income; middle income; very low income

Subjects: Mixed-income housing

00:23:52 - Summary of Housing Programs

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Partial Transcript: This was my summary of housing programs that i did for a talk to the League of Women Voters.

Segment Synopsis: Donna gives an overview of the history of various housing programs. She called the 1960's the "golden era" for housing, which was followed by the Nixon Moratorium, during which time only section 23 housing was approved. Following this period, section 23 was replaced with section 8 she say, around the same time that other programs were instated.

Keywords: Fairborn; HUD; Hebel Homes; League of Women Voters; Nixon Moratorium; Section 23; Section 235; Section 236; Section 8; public housing

Subjects: Relocation (Housing); Urban renewal

00:25:40 - Housing Authority Role Following the 1974 Xenia Tornado

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Partial Transcript: 1974 was the tornado in Xenia, and we had a cooperation agreement with Xenia.

Segment Synopsis: Donna talks about the period following the massive tornado that passed through Xenia in 1974. Because of the agreement that the housing authority had with Xenia, they were able to construct many units of various types of affordable housing, including scattered-site single family homes throughout the town. She describes her happiness at being able to place some of the homes in areas of Xenia where affordable housing would not normally be constructed, that is to say in wealthier neighborhoods where stigma would normally prevent construction but that had open lots due to the natural disaster that had occurred.

Keywords: Maggie McKnight Apartments; Tornado; scattered-site

Subjects: Housing authorities; Low-income housing; Racism

00:27:47 - Return to Public Housing

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Partial Transcript: And then, because public housing was being funded again, we went for more units in Yellow Springs.

Segment Synopsis: Donna says that following the '74 tornado, public housing began to be funded again, and the Greene Metropolitan Housing Authority used this to construct new units in various parts of the county. She talks about new units being built in Yellow Springs, Cedarville, and Beavercreek. She says that the Beavercreek units were a particular success because of the difficulties of placing affordable housing units in high income areas like Beavercreek.
In this section, she also speaks briefly about the racial makeup of Greene county, where the majority of the Black population was concentrated in Dayton, with some communities in Xenia and in Yellow Springs.

Keywords: Beavercreek; Cedarville; Fairborn; Yellow Springs; acquisition rehabilitiation; leasing; scattered units

Subjects: Classism; Racism; Social integration

00:34:57 - Housing Programs Funded After 1974

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Partial Transcript: You were asking about the 1974 Act, they authorized fifty thousand housing units.

Segment Synopsis: Donna gives statistics of affordable housing units funded following the 1974 Act. She notes that the numbers are not high compared to the number of funded projects in the late 1960's.

Keywords: Housing and Community Development Act of 1974; acquisition rehabilitation; affordable housing; new construction; public housing; section 8

Subjects: Low-income housing

00:36:08 - Housing Programs Throughout Greene County

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Partial Transcript: For Greene County, we were able to do housing in Yellow Springs, Fairborn, Xenia, some in Cedarville, some in Beavercreek, so in a sense we did do what we set out to do.

Segment Synopsis: Donna lists the areas of Greene county in which the housing authority was able to implement affordable housing.

Keywords: Beavercreek; Cedarville; Fairborn; Mary Weiss; State Housing Board; Xenia; Yellow Springs; homeowner program

00:38:43 - Community Land Idea

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Partial Transcript: I thought I would be through with housing, but there was a real controversy here in town about the Glass Farm - they wanted to build housing on the Glass Farm.

Segment Synopsis: Donna discusses the development of the community land concept. The intention in Yellow Springs was to keep housing affordable, despite rising costs of living in the village. The plan allowed for requirements to be placed within homeowner programs so that homes would not be resold at market rates, but would remain affordable for residents of a specific income level. Out of this plan, she says, came Home, Inc., an affordable housing agency in Yellow Springs.

Keywords: Home, Inc.; affordable housing; community land plan; homeowner program

Subjects: City councils; Low-income housing

00:42:14 - The Greene Metropolitan Housing Authority and the MVRPC

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Partial Transcript: In terms of the MVRPC plan, did it have any effect on what you were trying to do in the area?

Segment Synopsis: Donna says that she sometimes attended meetings of the MVRPC, because she agreed with what they were trying to do, and she says they had a lot of power because of their funding.

Keywords: MVRPC; affordable housing; cooperation agreements

Subjects: City planning; Community development

00:43:29 - Donna and the League of Women Voters

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Partial Transcript: You mentioned the League of Women Voters, were you involved with them?

Segment Synopsis: Donna says that her involvement with the League of Women Voters made her interested in housing in Yellow Springs. She says that rent was very high in the village and was unaffordable, and she learned this from her participation in the League. Following her work in the League, she went back to school for social and applied economics, and from there she got more involved in housing, including her work with the housing authority.

Keywords: League of Women Voters; cooperation agreements; publications

Subjects: Equity--United States; Housing authorities; Low-income housing