Sam Erickson, President and Chief Operating Officer, submitted the following of Clinton, Iowa's Van Allen Apartments:

It has been an incredible honor to play a role in the restoration and adaptive re-use of the Van Allen and Sons Department Store in Clinton. Once a glittering retail gem providing high end retail for eastern Iowa, the building sat vacant, but carefully protected by the City of Clinton for years. CHI was incredibly fortunate to partner with a community that not only understood the value of this nationally recognized historic treasure, but also provided encouragement and financial support to adapt the Van Allen into 19 residential housing units.

Architect Louis Sullivan, a genius often overshadowed by his protégé, Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the building guided by his “form follows function” principle of design. Beautifully ornate terra cotta applied to the building gives the illusion the building is symmetrical, but that is not the case. If you have not seen this building, look it up. Twenty years after taking ownership, we are still finding beautiful details.

Perhaps the best part of our ownership of this historic gem has been the residents who make it their home. They understand the beauty and importance of this building in telling America’s story. They care for the original maple floors, decorate common areas for holidays, and proudly show their homes to everyone — from Clinton natives returning home for the weekend to architectural students across the globe (Japan, Italy and Germany come to mind). The Van Allen has always been a labor of love for the entire CHI team.

The post National Preservation Month restores memories appeared first on Community Housing Initiatives News.

It’s important to us to stay in close contact with you as we uncover details that might be helpful while navigating this difficult time.

• Please lean on friends and neighbors to stay informed about current and forecasted weather conditions
• The utility company cannot give us an estimated time of when power will be restored, as soon as we know, we will pass the information along
• We advise all residents to turn off your breakers to your apartment so when your electricity is restored, this will prevent a power surge from ruining your electric devices

A Word of Caution About Looting
Please be aware of potential looting opportunities; always have your vehicle locked and make the #9pmroutine your routine:  

• At 9PM make sure your apartment and vehicle are locked
• Close any unnecessary windows
• If you are leaving your apartment, please make sure everything is locked and closed

Regarding Generators
Regretfully we cannot allow the usage of generators at our properties. In accordance with our insurance company and emergency management, the high carbon dioxide fumes generated and the space required to safely run a generator, make them unsuitable for an apartment environment.

Food options for today, August 14th
1 PM     Taylor Neighborhood, Near Taylor Elementary 
3 PM     LADD Library, 3750 Williams Blvd SW

Food options for tomorrow, August 15th
2-4PM    Redmond Park | Fill a bag of food for FREE

We understand you are in an incredibly challenging situation. If you have a medical need that requires electricity, please reach out to Brittany Spieker and she will be happy to assist in any way.

— CHI Regional Management & Resident Services

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"We know people of all ages are feeling the pressure of this new environment, and that our organization has the ability to step up and help," said Tonya Hotchkin, vice president of clinical services in an email. 

The center is accepting new clients of all ages and is offering individual, family, and group therapy as well as mental health assessments via teletherapy. Get in touch with Tanager Place outpatient services by emailing or by calling (319) 286-4545. Residents, visit our dedicated page to explore resources that may be of support to you.

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We want to work together, as a team, as more information becomes available to us. Please read this information and share with your family. 

In the meantime, simple steps can be taken to make sure we are doing our best to stop the spread of germs. Here are a few other things you can do (teach your children to do the same!) to keep your family healthy and help prevent the spread of viruses:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
• Stay away from others who are sick and stay home if you are ill
• Cough and sneeze into a tissue (make sure to throw it away after each use!) or cough and sneeze into your arm or elbow, not your hands
• Clean and disinfect household objects and surfaces in your home, and please take a little extra effort to help your community by disinfecting common areas, railings, door knobs, etc.
• Avoid touching your face

If you or a family member has a fever, cough, and/or shortness of breath, please see your doctor immediately. This is very important. Also, if you are sick, we ask that you hold basic work orders until you have been cleared from illness.

We also ask that you let your regional manager know if you test positive for the coronavirus (contact info is below). Your information will be kept private and will only be used to help us continue education to our family of residents.

Central Regional Manager’s Name: MONICA GREER
Tel: 515-223-0029  Email: [email protected]

Northwest Regional Manager’s Name: ALICIA ROOS
Tel: 712-262-5965  Email: [email protected]

Sioux City Regional Manager’s Name: JULIE SCOTT
Tel: 712-224-2233  Email: [email protected]

Eastern Regional Manager’s Name: PAULA GOURLEY
Tel: 319-362-1020  Email: [email protected]

Clinton Regional Manager’s Name: BEVERLY PETERSEN
Tel: 563-242-0045  Email: [email protected]

We are here to help answer any questions you have.

Thank you,
CHI Resident Services
 

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After her daughter Isadora was born last November, Andrea Parker says she felt like her family was on a roll.  She and her husband decided it was time to take action on their goal of purchasing a home of their own.  They reached their goal and moved in last month.

As residents of Sugar Creek Bend, a property Community Housing Initiatives manages in Cedar Rapids, Parker and her family successfully met the requirements of a unique “homeownership incubator” program for residents in that community.  As a result, Parker earned substantial down payment assistance toward her new home.

“We loved living at Sugar Creek but there’s a different feeling when it comes to owning your own home.  It’s just a pride that you have,” Parker said.

Helping more families feel that pride in homeownership is the main point of Sugar Creek Bend, a  group of 20 three bedroom homes that opened in 2011 in a neighborhood intermixed with owner-occupied homes.

Residents at Sugar Creek Bend get a taste of homeownership by taking on basic home maintenance, like lawn care, snow removal, and common repairs.

“The maintenance part didn’t really bother me because it’s such a new home,” Parker said.  “[Sugar Creek] is probably the nicest place I’ve ever lived outside of my parents’ house – it was easy, it was clean it was nice; I had everything I needed.”

Another element of the homeownership incubator program is participating in financial advising provided by a HUD-certified training provider.  Most Sugar Creek residents seek that training from Horizons, a local Cedar Rapids nonprofit that has been providing financial wellness trainingto the community since 1983.

Adriane Moline, financial health and wellness manager at Horizons, said, “We work with people who feel stuck, anxious and overwhelmed and show them that they’re not alone. Our goal is to increase the financial capability of these individuals and families through financial education, coaching and access to services.  It’s inspiring to help clients meet their goals; over 90% of people we work with tell us they feel more confident about reaching their housing and financial goals after working with us.”

As a benefit of participating in the program and meeting its requirements, residents receive assistance toward a down payment on a house when they move out of Sugar Creek Bend that is equal to $100 for each month of residency.

Parker (photo left) said the financial preparedness advising in the program helped her look at her family’s budget to find new ways to save for the down payment and other moving expenses.

“We figured it out somehow and were able to start saving money and just kept putting more and more money in our savings,” she said.

With a little planning and careful budgeting Parker said she was pleased to find homeownership really was something her family could achieve, even on a budget.

“Go with your gut and know it’s going to work out, you’re going to find something nice,” she said.  “I think it’s more attainable than people realize.”

Community Housing Initiatives manages Sugar Creek Bend in partnership with Affordable Housing Network, Inc. , a local affordable housing nonprofit, as well as support from the Midwest Housing Equity Group and the Iowa Finance Authority.

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In the words of the organizers, National Night Out is “an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live.”
 
At Community Housing Initiatives, we work with a wide range of community organizations focused on health, education, safety to provide services and opportunities to our residents, and that includes police and other law enforcement officials. 

In fact recently, two CHI staff, Paula Gourley, regional manager for Eastern Iowa and Melissa Gradischnig, who oversees resident services in the area, had the opportunity to participate in the Citizens Police Academy Sgt. Hamblin leads.

“Paula and I decided to take this class to help us build relationships with the police department and understand the role they serve in the community,” said Gradischnig.  “We are all part of the same Cedar Rapids community and need to work together, and we thought this would help us share useful information with our residents.

The program was 10 weeks long, covering every part of the police department, including a tour of the Linn County jail, driving a police car and a ride-along with officers.

“We gained much respect for what police officers go through and the risks associated with doing their difficult job,” Melissa said.  “We have been able to pass this message on to residents that possibly at some point have had a bad experience with law enforcement to try to help build some trust. We’ve also been able to talk with kids in our apartments about safety and the role of Cedar Rapids Police Department and how they can help our community.”

Working on our Resident Services team, part of Gradishnig’s role is to work in CHI’s apartment buildings with groups of residents and individually to make sure everyone feels welcome, included and safe. 

“Our communities feel more like home when people have a chance to get to know their neighbors, and that’s why it’s so great when our residents work together to bring events like National Night Out to places to their home at Lundby,” Gradischnig said.

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Roosevelt School Apartments in Clinton, formerly the Clinton Community School District’s administration building, has been recognized as Iowa’s top historic adaptive use restoration for 2017 by Preservation Iowa, a statewide nonprofit advocate for historic preservation.

Roosevelt School Apartments received the “Preservation at Its Best” award June 8 at the 2017 Preserve Iowa Summit, in Fort Dodge, Iowa.  Sam Erickson, chief operating officer, accepted the honor on behalf of Community Housing Initiatives (CHI), and was joined by project architect Patrick Denahey of ASK Studio, Des Moines, and site manager Mike Brown of Ringland-Johnson Construction in Cherry Valley, Illinois.

“The whole team is honored to receive this recognition, which we share with many leaders and community members in Clinton whose efforts made protecting this gorgeous building possible.  We couldn’t be happier to bring this honor to Clinton, a community that has worked so hard and achieved so much to protect its rich history,” said Sam Erickson.

Each year, Preservation Iowa recognizes individuals, organizations, projects, and programs whose work demonstrates a commitment to excellence in historic preservation. Projects are judged on degree of historic preservation excellence, community impact, and quality of work completed.

Over more than 20 years in business, Community Housing Initiatives, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing, has received Preservation at Its Best honors before for several of its apartment conversions of historic buildings. Van Allen Apartments, a Clinton landmark that was designed by the renowned architect Louis Sullivan, received the same award in 2004.

Roosevelt School Apartments is CHI’s newest apartment community in Clinton, and its fourth historic adaptive use of a historic building located there.  Roosevelt School opened as apartments in October 2016.

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