[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 91 (Tuesday, June 6, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1159-E1160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               TRIBUTE TO LOW-INCOME HOUSING PARTNERSHIP

                                 ______


                        HON. WILLIAM (BILL) CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, June 6, 1995
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the collaborative 
efforts of two institutions in my district, whose achievements are 
helping to rebuild and restore hope in south St. Louis. DeSales 
Community Housing Association and Equality Savings and Loan Association 
have been recognized by the Social Compact in the 1995 Outstanding 
Community Investment Awards for their partnership achievement: the 
creation of an innovative housing program that allows residents to 
participate fully in the decisions that are shaping their community.
  The Social Compact is a national coalition of leaders from the 
financial services industry [[Page E1160]] and the nonprofit sector, 
dedicated to increasing private investment in low-income communities, 
both rural and urban. To achieve this mission, they lead by example, 
recognizing successful and innovative partnerships between financial 
services institutions and neighborhood nonprofit organizations that are 
working together to reclaim vulnerable neighborhoods. As a result of 
the Outstanding Community Investment Awards, DeSales Community Housing 
and Equality Savings were chosen out of 160 applicants as a model 
partnership.
  DeSales and Equality are being recognized for the creation of the 
DeSales Mutual Housing Association. This kind of development represents 
the first step toward home ownership for life-long renters. Mutual 
housing associations encourage community-based ownership of affordable 
rental properties. Neighborhood residents and project tenants actively 
participate in ownership and management decisions of their buildings, 
including site selection, design, construction, and organizational 
structure.
  DeSales began working with residents on the mutual housing 
association model in the early 1990's. Today, thanks to the dedication 
of 30 neighborhood residents, the Iowa Avenue Townhouses and the 
California Townhouses have taken the place of nine vacant buildings in 
south St. Louis as models of affordable, resident-controlled housing.
  Equality Savings and Loan Association assumed a critical leadership 
role in making this project happen. The small thrift took charge of 
convincing the financial community, businesses, foundations, and the 
major's office of the credibility of the project. Equality also helped 
enlist additional investors to provide permanent financing and, equally 
important, they convinced St. Louis residents and others that this 
innovative approach could work.
  Thanks to the first mutual housing association model ever enacted in 
Missouri, neighborhood residents are taking on leadership 
responsibilities in their community. Small-scale rehabilitation is 
happening elsewhere, and the community's church and elementary school 
are crediting the townhomes for stabilizing their surroundings.
  I applaud DeSales Community Housing Corporation and Equality Savings 
and Loan Association as a replicable example of a public private 
partnership that empowers residents to reclaim their neighborhoods.


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