Mayor Alyia Gaskins launched the “Fresh Start Initiative” today (Thursday), rallying the city’s faith and nonprofit leaders to pay approximately $1 million in back rent for nearly 450 residents living in the city’s public housing properties.
The initiative brings together the city, the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the Department of Community and Human Services and nonprofit fundraiser ACT for Alexandria to create a temporary charitable fund to “connect residents to financial empowerment resources, and to ensure improved systems at ARHA,” according to the city. Alfred Street Baptist Church has pledged to raise more than $1 million to cover the back rent. The initiative is solely funded through private donations.
After ARHA representatives told the mayor about the $1 million backlog two months ago, Gaskins told ALXnow that she prayed for guidance. Days later, she says she took the issue to her Mayor’s Interfaith Council, which includes a number of the city’s faith leaders. She said that Rev. Howard-John Wesley of Alfred Street Baptist Church was the first person to take her call and pledged to raise the entire sum.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t act until I pray first,” Gaskins told ALXnow. “But leaving that first meeting, my prayer was, ‘God, I don’t know how to help this many people.'”
Wesley called the initiative a “way to put love into action.”
“Housing stability is foundational to thriving families and thriving communities,” Wesley said in a release. “Our hope is that this moment becomes a new beginning — not just financially, but for the long-term stability and well-being of families throughout our city.”
ARHA is in the midst of a restructuring. Its former CEO was fired last summer, followed by the full resignation of ARHA’s board of commissioners, as well as the appointment of a new board and interim CEO. The former CEO previously told ALXnow that the organization has struggled with organizational issues that resulted in delayed rental payments from ARHA to landlords, paperwork backlogs, caseworker abandonment and more.
Mark Jinks, the former city manager who chairs ARHA’s new board of commissioners, said that the organization is committed to accountability.
“ARHA staff have taken responsibility to strengthen ARHA’s internal systems, improve communication, and expand supports so residents have both clarity and the tools they need to remain stably housed without the fear of eviction,” Jinks said in the release. “This partnership allows us to build a responsible and sustainable model that supports both residents and the long-term health of public housing in Alexandria.”
ARHA owns and operates more than 1,100 public housing units in Alexandria and administers the Housing Choice Voucher program to more than 1,600 residents in private properties citywide. As of February, more than 8,700 people were on its public housing waitlist, with another 10,600 on the Housing Choice Voucher waitlist, according to ARHA.
Gaskins said that ARHA would be strained by sending out 445 notices, which could strain ARHA’s rental assistance systems and put hundreds of families at risk of eviction and homelessness. She also said the idea could be expanded.
“Everyone has a responsibility to pay their bills,” Gaskins said. “The idea is, what if we can give people a fresh start and to get them in their worst moments on better footing?”
