AURORA -- For months now, the residents of Centennial House have been reaching out to the Aurora community, asking for help. And the community has started reaching back. Centennial House is an Aurora Housing Authority complex on the West Side, populated by a mix of seniors and the mentally and physically disabled.
Recent Beacon News stories have focused on the need for social services there and the efforts of former tenant Sylvia Burke to bring attention to that need. Burke heads up the Melody Club, the building's only social group for tenants. She has been working with Mayor Tom Weisner's office, State Rep.
Linda Chapa LaVia's office, and several local aid agencies to bring counseling and other assistance there for residents who need help. Those efforts will bear fruit on Jan. 20, when from 9 a.
m. to 4 p.m.
Weisner's office will help arrange and sponsor a health and wellness fair at Centennial House. Tenants are invited, as well as their family members and friends. In attendance will be representatives from the Association for Individual Development, Senior Services, Fox Valley Special Recreation, the Day One Network, the Division of Rehabilitation Services, the Kane County Health Department and the Visiting Nurse Association.
Weisner's assistant chief of staff, Chuck Nelson, added that since transportation is a major issue for the physically disabled residents, he would also invite representatives from Pace and Kane County's Dial-A-Ride program. "The goal is to have the opportunity to bring in providers and introduce them to the residents," Nelson said. "We want to give them an opportunity to ask questions and get feedback.
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Nelson said the Centennial House effort is only the beginning, and if the approach works there, it would spread to other AHA complexes, such as Maple Terrace. He said each site has its own unique needs, but that the city is paying attention to the other sites with an eye toward bringing much-needed social services to all public housing residents. As for a next step, Nelson said a resident advocate has been discussed, someone on site either part time or full time to assist residents with their daily needs.
"We're hoping that the AHA will take the lead in this endeavor," Nelson said. "They may have access to grant money from (the Department of) Housing and Urban Development they can explore." Rick Brace, the AHA's executive director, said seeking out and hiring a resident advocate would be beyond the scope of his organization's mission.
He said the Housing Authority would cooperate and assist efforts to bring such a service to Centennial House, but that current finances, as well as the stated mission statement of the AHA, would not allow anything further. "We're a housing authority," Brace said. "We certainly would make space available for AID or Senior Services or Hesed House to meet with clients, but providing those services is not our mission.
" AHA's operating budget has been in the red for years, and the federal government has not yet approved the additional per-unit, per-month funding that HUD's studies have shown is needed to effectively manage its facilities. Brace said there is cautious optimism within the public housing industry that this funding will be approved soon, but it would still be up to the AHA's board of directors to decide what to do with the funds once they get them.
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