
Inside news from the Housing Authority of Portland	July 2008

ETAP Program Joins PCC's Cascade Campus

ETAP — the Evening Trades Apprenticeship Preparation program — has come a long way since 1998 when it began as a HAP program to provide employment opportunity to public housing residents. More recently, ETAP was sponsored by CAWS, Inc., a Portland nonprofit dedicated to increasing workforce diversity in construction trades. Now, ETAP will become part of the educational curriculum at Portland Community College’s (PCC) Cascade Campus.

“PCC offers many opportunities for training in construction trades careers, so this partnership is a natural fit for ETAP,” said Veronica Sherman King, HAP’s director of Resident Services. “One of the most significant benefits for ETAP participants is they will become college students and earn college credit for their involvement in the program. For the first time, ETAP students will have access to all the educational and training resources that a college provides.”

CAWS and HAP worked together to find the right permanent home for the ETAP program, which has seen great success in helping low-income men and women find family-wage careers in the construction trades. HAP will continue to be involved with ETAP and receives funding from HUD to help underwrite the program.

See the profile below on PCC Cascade Campus President Dr. Algie Gatewood and his vision for the ETAP program.

Read more about ETAP

HAP Reopens Section 8 Waiting List to 2006 Applicants

In late 2006, HAP opened its Section 8 waiting list for the first time in four years. More than 9,700 applications were received and placed in a random drawing to build a waiting list of 3,000 households. The agency has made rapid progress through the original list and will have it completed by the end of 2008.

At the time, all households that submitted applications in 2006 received a letter from HAP along with a randomly selected number. The applicants who drew numbers higher than 3,000, and who are still in need of housing assistance, now have the opportunity to join the waiting list. In early September, HAP will send letters to these remaining applicants with instructions for joining the list in order of their lottery number. Individuals who have moved since their original application and would like to remain in consideration for a Section 8 voucher must contact HAP’s Rent Assistance department in writing by the end of August to update their contact information. All correspondence should be directed to the Rent Assistance Department, Housing Authority of Portland, 135 SW Ash Street, Portland, OR 97204-3540.

HAP's Public Housing Waiting Lists Draw Sizeable Response

The need for public housing was telling as HAP received a tremendous response to the opening of its site-based public housing waiting lists for the first time since March 2007. In less than two weeks, the agency received 2,398 applications. The majority of applicants were families, followed by the disabled, elderly and single individuals.

According to Dianne Quast, HAP’s director of real estate operations, HAP has improved the application process to better manage the list wait time. Previously, HAP closed the lists when the wait time exceeded two years. Now, the lists are closed when the wait time exceeds one year. Quast expects this new approach will create a rolling open and close system to provide more access for people who missed the application window or are newly in need of housing help. “The demand for housing is high,” said Quast. “We’d like to reduce the length of the waiting period and provide more hope for those in need of help.”

HAP posts a report on its web site regarding the current wait times for different bedroom sizes at its many public housing communities. This report is updated monthly so case managers and individuals can visit the web site to get the latest information on availability.

View the public housing waiting list update

HAP PROFILE: Dr. Algie Gatewood, PCC Cascade Campus

Dr. Algie Gatewood, president of PCC’s Cascade Campus, has a clear vision for the college’s role in the North and NE Portland community. “This is a very vibrant and diverse campus that is the educational, workforce/economic and cultural hub of the community. To maintain this strong link with our neighbors, we must be very responsive to their needs — there are still many people within our reach who are not being served by an institution of higher learning.”

Gatewood sees the addition of the ETAP program to PCC’s curriculum as another way for the school to connect with individuals who need education and job skills training. ETAP ties in nicely with the campus’ construction trades programs, its pre-apprenticeship training program, and the Margaret Carter Skill Center. And he looks forward to strengthening PCC’s partnership with HAP as the ETAP program continues to develop.

With four years as president under his belt, Gatewood is a proud leader of the campus. “We have some of the best faculty and staff that you’ll find at any community college in the nation on this campus,” he said.