Conversation with Brownsville NYCHA Leads & Lawrence Heights
On February 3, 2021, the Brownsville Partnership hosted its first learning session with a presentation from three leaders who helped achieve a resident-led social development plan in Toronto's Lawrence Heights, one of the largest public housing renewals in North America. This was the first of future conversations and training to strengthen how we as residents can participate in shaping the policies and plans of our public housing and our neighborhood.
The community ambassador model is an intentional investment in leadership with and for the community. People are paid; this is included in the RFP for developers. Previously, community animators were staff but are now engaged through a third party to ensure residents’ housing costs and security are not impacted through the paid employment.
Look beyond skills to who has the heart for the community, listens – give people a chance. There is always an opportunity to use people’s passion and talents; in Lawrence, mobilization took many forms that people proposed - cooking, filming, murals, storytelling, children’s play, checking on neighbors, and community meetings design processes. It is important to include all voices, the quiet ones, not just the loudest ones; see who is missing and figure out the barriers to make sure everyone can participate. Zero displacements were non-negotiable. Tenants walked down together the first time as a group to make the deputation for the revitalization. But zero displacement had to be both a policy and a practice. This meant that tenants also participated formally included in the developer selection. The Social Development Plan developed by residents is a cornerstone document of Toronto’s City Council's project approval. Approach the housing authority and build up among staff the advocates and champions. Lawrence Heights had strong advocates on the staff side who recognized that if TCH asked for full participation and if tenants were to be respected and involved, we as the housing organization had to make some accommodations.
How did you ensure tenant participation in the selection process? What materials can you share with us?
The revitalization of Lawrence Heights was the first time TCHC tenants will participate in the Developer Selection Process. TCHC worked with tenants in Lawrence Heights to increase awareness of revitalization and the planning and approvals process since the project’s launch in May 2008 and have become strong advocates for the project. The Tenant Animators were awarded the Canadian Urban Institute’s Urban Leadership Award in 2011 for their work supporting the Lawrence Heights Revitalization. A tenant sat on the Developer Selection evaluation panel as a full member of the panel. Requirements for the tenant member of the panel included that the resident lived in Lawrence Heights, was a Community Animator, and submitted a formal application to express their commitment, leadership, and participation in the revitalization process to date. Also, residents participated in hearing and scoring proponents’ Community Engagement and Community Economic Development proposals through a Resident Advisory Group. The top candidates emerging from the RFP stage made a presentation to the community and Resident Advisory Group. The Resident Advisory Group including six residents, a mix of Community Animators, and other Lawrence Heights residents not formally engaged as animators. All members of the evaluation panel signed a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement before receiving their packages for evaluation. Tenant engagement and participation continue to involve. Since the Lawrence Heights process in 2012, TCHC has implemented community-wide voting, with resident selection accounting for 20% of the overall score. Also, residents and TCHC have now developed a Community Benefits Agreement for another revitalization, Phases 4 and 5 of Regent Park. Many residents believe there are opportunities to improve the weight of their participation and the overall development selection process. The Community Benefits Agreement is attached. An article on selecting the developer of the final phases of another TCHC revitalization, Regent Park, is linked here.
Here is a few move informational tool that was shared from this first learning session: