Latest / ChangeMakers with Katie Goar / EPISODE 128: Yvonda A. Bean, CEO, Indianapolis Housing Agency

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EPISODE 128: Yvonda A. Bean, CEO, Indianapolis Housing Agency · ChangeMakers with Katie Goar

0:05
Speaker 1: This is change Makers with Katie Gore finding the right
0:09
Speaker 1: solutions for the affordable housing community.
0:13
Speaker 2: This week's change Maker is Evanda Bean, the CEO of
0:17
Speaker 2: the Indianapolis Housing Agency and their nonprofit affiliate, Insight Development Corporation.
0:24
Speaker 2: Evanda is a national leader and transformative leader with twenty
0:30
Speaker 2: five years of a track record that proves she can
0:33
Speaker 2: turn around housing agencies and improve the quality of affordable
0:37
Speaker 2: housing in the communities she works, driving over one hundred
0:42
Speaker 2: million in development and earning the prestigious Narrow Professional Advocate
0:47
Speaker 2: of the Year award. Evanda, thank you for joining me
0:51
Speaker 2: on the Forbes Quadel change Makers podcast today.
0:54
Speaker 3: Thank you, Katie. It's absolutely my pleasure.
0:58
Speaker 2: It is so great to have you here. I want
1:00
Speaker 2: to hear all of the things about Indianapolis, but first
1:04
Speaker 2: let's take a journey about where you've been, because that
1:07
Speaker 2: twenty five year track record, I'm sure has come with
1:11
Speaker 2: some great lessons learn, bumps and bruises and wisdom. So
1:17
Speaker 2: let's kind of go back even before Indianapolis and have
1:22
Speaker 2: you described as being a leader in this space. What
1:29
Speaker 2: has been some of the housing challenges that you have
1:32
Speaker 2: seen and you've been able to overcome so far?
1:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a great question, Katie. Let me again say
1:43
Speaker 3: first how much I appreciate the opportunity to join your podcast.
1:50
Speaker 3: You yourself are a force within the affordable housing industry,
1:56
Speaker 3: and it's truly an honor to sit with you and
1:58
Speaker 3: have this conversation and on today. So what have I
2:03
Speaker 3: seen and what have we overcome? There is much detail,
2:09
Speaker 3: of course. One of the biggest challenges across the industry
2:14
Speaker 3: in general is always that there aren't enough resources to
2:18
Speaker 3: go around. Right. We have tremendous needs, but just not
2:24
Speaker 3: enough again money to address or resolve some of those needs.
2:30
Speaker 3: But we have been forced to be more creative and
2:36
Speaker 3: outside of the box thinkers in order to be able
2:39
Speaker 3: to better meet the needs of those that we serve.
2:43
Speaker 3: We pride ourselves on being housers. I pride myself on
2:46
Speaker 3: being a houser. The reality, however, is that we do
2:50
Speaker 3: more than housing. My personal and professional goal every every
2:56
Speaker 3: agency I've been at has always been to address the
2:59
Speaker 3: needs of family holistically, and so I've been able to
3:04
Speaker 3: do that across the country through the creation of really
3:08
Speaker 3: some unique partnerships. One that comes to mind has happened
3:15
Speaker 3: when I was in Lafayette Louisiana. Lafayette Housing Authority was
3:21
Speaker 3: in receivership when I joined the agency, and that agency
3:25
Speaker 3: was turned around within eighteen months, and we were ahead
3:32
Speaker 3: of the three year original schedule to turn things around.
3:36
Speaker 3: And that was due to a commitment of some really
3:41
Speaker 3: great professionals, some seasoned professionals at that organization, passionate for
3:46
Speaker 3: professionals at the organization, as well as commitments from HUD
3:50
Speaker 3: and also the local government and the support of board.
3:54
Speaker 3: It was really a collaborative effort, not anything that I did.
4:00
Speaker 3: But when in Lafayette, one of the most notable accomplishments
4:05
Speaker 3: was partnering with a plethora of agencies, public and private
4:13
Speaker 3: within Lafayette to address the increased number of individuals that
4:22
Speaker 3: were coming out of prisons. Louisiana in particular had some
4:28
Speaker 3: of the highest incarceration rates, and so when those individuals
4:32
Speaker 3: got out of jail, oftentimes housing was one of the
4:37
Speaker 3: first things that they needed. Right among other things for
4:40
Speaker 3: housing is that foundation. And so we were able to
4:44
Speaker 3: partner with a group out of New York to create
4:51
Speaker 3: a program that would allow us to safely, house, safely
4:56
Speaker 3: and responsibly house individuals that were coming out of prison.
5:02
Speaker 3: But through that partnership, we connected again with a number
5:05
Speaker 3: of other community partners who provided some additional supports beyond housing.
5:11
Speaker 3: Very successful partnership. We were able to keep hundreds of
5:17
Speaker 3: individuals who had just gotten out of prison house and
5:21
Speaker 3: so we were really really proud of that accomplishment. That's
5:26
Speaker 3: one unique accomplishment. Another challenge I would say always is
5:35
Speaker 3: that there just isn't enough housing to go around. And
5:40
Speaker 3: I have at different agencies, been able to partner with
5:46
Speaker 3: mental health associations. That's one that's certainly noteworthy, to designate
5:52
Speaker 3: units for individuals who might be receiving mental health services.
6:02
Speaker 3: So those that's another unique type of partnership beyond just
6:08
Speaker 3: providing housing, that we've been able to successfully do over
6:13
Speaker 3: the course of my career. So those are just I
6:15
Speaker 3: guess a couple of examples. I could go on and
6:20
Speaker 3: on about some of the unique housing partnerships that I've
6:26
Speaker 3: been able to foster to create more housing. My last
6:33
Speaker 3: role as CEO in Columbia, South Carolina, I led the
6:39
Speaker 3: charge of realizing over one hundred million dollars in new
6:43
Speaker 3: construction development. Wow, and not your traditional or typical public
6:51
Speaker 3: housing as we know, the industry has been moving away
6:54
Speaker 3: from public housing, and so I'm really proud and honored
6:58
Speaker 3: to have been afforded an opportunity to lead the charge
7:02
Speaker 3: of realizing that much development and that many units of
7:07
Speaker 3: housing for the families that reside in Columbia, South Carolina.
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Speaker 2: Something really unique about you, and you've been tapped a
7:17
Speaker 2: couple of times to turn around housing authorities that were
7:22
Speaker 2: in crisis headed toward crisis From your experience, are there
7:28
Speaker 2: a few things that you would say to your colleagues
7:33
Speaker 2: to keep them from going into crisis.
7:36
Speaker 3: Absolutely, that's a great question. So every agency I have led,
7:43
Speaker 3: one of my critical areas of focus is always on people,
7:49
Speaker 3: and people includes residents of course, community partners because relationships
7:56
Speaker 3: are extremely necessary for the advancement of housing, but also staff.
8:03
Speaker 3: I would say to my colleagues that take time to
8:10
Speaker 3: invest in your people. My experience in what I have
8:14
Speaker 3: found is that when you invest in people, when you
8:17
Speaker 3: take care of people, they tend to take care of you.
8:21
Speaker 3: I've been extremely successful at every agency that I've been
8:25
Speaker 3: a part of and really shifting cultures right, shifting how
8:31
Speaker 3: people feel about their jobs, giving them the assurance. I've
8:38
Speaker 3: been effective in giving them the assurance that what they
8:42
Speaker 3: do matters, and it matters not just to the organization,
8:47
Speaker 3: but matters to the residents, matters to the community. And
8:52
Speaker 3: so I've been really really intentional about making certain that
8:57
Speaker 3: I invest in people, and I would certainly encourage my
9:00
Speaker 3: colleagues to do the same. I am a huge proponent
9:04
Speaker 3: of professional development in training, and I can hear smaller
9:09
Speaker 3: agencies now saying well, we can't afford professional development and training. Again,
9:15
Speaker 3: speaking to resources, I know that sometimes that can be
9:17
Speaker 3: a challenge, but there are lots of free training opportunities
9:22
Speaker 3: out there, So I would encourage them to seek out
9:25
Speaker 3: those opportunities. Again, invest in their people, even cross training,
9:29
Speaker 3: which wouldn't cost them anything, just suffording them an opportunity
9:34
Speaker 3: to learn something new. I learned something different says that
9:38
Speaker 3: you care about them, and again I found that to
9:41
Speaker 3: be really effective. So I would first say, again, invest
9:45
Speaker 3: in people relationships. I'm answering your question a little bit differently,
9:51
Speaker 3: focusing really on people because people are the core of
9:55
Speaker 3: what we do. The people are the why we do
9:58
Speaker 3: the work that we do. But in answering your question,
10:02
Speaker 3: the three things that I would encourage my colleagues to
10:04
Speaker 3: focus on when I say people, it's because it's the core.
10:08
Speaker 3: But people, as in staff, people as in community, it's
10:12
Speaker 3: okay to let your community partners in. It's okay to share.
10:16
Speaker 3: And some of the successes that you're having as an organization,
10:19
Speaker 3: people don't realize the don't always realize the find the
10:25
Speaker 3: financial impact that housing authorities have within a community. We're
10:30
Speaker 3: putting millions in some community, billions of dollars in the
10:34
Speaker 3: pockets of landlords on an annual basis across the country. Right,
10:41
Speaker 3: that's pretty significant. And one of the things that we
10:45
Speaker 3: don't do the best job of always is telling our
10:50
Speaker 3: own stories. And so we have to make certain that
10:54
Speaker 3: we are, you know, saying it to the mountains that
10:58
Speaker 3: this is the type of economic impact that we have
11:01
Speaker 3: within our own respective communities. But again that speaks to
11:05
Speaker 3: the partnerships and the relationships that you have with the
11:08
Speaker 3: landlords in all of our collective efforts to create affordable
11:13
Speaker 3: housing for those in need of affordable housing. And then
11:18
Speaker 3: the third thing I would say is, of course, the residence,
11:25
Speaker 3: the residents, the residents, the residents. I tell you, I
11:30
Speaker 3: am so it's certainly what makes me love my job.
11:38
Speaker 3: It's part of my job that I love the most
11:41
Speaker 3: having the opportunity to be in the company of some
11:46
Speaker 3: of our residents. Some might say it in reverse, right,
11:51
Speaker 3: but for me, there is always so much that I
11:55
Speaker 3: learned from sitting down and engaging our residents. They enjoy
12:00
Speaker 3: and appreciate the opportunity to be heard. Sometimes that's all
12:05
Speaker 3: that it takes. So I would certainly encourage my colleagues,
12:08
Speaker 3: as busy as we are, to make time to sit
12:12
Speaker 3: down with the residents, to make time to get in
12:15
Speaker 3: front of residents, just so that they know that you've
12:19
Speaker 3: not forgotten about that. That's something I'd say is a
12:24
Speaker 3: recurring theme that I've heard when I've joined organizations just
12:27
Speaker 3: across the country that we don't feel heard. We don't
12:30
Speaker 3: feel that the agency, the authority understands our needs. We
12:37
Speaker 3: don't believe that they're really interested in helping us and
12:41
Speaker 3: providing the quality affordable housing that we deserve. And that's
12:47
Speaker 3: too bad. They shouldn't go that way. I know we
12:49
Speaker 3: don't want them to feel that way. So I think
12:53
Speaker 3: the third and last thing would be to be intentional
12:55
Speaker 3: about connecting with the residents.
12:58
Speaker 2: I just read an article a couple of days ago
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Speaker 2: that said, you know when you're confronted with a crisis,
13:06
Speaker 2: you admit, here's what we know, here's what we don't know,
13:11
Speaker 2: here's what we need to improve on. And it came
13:14
Speaker 2: down to such a subtle reality that you know, when
13:19
Speaker 2: you're engaging in a crisis moment or you're trying to
13:22
Speaker 2: build a trust, especially of the residence, it doesn't have
13:26
Speaker 2: to be some fancy communication portal, right, it doesn't have
13:30
Speaker 2: to be something with all the bells and whistles. It
13:32
Speaker 2: could come down to a very very directed communication plan.
13:40
Speaker 2: Is there a secret sauce that you use when you
13:42
Speaker 2: build trust with the residents because you're often having to
13:46
Speaker 2: come into that same kind of crisis. Is there other
13:51
Speaker 2: than just you being you, which is phenomenal because your
13:54
Speaker 2: charismas comes through any room, But could you reveal any
14:00
Speaker 2: secret sauce that you use to build that trust?
14:03
Speaker 3: You know, one word actually comes to mind when it
14:08
Speaker 3: comes to building trust, and that is transparency. Oftentimes we're
14:14
Speaker 3: so busy I'm trying to keep others that may not
14:21
Speaker 3: be directly involved with the work we do out that
14:24
Speaker 3: we miss those opportunities to bring them in and allow
14:29
Speaker 3: them to support and help us in the ways that
14:31
Speaker 3: we need it. And so one real secret is, certainly
14:39
Speaker 3: when facing a crisis, is transparency speaking to what you
14:43
Speaker 3: just talked about, you know, saying what it is that
14:46
Speaker 3: we are up against, being truthful about that, being honest
14:50
Speaker 3: about that, if you don't know how we're going to
14:54
Speaker 3: resolve whatever the crisis might be at that time, it's
14:57
Speaker 3: okay to say that. When you're saying that, you give
15:01
Speaker 3: them the reassurance that you're committed to working with them
15:05
Speaker 3: to figure it out. That goes a long way. People
15:11
Speaker 3: often don't see us as CEOs as being human, right,
15:17
Speaker 3: and so when you are transparent and you aren't bashful
15:23
Speaker 3: about whatever your weaknesses might be or your concerns might
15:27
Speaker 3: be as an agency, it allows people to appreciate you
15:33
Speaker 3: more as being like them right, relatable, because in life,
15:39
Speaker 3: you're going to face challenges that you don't always have
15:42
Speaker 3: the answers to, but you always seemingly get through those challenges,
15:47
Speaker 3: and they're not usually by yourself. It's not usually done
15:50
Speaker 3: by yourself right in a silo. And so transparency I
15:56
Speaker 3: have found to be extremely effective in a crisis. And
16:01
Speaker 3: I also say that one thing I've found effective is
16:07
Speaker 3: I don't run away from I am I guess the
16:14
Speaker 3: best way to describe my style, if you will, as
16:20
Speaker 3: a leader is that I tend to run to the
16:23
Speaker 3: fire and set away from the fire. I don't know
16:27
Speaker 3: that's good or bad, right. I've been called a few
16:33
Speaker 3: unfavorable names as a result of that being really who
16:39
Speaker 3: I am, But I am a problem solver. It does.
16:45
Speaker 3: It is attractive to me too, and to find myself
16:52
Speaker 3: in positions or situations that require fixing, to require resolve.
17:01
Speaker 3: I am definitely one of those people that is solutions driven.
17:09
Speaker 3: And so when I do or I am faced with challenges,
17:14
Speaker 3: or I have an opportunity to address a challenge, I
17:18
Speaker 3: do it with open arms and a smile on my face. Always.
17:23
Speaker 3: Oftentimes you'll never know that I am going through something
17:27
Speaker 3: or that I am even facing a challenge because my
17:31
Speaker 3: demeanor in general is one that is really calm, is
17:37
Speaker 3: the way I would describe it, and calm is certainly
17:41
Speaker 3: necessary I found in a crisis. But I'm also confident,
17:44
Speaker 3: and I'm confident because of the twenty five years of
17:49
Speaker 3: work that I've had the pleasure of doing. Just a
17:53
Speaker 3: really quick story that I like to share because it's
17:58
Speaker 3: just it's it's always interesting how life kind of takes
18:03
Speaker 3: you on a journey that isn't always planned. Right. When
18:09
Speaker 3: I first graduated from college, like many young adults fress
18:15
Speaker 3: out of college, thought that I would land that six
18:18
Speaker 3: figure job, right, I learned very quickly that that wasn't
18:25
Speaker 3: realistic at all. I applied for positions, and most employers
18:34
Speaker 3: wanted individuals with experience, and I remember thinking, how am
18:40
Speaker 3: I ever going to get some experience if you all
18:42
Speaker 3: won't hire me? Right? But I applied for a job
18:48
Speaker 3: at the housing authority in my hometown, Ake in South Carolina.
18:53
Speaker 3: It was for a part time resident services assistant, and
18:58
Speaker 3: I remember thinking, I do not want this job. It's
19:05
Speaker 3: part time, it's not going to pay me what I'm worth,
19:09
Speaker 3: because remember I'm thinking I'm landing a six figure job.
19:13
Speaker 3: In fact, I wanted to work with juvenile delinquents. That
19:16
Speaker 3: was my goal. I thought I would work in a
19:19
Speaker 3: shelter with troubled kids because I felt that with my
19:24
Speaker 3: own personal background, I could relate to them and help
19:27
Speaker 3: them onto a better life. Right, And so that was
19:33
Speaker 3: the goal. But I got this interview for this position,
19:37
Speaker 3: and I had the I will say, unmitigated goal. That's
19:42
Speaker 3: the way I will describe it the audacity to call
19:47
Speaker 3: the employer and reschedule the interview. So interview schedule, but
19:53
Speaker 3: I'm calling because that day in time no longer works
19:57
Speaker 3: for me. And it didn't work for me because I
19:59
Speaker 3: decided and I'm going to drive to Charlotte and stay
20:02
Speaker 3: with the girlfriend and just get out and beat the pavement,
20:05
Speaker 3: as they would say, to try and find another job.
20:07
Speaker 3: That six figure job, right, Well, that didn't work out.
20:13
Speaker 3: When I got back to Aiken, I did finally interview
20:17
Speaker 3: for the position and I ended up getting the job
20:21
Speaker 3: on the spot. From there, within six months, it was
20:27
Speaker 3: a full time position. And I always tell people that
20:31
Speaker 3: Housing really chose me. I didn't set out to be
20:38
Speaker 3: an affordable housing provider. I don't think most of us
20:40
Speaker 3: do with this career path, right, But I didn't set
20:45
Speaker 3: out I thought i'd do something different. But what I
20:48
Speaker 3: realized very quickly was that I was where I was
20:52
Speaker 3: supposed to be. I have had the pleasure of working
20:56
Speaker 3: in almost every department within the housing authority. It's just
21:01
Speaker 3: been my career has really catapulted, and it catapulted quickly,
21:09
Speaker 3: and I was surprised and taken aback by that to
21:12
Speaker 3: some degree, because it just wasn't what I set out
21:16
Speaker 3: to do. But when you are working and a feel
21:21
Speaker 3: that you're really passionate about, and I had good reason
21:24
Speaker 3: to be passionate about housing. I certainly did not. I'll
21:30
Speaker 3: say I came from meager beginnings and so I know
21:34
Speaker 3: what it is to be housing secure. So it only
21:37
Speaker 3: made sense once I was there that I would be
21:42
Speaker 3: committed and passionate about that kind of work. And so, yeah,
21:48
Speaker 3: it's interesting again as I began the journey that life
21:52
Speaker 3: sometimes takes you on. But it's all of those experiences
21:57
Speaker 3: that really equipped me for this new space of being
22:05
Speaker 3: the olivial pope of the industry right a fixer of
22:09
Speaker 3: the industry. I enjoy it. I enjoy it.
22:12
Speaker 2: You said, housing chose me, And there's something really profound
22:17
Speaker 2: there about realizing you were seeking for opportunity, but yet
22:24
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, some type of destiny decided to
22:28
Speaker 2: step in. And you've made impact in all of these agencies.
22:35
Speaker 2: So let's talk about Indianapolis right now, because you have
22:41
Speaker 2: also brought your fixer skills, yes, and your personality and
22:46
Speaker 2: your decades of experience into another situation that is documented
22:53
Speaker 2: to have some issues. So talk us through because you
22:58
Speaker 2: have already stepped in with your hand and full you're
23:01
Speaker 2: already announcing a twelve month recovery plan. So walk us
23:08
Speaker 2: through your vision and your hope and what you're doing
23:11
Speaker 2: there in Indianapolis.
23:12
Speaker 3: Now, Yes, absolutely so. I actually stepped into the role
23:18
Speaker 3: of CEO as Indianapolis Housing Agency in February of this year,
23:24
Speaker 3: so I've been on board now for about four months
23:27
Speaker 3: or so. The time, honestly is truly flying because I'm
23:33
Speaker 3: having fun, I'm doing the work that I am so
23:36
Speaker 3: passionate about. So it's truly an honor and a privilege.
23:40
Speaker 3: Indianapolis Housing Agency is a great agency. It, like many
23:45
Speaker 3: housing authorities across the country, is facing its share of challenges.
23:53
Speaker 3: This organization has gone through some significant transitions over the years,
24:01
Speaker 3: even with changes in leadership. They have gone through maybe
24:07
Speaker 3: six or seven CEOs in the last just four years,
24:11
Speaker 3: and that's pretty significant. It speaks volumes in terms of
24:16
Speaker 3: some of the challenges that really sist within the organization.
24:21
Speaker 3: But I jumped in both feet committed to doing the
24:28
Speaker 3: work that needed to be done. Of course, I did
24:31
Speaker 3: all of my research prior to joining the organization as
24:34
Speaker 3: much as I could find and it wasn't favorable. As
24:39
Speaker 3: you mentioned, we're on record for not being the most
24:44
Speaker 3: stellar of housing agencies, and certainly we're not proud of that,
24:49
Speaker 3: but we are committed to turning things around. Was it
24:54
Speaker 3: twelve weeks? It was twelve weeks. After twelve weeks, on
24:59
Speaker 3: Mays twelfth, marks my twelfth week, I launched what I
25:06
Speaker 3: call a twelve month action plan, a New Day and
25:09
Speaker 3: Better IEAJ. I was really intentional about the name of
25:17
Speaker 3: the action plan, and because I thought it important to
25:26
Speaker 3: respect those who might have come before me. Right, we
25:30
Speaker 3: know that there is always room for improvement, so I
25:37
Speaker 3: wanted to express our goal. Right, an ultimate goal is
25:43
Speaker 3: to be better, and part of being better is we're
25:47
Speaker 3: going to be a new and different Iah and obviously,
25:53
Speaker 3: considering being in hood receivership, it's necessary, right, But it
26:01
Speaker 3: through that title, it demonstrates our commitment to doing the work.
26:09
Speaker 3: That's where we are. We've got a lot of work
26:12
Speaker 3: to do. We've got a number of challenges ahead of us.
26:17
Speaker 3: But through a New Day and Better IHA we are
26:21
Speaker 3: focusing on five really critical areas, and of course one
26:28
Speaker 3: of those critical areas I've spoken about already, and that
26:32
Speaker 3: is focusing on people. People is a big part. Finances
26:38
Speaker 3: is another part, responsible and good stores of the resources
26:43
Speaker 3: that are extended to our organization. Also focusing on operations,
26:50
Speaker 3: it's important to when you're running a business that we
26:55
Speaker 3: run this business as responsibly as we can. That means
27:00
Speaker 3: taking a look at our policies, our procedures, and how
27:05
Speaker 3: we are conducting business to ensure that again we are
27:10
Speaker 3: adhering to whatever regulations that that might apply. We're also
27:17
Speaker 3: looking at our properties, our properties where we have families
27:22
Speaker 3: residing housing. Our goal is to ensure that we are
27:28
Speaker 3: providing the best quality, affordable housing for those that we serve.
27:36
Speaker 3: Like agencies across the agency, we have aged inventory, and
27:41
Speaker 3: aged inventory equates to deferred maintenance needs. The last the
27:49
Speaker 3: last article are read from HUD regarding the deferred maintenance
27:54
Speaker 3: needs that exist across the country. There's a backlog of
27:57
Speaker 3: about seventy billion dollars. That is huge. It's a real
28:04
Speaker 3: challenge again that we're facing everywhere. No matter what city
28:09
Speaker 3: your housing authority is in. We have really aged inventory
28:13
Speaker 3: with a lot of deferred maintenance needs, and so we're
28:16
Speaker 3: committed to coming up with a strategy that allows us
28:21
Speaker 3: to provide the best quality, affordable housing for those that
28:26
Speaker 3: we serve, and it will be through a number of
28:30
Speaker 3: different methods by which we get there. Right, some of
28:34
Speaker 3: our properties we will sell. As a matter of fact,
28:37
Speaker 3: we have out currently an RFP for the sale of
28:43
Speaker 3: seven of our multifamily communities. These multifamily communities have some
28:50
Speaker 3: deferred maintenance needs, deferred maintenance needs that unfortunately exceed the
28:57
Speaker 3: resources that we have available to address them. And so
29:01
Speaker 3: the decision was made in partnership, of course with the
29:04
Speaker 3: investors that it was in the best interests of the
29:08
Speaker 3: families that reside. They're the best interests obviously of I
29:12
Speaker 3: A H and the investors too to sell those properties.
29:16
Speaker 3: So that's part of our strategy to addressing some of
29:21
Speaker 3: our property needs. So I think I named all five
29:26
Speaker 3: of the pillars of focus through the New Day and
29:32
Speaker 3: Better i H twelve month action plan. It's really solid,
29:36
Speaker 3: it's comprehensive, and it's certainly a plan that will, if
29:43
Speaker 3: we've if followed, will allow us to be the agency
29:48
Speaker 3: that we should be, an agency that this community can
29:51
Speaker 3: be proud of, an agency that our residents can be
29:54
Speaker 3: proud of.
29:57
Speaker 2: Given your experience, is there anything that strike you as
30:02
Speaker 2: really different about the Indianapolis landscape, for good or for baden.
30:10
Speaker 3: Yes, there is certainly one thing that was appealing to
30:15
Speaker 3: me as I considered the IJ opportunity, and that was
30:22
Speaker 3: the established partnerships. Oftentimes when an organization is in crisis mode,
30:31
Speaker 3: as was the situation when I joined Columbia Housing in Columbia,
30:37
Speaker 3: South Carolina. When I joined that organization first as the
30:41
Speaker 3: chief operating Officer, I was actually sought after by Ivory Matthews,
30:48
Speaker 3: who joined the organization as CEO. She called me before
30:53
Speaker 3: accepting the opportunity to ask me if I would consider
30:58
Speaker 3: joining her, understanding that it would be a heavy lift
31:01
Speaker 3: and that I had the skills and expertise to help
31:06
Speaker 3: her to move the agency forward. But when we joined
31:09
Speaker 3: that organization, they were certainly in crisis. Unfortunately, just a
31:16
Speaker 3: few months before we joined, the agency had experienced loss
31:21
Speaker 3: of life. We had two people to pass away from
31:22
Speaker 3: carbon monoxide poisoning, so, as you would imagine, everyone had
31:27
Speaker 3: turned their backs on the organization. So that was certainly
31:33
Speaker 3: a heavy lift, but it was to be expected based
31:36
Speaker 3: on what had happened. Right, But what I have found
31:40
Speaker 3: here in Indianapolis is that the relationships were there as
31:47
Speaker 3: I came in the door. I have had so many
31:51
Speaker 3: meetings with different community partners and local government, the mayor.
31:56
Speaker 3: I actually had the pleasure of meeting with the mayor
31:58
Speaker 3: prior to joining the r organization and very personable man,
32:05
Speaker 3: but passionate about affordable housing and committed to providing the
32:12
Speaker 3: support that the city county government could provide to our
32:18
Speaker 3: organization because they too are committed to seeing things turned around.
32:25
Speaker 3: You don't often have that when you join an organization.
32:29
Speaker 3: In most organizations that I've joined that have been troubled
32:34
Speaker 3: or in receivership, I've had to forge a relationship with
32:40
Speaker 3: local government, with the mayor. And this community was different
32:46
Speaker 3: and that I came in and they welcomed me with
32:51
Speaker 3: opened arms and a lot of the different community organizations
32:56
Speaker 3: and groups, there's a philanthropic groups who's been extreme supportive
33:00
Speaker 3: and wanting to provide resources to the organization. And that's
33:06
Speaker 3: that's that's different and certainly was attractive to me, and
33:13
Speaker 3: I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with so many
33:19
Speaker 3: individuals and organizations are equally committed to our success. See
33:25
Speaker 3: the value in the work that we provide and the
33:29
Speaker 3: services that we provide for the individuals that we serve
33:33
Speaker 3: in this community.
33:35
Speaker 2: You mentioned a good call out here, because you would
33:39
Speaker 2: think that that city county community collaboration is just one
33:45
Speaker 2: of the basic pillars of doing what you have to do,
33:50
Speaker 2: But you don't realize it until you don't have it.
33:53
Speaker 2: And so now that you've been able to step into
33:55
Speaker 2: a community that actually has that collaboration in place, there's
34:02
Speaker 2: some momentum there for you that you're not having to
34:06
Speaker 2: start from a scratch.
34:07
Speaker 3: So absolutely, absolutely, and I'll tell you this too, just
34:12
Speaker 3: to add to that. In April of last year, when
34:17
Speaker 3: the organization first went into receivership, there was a partnership
34:23
Speaker 3: on paper actually between the city County government and also HUT.
34:31
Speaker 3: I want to make certain that I point out that
34:36
Speaker 3: HUD has been extremely instrumental in our recovery efforts. We
34:43
Speaker 3: have had HUD officials in and out of the office
34:45
Speaker 3: since I joined the organization almost weekly, and not just
34:51
Speaker 3: in and out of the organization from a monitoring stand
34:54
Speaker 3: in and out of the organization actually doing the work, processing, research, processing.
35:00
Speaker 3: We're in increases actually doing the work, and so I'm
35:04
Speaker 3: also super grateful to have that level of support because
35:09
Speaker 3: I'm having been in other agencies that have either been
35:14
Speaker 3: in receivership or troubled. That hasn't always been the case
35:18
Speaker 3: hud Of. I'll never forget. In Columbia, for instance, oh gosh,
35:24
Speaker 3: within our first two months, maybe three months, we had
35:30
Speaker 3: one audit, one review, one assessment, one evaluation after another
35:37
Speaker 3: from HUD which was difficult, but it's what it was.
35:43
Speaker 3: That's not been the case here here. Hud has said, Hey,
35:48
Speaker 3: we know that IH has some challenges, but we're willing
35:53
Speaker 3: to roll up our sleeves and help to resolve some
35:56
Speaker 3: of those challenges. So they have been extremely in stringmental
36:01
Speaker 3: in this journey and I'm grateful for that partnership as well.
36:05
Speaker 3: And they've put a lot of financial resources as well
36:09
Speaker 3: behind supporting us. We have a technical assistance grant. We
36:15
Speaker 3: actually are working with APT Associates and also quad AL
36:22
Speaker 3: and I've had the pleasure of working with quad AL
36:24
Speaker 3: at a number of different agencies and they I like
36:30
Speaker 3: to say that Quadel is kind of my lifeline just
36:34
Speaker 3: because I've had so many great experiences. From a capacity perspective,
36:39
Speaker 3: from an expertise perspective, Quadel has been really uh It's
36:47
Speaker 3: proven to be a housing solutions organization, and so I'm
36:51
Speaker 3: grateful to have them here too. Through that partnership, we've
36:55
Speaker 3: actually been able to see some real progress. I'm getting
36:58
Speaker 3: data now that I wasn't getting when I first joined
37:01
Speaker 3: the organization. So again not to you know, because it's you,
37:07
Speaker 3: it's truth, and I'm just grateful and thankful that I
37:13
Speaker 3: was able to through Huts partnership and also a separate
37:18
Speaker 3: partnership with the city, actually bring Quade all on board
37:21
Speaker 3: to provide some additional supports.
37:23
Speaker 2: Well, we appreciate that shout out. We're a little bit
37:26
Speaker 2: like you guys over there in the fact that we
37:29
Speaker 2: run toward the fire also, so we really have a
37:35
Speaker 2: vested interest to see housing authorities, especially Indianapolis. It's a
37:40
Speaker 2: little near and dear to our hearts for multiple reasons.
37:45
Speaker 2: But we are also one of those collaborative partners with you, cheering,
37:50
Speaker 2: rolling up sleeves and really helping get progress made for
37:55
Speaker 2: the residents and for the community. So we are there
37:59
Speaker 2: with you, right there, Era, with our fire gear and
38:01
Speaker 2: our fire hose, right there standing along with you, hoping
38:04
Speaker 2: this happen.
38:06
Speaker 3: Yes, thank you, yeah you.
38:09
Speaker 2: So as we close out here, is there something that
38:14
Speaker 2: you really gravel hold on to to give you hope
38:21
Speaker 2: because you know, even the firefighters using our analogy, you know,
38:24
Speaker 2: they need to take a water break every once in a while.
38:28
Speaker 2: And what is it that you're clinging to doing because
38:33
Speaker 2: I'm sure there's people saying, hey, you know, twelve months
38:37
Speaker 2: turnaround plan? You know, we ninety days. You know, I'm
38:40
Speaker 2: sure there's like this tension to kind of expedite this.
38:45
Speaker 2: But what's giving you hope and giving you momentum to
38:51
Speaker 2: stay there on the front lines? Comparing like your future
38:56
Speaker 2: you're you know, like you're visioning what it can be,
39:00
Speaker 2: but there's a lot of work to get it there.
39:02
Speaker 2: So what's giving you hope to do that?
39:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, that is a great question. Wow, what's giving me hope?
39:14
Speaker 3: So I do not want to get spiritual, but it's
39:20
Speaker 3: who I am, and I want to be completely transparent
39:25
Speaker 3: in sharing helping you appreciate my thought process in this journey. Especially,
39:34
Speaker 3: I am a firm believer in things not happening by
39:43
Speaker 3: chance or by coincidence. Right. I am a firm believer
39:47
Speaker 3: that things happen as they are supposed to, and I
39:53
Speaker 3: am a selfless leader. Is how I will describe myself.
40:02
Speaker 3: I remind myself during the challenges, during the tough times,
40:08
Speaker 3: during those moments of frustration, because certainly I've had many,
40:13
Speaker 3: and that's natural when there simply aren't enough resources right
40:18
Speaker 3: to go around. I wish we could provide housing for everybody.
40:28
Speaker 3: I really do. It's that it's the thing that keeps
40:31
Speaker 3: me up at night. What I where I have found solids.
40:37
Speaker 3: Where I often take my myself too, when I am
40:43
Speaker 3: feeling the way that I just described, is I remind
40:47
Speaker 3: myself that it's not about me. Mm hm. That is
40:54
Speaker 3: when I can stop feeling frustrated, stuff up, feeling discouraged,
41:02
Speaker 3: stop feeling despondent, if you will, because it's really an
41:09
Speaker 3: honor to be used in the way in which I
41:14
Speaker 3: am lending myself. Right, It's an honor, and I know
41:21
Speaker 3: that because it's not about me, and it's more about
41:28
Speaker 3: those that I am of service to. It keeps me grounded,
41:34
Speaker 3: and it keeps me motivated and encouraged, you know, again,
41:41
Speaker 3: coming from meager beginnings. I have two boys, and I
41:48
Speaker 3: tell them both that they are really privileged. They have
41:53
Speaker 3: access to people and things that I didn't have access
41:58
Speaker 3: to coming up right, They've been exposed to things that
42:04
Speaker 3: I hadn't been exposed to because my mom couldn't single
42:09
Speaker 3: parent home, couldn't afford to expose me to those things.
42:13
Speaker 3: So I am really, really careful not to take things
42:18
Speaker 3: for granted. And I've instilled that in them, and I've
42:23
Speaker 3: instilled in them the fact that they were created for
42:28
Speaker 3: a higher purpose and it's beyond who they are, and
42:33
Speaker 3: it's beyond who I am. Yep.
42:36
Speaker 2: Well, I like hearing that because it sounds to me
42:40
Speaker 2: that you're creating a new legacy for not just you,
42:45
Speaker 2: but your kids. And if I can parallel that now
42:49
Speaker 2: for the Indianapolis Housing Agency and so but when you
42:54
Speaker 2: have that intercourse strength you're talking about, then you can
42:59
Speaker 2: kind of keep feeling that and you can realize that
43:05
Speaker 2: you're using your time and your talents for the right reasons.
43:08
Speaker 4: Right right, that's right, Yeah, right, that's exactly right, Yeah,
43:12
Speaker 4: exactly right, for the thousands of families here that are
43:17
Speaker 4: relying on.
43:19
Speaker 3: Indianapolis Housing Agency to get it right, to get it right. Exactly.
43:24
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much. It has been a pleasure
43:27
Speaker 2: to have you here to hear all the great things
43:30
Speaker 2: that you're doing for the Indianapolis Housing Agency. You have
43:34
Speaker 2: a ton of people behind you, supporting, hearing you on,
43:37
Speaker 2: propping you up to make this, make this turnaround happen,
43:42
Speaker 2: and your track record, we know you will.
43:45
Speaker 3: So yeah. Thank you, Thank you so much, Katie for
43:48
Speaker 3: having me. I really appreciate this opportunity to share, and
43:52
Speaker 3: I hope that you know, my colleagues will take something
43:56
Speaker 3: from it, I'm and apply it in their own and
43:59
Speaker 3: their own lives on their own journeys. I agree. Thank
44:03
Speaker 3: you so much, Thank you, Take care.
44:07
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Change Makers with Katie Gore. To
44:10
Speaker 1: find out more about Katie, go to quadel dot com.
44:13
Speaker 1: That's qu A d e l dot com. This has
44:18
Speaker 1: been a production of Forbes Books Radio