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HOPE VI is the name of a grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Congress created this program after recognizing that many large inner city housing sites were collapsing.
Poor design, deferred maintenance, and decades of hard use combined to turn these “projects” into sinkholes of poverty that sapped economic vitality and hope from their residents.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority uses HOPE VI funds in combination with funding from both private investors and other public entities to demolish old sites. Those sites are then rebuilt with attractive townhouses and garden-style apartments for renters, homeowners, and families of all incomes. The old sites are transformed into lower density developments that will help revitalize city neighborhoods. The scale of this revitalization is far wider than ever imagined because of the breadth of partnerships in the HOPE VI program and the power of private investment in it.
HOPE VI means that PHA has the flexibility to devise innovative funding mechanisms in the same way a private property management company does. In fact, PHA and other authorities are adopting industry standards in operations and management, giving public housing residents and taxpayers the most for their money.
HOPE VI also provides education, job training, and other support to residents of these rebuilt communities so they can become independent.
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