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24 Reasons to Celebrate 24 Months
Columbia Housing's Chief Executive Officer Ivory N. Mathews Celebrates 24 Months
A Message of Thanks From the CEO to Resident Families, Her Team, Community Partners & the Public
Cheers to 24 Reasons to Celebrate 24 Months with Columbia Housing! I would first like to send a very special Thank You to our residents, program participants, partners, and the community for their support, feedback, and patience in graciously granting Columbia Housing the opportunity to become the housing provider our community deserves.
I extend credit to my team and partners for their collaborative and cooperative efforts of passion and hard work to achieve the goals represented in each of the 24 Reasons to Celebrate 24 Months.
1 Launched and successfully implemented a 12-Month Action Plan incorporating the 4 principles of Putting Residents First, Increasing Operational Efficiency, Creativity a Climate of Transparency & Accountability, and Rebuilding Public Trust.
Click on the picture below to listen to the local news coverage.
2 Rebranded the agency as Columbia Housing with a more welcoming and inclusive logo, dropping the word authority from our title.
Click the logo below to read more about the rebranding kick-off.
3 Deployed a new responsive website and business portal, which auto-adjusts for optimal viewing on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
4 Launched Vision 2030, a $500 Million Affordable Housing Preservation, Redevelopment & New Construction Plan.
Click on the picture below to listen to the local news coverage.
5 Contributed $96,000 to the United Way of the Midlands Employee Giving Campaign, and awarded the United Way "Best in Class" Public Sector 100 or More Employee Award.
6 Increased virtual communications platform from 86 followers to 40,000+ followers offering resident families and the community more ways to stay up to date on CH happenings.
Click the image below to sign up for News & Events.
7 Launched CH Votes & Zooming to the Polls, a non-partisan platform to educate and encourage residents to exercise their civic duties in local, state, and national elections. Preliminary results from those efforts indicate a 29% increase in voter participation.
Click the logo below to learn more about CH Votes.
8 Launched an Affordable Housing Bond Program, serving as a conduit for $271,489,347 Million in preserving and developing 1,412 affordable units throughout Richland County and the city of Cayce, SC benefiting resident families, community partners, and the communities we serve.
9 Testified at the Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee in support of CO ALERTS ACT of 2019 - cosponsored by Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Robert Menendez (D-NI) - that would require all Public Housing Authorities nationwide to install carbon monoxide detectors in all units. - Nov 2019. The bill ultimately became federal law with the passage of the 2021 American Rescue Plan.
Click the image below to view the testimony.
10 Restored and strengthened Columbia Housing's relationship with 190+ CommUNITY Partners through the #PowerOfPartnerships Initiative.
Click the logo below for a complete list of community partners.
11 Developed and launched Columbia Housing's Employee Empowerment Apprenticeship Program (for Maintenance Employees); a US Department Of Labor registered apprenticeship program in partnership with Midlands Technical College & Carolina Apprenticeship.
12 Completed a comprehensive assessment of the entire public housing portfolio (1,694 units), identifying a deferred capital need of $250 Million.
13 Deployed and completed an agency Organizational Restructuring to improve operational efficiency and increase organizational capacity.
14 Completed the construction of Lorick Place, an 87 unit community providing quality affordable housing with modern amenities to residents.
15 Launched 200+ virtual workshops for residents on topics ranging from career development, improving personal relationships, financial management to social engagement.
Click below to see all upcoming events.
16 Maximized the Housing Choice Voucher Programs landlord and resident participation by supporting 4,598 families with $2.5 Million in monthly rental payments to landlords.
Click the image below to learn more about CH's Housing Choice Voucher Programs.
17 12 resident families realized their dream of homeownership and hundreds of other local families benefitted from CH's homeownership education program.
18 Replaced outdated antiquated legacy hardware and software technology systems with robust, scalable, and modern cloud-based technology platforms.
19 Provided area-wide transportation to resident families allowing them access to early voting, vaccinations, and food resources through partnership with The COMET transportation system.
20 Recognized as Richland County Government's Partner of the Month in May of 2021.
21 Launched a 30% Women-Owned Enterprise, Minority-Owned Enterprise, and Small-Business Enterprise participation goal.
Click the image below to view the video of the WMSBE Contractor Seminar held last fall.
22 Fought the spread of the COVID19 virus by maximizing community partnership with the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control to deliver free testing, vaccinations, and access to those services. Created 30-second commercial encouraging seniors to wear face coverings and practice social distancing.
Click the video below to watch the PSA.
23 Launched Housing Power Hour Get Plugged-In: A virtual public series designed for interactive public conversation to communicate all things Columbia Housing.
24 CEO named one of SC Midlands 50 Most Influential by Columbia Business Monthly.
The past 24 months have truly been a highlight of my 20+ year career in affordable housing. We featured 24 milestones but there are many, many more. To read about those, we invite you to visit our website columbiahousingsc.org.
Yours in service,
Ivory N. Mathews
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