Darlene Cook, CIH CM General Manager, CEO Peterborough Housing - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Darlene Cook, CIH CM General Manager, CEO Peterborough Housing Corporation Breathing New Life- Reshape, Restructure, Reinvigorate HSC Regeneration Forum 2016

The Way We Were � After 2001 Devolution until recently � Stand Alone LHC (Local Housing Corporation) � 818 RGI units, 8 supportive (frail elderly), 218 affordable housing units � Under contract, PHC manages the centralized wait list and approx 250 rent supplement agreements � Incorporated a subsidiary for development in 2005 called “Finally A Home” � Staffing model was a centralized office model

The Way We Were � Devolution and the Social Housing Reform Act added new processes and paper to an already heavy administrative model and reduced time and resources spent on client service � Property Managers focused on punitive measures to support new legislation e.g. opportunities to comment, notices of decision, appeal procedures � Centralized wait lists produce long wait timelines and result in client frustration at lack of affordable housing, choice of areas, rules and regulations

The Way We Were � Priority placements saturated communities with high needs clients and providers had inadequate number of support staff to assist � Staff constantly troubleshooting, multitasking, feeling burnt out and often the “target” of applicant and tenant frustrations � Client needs are becoming increasingly complex � Layers of legislative codes and compliance add to an already heavy administrative burden further decreasing time spent to develop good client relationships

Times begin to change � Housing Services Act 2011 reduces some of the paperwork and provides more municipal flexibility � Funding for new affordable housing slows to a trickle; we had built 218 units under 8 contribution agreements � Staff had increased from 19 to 31 with new growth, but not in a strategic way � New technology allows more mobility for work in the field

Time to rethink, reorganize � Beginning with a new Strategic Plan in 2013, we envision a different future � Emphasis is now on community engagement, future housing needs, new development, regeneration of current properties and quality customer service � Vision of mixed communities rather than 100% RGI � Properties are now coming to the end of their debentures and opportunities exist to reinvest in our housing stock, divest ourselves of some units, fill the housing need by building new purpose built developments

And so we begin � In order to change both our staffing and physical asset models, we need to analyze our future needs � We knew we needed a “deep dive” approach for both areas; looking at our past and present, identifying our future objectives and making a plan to position PHC to achieve its’ goals � We began to look at assets by striking an End of Debentures Committee, made up of staff and board members, meeting once a month, 2 hours max, looking at the possibilities of all of our properties

And so we begin � On the staffing reorganization front, we hired a consultant to take the management team on a facilitated journey to discover what change could look like, how we could meet the expectations of our clients, stakeholders and service partners and also identify the skills, knowledge and talent we would need in the future � 4 half day meetings over the period of 10 months � Each individual designed a new org chart, we “melted” them down to 3 and then to 1

Challenges � Change is difficult, fear is real, supporting staff through change is critical; supporting clients through change takes enormous energy � PHC did not have the organizational structure or critical partnerships to help us with the transition � Managers were often competing for scarce capital resources without an eye to the future � Peterborough has the largest demographics in the Country of aging population and also the largest “core” need in housing as identified by CMHC

Staffing � We identified a need to look at applicants and tenants as customers or consumers, mirroring the private market… huge mindset change � We are ready to pilot “choice based rental” and have introduced “model suites”; expanding client choice without refusal penalties and shortening vacancy loss � Focus on “frontline service” in all of our staff roles � Organizational model changes from Property Management to Resident Services � Upgraded job descriptions with broader responsibilities, skills, competencies and knowledge

Staffing � Utilization of modern communication tools to facilitate efficiencies while in the field � Office configuration was changed to suit one stop service � Units taken out of service to provide community hubs for activities, service provision and base for Resident and Community Service Managers � Mindset change of doing “with” clients rather than “for or to” � Partnership with Community Mediation Services, Peterborough Dialogues to facilitate tenant engagement � Frontline staff with a “can do “ attitude, assisting tenants and applicants and have the ability to problem solve

The Way We Were

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Reorganization � We are moving towards our new model, one pillar at a time and expect to take 12 months to complete � We will evaluate for 6 months after and tweak where necessary � New positions go out for competition, both externally and internally � Some positions have been made redundant, we have had some layoffs and expect 3 retirements � New job descriptions will be done to reflect changes in responsibilities and the division they report to � We are a unionized environment and have sought concurrence with CUPE as we proceed

Our Corporate Assets � After the End Of Debenture Committee had finished it’s deep dive looking at all of the assets, we identified properties that no longer served our needs, some which we wanted to retain and revitalize and some that we hoped to knock down and redevelop and intensify � We entertained new concepts such as use as student housing, commercial sites and building in areas where we did not have sites at all or were devoid of family housing � We felt that PHC needed to optimize its “Spruce Corners” model and create a new robust supportive senior’s site in two locations

Capital Financing & Community Revitalization Plan (CFCRP) � We led with an Expression of Interest and had 9 responses and then sent an RFP to 4 of the respondents after scoring was complete � 3 of the 4 respondents submitted their proposals after attending a PHC information meeting � SHS Consulting, assembling the talents of many partners won the RFP. Funding was provided by the Service Manager as it was felt that this was an important business plan that would guide the future of PHC

CFCRP � Our goal is to have the Plan finalized in 6 months and we are on target for a June completion. � 5 communities have been identified for demolition and redevelopment � Conceptual plans have been introduced � Financial models are currently being worked on � Our goal is to present to council to achieve overall approval rather than to go forward each time we divest, develop or enhance a property