PHAR’s mission is to educate and empower low-income residents to protect and improve our own communities through collective action.
The Roles and Goals of PHAR:
- We are the duly recognized federal mandate to represent residents in all aspects of Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA) operations.
- PHAR’s main purpose is to organize with public housing residents to make policy changes that will improve their quality of life.
- The PHAR Internship Program is a 6-month hands-on team approach to develop community leadership, educate residents, add to PHAR’s capacity for organizing, and contribute to economic empowerment of individuals.
- We provide assistance to individual residents if they have a problem with CRHA, such as maintenance issues, grievances or reasonable accommodation requests.
- PHAR engages strongly on redevelopment by supporting the Resident’s Bill of Rights for Redevelopment and developing and implementing the Positive Vision for Resident Directed Redevelopment.
- We work to improve residents’ economic well-being through implementation of Section 3 programming. Section 3 is a federal regulation opening up opportunities for jobs and training whenever HUD money is spent.
How PHAR Works: PHAR is entirely governed by low-income people. The Board is composed of public housing residents and one Section 8 resident. An advisory board assists PHAR with strategy, fundraising, and community support. PHAR is a very lean organization, with a small staff and a dedicated core of volunteers who support our work with over 1,200 donated hours each year.
PHAR’s Current Priorities:
- Resident-led Redevelopment,
- Maintenance Improvements,
- Internship Program,
- Safety and Health Improvements and
- Section 3 Programming, including Job Training and Employment Opportunities, especially coming about from Redevelopment
PHAR’s Major Successes:
- Redevelopment Planning focused on improving the quality of life in CRHA neighborhoods, including winning the Residents’ Bill of Rights for Redevelopment, stopping a rushed conversion of public housing, and publishing the Positive Vision for Resident Directed Redevelopment
- Excess Utilities Lawsuit bringing about policy reform and refunds for residents who were unfairly billed.
- Among the many, many policy reforms won by PHAR three stand out: Eviction Prevention, De-Barment and the re-opening of the Westhaven Nursing Clinic.
