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

Our Objectives

To have the right people, engage the most suitable

partners with the goal to serve a diverse range of clients in vibrant, mixed communities.

To tailor our assets to meet future needs and utilize

• ur equity to achieve these goals

We need to adopt a “commercial head” and a “social

heart”

PHC needs to take risks, generate revenues in order to

be market ready and self reliant

We need to constantly evaluate our services to meet

future needs

Looking Ahead

Our 10 Year Business Plan and Internal Reorganization will

be complete before the end of 2016 giving PHC the resources required to execute and achieve our future goals

The new Long Term Affordable Housing Strategy from

MMAH will assist us to move forward

We have purchased a former college building in which to

house our “Homeward Bound” project, with a total of 22 units and possibly a day care

We have plans to build an 80 unit supportive seniors

building, in partnership with the Peterborough Regional Health Centre to facilitate discharge planning with dedicated units

We believe we will be the developer of choice for the

City of Peterborough for its new shelter and transitional units and for a small supportive seniors building in Havelock

PHC is open to opportunities to assist non-profit

providers as they consider their future needs

We are preparing for the new housing environment; to

go from the housing of last resort to the landlord of choice

CHANGE

Thank you.