►
From YouTube: State of the City 2021 - Housing
Description
State of the City 2021 - Housing
Regina Krueger of the West Central Neighborhood Association and Rudy Jones, Director of Community Development speak about homeownership and the assistance offered for safe and sanitary housing through City of Waterloo programs.
A
We've
lived
in
our
house
here
for
going
on
42
years,
so
we
came
and
stayed,
and
this
was
our
house
that
we
bought
right
after
we
got
married.
So
we
have
just
weathered
a
couple
things
and-
and
we've
always
felt
like.
If
we
had
concerns
you
know
there
were
people
that
would
listen
to
us
and-
and
we
made
that
happen
at
a,
we
belong
to
west
central
neighborhood
association,
and
when
we
did
have
concerns,
we
had
a
meeting
one
night
and
we
had
the
mayor
there
mere
heart.
A
B
I'm
rudy
jones,
the
director
of
the
waterloo
community
development
department,
and
what
we
do
is
provide
mostly
housing
assistance,
everything
from
demolition
to
new
construction,
everything
in
between
and
help
a
lot
of
our
non-profits
provide
those
services
that
translate
not
just
a
house
but
a
home.
What
we're
trying
to
accomplish
is
giving
our
community
the
opportunity
to
be
the
best
community
with
its
tools
is
capital,
its
human
capital,
its
resources
that
we
can
see
how
far
we
can
take
this
thing.
We
continue
to
encourage
our
neighborhoods
that
are
different
across
the
community.
B
What's
your
strengths,
what
are
your
shortcomings?
How
can
we
bring
some
additional
tools
for
your
toolbox
to
maximize
who
you
want
to
be
who
you
are
planning
on
being
when
the
pandemic
first
hit?
Last
spring,
we
found
ourselves
being
compelled
to
shut
our
operations
down,
with
the
exception
of
our
emergency
repair
programs.
B
So,
with
staff
going
home,
we
were
able
to
take
that
time
away
from
our
performance
and
begin
to
build
our
contractor
pool.
That
was
also
the
same
year
that
our
lead
has
a
control
grant
ended.
So
we
use
that
as
an
opportunity
to
rebuild
the
program
before
we
apply
for
another
grant
and
fortunately
we
believe
we
had
a
good
makeup
that
allowed
us
to
be
awarded
another
three-year
3.1
million
dollar
grant.
B
B
That
means
we've
got
to.
Instead
of
pulling
out
our
hammers,
we
need
to
get
our
pneumatic
nailers
to
be
able
to
get
more
production,
to
create
more
efficiency
and
get
into
those
numbers.
We
typically
can
address
somewhere
between
40
50,
maybe
60
housing
units
a
year.
But
with
these
additional
resources
we
should
be
able
to
move
towards
that
goal
of
averaging
80
units
a
year
we're
up
for
it.
When
we
talk
about
leadership,
we
understand
that
without
a
vision,
the
people
perish
as
a
quote
from
the
scriptures.
B
So
leadership
is
very
critical
with
any
group
organization.
In
our
case,
the
community,
as
we
prepare
to
move
forward.
Those
leaders
are
our
elected
officials.
Our
department
heads
our
neighborhood
association
representatives,
those
who
run
our
non-for-profit
organizations,
our
philanthropic
community.
Everybody
has
a
role
in
the
advancement
and
development
of
our
community,
but
there
are
some
critical
masses.
That
leadership
requires
that
people
be
led
in
the
proper
direction
that
we
bring
all
that
synergy,
getting
it
going
in
one
direction.