Little Rock is expanding a national partnership that will bring free home renovations and repairs to low-income families in the fall, Mayor Mark Stodola announced Thursday.
He touted the new program during his State of the City address while also mentioning the need to focus on the rising crime rate among minors, to invest in people to decrease unemployment and to aid felons' re-entry into society.
The annual speech is meant to highlight accomplishments and allow the mayor to lay out his vision for the city, as well as address obstacles. Stodola presented his comments this year at the new 12th Street police station.
The free home repairs will come through the city's partnership with AmeriCorps -- an organization that uses federal funds to send volunteers across the country to aid communities in a variety of services.
Eligibility requirements for the new program haven't been finalized, but it is proposed that recipients must be at least 62 years old or disabled, own and occupy the house, and meet certain income guidelines.
AmeriCorps teams of about 10 members each will come to the city in three stages over 12 months. Each visit would last between eight and 11 weeks. Stodola said the program will benefit "low-income families in need."
"Repairs will include replacement of windows and doors, repair of exterior siding, sheet rock and other modest interior home repairs, and needed improvements, including weatherization," he said.
Little Rock has benefited from AmeriCorps volunteers before. Most recently, groups have worked to install gardens at seven of the city's high-poverty elementary schools. Last year, the teams' efforts amounted to more than $312,000 in volunteer services to the city, according to the mayor.
When receiving AmeriCorps members, a city must house them. Little Rock is spending $75,000 to renovate the former Eastside Senior Citizens Center into a 20-person hostel to accommodate volunteers. The center is near the St. Vincent Health Clinic East and the Nathaniel W. Hill Recreation Center on Sixth Street.
Stodola expects renovations to be complete by October.
Little Rock already has programs that offer funds to certain eligible citizens for the repair of their homes, but most of the programs involve loans or some payment from the homeowner. Also, those funds run out quickly, at-large City Director Joan Adcock said Thursday.
She told the story of a woman in her 90s who had a hole in her roof, but the city's emergency funds for immediate roof replacement had run out. The new program will help people like her, Adcock said.
Adcock gave another example of Habitat for Humanity repairing four porches and building 11 handrails in one day in the Love neighborhood in Ward 1 a few years ago.
"Simple things like that are something we would just find someone to do, but these elderly people do not have people to do those things," Adcock said. "That would be the difference in keeping their homes. When they have to leave their homes, then we have abandoned houses, and they are torn down. Then we have vacant weed lots, and the city has to pay to cut the weed lots."
The home repair program is just one way for the city to invest in its residents, Stodola said Thursday. Little Rock must also work with partners to offer more skills training to the unemployed and under-employed.
"The business community must do its part if we are going to ensure the companies of tomorrow that we have a workforce that is trained, talented and ready," he said.
He used some of the city's re-entry programs as positive examples. The city has been training young adults at its Evening Career Center -- 7701 Scott Hamilton Drive -- and providing certifications in skills such as welding, nursing assistance and computer design. Through a city partnership, Our House homeless shelter and Goodwill Industries have started felony re-entry programs that collectively placed 142 people in employment last year.
Stodola called on private businesses to "ban the box" on job applications that asks whether someone has been convicted of a felony. The city no longer asks that information and employs felons in several departments. The city does restrict the employment of certain sex offenders.
Little Rock also is working to increase its early intervention measures to prevent more minors from entering a life of crime, Stodola said. It's a subject his 2014 State of the City address focused on heavily. Stodola recently started two crime task forces, one dealing directly with youths.
He didn't have recent data Thursday, but he presented statistics from four years ago that showed a sharp increase in youth-committed crime.
In 2010, Little Rock had 978 minors commit 1,617 crimes. The next year, that climbed to 1,227 youth committing 2,636 crimes. The numbers have remained similar, Stodola said.
About 35 percent of the more serious crimes occurred during the school day, he said.
Asked for comment after the speech, Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner said it's important that the city's 20 school resource officers play the correct role in early incidents at schools.
"Many of the juvenile arrests are occurring on school grounds, which is counterproductive to our learning environment," Buckner said. "That's troubling for us. We are trying to deal with that. We don't want to be the first line of defense for administrative issues going on in schools."
He said a division director plans to meet with the resource officers and school principals soon to re-emphasize the intent of the program, which is to provide a safe environment for kids and not to use a law enforcement approach to school-based discipline issues.
Metro on 03/20/2015