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also ninety-three (93) miscellaneous inquiries (e.g., noise, neighbor disputes, parking, etc.).
<br />ECHO staff, furthermore, assisted eight (8) households with conciliation/mediation services.
<br />Lastly, staff referred fifty-three (53) households, or 224 persons, to small claims court and forty-
<br />seven (47) households, or seventy-five (75) persons, to other appropriate agencies.
<br />To educate tenants and landlords about their rights and responsibilities, ECHO distributed a total
<br />of 1,874 educational materials, provided sixty-five (65) public service announcements, and held
<br />three (3) trainings for property owners/managers. ECHO met or exceeded all of its goals by
<br />large percentages.
<br />♦ Housing Rehabilitation Program
<br />Under the City's Housing Rehabilitation Program, extremely low- and very low- and income
<br />homeowners, particularly seniors, have their homes improved and remained housed. The
<br />following grants are available to these residents: Minor Home Repair, Mobile Home Repair,
<br />Accessibility, Exterior Clean -Up, Exterior Paint, and Seismic Strengthening. Of the twenty-four
<br />(24) grants awarded, seventeen (17), or 70%, were provided to seniors. This program also offers
<br />low interest loans for major housing rehabilitation. Both of the two (2) home rehabilitation loans
<br />approved were provided for extremely low-income seniors.
<br />♦ Davis Street Family Resource Center
<br />The City Redevelopment Agency contracted with DSFRC to provide housing services referring
<br />clients to rental opportunities in the City, including existing City below-market rate (BMR) units.
<br />These services aim to prevent those currently housed from becoming homeless. DSFRC staff:
<br />• Distributed 156 information packets, which contain names and contact information for
<br />affordable housing units and local housing authorities and informational topics covering
<br />tips on how to search for rentals, positive ways to communicate with a potential landlord,
<br />fair housing resources, and how to obtain a credit history. An average of 120 callers per
<br />month inquired about housing assistance and the availability of affordable rental units.
<br />• Placed sixty-two (62) families from San Leandro into housing units or waiting lists in
<br />BMR properties in San Leandro and other rental properties in other cities including
<br />Castro Valley, Belmont, Richmond, Manteca, Sacramento, and Oakland. Additionally,
<br />one (1) family, which was among nine (9) other families that were referred under the
<br />McKinney-Vento Act, was successfully housed in San Leandro.
<br />• Conducted seven (7) site visits at Below Market Rate (BMR) properties in San Leandro.
<br />Staff also maintained regular contact with Eden Information & Referral (Eden I&R) to
<br />provide updates on vacancies and waiting lists of BMR properties.
<br />• Continued to maintain its close relationship with Building Futures with Women &
<br />Children (BFWC) by providing supportive services, such as housing searches,
<br />employment counseling, emergency shelter, and clothing, to thirty-seven (37) BFWC and
<br />Sister Me Home clients. DSFRC, moreover, continually sends updated BMR vacancy or
<br />waiting list information to BFWC to keep them abreast of affordable housing
<br />opportunities for their clients.
<br />• Distributed information regarding April Showers, which are organized by the Interfaith
<br />Homeless Network for homeless individuals.
<br />• During this fiscal year, six (6) DSFRC staff members attended Alameda County's
<br />InHouse Privacy and Certification training. All were certified to use Alameda County's
<br />DRAFT Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report: FY 2009-2010
<br />City of San Leandro
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