City of Waco Housing & Community Development

Success Stories

What's Happening	Success Stories	Definitions	Strategy to End Chronic Homelessness	Special Events
Facts & Myths about the Homeless	A Day in the Life of a Homeless Man	Could You Survive on the Streets?	Update on 10 year Plan	Links

The City of Waco is often referred to by HUD as a “ Model City” and other cities are referred to us for help in setting up their programs. Recently, Waco has been the recipient of four National Awards and Honorable Mention for one.

1. In January of 2006, a City of Waco staff member along with Baylor Professor Dr. Mary Witte went to Washington D.C. to the National Winter Legislative Conference to receive the Audrey Nelson Community Development Award from the National Community Development Association (NCDA). Project Promise is a program funded through the City of Waco’s Community Development Block Grant funds (CDBG) for low to moderate income gifted and talented students of Waco ISD. The students attend courses of their choice at Baylor University during a summer program. The program serves approximately 70 students per year. (For more information on this program:

2. In June of 2006 the City of Waco was recognized for the Raise the Roof project that it is involved in annually with Waco Habitat for Humanity. The City of Waco and Habitat for Humanity were awarded the John A. Sasso National Award for Community Development from NCDA. Raise the Roof started in 1990, when the Mayor’s conference offered a challenge to cities to come up with a project that helped in Community Development. The City of Waco worked with Habitat for Humanity and allowed city employees to work 8 hours of a set aside week to work on a Habitat client’s home and also to do minor clean up and help others in the area of the home being built. At the time of the award the City of Waco had helped Habitat complete 10 homes through this program.

3. On January 25, 2007 a City of Waco staff person, along with Carlton Willis of the Mission Waco, traveled to Washington D.C. to receive the Audrey Nelson Community Development award. This year the Mission Waco MPowerment program is one of eleven programs that will be recognized nationally by NCDA.

MPowerment is a job-training and transitional job program for un-employed or under-employed persons in Waco not eligible for other workforce training grants. Most beneficiaries are unaccompanied individuals, often homeless or at risk of homelessness. The program teaches clients basic skills for preparing to apply, applying, receiving, accepting and keeping a job.

The program also provides beneficiaries a “transitional job” at local participating agencies including the City of Waco, Mission Waco, Waco Habitat for Humanity, and other non-profit agencies in the area. One graduate of the program entered the program homeless, now lives in an apartment of his own, and is a full time permanent employee of the City of Waco. This client started out coming to work on his bicycle, and now owns a vehicle. The program serves approximately 20-25 per year and is primarily funded with CDBG funds.

4. In June of 2007 the City of Waco along with Waco CDC and Compassion Ministries was awarded an Honorable Mention award for the John A. Sasso National Award through NCDA. This project was a collaboration, which aided a person who transitioned from the Compassion Ministries homeless shelter to a home that was rehabilitated through Waco CDC and had numerous donations. All city fees were waived in connection with this house.

5. In January 2008 the City of Waco, along with Waco CDC, received the Terrence R. Duvernay HOME Program Award of Excellence, a national award from NCDA. This award was in recognition of the Street of Dreams project.

The City has also been nationally recognized or asked to speak at state and national conferences about other housing programs that are considered innovative and outstanding. They include, but are not limited to:

Individual Development Accounts – National League of Cities – recognition
10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness - US Interagency on Homelessness and Texas Homeless Network
Pilot Program - REGION VI FEDERAL INTERAGENCY COUNCIL (RICH)
HUD – being considered as a national “Best Practice” – Milestone Project (Waco CDC, Compassion Ministries, City & others)
National League of Cities - picked as a national “Best Practice” – Tax Foreclosure Lot Sales program (City, County & School)
National league of Cities – picked as “Best Practice” – Waco’s Homeownership Programs (includes Down payment, Financial Education/Counseling, IDA’s , Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention ) – (City, Waco CDC, Waco Habitat , EDC Homes, NeighborWorks Waco)

Brian’s Story

As I walked up the stairs of the small apartment complex, I kept thinking, “I wonder what he will be like?” Taking my first step, my eyes followed the path of the stairs. I noticed a Hispanic family with chairs sitting outside their apartment door. Aunts, uncles, children, and grandma were all trying to enjoy a break from the heat brought that morning by a cooling summer rain. Everyone seemed happy and friendly, despite the tiny little apartment they all shared. They smiled and wished me “good morning” as I continued my trek up the stairs.

Knocking on the door, I paused. “I’m nervous,” I thought. But, I heard the sound of something very familiar. Could it be? Yep, I was right, George Strait was playing on the stereo. I thought to myself, “If he likes George, we already have something in common!” A young man greeted me, probably in his late 20’s to early 30’s. He was wearing a baseball cap, striped colored shirt, cargo shorts and was barefoot. He greeted me with a handshake and said, “Come on in and have a seat.”

As I took a seat on this young man’s couch, he apologized for the loud music and walked over to the stereo to turn it down. He explained that he loves country music and that he just got the tiny new stereo. The apartment was as clean as a whistle, definitely better than mine! On the wall were a mirror and a picture of cowboys rustling cattle. There were two bar stools in the kitchen, a couch, a coffee table with a copy of the Holy Bible resting on top, and a table that held the tiny stereo. Stretching out across an area rug was a fat, happy-looking cat. He looked up at us as though he was completely engulfed in our conversation. I would later find out that the cat’s name was “Tequila” and had been this young man’s traveling companion for quite awhile.

As I gazed around, the setting was cozy and inviting. Over the kitchen bar was a picture that read, “God Bless This House,” a far cry from the streets of Waco and the memories of a homeless man. Yet this was why I had come. I wanted to see where he had come from. How had he gone from being on the streets of Waco to housed, clean, working at a job, and being around people he loves?

Over the next hour, I found out that he had roots in Pennsylvania and San Antonio. He lost his mother when he was a young man and came to live with his father in Texas. And just like those country and western songs, it was a pretty woman he followed to Waco. And that’s how he ended up here. I teased him saying, “There is always a woman involved in these things with men.” We both laughed and from that moment on, the tension disappeared.

I learned that he had stayed at My Brother’s Keeper for a while, and then in Project Hope House at Salvation Army. I told him I knew about both agencies and he responded by saying “Yeah, do you know Rita Cone?” I said, “ Oh yeah I know Rita! Her kids and mine grew up right down the road from each other.” He explained how she had helped him get clean. He went to Church Under the Bridge, and attends a member’s weekly Bible study. Rita told him about the MPowerment Program, a program that helps people get job training, needed identification, a job, housing, and transportation.

I told him how nice his place was and how proud he must be. He was very humble and told me of his plans for the future, goals he had, and purchases he would like to make. I noticed a bicycle in the living room and commented on it. He told me it was one of the first things he had purchased so he could get back and forth to his new job. A copy of his employer’s monthly newsletter was also on the coffee table and he proudly showed me his picture under the “New Employee” heading. He told me the people he works with are very nice. “Wait,” he said, “I have something to show you.” He came around the corner, beaming, with a brand new, shiny, chrome and black mountain bike with a water bottle and secure chain. “Everybody at work got together,” he said, “and chipped in to get me this new bicycle. It’s just so nice. There are a lot of good people in Waco.” I agreed and told him we were both lucky to be working at jobs where the people cared.

I told him I had to be going, but would be in touch with him to be on the City’s Homeless Committee. He walked me down the steps to my car where my husband was waiting and I introduced them. As we drove away, I told my husband, “Pretty neat guy isn’t he? I guess I’ll call his supervisor when I get to work on Monday to make arrangements for him to be on the Mayor’s Committee to End Chronic Homelessness.”

Brian is currently employed full time in the Parks and Recreation Department.

NOTE: The City sub grants HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to Mission Waco for the MPowerment job-training program. The program goal is to economically empower participants out of poverty with a livable-wage job. The CDBG funds provide qualifying adults job training, computer training, financial literacy, and a subsidized transitional job with a participating business. The City of Waco is one of the participating businesses in this program. Qualifying adults for the CDBG-funded program are generally non-TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) lower income adult workers that do not receive full federal subsidies, such as social security or veteran's benefits. They may be homeless, unemployed, or underemployed.

(From “Opening Doors, Unlocking Potential: A Personal Story” by Teri Holtkamp)