Happy Holidays!

The end of the year always seems to go by fast. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving that my partner and I hosted at our home. It was nice to bring both sides of the family together!

Here is my dad preparing the most

important part of the meal!

Plenty of Love and Smiles to Share!

We are already getting ready for Christmas! Happy Holidays to all of you! May the Joy of the season surround you and your loved ones!

In Conclusion

I am almost finished with the report I am generating for LISC about employer assisted housing. My last day at LISC will be December 17th. I will be attending a meeting with LISC Phoenix’s Executive Director and Valley Metro that day to listen in on the project that will become of this partnership. I cannot wait to see how it all unfolds. What a great way to end my time at LISC, a continuation to further progression. My time at LISC Phoenix has been a great and insightful opportunity that I have really enjoyed.

One Step In the right direction for making Transit

Oriented Development feasible in Phoenix!

Housing and Transportation Affordability

I have started gathering statistics for the White Paper I am drafting, and am learning quite a bit. The Center For Neighborhood Technologies published a report on the burdens of housing and transportation and working families. In phoenix specifically they found that working families spend 57% of their income on housing and transportation. The Center For Neighborhood Technologies said that to be considered affordable, families should spend no more than 45% of their income on transportation and housing. They also have a Housing And Transportation Affordability Index that you can view and if you look in the Phoenix Metro Area Specifically you will see that the factor of affordability gets smaller in the region when transportation is considered. Too add to the mess many working families spend about 30% of their income on transportation, more than they spend on housing which is 27%.

Currently Illinois is looking at adopting the Housing and Transportation Index as a planning tool and as a criterion in the allocation of funding for transit, highways, economic development, and housing projects. It is in the State Senate and if passed in Illinois will be the first type of legislation that goes beyond including just housing as an affordability factor. It is important for the City of Phoenix I feel to adopt such policies as well if we are going to remain a competitive, economical, sustainable, and attractive city. It is the way the future is moving and since HUD announced its Partnership with DOT and EPA, if we want future funding we will have to be able to be able to and implement and be effective in such policies.

If you are Interested in the report or viewing the index you can click on the following link:
http://www.cnt.org/repository/heavy_load_10_06.pdf

Career Services: Interviewing and Professional Dress

Last Tuesday I listened to a career services webinar on Interviewing and professional dress. It touched on the basics of being prepared for an interview. It stressed the importance of researching the agency you are interviewing with prior to your interview. One great piece of advice was to spend some time clarifying your career goals, which will enable you to answer the interviewer’s question better. You should also be able to answer questions such as: What do you feel are your greatest strengths and challenges? What do you believe you will contribute to this agency? What do you believe qualifies you for this position? And why are you interested in this position?

There was also discussion on professional dress. I jotted down the business attire for women: Makeup should look natural. A conservative style dress suit should be worn. Suits should be dark solid colors such as navy or gray. Closed toe and closed heel shoes are most appropriate. One interesting point, sad but true, do not carry a cheap plastic pen. Also, Make sure to carry your notepad and other materials in a leather cover or nice case.

Please see picture below for appropriate business attire!

It's A Girl

I have known for awhile now that my sister is pregnant. But yesterday, I found out she is going to be having a girl! I am super excited for her, and super excited for the newest member of our family! It is the first grandchild of our family, so you can imagine how excited all of us are! She will definitely be one spoiled little girl!

Congrats Meg! I know She'll be just as cute and wonderful as you!

Employer Assisted Housing

I met with Teresa, Executive Director at LISC Phoenix, today to gain further insight into the White Paper I am drafting. I am going to be doing further research on Employer Assisted Housing, and including findings of my research on the White Paper. This paper will stress the importance of Employers’ offering employee benefits in assistance for affordable housing. Depending on the employer’s location they will be able to see the Neighborhood Stabilization funds being allocated in areas closest to them to further help their employees.

Many employers’ create incentives to get employees to figure out alternatives to transportation, other than single vehicle occupancy use, on their own. Incentives to employees’ may include things such as prize drawings to encourage them to not only make the effort to research their options, but also make the effort to use them. While this is good and helps, our program is intended to put some of that responsibility back on the employer. Valley Metro already has several tools that employers’ can use for mapping out transportation options for employees’. Employers’ can actually enter in specific employee data such as their address and this map will identify carpool or vanpool matches, local bus route options or even a light rail connection that would get employees to work without them driving.

Fannie Mae and the Center for Neighborhood Technology have several studies they have conducted in regards to the connection between housing, jobs, and transportation. I have been finding them useful and very informative. I am also excited to meet the individuals at Valley Metro behind this partnership with LISC, and will hopefully get the opportunity to do so in December. Teresa has asked me if I would be interested in attending the next meeting with her and I intend on doing so!

White Paper

At the end of the research I am doing for LISC in regards to the Sustainable Home Ownership and NSP program, I will have to create a rough draft White Paper. A White Paper is a report or guide that often addresses issues and how to solve them. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions on a particular issue.

This paper will make it apparent why employers should be interested in employer assisted housing. It will make the connection between housing and transportation, as well as transportation and affordability being key factors in job retainment. I have never written a White Paper, so I guess now is as good a time as ever to get started! I will be meeting with Teresa, LISC’s executive director, to get this paper underway!