Box 5, Folder 17, Document 35

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Box 5, Folder 17, Document 35

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DRAFT - MINUTES OF THE HOUSING RESOURCES COMMITTEE MEETING -2/14/67

Members of the Housing Resources Committee met for their organizational
meeting on Tuesday, February 14, 1967, at 10:00 a.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers at

City Hall.

The meeting was called to order by Mr. Cecil Alexander, Chairman
of the Committee. Mr. Alexander then presented Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. who spoke
at this time. Mayor Allen first expressed his appreciation to everyone on the
Committee for their willingness to serve and to respond to the City's efforts to
provide better housing for its citizens. He reviewed with the Committee the great
magnitude of this problem and the increasing need for more and more housing units.
He pledged the City's full cooperation in attempting to overcome this problem and in
getting this program underway. He expressed the hope that by 1968 the City would
meet its goal for 9,800 new housing units. He also told the group of the Model Cities
Program presently being developed by the City. This program would cover a very
large portion of the city and would affect 55,000 citizens living in the area. This
would be a different program to try to save this particular section of the city. He
stated that he felt the progress that had been made since the November Housing

Conference is an wdieietiem indication that we will meet the goal,

Mr. Ferd Kramer of Draper and Kramer of Chicago spoke to the
group at this time. Mr. Kramer is the past President of Action, Inc. and is
presently on the Board of Directors of Urban America, Inc, and is chairman of their

committee concerned with non-profit housing funds, Mr, Kramer told the committee
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of a housing project he helped develop in Chicago some 7 to 8 years ago. This
project was developed by a group of private individuals representing a cross-
. section of the community and the benefits were two fold:

l. It improved the environment considerablg in the declining
neighborhood; and

2. It provided much needed housing for the staffs of the Michael-
Reese Hospital and the Illinois Institute of Technology (these organizations were the
first groups to institute studies of the area to determine the approach to follow to
combat the decline of the area).

This program was tremendously successful in Chicago and Mr. Kramer
felt it would have some applicability in Atlanta. Mr. Kramer also explained that
Urban America, Inc. has a division especially interested in non-profit housing and
in creating development funds. It is not possible for the Urban America staff to
serve the entire nation's non-profit groups and as a result they have been successful
inpersuading communities to create local development funds to deal with this problem.
He stressed that each community must use every possible means for securing
housing for its low and middle income citizens.

The Chairman then thanked the members of the Committee for
accepting this responsibility and outlined the challenges facing them in providing this
low income housing in Atlanta. He stated he hoped this Committee will serve to
bring the elements together which are necessary for success (new ideas, new structures,

new financing methods, etc.). He teem reviewed several programs that are available
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to help solve this problem. He then outlined the work to be carried out by each
panel and explained that the actual work of the Committee will be conducted through
the panels. He suggested that each panel appoint two young men to assist them and
to carry out the majority of the work. He pointed out that Col. Malcolm Jones

and Mr. William Gates are available to assist the Committee and that their office
is located on the 12th floor of City Hall. Mr. Dan Sweat of the Mayor's Office is
also working closely with this program. He asked that each panel meet at least
once a month and suggested that the full committee meet monthly also. He then
adjourned the meeting and asked the Committee members to meet with the other
members of their panels here today for the purpose of selecting a Chairman and

Co-Chairman.

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