Fort Smith Housing Authority named Agency of the Year

The Arkansas Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Rehabilitation has named the Fort Smith Housing Authority the Agency of the Year.

In the 2009-10 fiscal year, the FSHA achieved a 100% Section Eight Management Assessment Program score, completed nearly $1.5 million in storm repairs to elderly and disabled public housing, and expended 100% of the $806,459 federal stimulus grant to construct eight new fully handicap-accessible public housing apartments at Nelson Hall Homes.

Additionally, in the fall of 2009, FSHA successfully competed for a $1.3 million Neighborhood Stabilization Program Grant (NSP-1) to acquire eight blighted and abandoned properties in an economically disadvantaged area of Fort Smith.

After closing on the grant in April 2010, FSHA completed the acquisitions and are reconstructing eight new single-family homes on scattered sites. These new homes will serve as inspiration to the homeowners in these blocks, giving them hope that their neighborhood can be made better, according to FSHA.