NYCHA Celebrates Black History Month With Four Employee Profiles
Social Worker Yolanda Johnson-Peterkin spent 26 years in the criminal justice arena with non-profit agencies that bridged the transition between incarceration and the community. When NYCHA started its Family Re-entry Pilot Program three years ago, Ms. Johnson-Peterkin left her position as director of operations for re-entry at the Women’s Prison Association to manage the Authority’s new re-entry program.
“I knew the process of re-entry really well and was thrilled to have the opportunity to do the job here at NYCHA,” she said. NYCHA’s program works with 13 participating service providers, including the Women’s Prison Association, which file applications on behalf of formerly incarcerated people who want to return to their family in one of NYCHA’s developments. Until NYCHA’s pilot program began three years ago, these individuals would not have had an opportunity to return to public housing.
Ms. Johnson-Peterkin publicizes and promotes NYCHA’s re-entry program within the resident community and outside the Authority so that the service providers and other organizations can file applications for the family re-entry program. She also works with the participating service providers to facilitate the safe transition home to the community and provide re-entry services for the program participants.
“We are excited to have recently been included in HUD’s toolkit, It Starts with Housing: Public Housing Agencies are Making Second Chances Real, as one of three highlighted programs that can serve as models for other public housing authorities across the country. Now that’s progress,” Ms. Johnson-Peterkin noted.
“What I enjoy the most is helping people to understand that family reunification is important because nearly all of the 94 individuals we have reunified have been successful. We have had unfortunately one re-conviction, and this is far better than most recidivism numbers for people on parole,” she said.
“I love to see that when we give people and families a safe and stable place to live, they will take care of each other.”
Sybille Louis immigrated to the United States from Haiti as a teenager in 1992. While pursuing her master’s in urban policy and management at the New School, she completed a graduate internship in NYCHA’s then-Research and Policy Development Department. Having experienced firsthand, when she arrived in the U.S., the positive impact that government programs can have on people’s lives, Ms. Louis went to work for a non-profit agency in Brooklyn that supported people with HIV/AIDS. But NYCHA didn’t forget the committed graduate student and later contacted her for an opening in her prior area.
In just eight years, Ms. Louis has progressed from staff analyst to director for performance tracking & analytics. NextGen NYCHA’s emphasis on transparency, data-driven decisions, and metrics to track success shines a spotlight on her work, under Vice President for Performance Management & Analytics Anne-Marie Flatley.
“At NYCHA, data and demographics aren’t just numbers,” Ms. Louis said. “There is a story behind the numbers that you have to dig to find. I enjoy connecting the numbers to the reasons behind them. That’s the only way you can put them in context and determine the best ’corrective action’.”
Are work orders going up because of a delay in receiving materials or vendor problems? Did rent arrears increase after the financial crisis in 2008 because of the tanking economy, NYCHA’s rent increases, or both? These are the kinds of questions that inspire Ms. Louis to “dig.”
“At NYCHA, we have a strong impact on such a large population in New York. This keeps me passionate about what I do,” she explained. “We are the last bastion of housing affordability and I believe in the mission of preserving public housing.”
Stanley McEntire joined NYCHA in 2008—late in life, he says. His sister was a 32-year NYCHA veteran, and when Mr. McEntire needed a new career, he turned to NYCHA too. He’s worked as a caretaker at Albany Houses ever since. “When the tenants see me working hard and notice how clean the building is, they call me ‘old school,’” Mr. McEntire said. While serving as shop steward, he raised so many safety issues that NYCHA finally asked him to become a safety associate (see p. 6). “I understand the importance of safety rules and protective equipment, and I think the safety committee appreciates the things I’ve tried to accomplish,” Mr. McEntire said. “There’s not many places that give you a fair opportunity to advance,” he noted, with his eye on the next competitive exam. In the meantime, he enjoys interacting with hundreds of residents who know him, co-workers who are willing to learn more about safety, and putting in a good day on the job. “At the end of the day, I know I gave it my all.”
Just after graduating high school, Nat Parris began work at Glenwood Houses, in Brooklyn, through the CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) program. Thirty-six years later, he attributes his success at NYCHA to the superintendent there who recognized his potential and encouraged him to set his sights high. Now a regional asset manager in the Authority’s NextGen Operations (NGO) program, Mr. Parris is providing professional support and guidance to property managers, property management supervisors, and their staff at seven developments in the Bronx and Manhattan. Regional asset managers support and mentor property management staff at NGO developments, helping them assume more responsibility for budgets, management of work orders, and resident engagement. “These managers are the CEOs of their development. I have to gauge how much assistance each manager or staff member may need for day-to-day operations and also longer-range planning in order to bring everyone up to the same level,” he explained. The most rewarding aspect of the job, Mr. Parris said, “is the closer connection to residents” who may contact him about their concerns and his satisfaction from following up with property managers to see the results. There’s also the satisfaction of seeing employees gain the skills and confidence they need to realize their potential, just like he did while climbing the ranks.
