GKAD was one of nine nonprofit organizations in the area that received a total of $25,000 in grant funding this spring to support programs and projects to improve the community.

The Greater Kingsport Alliance for Development is a nonprofit corporation created through the efforts of the Kingsport Housing & Redevelopment Authority and private citizens to provide a means for the public/private sector to cooperate in providing affordable housing, services and opportunities to low-income families in Kingsport.

The Kingsport Community Foundation was founded in 2000 through gifts from local donors and a matching grant from the East Tennessee Foundation. The Kingsport Community Foundation is a philanthropic organization, governed by a local board of directors. Its mission is to help donors maximize their contributions to the community by awarding grants that enrich lives and strengthen the greater Kingsport community forever. To date, Kingsport Community Foundation has awarded more than $143,000 to organizations that meet the requirements and fulfill the goals of the fund.

The East Tennessee Foundation, established in 1986, is a regional community foundation serving 25 counties in East Tennessee. It administers 13 affiliate funds, including the Kingsport Community Foundation.

A new user authentication system is also being discussed as a way to keep unknown and unauthorized users from connecting and downloading illegal and/or copy written materials. Several meetings have taken place with KHRA, GKAD staff and contractors involved, and we hope to come to a decision on this issue very soon.

We apologize for the inconvenience to residents who rely on the Public WiFi for their internet connection. We would like to have everything ironed out and back up, for residents at least, in the next few weeks.

Please check the website for service announcements regarding the Public WiFi.

The senator said he decided to join in the effort after his 24-year-old daughter, Emily, participated in a Second Harvest food distribution, and encouraged her father to do the same. Emily Corker works for Feed USA.

Second Harvest’s Mobile Food Pantry serves 45 communities per month and more than 23,000 individuals, including a significant number of seniors and families with children. During Fiscal Year 2012, approximately 539,000 pounds of perishable and non-perishable food was distributed to people in need throughout an eight-county region.

The Mobile Food Pantry visits Dogwood Terrace and other public housing developments in Kingsport about once a month.

Thank you Senator Corker for caring about your fellow Tennesseans!

For more information about Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee and the Mobile Food Pantry, visit http://www.netfoodbank.org/

HEAL (Healthy Eating, Active Living) Appalachia was established in 2008 as a collaborative effort between Mountain States Health Alliance (MSHA) and East Tennessee State University (ETSU) to build momentum in the fight against childhood obesity in Southern Appalachia. The $2,000 grant for Lee Family Learning Center will be used to purchase recreational equipment such as footballs, jump ropes and parachutes to help the children at Lee keep moving through fun exercise activities.

This grant was secured through the Kingsport Initiative for Training & Employment, Inc. (K.I.T.E., Inc.), with the help of Sherrie Whisnant at Lee Family Learning Center. Great work!

The $6,000 grant will fund the new “Lee Reads” reading program for children who live at Robert E. Lee Apartments and the surrounding neighborhood. The program has two goals: First, it will help boost literacy among school-age children and improve their academic performance. Secondly, the program will introduce reading to preschool children.

The Kingsport Initiative for Training & Employment (K.I.T.E., Inc.) applied for the grant, which will be used to purchase books, software and educational supplies designed to help boost literacy levels of children.

The reading program will begin Aug. 12, 2013, and continue through April 18, 2014. The program will serve approximately 20 school-age children in kindergarten through seventh grade, and approximately 10 preschool children age three to five years old.

Half of the $6,000 grant is being funded through the Rotary Club of Kingsport, while the other half is funded by Rotary District 7570. Local Rotarians including Terry Cunningham, Edna Potts, and Susan LaGuardia have volunteered to help in the program by reading to and mentoring the children at Lee.

The mission of Lee Family Learning Center is to work with low-income families to reverse the cycle of under-education and poverty. The center does this by focusing on programs that reinforce and improve academic and personal achievement levels of children through diverse educational, cultural and recreational activities.

Thank you Rotary for your support in helping our children

The Greater Kingsport Alliance for Development has awarded three scholarships through the John L. and Ann B. VandeVate Education Fund. The scholarship program is designed to provide educational assistance to residents of Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority (KHRA) or participants of KHRA’s self-sufficiency programs. Scholarships are provided to help with expenses for students to enroll in higher education. John “Jack” VandeVate is chairman of the KHRA Board of Commissioners and chairman of the Greater Kingsport Alliance for Development.

This year’s scholarship winners are Ms. Shelley Hines, Ms. Natalie Ball, and Ms. Kaiesha Watterson.

Ms. Shelley Hines, who lives at Cloud Apartments with her children, graduated in May with honors from Northeast State Community College with two associate’s degrees, one in small business administration and the other in management. She is enrolled for the fall semester at King University, and plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration through the Pathway Program, allowing her to work during the day and attend class one night a week. Ms. Hines was also a recipient of the 2012 VandeVate Scholarship Award.

Ms. Natalie Ball, who lives at Riverview Place with her teenage son, attends East Tennessee State University in the general studies program.

Ms. Kaiesha Watterson, a resident of Riverview Place, is a graduate of Dobyns-Bennett High School who plans to attend Northeast State Community College in the fall, pursuing a degree in either business studies or emergency medical technician/paramedic studies.

The Greater Kingsport Alliance for Development has also named Cierra Jackson as the recipient of this year’s Selah Scholarship, which provides music lessons for a child who resides within a Kingsport Housing & Redevelopment Authority (KHRA) development. Cierra is a rising 7th grader at John Sevier Middle School and enjoys playing bass clarinet in the band. Cierra and her family live at Lee Apartments.

Congratulations to all of this year’s scholarship winners!

The Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority and its component units (“KHRA”) hereby solicits bids from independent contractors for financial and compliance audit services specified in this solicitation.

This Request for Proposals (RFP) contains submission requirements, scope of services, period of services, terms and conditions and other pertinent information for submitting a proper and responsive bid. Prospective proposers desiring any explanation or interpretation of the solicitation must request it at least seven (7) calendar days before the RFP submittal deadline. The request must be addressed to Jay Hubbard, Finance Director, at the address stated below. Any information given to a prospective bidder about this solicitation will be furnished to all other prospective bidders as a written amendment to the solicitation.

All responses to the RFP must be enclosed in a sealed envelope and labeled as follows with the specific information: Financial & Compliance Audit Services, Due Date and Time: May 15, 2013, 5:00 P.M. (EDT). The RFP response must be addressed to Finance Department, Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority, 906 East Sevier Avenue, Kingsport, Tennessee 37660.

Late submissions will not be accepted. Submissions will be held in confidence until the opening.

Submissions will be evaluated on the criteria stated in the RFP. After evaluation of the bids, the Contract will be awarded to the proposer representing the “Best Value” to KHRA.

KHRA and its component units reserve the right to reject any and all submissions.

The KINGSPORT HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY will receive proposals for Financial and Compliance Audit Services until 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time, May 15, 2013, at the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority Office, 906 East Sevier Avenue, at which time and place all submittals will be opened.

KHRA is seeking janitorial cleaning services inclusive of all the required labor, transportation, cleaning equipment, tools, and materials as outlined in the more detailed Scope of Work section of the Request for Proposal (RFP). Work is to be performed at KHRA’s Administration Building (906 E. Sevier Avenue), South Central Building (1140 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.) and Lee Family Learning Center (651 Dale Street, Unit 1, 2 and 3).

KHRA is offering a one-year agreement with two one-year extensions. It is the bidder’s responsibility to assess the necessary labor required based on the Scope of Work.

The bid shall be quoted based on an all-inclusive lump sum, per month, cost for the agreed scope of work including an additional hourly rate for any ad-hoc work requested that is outside the regular scope of work.

KHRA is seeking services commencing April 1st, 2013 or as soon as possible after April 1st, 2013.

KHRA has proposed the modification of it’s Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) and Administrative Plan with the changes indicated in the following PDF download.

While under review, changes will be posted for comment for the duration of (30) thirty days.

Click here to download the full NOTICE

Any inquiry may be directed to:
906 E. Sevier Avenue, Kingsport, TN 37660
(423) 245-0135

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority (KHRA) will receive $300,000 to execute grassroots efforts to revitalize the public housing at Robert E. Lee Apartments and transform the Midtown neighborhood.

KHRA is one of 17 entities from across the U.S. receiving a Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant today. The funding provides these communities the resources they need to craft comprehensive, community-driven plans to revitalize public or other HUD-assisted housing and transform distressed neighborhoods.

“This funding will enable the KHRA to take its initial discussions with local partners further to plan out strategies to build a stronger, more sustainable community,” said Ed Jennings, Jr., Atlanta Regional Administrator, “HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative represents the next generation in a movement toward revitalizing entire neighborhoods to improve the lives of the residents who live there.”

HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Initiative promotes a comprehensive approach to transforming distressed areas of concentrated poverty into viable and sustainable mixed-income neighborhoods. Building on the successes of HUD’s HOPE VI Program, Choice Neighborhoods links housing improvements with necessary services for the people who live there – including schools, public transit and employment opportunities.

The awardees announced today were selected from among 72 applications. Successful applicants demonstrated their intent to plan for the transformation of neighborhoods by revitalizing severely distressed public and/or assisted housing while leveraging investments to create high-quality public schools, outstanding education and early learning programs, public assets, public transportation, and improved access to jobs and well-functioning services. HUD focused on directing resources to address three core goals:

• Housing: Transform distressed public and assisted housing into energy efficient, mixed-income housing that is physically and financially viable over the long-term;
• People: Support positive outcomes for families who live in the target development(s) and the surrounding neighborhood, particularly outcomes related to residents’ health, safety, employment, mobility, and education; and
• Neighborhood: Transform neighborhoods of poverty into viable, mixed-income neighborhoods with access to well-functioning services, high quality public schools and education programs, high quality early learning programs and services, public assets, public transportation, and improved access to jobs.

The grantees will use the funding to work with local stakeholders – public and/or assisted housing residents, community members, businesses, institutions and local government officials – to undertake a successful neighborhood transformation to create a “choice neighborhood.” The awardees will use the funding to create a comprehensive Transformation Plan, or road map, to transforming distressed public and/or assisted housing within a distressed community.

Click here to download the full HUD Press Release