Resident Council Leaders Deliver Testimony After HUD Issues Scathing Report

The Black-white life expectancy gap is an astonishing 12 and 17 years in DC, respectively for females and males. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development recently issued the results of an audit into the DC Housing Authority (DCHA), concluding that the city's largest landlord had 82 findings of deficiencies. The 72-page report noted that the housing authority that the largest percentage of empty units of any housing authority in the nation, among procurement violations and poor commitment to housing quality for low-income residents. While the report does not examine the health implications of DCHA's poor upkeep, including mold, pests, and rodent infestations, the public health import is clear.

Public Health Liberation is proud to have as our grant coalition partners - Mrs. Rosa Burbridge, President of Lincoln Road Resident Council, and Mrs. Patricia Bishop, President of Greenleaf Midrise. Diversity City Fund awarded the coalition $6,000 for structural change. They recently spoke at DCHA's emergency meeting on the audit findings.

• Mrs. Patricia Bishop - “We are going to keep on marching. We're going to keep on walking until everybody sees that you have mistreated the people for years…We don't want the same old same old in how we have been treated”

• Mrs. Rosa Burbridge - "The audit from HUD should be a wake-up call - that what you assume you are doing you are not properly doing. One of the things that I would like to recommend is that you start listening with empathy to hear what people are saying...If you had to listen to the residents, we would not find ourselves in this place" View entire testimony right.