Northport/Packer Technology Learning Center: MANAGEMENT

Communities like Northport Apartments and Packers Townhouses don't just happen--These communities are the consequence of a sustained and conscientious application of Client-Centered Management Principles (CCM). CCM is a comprehensive management system that emphasizes the creation of community through the mutual participation of residents, owners, management and other resources and institutions.  In practice, management's role shifts to include the responsibilities typically associated with human service organizations. A deep respect for the integrity and the dignity of each resident is central to how policy is created and enforced.

Excerpts from the Resident Handbook further illustrate the aim of Client-Centered Management:

The housing community is intended to reflect, and be representative of, the population of our city. The purpose of management is to manage and maintain the housing community in a professional manner which enhances the economic stability of the development. Management must perform these functions within HUD guidelines and regulations.

Management will seek input from residents towards the establishment of a whole human community within the housing development.

Management philosophy is based on a strong belief in the quality of our residents and their ability to contribute to the larger community.

It is the obligation of management to ensure due process while protecting the rights of all parties including residents, management and HUD. To the best of our ability, we exercise this responsibility by holding all parties accountable and responsible for their actions.

Community Management as a Core Program

All new residents in the Northport and Packer Housing Communities participate in an educational orientation program which serves to identify and affirm a the set of community standards and values that are the foundation for the many other programs on site. Each resident is encouraged to fill out a "Resident Development Plan" which identifies the resident's needs and goals. Residents are also introduced to the technology and human service resources that are available within the community.

Following the principles of Client-Centered Management, emphasis is placed on building an understanding of the relationship of the individual resident to the abstract entity called the housing organization. The mutual obligations between tenants and the housing organization are clearly identified at this (and subsequent) meetings. The intention of the lease and relevant tenant protection laws are discussed with each new resident. For many it is the first time that the various relationships between individuals, organizations, the larger community and thier neighbors have been explicitly drawn. Rather than simply a set of rules to follow, residents are given a community to participate in.

In this educational process management demonstrates that its role is not that of an external authority, but rather, that management exists to serve the community by integrating the efforts of all the stakeholders by implementing the various procedures set up for that purpose. It is significant that residents are drawn into the process of creating and maintaining community. The expectations that are communicated at orientation and through the community programs are these: The resident has dignity, intelligence, worth, and great capacity for making contributions to the local and larger community. Beginning a relationship, even the formal relationship of tenant to housing organization, with goodwill and high hopes for the future has shown itself to be an effective technique for cultivating the kind of community that supports and encourages the kind of behaviors that make it possible and rewarding for individuals to live together.