The Peoria Housing Authority is hoping to expand its program that helps public housing residents become self-sufficient. The authority is asking its new not-for-profit arm, the River Valley Foundation, to take over the Access to Resources and Referral Opportunities Program or ARRO.
The Foundation could then raise funds and apply for grants to expand the program to Section 8 residents and the rest of the community. Housing Authority CEO Brenda Coates says the program has assisted more than 100 people since its inception in 2010.
“We have contacts at a variety of organizations that makes it easier for residents to navigate through the system. If you don’t know what to do and how to do it, it makes it even more challenging to go about that whether it’s education, whether it’s job skills, whatever the need is—we want to be able to provide the resources.”
The Peoria Housing Authority last month re-established the River Valley Foundation. The not-for-profit foundation is a necessary extension for the PHA to apply for tax credits for the Taft Homes replacement project.