The Picayune Housing Authority recently earned one of the highest awards from the Mississippi Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials for the fourth consecutive year.
The award recognized the agency for its management of the operations and for receiving a high score on a physical inspection of the agency’s properties. For these accomplishments, the Certificate of Excellence in Management Operations Award was presented to the agency on Aug. 18 during the 73rd MAHRO conference in Biloxi.
The theme of the conference this year was “For all you do, hats off to you,” a praise Ruby Upton, Picayune Housing Authority executive director, gave to each of her employees.
“Our maintenance staff is constantly busy with day-to-day operations and they are a huge part of us being a high performing agency. Then we have hard-working office personnel who make sure all of our properties are rented out. I am truly blessed to have such a great staff,” Upton said.
The agency was awarded the status of a high performing public housing authority, which is a national distinction as a result of an inspection by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD evaluates the management of over 3,000 public housing authorities per year nationwide in the following categories: management operation, finance, physical inspection of the properties and capital funding, Upton said.
Upon completion of the inspection, the PHA was designated as a “high performer,” scoring 95 out of a possible 100 points. PHA also scored a perfect 25 out of 25 in the management operations category.
“They come in and inspect everything, from crawling up into the attic to assessing the lawns for any debris,” Gloria Necaise, PHA administrative assistant and bookkeeper, said.
The “high performer” designation comes with major incentives, one of which is receiving additional funding from HUD. However, Upton said she won’t know how much funding PHA will be awarded until she receives the full audit.
The PHA provides rental assistance and certain housing programs to low-income families within the community.
“Our goal is to provide housing to help the less fortunate that need it the most. We are here to help and none of this would be possible without the great staff we have here,” Upton said.