I

t’s easy not to notice the work the South Portland Housing Authority (SPHA) has been doing for the past forty years, and that’s the way they like it. 

“We try to stay behind the scenes and not to stand out,” SPHA Executive Director Elaine Neelan said. “We try to have our buildings blend into the neighborhood, they’re all over the place. South Portland has a great neighborhood feel to it, so it’s easy.”

Neelan said the SPHA was founded in 1968 as part of a national movement toward welfare reform. 

“People were recognizing the fact that the government needed to do something for people who needed a leg up,” she said. 

Five years later, in 1973, the SPHA purchased its first property strictly using federal funds, Neelan said. The eight-story, 100 unit building at 425 Broadway is larger than most modern day housing developments, she said. 

“It was the 70s, that was how you did it, brick, tall and compact,” she said. “Now we try to make it more homey. We spread things out more rather than go up.”

In it’s first years Neelan said the SPHA was funded entirely by the federal government. While now the SPHA receives funding from a number of different programs and organization, Neelan said it is a common misconception that local housing authorities are funded directly from their governing municipalities when in reality they receive their own funding. 

“Our executive board is appointed by the [city] council,” she said. “Other than that it’s completely separate.”

Who gets to live in the different properties the SPHA has sprinkled throughout the city? Neelan said individuals and families who meet the standards defined by the U.S. Department of Urban Housing and Development can take advantage of the housing program, which charges rent based on tenant income rather than the cost of living. 

“It’s expensive for people to live in their homes,” she said. “This is designed for people with low or very low income limits.”

Once accepted into the program, tenants pay 30 percent of their adjusted gross income to live in a SPHA home, which is continually maintained by their staff, Neelan said.

“We have a lot of different programs with other different cap and restrictions, but that’s really the heart of public housing.”

One other budding program featured at the SPHA is what Neelan called a Housing Choice Voucher, which enables qualifying families or individuals to subsidize the cost of property in the private market. Neelan said nearly 200 landlords in the city agreed to house 400 participants in the Housing Choice Voucher program. 

“[The properties] have to be inspected and everything needs to meet code,” she said. “They have to be up to standards, we have to have good apartments.”

Neelan said many elderly, disabled and beginning families take advantage of the programs SPHA has to offer until they are able to either move in with family or strike out on their own, contrary to popular belief that public housing is an “end of the line” option for those who chose to use it. In the past 10 years, Neelan said more than 200 people have chosen to move out of SPHA residences.

“People have misconceptions about public housing,” she said. “Some of these folks have married, some have bought homes, some have attained jobs that support living without assistance. Some people just need it as a leg up.”

Neelan – who has been working for the SPHA for more than 26 years – said when the SPHA staff realized they had been providing affordable housing in the city for more than forty years they wanted to celebrate – with a purpose. 

“We decided if we were going to have a party we want  to do good,” Neelan said. 

With good intentions in mind, the SPHA has partnered with the South Portland Food Pantry and will be hosting a free food drive featuring music, a magician, face painting and a raffle. Neelan said the SPHA staff – half of whom have been working there for more than 10 years – are looking forward to hosting a community event after working “behind the scenes” in the community for so long. 

“We really want it to mean something, we’re hoping we get a good community turnout. I know I have a captive audience around here,” Neelan said, waving her arm at the SPHA buildings surrounding their main office.

In addition to eating at a barbeque and enjoying the entertainment, a special registration table will be set up at the event for South Portland residents who wish the register to vote as well. Other organizations such as the Southern Maine Area Agency on Aging, Visiting Nurses Association, the South Portland Fire Department and the Healthy Maine Partnerships will also be present with information for those who are interested in their programs. 

The food drive is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 13 at the SPHA main office at 51 Landry Circle (off Westbrook Street) in the Thorton Heights area from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is free to the public. 

The food items that the South Portland Food Cupboard needs the most are: chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, canned tuna, peanut butter, fluff, strawberry and grape jelly, Chef Boyardee canned meals, dried pasta and pasta sauces and macaroni and cheese.