HUD Neighborhood Networks Coordinator Profile: Debra Gaddy, Jacksonville Multifamily Hub

09/15/2009

Debra Gaddy is proud of her deep southern roots. She was born in the small city of Dillon, South Carolina, raised and educated in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and spent her entire 26-year professional career in Jacksonville, Florida, the state’s largest city. Twenty-four of these years have been devoted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Debra Gaddy has been a HUD Neighborhood Networks Coordinator in the Jacksonville Multifamily Hub since 2002. Journey to Neighborhood Networks Coordinator Gaddy joined HUD’s Public Housing Division in June 1985 as a secretary. She transferred to the Multifamily Housing Division in 1987, and then to the Community and Development Division in 1989, before returning to Multifamily in 1999. In the Multifamily Housing Division, Gaddy wears many hats, including Neighborhood Networks Coordinator. “I was designated as the Coordinator of the program in 2002 when my predecessor, Matthew Stewart, left the division,” explained Gaddy. “Initially, I did not know what to do or where to start to obtain assistance for me or the centers. But in time, and after having attended several Regional Technical Assistance Workshops (RTAWs), my confidence, motivation, and enthusiasm grew. I came to the firm realization that, together, center staff and I could do what we needed to do and get to where we needed to go. I know now that it is not how fast you get there, but how consistent you are at working toward obtaining your goal. Now I am very excited about the Initiative, and I enjoy talking with fellow Coordinators.” A Front Row Seat to Success One reason Gaddy is so excited about the Initiative and the 27 Jacksonville Neighborhood Networks centers she manages is that she sees firsthand the positive impact that centers are having in their communities. The Helping Hands Neighborhood Networks Center is such a center. Years ago, the Eureka Gardens 1 and Eureka Gardens 2, the apartment communities in which the center is located, were dealing with escalating crime, as was the surrounding community. Struggling with low resident participation, the center closed its doors. In 2008, Jacksonville Multifamily Hub Director James Branson encouraged the owners to reopen the Neighborhood Networks center as one way of addressing the problem. He felt that the center’s programs would provide youth and all residents with a positive, safe, learning environment where they could engage in constructive and productive activities…and he was right. “The center became an alternative to connecting with negative and destructive activity,” said Gaddy. “Since the reopening of the Helping Hands Neighborhood Networks Center, the community has changed for the better. Crime has decreased. Residents are more positive and hopeful and the surrounding community is reaching out to the properties and partnering with them. Churches and other community groups are contacting the center director because they want to be a part of and help to sustain this turnaround. This is what Neighborhood Networks is all about.” Offering a Second Chance Gaddy believes that Neighborhood Networks centers are more relevant today than when the Initiative began nearly 15 years ago because they offer residents a second chance by equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and ability to compete in society at various levels. Following her personal mantra, “The seeds you sow will grow,” Gaddy sees only a future of continued accomplishment and success for the Initiative because centers are planting and nurturing seeds of self-sufficiency among residents. Gaddy is especially excited about the role that HUD Neighborhood Networks Coordinators like herself will play in this growth. “I receive more calls now than ever before requesting information about Neighborhood Networks,” stated Gaddy. “If Coordinators network with each other, their residents, and their community, their centers have the potential to outgrow their locations. If everyone develops the “TEAM” concept, Together Everyone Achieves More, then our centers will captivate the communities in which they are located. To succeed, we must start with a dream and nurture it to its full potential.” For more information about Neighborhood Networks centers in Florida, contact Gaddy at: Debra Gaddy U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Jacksonville Multifamily Hub Charles E. Bennett Federal Building 400 West Bay Street, Suite 1015 Jacksonville, FL 32202-5121 (904) 232-1777 x2156

Scope:

National

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