ACTION Housing, Inc. was founded by Richard King Mellon in Pittsburgh on May 22, 1957 in order to provide affordable housing for those in need. Their mission is "to empower people to build more secure and self-sufficient lives through the provision of decent, affordable housing, essential supportive services, asset building programs, and educational and employment opportunities."
When ACTION Housing was first founded it faced an enormous challenge. There were only three staff members and an annual budget of less than $90,000. The organization took upon itself the responsibility of improving housing and neighborhood conditions throughout Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. In the early years, ACTION Housing pursued its mission and became one of the nation's leading producers of inner-city affordable housing. During its first fifteen years, the agency was able to construct or help others construct twenty-five multi-family developments, which contained 2,833 units for housing.
In 1960, ACTION Housing launched a new program called the Neighborhood Urban Extension Program. This program pioneered new approaches in revitalizing the economy of depressed neighborhoods by encouraging the involvements of citizens in both social and physical planning.
The Allegheny Housing Rehabilitation Corporation was created by ACTION Housing in 1967 as a privately held company. Its purpose was to produce affordable housing units on a profit making basis through the mass rehabilitation of existing vacant structures.
ACTION Housing ran into financial problems due to a squeeze between inadequate rental subsidies and rapidly increasing maintenance and utility costs during the early and mid 1970s. This problem was solved through the syndication of seven developments.
After this difficulty, the agency withdrew from direct development activity for several years. Yet it still continued to have a major impact on the community's housing problems through the provision of technical assistance to other non-profit developers and the management of several major housing and neighborhood improvements programs. ACTION Housing, Inc. is still in operation today.
This collection contains records from ACTION Housing, Inc., which specifically deal with the urban development of the Homewood-Brushton area, an African-American neighborhood. Types of records in the collection include anniversary booklets, annual reports, plans of operation, reports on neighborhoods, and applications for grants.
No restrictions.
These records were pulled from the miscellaneous pamphlet file in 2001.
ACTION Housing, Inc. Records, AIS.2001.11, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
ACTION Housing, Inc. Records, AIS.2001.11, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
This collection was created by Archives Staff in 2001 and then processed by Jaime Hamel in December 2004.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
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