Thanks For Your Service!

Posted by & filed under News.

Jim Clark

We regretfully announce that Jim Clark’s tenure as a member of the Board of Directors of Belmont Housing Resources for WNY, Inc. has come to an end. During Jim’s ten years of service he has provided invaluable contributions to the organization’s success. His knowledge and expertise, particularly in the areas of finance and accounting resulted in significant improvements to Belmont’s operations.

We say a heartfelt goodbye and thank you to Jim for his guidance, dedication, and service. While Jim’s official service has ended, his efforts will always be a guiding light as the organization continues to grow and move forward.

 

UB Social Impact Fellows Win “Pitch for a Cause” for Programming at Belmont

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This summer, Belmont participated in the UB Social Impact Fellowship program.

We had two incredible interns with us: Cheyenne Ketter – Franklin, MBA Student, and Jonathan M. Puma, MSW Student.

The purpose of the program is to connect MBA and MSW students with local nonprofit organizations, and work collaboratively to develop innovative solutions to issues affecting our local community.

Using principals of Human Centered Design, the fellows helped us formulate a plan for a newer initiative at HUD: the FUP FSS program for youth aging out of foster care.

Cheyenne and Jonathan recently pitched their completed plan to leadership at UB (pitch for a cause) and were selected as the WINNERS to receive $2,000 to help establish the new programming here at Belmont!

Congratulations to Cheyenne and Jonathan and thank you to the UB Schools of Social Work and Management!

We look forward to implementing this initiative specifically for youth aging out of foster care!

To learn more about the UB Social Impact Fellowship program, please visit:

https://www.buffalo.edu/entrepreneurship/programs/social-impact.html

Updated Belmont Landlord Training Schedule

Posted by & filed under Landlord-Blog.

Belmont Landlord Training Schedule – 2017
Tuesdays at 5:30 PM – 1195 Main Street

  • February 28 – Renting to Section 8 & Other Housing Programs
  • March 28 – Federal, New York State and Local Rental Laws
  • April 25 – Rental Assistance Programs & Supports Offered to Tenants by Local Agencies and Community Groups
  • May 16 – Renting to Section 8 Tenants
  • June 13 – Preventing, Recognizing & Resolving Problems with Tenants
  • September 19 – Best Practices for Renter Applications, Screening, Security Deposits and Related Policies
  • October 17 – Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities
  • November 14 – Social Service Agencies Providing Rent Support, Security Deposits and Case Management for Homeless Clients
  • Landlord invitations are sent via email starting three weeks prior to the event. That is when we start registering attendees.
  • Please provide full name, cell phone and email for each attendee.
  • Send all registrations to: dhanssel@belmonthousingwny.org
  • All classes are free, are taught by subject matter experts and include Q&A.
  • More info on the next available training class at: https://www.belmonthousingwny.org/landlord_events

Belmont Landlord Training Schedule

Posted by & filed under Landlord-Blog.

Location: 1195 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14209

Time: Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m.

The Belmont Landlord Training Schedule is as follows:

  • February 28 – Renting to Section 8 & Other Housing Programs
  • March 28 – Federal, New York State and Local Rental Laws
  • April 25 – Rental Assistance Programs & Supports Offered to Tenants by Local Agencies and Community Groups
  • May 16 – Renting to Section 8 Tenants
  • June 13 – Preventing, Recognizing & Resolving Problems with Tenants
  • September 19 – Best Practices for Renter Applications, Screening, Security Deposits and Related Policies
  • October 17 – Landlord and Tenant Rights and Responsibilities

Landlord invitations are sent via email starting three weeks prior to the event. That is when we start registering attendees.

Please provide full name, phone and email for each attendee.

send all registrations to: dhanssel@belmonthousingwny.org

All classes are free, taught by subject matter experts and include a Q&A.

More info on the next available training class at: belmonthousingwny.org/landlord-events

Thank you, Western New York Foundation!

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We are pleased to share that through the generous support of the WNY Foundation, we have been able t o completely overhaul our existing website to provide a more user-friendly experience to the thousands of clients who we work with on a daily basis.

Our new website is mobile-optimized and easily accessible to all with easy class registration features, resources, apartment and property searches, and more! We have worked hard to organize our programs and services on the new site in a way that makes ease of use a priority.  Whether you are looking for information on financial education, property management, voucher program services, or simply to browse through rental opportunities, our new format will allow you to access anything you may need.

In addition to our new website, we have also updated our brand with a new logo.  We look forward to sharing our new site and look with the WNY community and welcome your feedback.

Thank you again, to the WNY Foundation for supporting our organization and helping us to fulfill our mission and change lives here in our community. For more information on the WNY Foundation please visit: WNYFoundation.org.

Providing Landlords with Great Customer Service

Posted by & filed under Landlord-Blog.

Belmont Housing launched our new Landlord Outreach Program in October 2016. We started by sending an online survey to our landlords to determine how we’re doing and what needs to change. Over 350 landlords completed the survey.

One of the needs we identified was creating a forum for landlords to share their input and ideas with Belmont online. So we built this blog for which this is the first post. Any Belmont Landlord can register for free and post to the blog. The goal is to create a platform for landlords to communicate with Belmont and with each other to share ideas, contractor info and related issues.

In January 2017, our Belmont Housing senior management team met with a couple dozen Belmont Landlords at our office. For nearly two hours these landlords, who collectively manage thousands of WNY rental units, asked questions of our leadership team and made suggestions on how to improve our service to landlords. We took copious notes and built a plan to deliver the services that our landlords want. More on that in future posts!

Based on the results of our landlord survey, we have built a training schedule for 2017. Our trainings and events are scheduled on Tuesday evenings 5:30-7:30 PM. The next blog post will include that schedule. Our first two training classes have filled up quickly so be sure to RSVP to your free training invitations right away!