Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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VOL. LXII - NO. 87 University of South Carolina, Columbia, S. C. 29208 Thursday, June 22, 1972 235progra By NICK PARHAM Although the federal program 235 Housing was developed to give the Urban poor a "stake in society," four Carolina law students are discovering that all the good intentions on paper may not coincide with reality. With the aid of a $7,750 grant from the American Bar Foundation, Boone Aiken, John Milling, Jim Griffin and Bill Traxler are currently surveying the local impact of the federal 235 housing program. The results of the study will be published in the school's magazine, the USC LAW REVIEW. Designed to provide lower and moderate income families with housing, the program was "as much an additional change project as a housing project," according to Griffin. Both aspects appear to be meeting with a degree o failure. Project home owners are questioned or aspects of their present and past living ex periences including family background, home financing, new environment, contracts anc physical features of their new homes. This fina aspect evokes eager response as structura problems are occurring in significant numbers Problems such as warping floors, cracking plaster, loose railings, peeling tile and door that will not shut are common complaints. I the Lincolnshire subdivision on route 321, som of the structurally defective homes are only tw years old. Owners also seem to be having little succes getting the defects fixed. One Lincolnshir home owner listed his complaints in letters I Senators Strom Thurmond and Ernest F Hollings. Describing the results of his letter a a "whole shooting match", the man said hi house was inspected by representatives < HUD, FHA and VISTA. The owner said he g< no results - and no repairs. mreality not that her toilet was gradually pushing through a wall said, "One day it's going to be sitting in my bedroom." The 235 program was developed during the late '60's when urban areas such as Watts were erupting. In hopes of preventing future civil unrest, the government program was instituted to provide the urban poor with their own property in hopes of encouraging the m"StAut 1W/IB86LOMEINOW.., development of a middle class ethic. Individual 235 programs begin with the development by private builders of a sub division of eighteen to twenty-four thousand s dollar homes following minimum HUD building standards. Word-of-mouth and conventional e advertising and realty agencies are responsible D for bringing in prospective buyers. With the selection of the house, the buyer agrees to pay 20 percent of his adjusted gross Income (monies remaining after the deduction of a certain amount for designated necessities such as food) which usually runs about $70 to $80 per month. The federal government guarantees the 30 year mortgage and pays the balance averaging $100 per month. However, the buyer often has little say about the mortgage company, building materials, and generally must accept the package. "We got what we settled for," said one owner. "I'm stuck in the deal. If I walk out, my reputation is gone.' Many owners do not feel this sense of responsibility and have "walked out" of the situation, good or bad. While HUD never did a I Bikers riding )y MA RIIN JOHNSON The Bikers Are Coming! Participants in a national bike ride for the benefit of St. Judes Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. will arrive in the Columbia Area about July 8th. Area residents will begin a separate I5 mile ride for the same cause on June 25th at Taylor and Assembly streets in down town Columbia. Epsilon Sigma Alpha, the international womens s service organization, is sponsoring the ride on both the national and local level. Mrs. Rteatha Wilkins of e the local chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha says that the hoped for goal in Columbia is $10,000. The organization hopes to raise $1,000,000 nation wide. s Any individual or group can participate as riders or s may sponsor a rider with a pledge from 10c to any amount per mile. Saint Jludes is internationally known for it's work with children. It is a well known research center for .such disensowa lenkemin.amd sickle cell anemia rose garden follow-up survey of the affect of the project on its participants, there seemed to be a necessity to discover the reasons for the extreme number of mortgage foreclosures. In the Lincolnshire development, vacant houses are a common sight. These buildings often become playgrounds for local children who become unwitting vandals. As a result the houses become rundown and are eye-sores in the community. The problems seem to lie in the incompetence w and corruption of governmental agencies and lack of builder efficiency for varied reasons. The Lincolnshire home owners do a remarkable job of maintaining their property considering the inherent problems of the structures. If it were not for the vacant houses, one would not know that the subdivision was not a typical "keep up with the Jones" middle class N neighborhood. ti While the 235 program was designed to be integrated living, little integration has been observed. Few whites appear to have taken advantage of the program. To date the four law students have in terviewed 150 to 200 of the projected 400 par ticipants. Because of this relatively small number of interviews, the students are hesitant to offer any preliminary conclusions. The insights obtained so far are not concrete indicators of the results. If they prove true, the home owners will undoubtedly have as bleak a future as they allegedly did before. This time, however, the federal government will have played a more active role in developing it. to aid research USC students and faculty are urged to participate as riders or sponsors. Those interested may come by the Gamecock offices to pick up pledge cards or call 772 3168 for further information. Mario Thomas and Emmalou Brinks will kick off the ride on the D)ick Cavett Show on July 3rd. Mario will be representing St. Judes and Emmalou, Epsilon Sigma Alpha. The Bikers will wind up in September with a spot on the Jiohnny Carson Show. Many local dignitaries are participating in the ('olumbia ride, as sponsors or riders, including Nancy Thurmond, the Floyd Spence family, Miss S. ('., Sherry Shealy and Lt. Gov. Earl Morris. The participation of USC President Jones is still in the decision stage - his bike was stolen last week. Thus far on the USC campus several groups have come forward. The Preston Brooks Society is sponsoring riders as well as the USC Bike Club. c:. Sevcral individJual .riders..are particinating from