The Bristol Redevelopment and Housing Authority may soon have a new name — Beyond Housing.
Officials with the authority want a name that has a more positive connotation and better reflects the additional work they are currently doing, so they are asking the Bristol City Council to approve the change. It’s on the agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting.
In a Feb. 26 letter to the five council members, housing authority Executive Director Lisa Porter said that affordable, safe housing will continue to be the core focus, but over the years, the authority has undertaken more programs that “attempt to benefit and uplift our residents and others throughout our community. We are providing safe and affordable housing for those who need it, but we want to use that stable housing as a foundation to help our families in many other ways. We are trying to go beyond ‘just housing.’”
Established in 1938, the agency is the second oldest housing authority in Virginia, according to Porter. Because the housing stock is aging, the authority has begun to revitalize, restore and replace it, she added.
In 2024, the authority was chosen as a recipient of a HUD Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant that will allow it to create a transformation plan for the neighborhood that encompasses its housing.
At the same time, its Resident Services Department works with hundreds of residents per year to help them build the skills to become more self-sufficient and raise their standard of living, Porter wrote in the letter.
Programs that help elderly residents with routine tasks and that combat isolation were also created, while a kids program introduces the children who live there to new experiences and opportunities that they might not otherwise get.
Under Virginia Code, since 1946, housing authorities across the state had to be called a redevelopment and housing authority.
But that changed in 2022, when the General Assembly approved legislation amending the code so that housing authorities can now rename and rebrand themselves, with the approval of the local governing body.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 300 Lee St.
