.NTUyMw.NTUyMw

W AS HINGTO N POST October 27, 1967 Church Plans Housing Cardinal Urges Coalition To Meet D.C. Urban Ills By William R. MacKaye Wa s hi ngton Pos t S ta ff W r iter Patrick Cardi nal O'Boylr. u rged creation ycstcrcl11y o( a Washington ur ban coal ition to mee t the cha ll>e ngc of the urban crisis. At a press con ference, the Cardi nal: • Pl edged the support of the Roma n Cat holic Archdiocese to a soon-to-be-launched drive to raisP. a · $2 million Hous ing De velo pment Fund. • Said that chur ch officials arc planning a 1150-unit housing proj ect on a 15-acre tract at 4th and Edgewood Streets ne .. t he site now occupied by S t. Vincent's Home and School. • Announced that the Archdiocesan Office of Urban Affairs, headed by t h-e R1~v. Geno Baro ni, will back twu rehabilita tion projects for low-income ~ housing. • Said that t he Archd iocese and the Presbyte ry of ', Wash-, ingto n City (U niter! Presbyccria n) will pool fu nds to remodel a building at 141~ V st. nw. fo r use as an urban affa irs o ffi ce. T he Presbyte ria n body will provide $55,000 for t he j ob, which C a rd i n a I O'Boyle estimates will c,3t $100,000. • Announl'ed t he launching of a n exte n~ive educationa l progra m designed to make city and suburban Catholics sensiti1·c to each others' needs. Cardinal O'Boyle expanded by saying that ar ea clergy wo uld exchange pul pit visits, followed by special semina rs and meetings for laymen "to promote a better understanding of urban affairs a nd com munity relations." "The aim of the chur ch and the refore of the Washingto n Archdiocese," said the Cardinal , "mus t be to build a society which will afford the ordinary citizen and every citizen the opportuni ty to pursue his salvation in conditions of life that are not de basing and exp losive, but human and encouraging." .'\ t one point, he obser ved . We're not playing Lady Boun'. tiful . . . We've got an obligation to do this." The Archdiocese's efforts in t erms of housing will include an unspecified contribution to the H o u s i n g Development Fund. Such a fu nd is necessary to fi nance Governme nt - subsidized housing projects here. A fund of $2 million m ight provide the basis for 40,000 new low - a nd moder ate - income housing units in the area. One group already pursuing Feder al aid is the Housing Development Corp., headed by the Rev. Channing P hillips of the United Church of Chr ist. Mr. Phillips' group, wh ich h as access to $100,000 in capit al, currently i s sponsoring construction or rehabilitation of 2000 housing units. Mr. Phillips was at t he press confer ence yesterday, as were two officials of the proposed Fund. They are John Nevius, a lawyer who is one of t he appointees to the new City Council, and Re uben Clark, also a lawyer . Cla rk pointed out that the shortage of equity capital "front money" - now in the hands of the Housing Development Corp. and similar groups has limited the area's ability to take advantage of the low cost loans available under the loans to nonprofit corporations section of the Feder al Housing Act. The proposed housing at the St. Vincent's site would be financed under that rent subsidy section-Section 221 (D) 3 and would provide a m ix of apartments for the elderly public housing uni ts and non~ profit dwellings for families of low and moderate income. The Archdiocese is involvin " itself in t hree other housing programs. A group .. of laymen organized in a group known as S ursum Cor da, Inc., working wjt h St. Aloysi us Church and Gonzaga High School, already has secured Federal support for a $3.7 million, 199-un it housing developme nt off North Capitol Street jn the North\\·est One urban r enewal area. The other two proj ects include one elsewhe re in No rt heast One and the othe r-i n coopera tion with five nonCatholic ch urches a nd three synagogues- on Capitol Hil l. The Ur ban Affairs office will be part of t he plant of SS. Paul and Augustine P arish. The first two floo rs of the building will oe converted into a communi ty ce nter . Upper floors are expected to provide space for such opera tions as Father Baroni's office, the Metropolitan Ecumenical Training Cen ter a nd the Presbytery's office of urban mission. �