November 2015 Golden Rule Apartments Newsletter Columbus Property Management, a Member of Mission First Housing Group • www.missionfirsthousing.org • twitter: @MissionFirstHG Messages from Community Events & Programs Management Golden Rule Apartment events. Take place in the community room. There Please welcome Stephen may be programs you may be eligible for that can save you money. Take Turner as the Leasing/ advantage of this assistance from the Resident Service Department. Recertification Specialist for Adult Bingo Night: On Wednesday, November 4, adults are welcome to Bingo Golden Rule Apartment! Mr. Night at 6 pm in the community room. Refreshments and great prizes will be Turner brings a wealth of awarded! professional experience and is excited to serve residents. Youth Movie Night: Thursday, November 19 at 6 pm Youth Arts and Crafts: Tuesday, November 24 at 6 pm Columbus Property Management will be In Need Of Emergency Food? Residents that are in need of emergency food, closed in observance of Veteran’s Day please contact the Resident Services Department at (202) 842-2027. Our very own Wednesday, November 11. We will open food pantry will deliver non-perishable food to you within a few of hours of your 8:30 am on Thursday, November 12. We call. Please leave a message if no answer. would like to say THANK YOU to all of our veteran residents for serving our country and Benefits Check: If you would like to know what type of government benefits and protecting our freedom. assistance programs you may be eligible to receive, please contact Patrick at (202) 842-2027 to set up an appointment. Patrick will conduct a 30 minute online prescreening questionnaire or “Benefits Check” in which the answer to the Columbus Property Management will be questionnaire will be used to evaluate your situation and compare it with the closed in observance of Thanksgiving eligibility criteria for more than 1,000 Federally-funded benefit and assistance beginning Wednesday, November 25 at programs. Each program description will provide you with the next steps to 1 pm. We will open 8:30 am on Monday, apply for any benefit program of interest. November 30. DC Events in November Never write a rent check The Concert for Valor: Wednesday, November 11 again! On Veteran’s Day, pop music (and pop culture) superstars will take to the National Mall to honor America’s servicemen, past and present, as part of an HBO live broadcast special. Celebs Tom Hanks, Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey will be on It’s the beginning of the month-you got things hand to honor vets. As for performers, Bruce Springsteen, The Black Keys, Carrie to do, places to be, and bills to pay. We Underwood and Rihanna are all scheduled to perform. Concert begins at 7 pm and understand how busy you are and how long it is FREE. Location: National Mall between the Capitol and the Washington that ‘to-do’ list can get. That’s why we’ve made Monument it as easy as possible to mark “pay rent” off the list every month with our convenient and secure, electronic payment and mobile app The Silver Spring Thanksgiving Parade: Saturday, November 21 Celebrate Thanksgiving with a parade in the heart of Silver Spring, Maryland. The option! You can make a one-time rent payment parade will include 50-foot balloons, The Washington Redskins Marching Band, online or with our app without purchasing a fire engines, antique cars and more! Parade starts at 10 a.m. Location:The parade money order or standing in line. It’s fast, easy begins at Ellsworth Drive and Veterans Place and proceeds South on Georgia and can be done when you want, from where Avenue, ending at Silver Spring Avenue. you want. Plus it’s FREE! That’s right, FREE! Save time and money by paying your rent online or with our app! Washington Wizards Basketball The NBA is back! Off of a thrilling playoff run last season, come watch the Washington Wizards in action beginning this fall. To purchase tickets, please call If you would like assistance in setting up (800) 745-3000 or visit stubhub.com. online registration, please call Patrick at (202) 842-2027. Highlighted home games in November: San Antonio Spurs: Wednesday, November 4 at 7 pm Oklahoma Thunder: Tuesday, November 10 at 7 pm Indiana Pacers: Tuesday, November 24 at 7 pm Toronto Raptors: Saturday, November 28 at 7 pm Management wishes a “Happy Birthday” Happy to all residents born in November! Thanksgiving!! Your Lifestyle: Tips & Resources SHARE Food Network Coping with Debt! Thousands of families count on SHARE each month for affordable, Some debt is helpful. Most people nutritious groceries that are sold through volunteer-run locations can’t pay cash to buy a home or a new throughout the Washington metropolitan area. car, or for college tuition, so a loan is needed to help you pay for these. Monthly value packages cost just $21 and include $40-$50 worth of basic and healthy groceries, typically made up of 4-5 pounds of frozen protein products, 1-3 grocery items, and 8-9 pounds of It’s stressful when you find yourself unable to make your fresh produce. loan payments, no matter what kind of debt you have. So what can you do? Anyone and everyone may buy as many SHARE packages as they’d like by registering through a location convenient to their office or home neighborhood. 1. Set up a budget. Determine all of your income, and your most critical expenses. What can you afford to pay Please call Patrick at (202) 842-2027 for locations nearest you. to avoid defaulting on your loans? 2. Ask your financial institution about consolidating your Get Help With Your Utility Bills loans. If you are paying a higher interest on one loan, ask your financial institution about consolidating it with District Department of Environment assists eligible District a lower rate loan to reduce your payment amount. households with energy costs associated with heating and cooling through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance 3. Don’t just stop paying a bill. Talk to your lenders if Program (LIHEAP).Eligible households may receive assistance you’ve lost a job or had a financial crisis. Find out if towards their energy bill between $250 and $1,500 as a one-time you can extend your loan to reduce your payments, or Regular Energy Assistance benefit. The Regular Energy negotiate a new payment plan. Assistance benefit is based on household size, total household 4. Avoid payday lenders and debt consolidation income, heating source, and type of dwelling. District residents companies. They will only cost you more money in the may apply for energy assistance through an online application at long run! Turn to your trusted financial institution for http://doee.dc.gov/liheap. Appointments are now required for assistance. in-person assistance. Call 311 on or after November 1, for 5. Create an emergency fund. Start small – set aside appointments beginning November 9. loose change, rebate checks, money saved when you Income Guidelines for FY 2016 use coupons - anything that will keep you from turning Household Size Max. Annual Income to some form of toxic loan when you need money the 1 $26,144 most. 2 $34,188 3 $42,232 Think you need one-on-one assistance for coping with debt? GPO Federal Credit Union (at 732 N. Capitol Street, 4 $50,276 NW, just 2 blocks from GRA) has solutions to put you on *Emergency Energy Assistance is available to eligible District residents who are currently disconnected from electric or gas service, or have a depleted supply of the road to financial health! Check us out at www.gpofcu. home heating oil. Please contact 311 for more info. org. If you need assistance with online registration, please call Patrick Attention Federal at (202) 842-2027. Employees: Columbus Property Management and Is There a Need for More Affordable Housing and Community Mission First Housing Group make it Needs? possible to help vulnerable populations find The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) a safe, affordable place to call home. You can make it possible, is requesting your support in completing an online survey to assist too, by designating us through the CFC. The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the largest and most successful workplace DHCD in developing a city plan on how to utilize federal funds for fundraising campaign in the world. Over the past fifty years, the affordable housing and community needs. Please visit www.dhcd. CFC has raised $7 billion to help neighbors in need around the dc.gov then search for DC Draft FY2016-FY2020 Consolidated corner, across the nation and throughout the world. The money Plan. Your survey results will paint a picture about the direction of raised through the CFC helps Mission First provide services to affordable housing and community development needs in DC. families and seniors in Washington, DC. Donate at http://www.cfcnca.org. Our CFC designation number is 75714. Grievance Procedure for Residents A resident may ask CPM to reconsider any adverse decision should a dispute not be resolved through normal procedures at the site level. Request for reconsideration must be in writing and must set forth the specific reasons why the resident or prospective resident believes the decision was in error. Any reconsideration request must be limited to the allegation and issues directly related to the alleged adverse action. The complainant must identify all relevant information that he or she believes is incorrect or that was omitted from previous consideration. The request must include all new and material information believed to support the reconsideration request.