As officials have pointed out, support services is what makes the federal HOPE VI program different from other building projects. A public housing resident will get not only a new home, but skills to change his or her way of life.

A $9 million HOPE VI grant set Mercer County Housing Authority and its developing partner, Falbo/PennRose Joint Partnership, Pittsburgh, on the road to redeveloping Steel City.

The current 100 units of public housing will be knocked down and replaced with 74 public housing units, 45 apartments renting at closer to the market rate, and 26 homes that will be sold.

Some of the construction will be done in the surrounding neighborhood.

The first phase -- to raze the existing Steel City units and build 53 rental units and 11 for-sale homes -- is scheduled to begin in early July, said developer Ralph A. Falbo.

But not all of the HOPE VI grant can be used for construction and related activities. About $1.2 million is used for the Community Support Services program.

Although Falbo hired CSS coordinator the Rev. JoAnn Newell and her staff, the authority board and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development have to approve the CSS plan.

The board did so Wednesday. HUD has yet to approve it.

HUD officials from Washington will be in town Monday and Tuesday to discuss the plan and meet with service providers. Authority Executive Director L. DeWitt Boosel said he believes the visit is a preliminary step to HUD approval.

The plan embraces job training and opportunities, education, transportation, child-care, home-ownership, health and preparing residents to move into their new homes, Boosel said.

The average income of Steel City residents is $9,600 a year, and the authority has set a goal of raising the income of 20 residents from that level to $11,500.

With an increase in income often tied to employment, classes will be established for people to earn their general equivalency diplomas, and provide job-skills training to make them more marketable to employers.

For people with part-time jobs, CSS wants to help them find full-time work.

The construction industry is one area where CSS believes residents can find employment, if they are properly trained.

Under the Keystone SMILES program, which renovated the Sharpsville Gardens Community Center, residents renovated the bottom floor of the Steel City Community Center, where the CSS offices are located.

The authority also will work to set up programs with constractors who are hired for the Steel City work to train residents in the building trades. The plan sets a goal of providing "construction opportunities" to 20 public housing residents and low-income residents of the surrounding neighborhood.

For people with no interest in the construction trades, the plan sets goals of making 20 residents and another 20 young people computer literate.

Boosel said, when he was growing up, there were plenty of opportunities for a young person to make a few bucks. "We don't feel there's a lot of opportunity for part-time work," he said, so finding jobs for teen-agers is a goal.

People who do not have child care or transportation to a job are unlikely to find a job and stay employed. The CSS staff is looking for ways to address those issues.

CSS is conducting needs assessments of residents, setting up specific programs and entering agreements with agencies to offer them, Boosel said.

"The authority will be held accountable for these goals," Boosel said. "What will happen if we fall short, I don't know."

Boosel said CSS has "tremendous people" working with residents.

"We have every chance to succeed," he said.

In other Steel City matters, the board approved an aquisition plan for buying properties in the surrounding neighborhood on which to build apartments and homes, and a relocation plan for Steel City residents who want to live elsewhere during construction, and those who hope to move back into a new home.

The authority's Community Homebuyers Inc. already has bought more than 30 properties, and the first few buildings of Steel City have been vacated to make way for the first demolition.

Boosel said HUD, which has only approved the relocation plan, allows the authority to work under a preliminary plan until the final one is approved.

jpinchot@sharon-herald.com