Jamie Berry is a communications leader in our community. She made a name for herself as an award-winning television news producer and later in the nonprofit field.
For the past decade, she’s worked at the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) first as the Director of Communications and for the past two and a half years as MDHA’s Chief of Staff.
Berry knows the MDHA’s work inside out. In her role as chief of staff she serves as the intergovernmental affairs liaison and oversees communication and fundraising efforts.
“My focus is to ensure the goals established MDHA’s strategic plan are met, so that we can best serve our residents and program participants,” Berry said, adding that she particularly loves when she has a chance to work with residents and programs participants — something she does a little bit less now than in her prior position.
What are some of the most significant changes you have seen during your time at MDHA?
It has been an amazing and fulfilling journey. When I started in 2014, MDHA had not yet started the transformation at Cayce Place. The planning process began the year prior to me coming, but new residential construction did not kick off until 2015. It has been very interesting to be able to watch the transformation at Cayce Place. We have completed seven new residential facilities, and there are currently two additional ones that are under construction.
I’ll say that one of my favorite days on the job is being with one of our residents walking into a new apartment. It is such a blessing to be able to experience that because some of the things that we may take for granted, Cayce residents did not have prior to the transformation.
There are units here at Cayce that were built in the 1940s and 1950s. There are buildings that don’t have central heat and air, so they’re walking into a brand-new unit with market rent amenities.
We had one of our residents who couldn’t get over the fact that she now had a dishwasher. It was the very first dishwasher she ever had. And I just kept thinking in that moment, what a wonderful blessing to be able to be here and witness this moment with her. So that has been very fulfilling to see our residents be able to move from Old Cayce to New Cayce.
Where is Cayce Place? How many people are housed there?
Cayce Place is located off of Shelby Avenue in East Nashville. Residents have been involved since the early planning stages. I’m told that they were very excited about the opportunity to be able to have a mixed income development, so that’s one of the things we have done.
Overall, there were more than 700 apartments originally. The master plan calls for 2,390 units to replace Old Cayce. To date, we have completed more than 600 apartments here and more than half of those were set aside for our Cayce families. So, we have had more than 300 families move from Old Cayce to New Cayce.
Any other significant changes you’d like to highlight?
Besides the transition of Cayce Place, since I’ve been here, is MDHA’s Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) Program*. That’s for tax credit properties. The Metro Council approved the PILOT Program in 2016, and since its inception, we have been able to assist in the creation or preservation of nearly 11,000 affordable apartments in Nashville.
We also have converted approximately 1,000 Housing Choice Vouchers to Project-Based Vouchers. This addressed an issue where we were seeing a decline in the number of landlords who were willing to accept vouchers. That decline was caused by the fact that Nashville was growing so rapidly, and landlords could get so much more rent for their units. So, by converting those Housing Choice Vouchers to Project-Based Vouchers, it allowed us to be able to secure units here in Nashville for families in need.
How many vouchers does MDHA have overall?
We have nearly 8,000 vouchers, which include both Project-Based and Housing Choice vouchers.
Give me the elevator speech of what MDHA does, for readers who are not as familiar with the organization.
First and foremost, MDHA provides housing opportunities for approximately 30,000 people who have the greatest need. I say the greatest need because almost 90 percent of households we serve are earning an income below 30 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).
We are also the redevelopment arm of the city and are currently managing the Second Avenue Rebuild. Previous developments include Bridgestone Arena, Nissan Stadium, and the Nashville Public Library on Church Street in Downtown.
We also administer several HUD community and development grants on behalf of the city, and of course, this includes HOME, CDBG, HOPWA, and ESG.**
What are some of MDHA’s achievements from last year that you would like to highlight?
One of the most exciting achievements last year was when we started construction on Park Point East in early January. We had 400 units under construction, which is the first time since 1970 that MDHA has had 400 units under construction.
Another one was when we reached the 10,000-unit milestone through our PILOT program, which means we assisted in the preservation or creation of 10,000 affordable housing units. In addition, Metro Council approved an increase in the cap for the PILOT program from $2.5 million to $5 million, which allows us to serve more affordable housing developments. As I mentioned earlier, we meanwhile have nearly 11,000 units through the PILOT program.
Our Rental Assistance Department also received a perfect score on HUD’s Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP), which is a huge achievement worth noting.
We served more than 9,000 people last year through our Community Planning and Development programs (HOME, CDBG, HOPWA, and ESG).
In 2023, our President and CEO Dr. Troy D. White created the first Resident Services Department in MDHA’s 85-year history, and in 2024, that department formed 33 new partnerships to assist our residents and help them achieve their success.
We also revitalized and relaunched our service center in South Nashville to house more partners and offer additional services to our residents and the broader community.
What does the Resident Services Department do?
The Resident Services Department provides specific programs and events that we offer. And if there are services that our residents need that the staff of the Resident Services Department cannot provide, then they try to find community partners who can. Creating relationships and partnerships is so important. There are so many wonderful partners in our Nashville community that provide specific services, and we want to take advantage of that and not reinvent the wheel.
When Dr. White first got here, he came up with [a framework that includes] three pillars. The three pillars are residents, staff, and development. That is one of the things he has done that I feel has really transformed our agency in a positive way. We are really putting an effort into our residents and making sure that we are either providing the support services they need or finding someone who can help them to reach their goals and achieve their greatest success. This could include anything from helping people get their driver’s license to working toward home ownership or financial freedom.
A lot of MDHA’s work is federally funded. Have potential federal funding cuts already affected MDHA? If so, in what areas?
A government shutdown was avoided, and so we are confident that federal funding is going to be intact and many of our programs will remain the same as the 2024 level, but we have learned that a few of those programs will see an inflation adjustment. So, we are continuing business as usual.
We also recently learned that we are receiving more funding than anticipated for Shelter Plus Care, so that will allow us to serve additional people. That’s very exciting.
However, we are keeping an eye on what is taking place in D.C., so that we are aware.
Anything else you would like to add?
I feel extremely grateful to be able to get up every morning and know that I am serving families in Nashville who have a great need. It is truly a blessing to be able to do that. When I first started working here 10.5 years ago, I thought, “Oh, I’ll work here [for] at least five years.”
I am still here because there is always something that continues to keep me going and keep me motivated and keep me excited about this job. And a big part of that are the people that we serve, and the relationships that I build on the job. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be able to do this work every single day.
* https://www.nashville-mdha.org/2024/10/09/mdha-pilot-program-exceeds-10000-affordable-apartments-created-or-preserved/ : MDHA’s PILOT program provides 10 years of property tax relief to developers who have been awarded a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency. These financial incentives encourage developers to expand the supply of affordable multi-family housing through new construction and substantial rehabilitation and ensure that affordable housing development is financially feasible in Davidson County.
** HUD refers to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which manages numerous grant programs including the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) Program, and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Program.