ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Allentown City Council continued its community outreach efforts Wednesday night by holding a special meeting for the purpose of hearing presentations about the Allentown Housing Authority and the Downtown Allentown Alliance.

Allentown Housing Authority

Julio Guridy, executive director of the housing authority, gave a basic overview of the authority, its core mission and the programs it has to offer.

Guridy said there is always a need for more affordable public housing and presented statistics that the authority has 729 public housing units, while there is a waitlist of 3,132 applicants.

Guridy also detailed information regarding social services offered by the authority, including:

Resident Opportunity and Self Sufficiency Program, a needs assessment program that helps residents advance towards goals that best fit their needs.

Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program, which assists first-time homebuyers to transition between renting and becoming a homeowner. For qualified residents, the housing assistance payment goes towards the monthly mortgage.

Family Self-Sufficiency Program, which assists residents with building financial assets by working towards educational, professional and personal goals.

Allentown Housing Authority Scholarship Program, which offers secondary education scholarships to high school seniors where funds are distributed evenly between semesters for a total of $1,500 year, with a maximum of $6,000 for four years.

Guridy identified some future projects including: Little Lehigh Phase II, 35 new tax-credit units; The Lofts at Sixth Street, eight new housing units for low-income housing; and a total of 10 public housing units that will be renovated and transitioned to homeownership units for first-time buyers.

Downtown Allentown Alliance

The Downtown Allentown Alliance presentation was made by board Chair Matthew Malozi and Executive Director Lisa Finkelstein.

“The DAA began in 2024 with a steering committee that was convened to take a look at why the downtown, in spite of record levels of investment by many different public and private organizations, was lacking in activation and vibrancy,” Malozi said.  

“That steering committee commissioned a report by national consultants that was entitled the ‘Downtown Allentown Revitalization and Activation Report,’” he said. “It was a 283-page document and assessment that compared Allentown to our peers of similar size demographics.”

“And what it found, among other things, is that the city — compared to our peers — is clean and safe, but we have a perception problem, and one of the things lacking was retail vibrancy and community engagement,” Malozi continued.

A strategic plan was created by pulling data from the report.

The DAA has four strategic pillars: enhance engagement and vibrancy, inspire loyalty and advocacy, curate a dynamic retail landscape, and celebrate and elevate cultural heritage.

An ambassador program was created that has now logged 121,477 tasks from November 2025 through July 2026, including hospitality greetings, safety escorts and business outreach contacts.

The DAA recently began a social media presence.

Next steps include a global marketplace festival, Center Square activation to energize the civic core with new programming, and improved event coordination.

In the 2025-26 fiscal year, 34% of the DAA revenue came from city funding, with the remaining 66% from private dollars and state and other public sources.

Councilmember Ce-Ce Gerlach reminded the organization that the surrounding communities are primarily Latino, and she feels that the downtown events are not necessarily geared to provide for the long-term residents.

DAA officials said through the branding and marketing process, the surrounding communities have been identified as primary audiences for events.

Council President Santo Napoli said there does need to be a focus on small business owners.

“There are small business owners that have a ton of passion, with a lot of drive, but they just need some help,” Napoli said. “Whether it’s in tech assistance, whether it’s some marketing assistance, these are folks that could succeed and thrive if they just had a little bit of help.”