(2 of 3)
At first glance, Gray seems an unlikely leader of a growing national movement. She spent many of her 42 years living on welfare. Raised in a public-housing complex in Washington, Gray at 19 was the mother of five children with no husband. Self-pity, however, rarely troubled her. "My grandmother taught me I had to lie in my own bed and be responsible for my life."
The lesson was well learned, and since moving to Kenilworth-Parkside 22 years ago, Gray has rarely stopped pushing for her dreams. Soon after she arrived, she became president of the local day-care center. Later she organized "College Here We Come," a program that has helped send nearly 600 academically gifted youngsters from public housing to colleges throughout the U.S. Since 1981 Gray has helped create a wide range of programs for the 3,500 residents of the project that have paid off in myriad ways: in the past six years dependence on welfare has dwindled from 85% to 2%, administrative costs of the project have dropped by nearly two-thirds, and teenage pregnancies have been cut in half. Along the way, Gray's brand of tenant management has saved the District and Federal Government about $5.7 million in operating expenses. Says Congressman Kemp: "She is inspirational, and her mind is breathtaking. She might have been born poor, but there is no poverty in her."
Such praise has been hard won. In the early years, Gray was considered a radical and troublemaker. "I'd go to meetings and get so mad I'd yell and turn the place out," she says. Politicians tried to block her plans, so Gray used a tool no politician can ignore: votes. In 1976 she organized and registered to vote 12,000 public-housing tenants. As chairman of the citywide public-housing board, Gray is now a local political power of the first order. The success at Kenilworth-Parkside hasn't come without struggle. Poverty can % drive out hope, and Gray admits that at the start of the tenant management struggle, "there were nights I cried myself to sleep because people wouldn't listen, didn't trust me or themselves."
Slowly, attitudes began to change, aided by new tenant rules that Gray admits are neither gentle nor subtle. Example: residents must take turns serving as hall and building captains. "People don't throw trash on the ground when they know it soon will be their turn to pick it up," she says. Tenants can use the day-care center, but only if they are working or looking for work. Residents are expected to take care of their property, which means fixing broken toilets and sinks themselves. One member of each family must take six weeks of training in such subjects as personal budgeting, pest control and basic home repairs. A system of fines is imposed on residents who break the rules. "Being poor doesn't give you the right to be dirty or lazy," she says. Though the bylaws seem downright harsh, in six years only five families have been evicted for breaking them.