Featured Article:   CONTAINER GARDENING TIPS FOR SMALL SPACES by our resident expert, Susan Gaspar

I was thrilled to get the following response for our "Homeowner Corner" column from Susan Gaspar - but her contribution was so great that we bumped it up to "Featured Article" status. Here it is!

Just because you may live in a condo or apartment and do not have a yard, you can still have a great container garden in a very small space on a balcony, patio, terrace, or deck. It's a great way to connect with nature during the warm months, and you can do vegetables/fruits and flowers, or just choose one or the other. 

Make sure you take note of how much sun your area gets between sun-up and sun-down. Certain plants do better in full sun, and others in part shade, etc.

Cherry or grape tomatoes are also a good choice for a container garden. They are a bit easier to wrangle than the larger tomato varieties, and can give you a bumper crop of tomatoes all summer if conditions are right. You will need a sunny area, and you will need to monitor the watering. But in just a few weeks, you will be picking tomatoes right off the vine!

As for flowers, think about a color scheme and how many pots you have before purchasing the plants. You will also want to check the plant labels to find out how tall and how big around the flowers will get, so you know how large a pot to use. You can be creative and plant more than one type of flower in one pot, so long as each plant has enough room. And for window boxes or hanging planters, it's nice to add one of the trailing plant varieties, so that after a few weeks you have lovely cascading greenery and blooms. 

As a CCLT homeowner you agreed to:

Maintain your Home in good, safe condition - and make any repairs or replacements necessary to keep it that way. (Article 4.2 of the Deed Restriction)

Riverside Arts Weekend

May 17 - 18, 2014

Pamela Gecan founded American Marketing Services (AMS) in June 1995, with the firm and its subsidiaries providing a full range of market research, marketing planning, and marketing consulting services.  Clients include housing authorities, municipalities, financial institutions, real estate development firms, property management firms and non-profit housing groups.

Since founding AMS, Ms. Gecan has performed or supervised market analyses for over 30,000 units of proposed affordable, market rate and mixed-income housing developments.  Ms. Gecan has also undertaken recent research assignments on behalf of the Urban Land Institute and the Chicagoland Apartment Association.

Ms. Gecan has assisted various municipalities and housing authorities throughout the country, providing consulting services related to community revitalization and redevelopment programs.  She has implemented innovative marketing strategies relating to community reinvestment and community renewal, and has developed special expertise marketing mixed-income developments and in achieving economically and racially diverse populations. 

Prior to the founding of AMS, Ms. Gecan served as the Manager for Market Analysis for the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA).  She also assisted in the creation of IHDA's first affordable financing program for single-family home buyers and has extensive marketing experience relating to first-time home buyers and workforce housing.

In her twenty-five year career, Ms. Gecan has directed market research and marketing programs for a wide array of housing product.  From suburban single-family homes, to urban lofts and low income housing for families and seniors, she has developed award winning marketing programs throughout the Midwest.

Ms. Gecan holds a Master of Science degree in Advertising from Northwestern University, and has been a speaker at marketing seminars sponsored by the Institute for Real Estate Management (IREM), the Chicagoland Apartment Association (CAA), and the National Apartment Association.  She has also won the CAA's Cammy Award for marketing plan of the year.

Pam has been a CCLT Board member since February, 2012. In addition, Ms. Gecan is currently serving as Chairman of the Board for H.O.M.E., a Chicago based not-for-profit housing agency focused on developing and maintaining affordable housing for senior citizens. 

Ms. Gecan is also a licensed Real Broker in Illinois, and a Realtor.

Q.  What motivates you to continue to work with the CCLT?  

A. I believe it's a great organization which is focused on a really important objective - creating and preserving affordable housing for the City of Chicago.  I especially like the fact that there is a real commitment to preserve affordable units within the City for the long term. And just as importantly, I've been impressed with the many services that CCLT provides its homeowners. So, it's not just the housing assistance. Through special programs and educational seminars, CCLT works on building an ongoing relationship with its homeowners. This helps to ensure that each family ends up staying in the affordable home. Our default rate is really minimal. 

I also think that while our staff is small, they've been really productive and communicate well with the board. This makes it easier for board members to stay focused and involved.

Q. Any recommendations for our CCLT homeowners?  

A.  I would remind homeowners that the CCLT staff is a truly effective resource. If problems come up, whether financial or otherwise, the staff wants to know and can many times identify resources and programs before the situation gets out of hand. Don't be afraid to call or reach out!