“There’s a way for you”

Every time Adrian Peterson Fields visits his hometown of Birmingham, there is one item on the agenda that is non-negotiable.

Must visit East Birmingham and Oak Ridge Park neighborhoods and Gate City community.

“I do it to connect with who I am. I’m still just ‘Shae,'” Fields said, referencing her childhood nickname. “I also spend some time sharing, with those who are open, ways to move forward so that we can go beyond what we see. There is a way for you, your children and your grandchildren.”

The 47-year-old Birmingham native was recently named Southeast Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Community Planning and Development.

HUD’s leadership position is the first of its kind in more than 30 years, reviving the former federal role. Fields is based at Region 4 headquarters in Atlanta, overseeing federal initiatives in eight southern states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Fields grew up around public housing in east Birmingham. And he ended up spending most of his career focusing on housing and housing policy—from his years at HUD’s Birmingham office to serving as deputy director of the Birmingham Borough Housing Authority to planning and community development at HUD’s Atlanta office. She was appointed on May 5.

“I’ve always had my hands on some kind of affordable housing,” she said in a phone interview during an airport layover while traveling from state to state. “I fell into it. It wasn’t a career choice, especially for me. Seeing how we grew up and how we had community resources and how our schools were affected by federal programs gave me a different perspective.”

Fields spent her early childhood in the public housing community of Marks Village, where her grandmother, Mary E. Johnson, lived for about 10 years.

Fields can still point out her grandmother’s old apartment and recognizes the few elderly women from her childhood who still live in the area.

Just a few blocks away, her great-grandmother, Laura Connor, was one of the first black homeowners in east Birmingham, in Oak Ridge Park. Between the two homes, Fields said she found discipline and encouragement to think far beyond neighborhood boundaries.

“She always believed that I would be different, and my life would be a testimony to someone else,” Fields said of her great-grandmother. “He always saw something in me and I want to give that back to others. I’ve had a lot of mentors who have invested in me, and I want to be the same person for others.”

While her position with HUD is new, Fields said her personal beginnings in Birmingham give her an intimate understanding of the challenges facing the hundreds of thousands of people her office is designed to serve.

“I’m from Birmingham and my core is also in Region 4. I understand the challenges we face because I’ve been that person,” she said. “If I can make a difference in someone’s life like someone made for me, then I’ve accomplished all I have to accomplish.”

Her territory includes urban and rural, spanning Appalachia to the Delta and through the Caribbean.

“We get lost in the challenges that we don’t tend to pick up on the amazing work that people are doing in those localities,” she said. “Each state has a unique quality and a unique strength that it is important to raise.”

Fields named former HUD Director Pat Hoban-Moore a professional mentor. Hoban-Moore said she has equal respect for her protégé, saying Fields “epitomizes the best in public service.”

Hoban-Moore said Fields is grounded in her personal history, competent in her official mission and committed to improving the lives of the people her office is charged with serving.

“I always like that she has a sense of humor and that she’s not at all puffed up and full of herself,” said Hoban-Moore, now retired from HUD and current executive director of the Community Development Corporation at Miles College. “He knows who he is and never gets too puffed up that he forgets why he’s there.”

Hoban-Moore said Fields has both the head and the heart for her roles.

“She has the ability to apply it to the best possible outcome,” Hoban-Moore said. “For people who have that gift and use it for that good, that’s the best thing you can have. I’m glad there are people like her.”

Fields said the needs of her region are as diverse as the people she serves. These include the infrastructure issues created by climate change, the need for stable utilities, long-term and transitional housing.

“We have more needs than we have beds and units, and we need to rethink how we look at affordable housing,” Fields said. “We need to think about the adaptive reuse of schools and hospitals and how we can turn them into housing. The government cannot legislate for us on this issue. It will take a lot of hands and innovation to get there.”