Affordable housing shortage acute in Minneapolis Kevin Lattimore, junior, North H.S., Minneapolis Published July 14, 2003
Housing is easy enough to find in Minneapolis, but finding affordable housing for low-income families, now that's another thing entirely. Just ask Rena Heaton and her boyfriend John Jackson. For the past three months, Heaton, Jackson and their three children have called Mary's Place home. They moved to the shelter for homeless families after being forced to leave their South Minneapolis apartment. The family moved from St. Cloud to Minneapolis more than a year ago, but their financial problems became acute when Jackson lost his job as a cook and Heaton had a third child. There are a lot of Rena Heatons and John Jacksons out there, searching for affordable housing. According to Deb Landy of Common Bond, Minnesota's largest provider of affordable housing, there are about 39,000 affordable housing units for the 80,000 Minnesota families who need them. Rental vacancies are rising, but that isn't helping low-income families; they're mostly in expensive places, said Ann Ruff, vice president of development for Common Bond. "It's going to take a lot to bring down the rents," she said. Common Bond opened a 25-unit building for families in December and 400 families applied. As people lose jobs in a soft economy, more people double up or live in substandard housing, Ruff said. "We get on the bus and ride around and watch for the 'for rent' signs," said Heaton, 26. She would like a three-bedroom apartment, but those units are priced out of reach, with rents ranging from $900-1500 a month, she said. They hope to move into a two-bedroom transitional unit at the Hennepin County family shelter this month, where they will pay $517 a month, well below the market rate. The family will be able to stay there for up to two years. "Times are rough. There are not enough jobs for people who are looking for work," said Heaton, who along with Jackson, is job hunting. Poor children suffer greatly from a lack of decent affordable housing, according to "There's No Place Like Home," a recent report by Housing America, a San Francisco-based non-profit uniting pediatricians, clergymen, and community-based organizations to press for better housing for the poor. http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/3981102.html There No Place Like Home http://www.housingamerica.net Posted by Shawn Lewis, Field Neighborhood -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup CareerBuilder.com has over 400,000 jobs. Be smarter about your job search http://corp.mail.com/careers TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
