Spread
the Word About HousingMatters.net
Dear
Friend,
Thanks for being a member of HousingMatters.net during our first
year. With your help, we were able to create the Rental Housing
Support Program, a new state-funded rental assistance program that
will make rent affordable to approximately 5,500 families at 30% or
below of their local area median income (around $19,000 for a family
of four in Illinois).
We were also able to help stop much of President Bush’s plan to
slash federal housing spending. In the budget that became law,
funding for Housing Choice Vouchers was increased. There were also
increases for programs targeted at people who are homeless and to
house people with HIV/AIDS. Other housing programs were cut.
However, compared to what the President originally proposed, this is
a significant improvement.
Problem:
There
is a lot more work to do. According to a report released on
December 14, an Illinois household that rents must include at
least 2.4 full-time minimum wage earners to afford a modest
two-bedroom apartment. The study estimates that 48 percent of
Illinois’ 1.5 million renter households do not earn this much.
Solution:
As
2005 draws to a close, we ask you to help us one more time by
encouraging your friends and others to sign up for
HousingMatters.net, so that more people will be contacting their
elected officials in 2006 on important housing issues.
Here are a few of the state issues we will be working on next year:
1. Homelessness Prevention Program—Increase funding to $11 million
from $5 million in the current fiscal year for emergency assistance
to households experiencing a temporary crisis to prevent them from
becoming homeless. In six years, the program has prevented 43,000
households from experiencing homelessness, with 80% remaining housed
6-18 months after receiving assistance.
2. Residential Tenant Protection Act—Clarifies existing case law
that the only appropriate way to evict a tenant is through a court
order.
3. Safe Homes Act—Addresses the needs of victims of domestic
violence and sexual assault in accessing and maintaining safe
housing.
4. Supportive Housing Services—Increase the budget by $4.2 million
for 38 projects with 921 units. Supportive housing serves the
state’s most vulnerable citizens, including people with mental
illness, people who have been homeless and people with chronic,
debilitating illness.
We will also continue to work to protect and expand federal
resources for affordable and fair housing.
Action
Needed:
You
can quickly and easily invite other people to join
HousingMatters.net by clicking on the “Forward to a friend” link
above or below.
Deadline
for responding:
Please take action by January
15, 2006.
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