Hedy Elliott Gardner OpEd
All across the country people struggle to find affordable housing. People who are low income or on a fixed income find it especially challenging. The demand is driving the cost up so high that there is less and less affordable housing available, as numerous studies have shown.
Suitable housing is especially difficult for people with children to support who work at minimum wage jobs. The typical rent plus utilities for a three bedroom house or apartment is likely to take most of their paychecks.
Do the math: the typical minimum wage job puts only about $1,200 a month in the worker’s pocket, after deductions, and that’s if they are able to work full time. If rent and utilities total $800 or $900 a month, that leaves only $400 a month for everything else, an impossible situation!
They need rent subsidies from an organization such as the Peoria Housing Authority.
But the PHA can’t help everyone. Persons being released from the Department of Corrections face an added barrier. Currently, in most cities, and in Peoria, persons who have felonies are banned from renting an apartment in public housing. Residents face eviction if they house an ex-offender, even if it is a son or daughter or a parent or sibling who would otherwise be homeless.
Imagine having to shut the door on a parent who will be homeless, perhaps living under a bridge or in a doorway.
A few years ago the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) began urging agencies to lift the ban on people being released from prison, if they have non-violent convictions, such as low level drug possession or bad checks. With these new rules, some people could return to their families living in public housing, at least temporarily, then be eligible for their own apartment.
Chicago and New York have already started pilot programs. The pilot programs offer formerly incarcerated individuals a place to live and ongoing support from a variety of outside social services. The wrap around approach offers assistance, many times on site, to the individuals. Agencies and residents feel more assured that these services make success for the ex-offender more likely.
The Peoria Housing Authority has been asked to set up a pilot program for those with nonviolent felony convictions, to see whether this approach will help. At a recent meeting the trustees listened respectfully and seemed interested in this idea.
Not everyone will agree that the new HUD approach will work. But whether one agrees or disagrees, the people are released into the community anyway so why not offer these folks a second chance?
Hedy Elliott Gardner is coordinator of adult learning for Peoria Park District Foundation.