Affordable Housing Task Force

LAC's Affordable Housing Task Force organizes around the preservation and creation of affordable housing in Lakeview and Lincoln Park. Our focus lies in the following areas:

510 W. Belmont:

LAC VICTORY!!! After numerous trips to DC; countless actions on Senators Durbin and Kirk, including Christmas Caroling, press conferences, petitions, phone calls, and meetings; and many arduous policy and legal strategy sessions, LAC, with the Chicago Housing Initiative, has won $10 million in an amendment to the federal budget to help struggling families in maturing mortgage buildings!!! 

This campaign started in the heart of our neighborhood with the Belmont Tower Tenant Association, and the tenants at 510 Belmont led the fight throughout the campaign, which will help not only tenants in their building, but tenants across the city and across the country!!! 

Senator Durbin was, because of LAC's and CHI's consistent organizing, a champion of this campaign, and in a press release about the HUD Bill, he mentions this amendment as 1 of just 4 priorities for the state of Illinois that he fought for and won for his constituents in the HUD Budget.

Kudos to the many tenants at 510 who fought so hard for these protections, especially Diane Damian, Pat Smith, Teresa Lopez, Eric Smith, and Amrita Dayal. We will need to continue to work diligently to make sure the new policy implements well on the ground and helps the families it was designed to help, and we need to continue fighting for a fully-funded HUD budget and new revenue sources, but it is a striking achievement in this climate to have a new pot of resources set aside to tap into.

Finally, a huge thanks to all of you as LAC members for all the support you provided along the way. ORGANIZING WORKS!!!

Children's Memorial Hospital:

LAC members have come together to make sure that once Children's Memorial Hospital moves out of Lincoln Park, any new residential development keeps in mind the need for workforce and senior affordable housing; historic building preservation; and sustainable, green development. Click here for more information.

SRO (Single Room Occupancy) Preservation Initiative:

LAC is working specifically on the preservation of the Diplomat SRO as very affordable SRO housing.  Currently vacant by city order, the Diplomat used to provide 99 units of affordable housing, although the owner would not keep the building in good repair, and he seemed eager to sell to the highest bidder.  As the City works to take the building from the owner through eminent domain, LAC is working to ensure that it becomes a well-run, very affordable SRO. (Contact - Jennifer Ritter)

Sweet Home Chicago Coalition:

LAC has joined a citywide coalition to pass an ordinance that would require 20% of all Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds to be spent on affordable housing.  As of 2008, there was nearly $1.3 billion built up in Chicago's TIF accounts. TIF dollars are property tax dollars that the city uses to develop certain neighborhoods. They can be used to build affordable housing. We currently have 26 Aldermanic sponsors, and continue to put pressure on our elected officials at City Hall to make sure Sweet Home Chicago becomes a reality. Click here for more information. 

 
Sweet Home Chicago Proposal:
Each year the city would dedicate 20% of TIF funds collected towards affordable housing.  If this had been in effect in 2008, $110 million would have gone towards housing.

Developments would qualify to receive funds if 50 percent of the units were affordable to households earning less than $37,000 for a family of four.  In addition, citywide, 40% of the total units created with the dedicated funds each year must serve households earning less than $22,600 a year for a family of four.

For housing that is for sale, units would have to be affordable to households of four earning less than $60,300.

Sweet Home Chicago Members:
Sweet Home Chicago is a coalition of 12 partners: Action NOW, Albany Park Neighborhood Council, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Jane Addams Senior Caucus, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, Lakeview Action Coalition, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Organization of the North East, SEIU-Healthcare Illinois/Indiana, SEIU Local 1, and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 881.

Foreclosure Prevention:

LAC is reaching out to owners of properties in foreclosure or at risk of foreclosure, as well as tenants in multifamily properties in foreclosure to ensure that they have the resources they need, and to engage in structural reforms necessary in this crisis.
Click here for more information. (Contact – Debra Fricano) 

Chicago Housing Initiative (CHI):

LAC participates in a coalition of organizations that work with Section 8 tenants to preserve and improve their housing.  Working city-wide allows us to support each other as Section 8 tenants and Section 8 tenant organizers in a way that isn’t possible on the local level alone.  We recently conducted a survey among 600 tenants in Chicago, and will continue to use the results to lead the citywide work that we do.  We are also working with our Congressional Representatives to pass national Preservation Legislation that will help preserve Section 8 housing across the country.     

Illinois Capital Budget: 

LAC worked with United Power to convince State legislators to include money for affordable housing in the State Capital Budget.  This past summer, Governor Quinn signed a capital bill that included $144 million for building and rehabbing affordable housing. This is the largest appropriation of state funding for affordable housing in the state's history - and the very first time housing has been included in a capital bill in Illinois.  LAC leaders played an important role in this victory, and now we will be working to influence how this money gets spent.

Implementation of the Affordable Requirements Ordinance: 

In 2007, LAC worked with the Balanced Development Coalition to pass the Affordable Requirements Ordinance, which requires many developers in the city to set aside 10% of their units for affordable housing.  LAC is working to make sure that this new law is followed, and looking for opportunities to gain even more affordable units.  More information on the Balanced Development Campaign here.

Housing Task Force:

LAC leaders come together once a month to get updates on the various campaigns we work on and to make decisions around relevant issues we address.  Please contact Mary at 773-549-1947 x385 or mtarullo@lakeviewaction.org to learn more! 

(Last updated: 10/2010)

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