According
to the report, for every 100 extremely low-income households in
Illinois, there are only 28 available and affordable rental homes. In
Illinois, a family of four is considered extremely low-income if their
annual income is less than or at $21,650, which is 30 percent of the area median
income.
Extremely low-income renters typically spend more than half their income on rent, according to researchers.
“When
you are paying 60 or 70 percent of your income toward your housing
costs, there’s not much money left for the other necessities of life,
such as food, medical costs or investing in your education,” said Bob
Palmer, policy director for the statewide housing coalition, Housing
Action Illinois.
Derived from a long history of discrimination, a staggering
opportunity gap has widened financial disparities between black and
white Americans, condemning African Americans to less home equity,
according to a new report by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy (IASP) at Brandeis University.
After
studying 1,700 American families for 25 years, the
report examines the major causes of America’s racial wealth gap.
Researchers found that the total wealth gap between white and
African American families had almost tripled during the study, increasing
from $85,000 in 1984 to $236,500 in 2009.
Chicago has not reached the other side of the foreclosure crisis, a new report from the Woodstock Institute has revealed. But with new ordinances like the Cook County Land Bank Authority, the Windy City may be headed in the right direction.
Last
year, Chicago’s six county region saw the highest year-over-year growth
in completed foreclosure auctions since the beginning of the foreclosure
crisis in 2008, according to the Woodstock Institute report.
Foreclosure auctions, which indicate the foreclosure process is
finished, grew by 73.8 percent, from 20,281 auctions in 2011 to 35,244
auctions in 2012.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a plan yesterday for which the
city will spend $2.5 million a year to help its homeless residents.
AFSCME Council 31 public employees union is upset about the plan because the strategy
will outsource the city’s overnight homeless transport service.
Privatization
plan aside, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless says that Emanuel
has at least taken steps toward identifying the scope of the homelessness problem in the city. Read more »
Housing advocates in Chicago and across the country have begun to
channel their frustration with the sprawling foreclosure crisis toward
one man: Ed DeMarco (pictured), acting director of the Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA).
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), which includes several Chicago groups, fired off a letter
yesterday to President Barack Obama demanding that he make a
recess appointment for a new FHFA director. Meanwhile, the Chicago area
foreclosure rate is on the rise. Read more »
A plan to demolish abandoned buildings in high-crime areas used for illegal activity in Chicago has not been well received by housing advocates. They say area residents may not wind up the big winners once the plan gets executed.
Despite the drumbeat of fiscal austerity that lead to other significant social service cuts, the Illinois General Assembly last week actually passed a budget for next year with meaningful increases – yes, increases – in money for key state programs to help the homeless, and those in danger of becoming homeless.
The state did this through taking money from a trust fund reserved for affordable housing. In an ideal world for homeless service providers, money to fund their work would have come from general revenue funds. Read more »
The
housing wage in Illinois is $16.78. That means a family must earn at
least that hourly amount for 40 hours a week and 52 weeks per year in
order to pay rent and utilities for a safe, modest two-bedroom
apartment.
But the average private-housing renter in Illinois
earns $13.95, which is $2.82 less than the hourly wage needed to afford a
unit, said Bob Palmer, policy director at Housing Action Illinois. Read more »
There simply aren't enough rental homes available to extremely
low-income households in Illinois, according to a new report, and
housing advocates say that needs to change in order to prevent increased
homelessness in the state.
Illinois’ extremely low-income renters are in dire need of affordable housing, according to a recent 
Derived from a long history of discrimination, a staggering
opportunity gap has widened financial disparities between black and
white Americans, condemning African Americans to less home equity,
according to a new 
Chicago has not reached the other side of the foreclosure crisis, a new 
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a plan yesterday for which the
city will spend $2.5 million a year to help its homeless residents.
AFSCME Council 31 public employees union is upset about the plan because the strategy
will outsource the city’s overnight homeless transport service.
Housing advocates in Chicago and across the country have begun to
channel their frustration with the sprawling foreclosure crisis toward
one man: Ed DeMarco (pictured), acting director of the Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA).
More than 50 percent of renters in Illinois don’t have enough money to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the state, a 
There simply aren't enough rental homes available to extremely
low-income households in Illinois, according to a new report, and
housing advocates say that needs to change in order to prevent increased
homelessness in the state.