The Problem JONAH Sees: In the Chippewa Valley and especially in the City of Eau Claire, an alarming shortage of affordable housing is hurting middle and low income individuals and families, the communities they live in, and the area economy.
According to the United Way’s ALICE Report, in 2016 46% of Eau Clare residents paid more than 30% of their income for housing, making them housing insecure. People who pay too much of their income for housing are less able to save for the future or to take advantage of opportunities to become financially secure (education, employment, advancement, etc.)
Our Mission: To facilitate culture change in Eau Claire City and County so that all stakeholders are informed about the lack of safe, good quality, affordable housing and are motivated to take actions to address it through public and private initiatives.
Accomplishments Highlights:
- Successfully pushing to establish Monday Public Hearing at the Eau Claire City Council beginning on September 24th, 2018, which was specifically dedicated to the issue of affordable housing. In the following months, momentum grew and affordable housing became the #1 priority of our City Council in 2019. Since that first public hearing, Monday Public Hearings are held regularly the night before City Council meetings on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month
- Collaborating with the City of Altoona and Cody Filipczak of C&M Builders for the opening on October 1st, 2019 of the area’s first intentional, collaborative, affordable housing development, Solic Circle, 1511 Devney Drive, 24 units of primarily efficiency apartments.
- Successfully advocating for the Eau Claire City Council to commit $700,000 toward affordable housing under the 2020-2024 Capital Improvement Plan. Of the $700,000, $200,000 will be used for single family affordable homes and $500,000 for multifamily units.
- Success advocating for an Affordable Housing Commission to our City Council. Starting this year, this new Commission will be comprised of stakeholders across the spectrum who are committed to advancing affordable housing in our city.
- Every day connecting the residents of a vulnerable neighborhood with their city council and city/county staff and supported them as they learned how to advocate for themselves.
Task Force Co-Chairs: Susan Wolfgram ([email protected]) and Judi Mosley ([email protected])
Meeting Time + Location: Monthly on the 1st Thursday, 5:30-7pm via Zoom. Contact Susan Wolfgram ([email protected]) to attend.