By Susan Wolfgram, Co-Chair of the Affordable Housing Task Force
“Without stable shelter, everything else falls apart.”
-Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Eau Claire and many other cities across our country are in an affordable housing crisis. In Eau Claire, we have approximately 40% of our neighbors earning $40,000 or less per year and spending 50% or more of their income on rent and utilities. We have 500+ individuals and families on our Housing Authority waiting list for subsidized housing and that list is growing. Wages have not even come close to the rise in rents. The fundamental key social factor in a community is having a stable home. Housing is one of the best researched social determinants of health, and selected housing interventions and development for low income earners have been found to improve health outcomes and decrease health care costs.
There are successful efforts in the Chippewa Valley region to provide low-cost, affordable housing. The public is invited to learn more about one project that provides affordable housing at an event titled “Keys to Unlocking Affordable Housing,” from 5-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14, in the Riverfront Room of the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, 400 Eau Claire St., Eau Claire.
The event will feature Hope Village, an affordable housing project in Chippewa Falls. Hope Village leaders Mike Cohoon and Tiffany Wogahn will share how the development came to be, details about its growth, and the populations it serves. Cohoon and Wogahn will also discuss how project organizers have been able to build units affordably and future plans for Hope Village. Hope Village was founded in January 2016 and has provided tiny homes for people in need of temporary housing along with resources. Hope Village has expanded its plans and is currently working on building 28 affordable housing units. Mike was quoted, “We know the need for affordable housing is there and is growing, so we’re doing everything we can to try to meet that need.”
The event is free. Local housing leaders and the general public are encouraged to attend. It is co-sponsored by the JONAH Affordable Housing Task Force and L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library. Event organizers hope this event and subsequent series presentations offer valuable information about how different affordable housing projects can happen.
“Relationship and collaboration are at the core of our JONAH Affordable Housing Task Force work,” said Susan Wolfgram, Task Force Co-chair. “In that spirit, we seek to learn from others doing housing justice work.”
The discussion is the first in a three-part series of presentations about affordable housing projects in the Chippewa Valley. Additional series presentations are tentatively scheduled for this summer.