https://youtu.be/23VcasOaSOY This video is the first of a series of interviews with members of the Partners in Housing organization in Indianapolis, Indiana, as they explain their 'Housing First' strategy in their approach to end homelessness. This is a conversation with Jennifer Green, Executive Director of Partners in Housing Indianapolis.
“THE SOLUTION TO HOMELESSNESS IS HOUSING.” INDIANAPOLIS - Across the board, activists, social workers, academics, and others grappling with the national housing crisis agree that helping people experiencing homelessness find permanent housing is enormously challenging. But beginning in the early 1990s, communities across the country embraced a philosophy that came to be known as “Housing First,” and began providing permanent “supportive” housing with few or no barriers to entrance, while helping clients solve the complex problems that contributed to their homeless status in the first place. In 1993, Indianapolis banker Frank Hagaman recognized that the city was filled with abandoned buildings, while thousands of residents desperately needed safe, affordable housing. Drawing on his...
“Fair housing is all about taking the stigma out of affordable housing.” Sarah Smith, Chief Operating Officer of Fort Wayne Housing Authority (FWHA), spoke at the Fair Housing Summit in April about the Housing Choice Voucher Program. The housing authority’s efforts so far include: A total of 295 landlords participate in the voucher program. Their 2,600 affordable housing units house about 6,000 people. Over half of voucher beneficiaries are children (under age 17). This means that more than 3,000 kids benefit from housing vouchers in Fort Wayne. Adults make up 47% of voucher beneficiaries. However, the demand for affordable housing has grown. “We need more. We are doing great, but we need more.” Several factors contribute to this need. The national poverty rate averages...
FORT WAYNE — Sharon Tucker would love to work herself out of a job. As unlikely as that is, it doesn’t mean she stops trying. Since the fall of 2021, Tucker has been executive director at Vincent Village Inc., a campus in Fort Wayne’s Oxford neighborhood. Vincent Village includes a transitional homeless shelter and 34 rental homes scattered along the streets around the shelter, rented to residents on an affordable scale. From her warmly lit office, tucked into the basement of a former church on Holton Avenue, Tucker, who is also 6th District Fort Wayne City councilwoman, has had a front row seat to the real-world effects of inflation, rising rents and the affordable housing shortage. “When the tide rises, everything rises with it,” she said. “When the housing market was booming, that was...
Q&A with Kevan Biggs, President and Owner of Biggs Group A rendering of The Elex, a mixed-use housing development at Electric Works that will “wrap” around the West and North sides of the current Union Parking Garage, fronting on Broadway. (Courtesy) Kevan Biggs, President and Owner of Biggs Group, speaks at the Electric Works sign lighting event in January 2023. (Courtesy) The first housing development at Electric Works, known as the Elex, will wrap around the current Union Parking Garage, left. (Kara Hackett) The Elex will “wrap” around the West and North sides of the current Union Parking Garage, from the ground level up five stories. (Kara Hackett) The Elex is scheduled to break ground this summer, with completion in early 2025. (Kara Hackett) From the earliest days of...
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories that explores the development of the Housing First philosophy and its use in communities around the U.S. and Europe. Housing First programs provide "permanent supportive housing" for people who experience chronic homelessness. This article was developed in partnership with Input Fort Wayne. Many people who experience homelessness choose to sleep on the streets of Fort Wayne rather than leave their beloved pets behind to enter a shelter. Others can’t stand the idea of being separated from a spouse or a partner who is not allowed to stay there. Still others who struggle with addiction find they can’t honor a promise to stay drug and alcohol free in a shelter. Those restrictions are among dozens of barriers to...
Q&A with consultant and educator Andrew Downs For more than a year now, a court-ordered project to expand the Allen County Jail has been a hot topic in Fort Wayne. In April 2022, a U.S. District Court Judge ordered the county to address understaffing and overcrowding issues at the current jail in Downtown Fort Wayne, saying its capacity must expand to more than 1,000 inmates. The jail is currently considered “operationally full” at 593 inmates, and at times in recent years, its capacity has exceeded 800. In response, Allen County's three commissioners, who are charged with managing the project, have said the only way to meet this demand is to build a new jail—and quickly. Since then, nearly every step of the project has prompted public outcry, from its hurried pace of development, to...
After gathering with like-minded folks and agreeing on a common goal for cooperative housing, what does it take to set up a corporation for a co-op? Figure out the structure of the corporation first. Consulting an attorney and an accountant can give you a picture of the best way to set up the corporation for your cooperative. Tap additional resources, such as the Northeast Indiana Small Business Development Center (ISBDC), as needed. A resource list is provided on Fort Wayne’s Community Development website. Deb Trocha of the Indiana Cooperative Development Center is open to talking with Hoosiers who are interested in setting up a cooperative. She sees significant opportunities for areas like Fort Wayne to improve housing market options for residents. In the startup...
After World War II, blacks in Georgia were vulnerable to predatory behavior of landlords. Some were evicted and then, because they did not have a stable address, were refused the right to vote. The goal in starting a community land trust was to ensure housing stability and secure their right to vote. In June 1968, a group of community leaders traveled to Israel to learn about developing homes and cooperatives on community-owned land. They collected legal agreements from Israel as a basis for what could be used in the US. This led to the creation of New Communities, Inc., which is considered to be the first community land trust in America. In 1969, they purchased 6,000 acres of land in Albany, Georgia, which was the largest black-owned landholding in the U.S. Slater King, Marion King,...
Many Hoosiers aim to invest in a home of their own. However, affordability is a concern, especially in the current environment of high prices and rising interest rates. Consider this: The median income for Indiana households at $61,944 (2021); according to an online mortgage calculator, the median household could be financed for up to $189,000 at 7 percent, costing $1,257 per month. The median sale price of an Indiana home is $222,300, according to Redfin estimated based on January 2023 data. Investment experts recommend paying 20% of the purchase price when buying a home. A 20% down payment for the median sale price of $222,300 totals $44,460 and reduces the mortgage amount to $177,840. Saving $200 per week toward the down payment of $44,460 would take 222 payments, or over four years....