Renters | Fort Wayne Media Collaborative

Fort Wayne’s Affordable Housing Needs, Challenges, and Opportunities

by Gabi Lorino | Jul 28, 2023

“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...

Is ‘Housing First’ Worth the Cost to House the Homeless?

by Julie Creek | Jul 13, 2023

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...

How to Start a Corporation for a Housing Cooperative

by Gabi Lorino | Jun 23, 2023

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...

In New York, ‘Housing First’ Approach Helps Unhoused People Find Stability

by Meryl Davids Landau | Apr 26, 2023

Ronnie Hodge and her young son were living in her uncle’s apartment in the Bronx when the uncle suddenly moved upstate, leaving mom and baby with no place to go. She moved into a city family shelter along with her son and boyfriend of 15 years and spent three years there, struggling to cope with little personal space and no kitchen to cook in. For Hodge, the stress was sadly familiar. As a child, she had lived in more than 30 foster homes, and as an adult, her alcohol addiction often left her unemployed. Shelter life contributed to a break-up with the boyfriend and left Hodge with depression and anxiety. Her son was also stressed and lost weight because he wouldn’t eat the food the shelter provided. Then, in September 2020, a nonprofit called HousingPlus transformed her life....

Community Land Trusts Are Building Disaster-Resilient Neighborhoods

by Alexandra Applegate | Apr 25, 2023

In late September, Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful and costly storms to make landfall in the U.S., tore through southwest Florida and caused an estimated $67 billion in property damage. But on Big Pine Key, a community 100 miles southwest of Miami that saw flooding and storm surges up to five feet, 27 nearly-finished cottages were still standing, largely unharmed. “It was a good test,” said Maggie Whitcomb, who helped develop the cottages. “You never want to have a storm, but it’s good to know after a serious weather event just how strong your construction is.” Built atop 12-foot tall white podiums with water-resistant finishes and low-energy utilities, the cottages were constructed with structural insulated panels (SIPs), a strong, airtight substance made from...

The History of Community Land Trusts in the U.S.

by Gabi Lorino | Apr 17, 2023

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,...

Could We Create a Community Land Trust in Fort Wayne?

by Gabi Lorino | Apr 12, 2023

Jason Webb of Grounded Solutions Network is part of the team creating a new community land trust in Indianapolis. In a recent webinar, he reflected on how living in a Community Land Trust (CLT) helps families build wealth, just not in the traditional way. “The generational wealth that homeownership can bring to future generations is more than just the dollars and cents that somebody could get from that real estate transaction. The wealth really comes from the stability of having a home, of not needing to go through the rent increases year after year.” The goal is for lease owners to be in a better situation than they’d be in if they rented, so that they can invest a larger portion of their disposable income into their businesses, retirement accounts, and families. A Community Land Trust...

City of Fort Wayne Announces New Plan to Combat Homelessness

by Julie Creek | Mar 16, 2023

Even before the pandemic closed businesses, schools, and scattered millions of Americans to work from home in early 2020, lower income homeowners and renters everywhere were staring down a housing crisis that threatened their ability to put a roof over the heads of their loved ones. But as the country has started to return to normal, the crisis has remained, as many face rising rental costs and the increasing risk of homelessness. In an effort to address Fort Wayne’s homelessness problem, city officials in February released its Everyone Home comprehensive plan. The plan calls for an increase in affordable housing stock throughout the Summit city, and improvements and additions to services provided for homeless or near-homeless residents. It also emphasizes coordination between various...

Regional Shelter Offers Opportunity for Reclaimed Lives

by Angela Mapes Turner | Feb 13, 2023

Auburn has become a city on the rise. In its west-side commercial district, heavy construction equipment and cranes have been a common sight, as older buildings give way to new ones springing up all over. One project, though, has taken shape more quietly. Tucked behind the ongoing new construction of a chain deli, a relic of the 1960s has been given new life — and gives new hope — to families and individuals facing homelessness. Fortify Life, a fledgling nonprofit, has renovated 13 rooms in a modest former Days Inn motel, creating emergency and transitional housing in a community that has shown great need for it. Jeremiah Otis, Fortify Life’s energetic director of development, said the renaissance of the motel is part of a new approach to addressing poverty in northeast Indiana. The...

Fort Wayne Media Collaborative Healthy Neighborhoods Panel Discussion

by admin | Jan 30, 2023

Local leaders and housing advocates discuss the elements of a healthy neighborhood, the challenges communities face in designing, building, and maintaining healthy neighborhoods and possible solutions to those challenges. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6RZ6rL-uV8 Panel discussion was recorded on 12/05/22.

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