As CHA tries to best meet the growing need for affordable housing units in Chicago, what strategies should CHA employ to increase the numbers of and opportunities for public and affordable housing?
33 votes
The CHA should invest money in purchasing single family homes that are in foreclosure or have been foreclosed on and use thes homes as starter homes for people with vouchers. The fmaily should be allowed to purches these homes through the CHA self-sufficiency program. Using vouvher funds for the up keep of the property insteat of helping landlords get rich off these funds.
32 votes
Little known fact: The Chicago Housing Authority leaves thousands of its apartments vacant in any given year. CHA reported in 2010 that it had "delivered" 20,288 apartments, but that only 18,325 were "available for occupancy" and only 15,984 were actually leased. Why is there a 4,300+ unit difference between apartments available and apartments actually occupied? Little known fact: The CHA counts many of these ...more »
Little known fact:
The Chicago Housing Authority leaves thousands of its apartments vacant in any given year.
CHA reported in 2010 that it had "delivered" 20,288 apartments, but that only 18,325 were "available for occupancy" and only 15,984 were actually leased.
Why is there a 4,300+ unit difference between apartments available and apartments actually occupied?
Little known fact:
The CHA counts many of these "offline" units as 'replacement housing' towards their 25,000 unit commitment, even though the apartments are not housing anyone.
Little known fact:
We're not talking about short-term vacancies--- we're talking about 2 years, 4 years, 6 years, 10 years vacant.
Little known fact:
These vacant apartments are located on all sides of the city (north, south, and west), in scattered site housing, senior housing, and traditional family housing.
Little known fact:
The CHA continues to receive money from HUD for a significant number of these vacant apartments, whether they are occupied or not.
Now a well known truth:
With over 68,000 households on the CHA's waiting lists, many living in homeless shelters, it is unacceptable for the CHA to leave even a single habitable apartment vacant over the long-term.
Stop abusing the language.
A unit "delivered" = a family housed.
A unit that is unoccupied is vacant, not "offline".
Whatever reasons CHA uses to justify the vacancies, the vacancies cannot be allowed to continue. We have families in need now, and actually, we have the resources to serve them. Maybe not all of them, but many, many more families than the CHA serves now.
As new leadership comes to the CHA, fully leasing every apartment possible needs to be on the CHA's short-list of what it cleans up to better operate in line with its mission, to better serve Chicago.
Too much is at stake for too many families for the CHA to allow thousands of viable apartments to go vacant for any longer.
Families in crisis deserve better.
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29 votes
One of the most common concerns from the community is that they never know when there are vacancies in subsidized CHA units.
All CHA programs should be required to have a current and updated listing in the www.direct2housing.org website so the community can very easily go online to see who to contact, who is eligible and how to apply for the subsidized units all in one place.
15 votes
I propose that the CHA seek parternships and housing opportunities with suburbs that show job and hiring opportunities.
All the economic data point to difficulty for low income persons seeking employment in Chicago. Let's try a new tack in pursuing housing where the jobs are.
This also solves the problem of stacking of low income residents in Bronzeville communities already saturated with them.
15 votes
When applying for cha housing they give you two options for a area or complex that you can move in to but once your name comes up they say well all we have is Alta gayle gardens take it or your off the list . Why should you be forced to live somewhere you don't want to and did not even chose to in the first place? They should have a better system of placing people. Just because you are poor don't mean you want to live ...more »
When applying for cha housing they give you two options for a area or complex that you can move in to but once your name comes up they say well all we have is Alta gayle gardens take it or your off the list . Why should you be forced to live somewhere you don't want to and did not even chose to in the first place? They should have a better system of placing people. Just because you are poor don't mean you want to live anywhere . Far as those wait list go they should take people from both . If you take ten from the relocation list then you should take at least 5 from the general list. And once your name is on the list people working for CHA can't put their family and friends ahead of You on the list . I know for a fact that this was happening.Give people a real chance for decent housing
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10 votes
The most vulnerable people out on the streets (the chronically homeless, as defined by HUD) have a difficult time collecting all the necessary documentation (i.e. homeless history and disability proof) to obtain the housing which is specifically dedicated to them. In other words, the more housing that becomes available to these vulnerable folks, the more out of reach it becomes because they aren't able to get what they ...more »
The most vulnerable people out on the streets (the chronically homeless, as defined by HUD) have a difficult time collecting all the necessary documentation (i.e. homeless history and disability proof) to obtain the housing which is specifically dedicated to them. In other words, the more housing that becomes available to these vulnerable folks, the more out of reach it becomes because they aren't able to get what they need to get in. Lot of reasons for that, including lack of ability to collect it because of the disability, lack of resources like a medical card to get to professionals to verify, not to mention it's hard to find somebody to verify you were homeless if you were sleeping under a bridge. The plan should include more lenient documentation guidelines, so the most vulnerable can be housed more quickly.
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9 votes
I think CHA should develope a program for working people. As an example i was a working mom but my salary is not enough to raise three kids properly. now im unemployeed and struggling to make ends meet with no help from any housing programs because i dont qualify due to the amount of unearned income i recieve. and cant apply for any housing unless im on a list, which is not open at the time.
6 votes
Make public housing available for those in homeless situations first (i.e. shelters, abandoned buildings, couch hopping, etc.). This way, you know that there truly is a need that needs to be met and you don't have to clamor to get applications in. Take the applications to the shelters or inform the shelters of the location they need to send their clients and you fill the units in a timely manor with people who really ...more »
Make public housing available for those in homeless situations first (i.e. shelters, abandoned buildings, couch hopping, etc.). This way, you know that there truly is a need that needs to be met and you don't have to clamor to get applications in. Take the applications to the shelters or inform the shelters of the location they need to send their clients and you fill the units in a timely manor with people who really need the subsidy.
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6 votes
As a person who has applied for housing multiple times since the early 90's and never been chosen for a waiting list, I see definite problems that need looking into. Take my family members for instance. My aunt moved into public housing in the early 60's. Her children became adults and were granted apartments in the 80's. Their children became adults in the 90's and also given apartments. In the early 2000's when their ...more »
As a person who has applied for housing multiple times since the early 90's and never been chosen for a waiting list, I see definite problems that need looking into.
Take my family members for instance. My aunt moved into public housing in the early 60's. Her children became adults and were granted apartments in the 80's. Their children became adults in the 90's and also given apartments. In the early 2000's when their development was torn down they all moved into private housing under Section 8. There is more to the story than the typical perpetual cycle of welfare families. The 2nd generation who are now in their 50's are all gainfully employed yet have purchased properties in their spouses names or their married names, get the apartments Section 8 approved, and rent to other family members who are current voucher holders. The "Chicago Way' of politics transcends all departments and there is a serious need for overhauling.
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4 votes
I am a young working mother who had to relocate to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a year with my family because of the confusion caused by the CHA because of the lack of information. Within the state of Illinois, you either have to research extensively or hear word of mouth about deadlines or openings and even with doing so you still hear "NO". Basically finding afforable housing within Chicago as of right now through the ...more »
I am a young working mother who had to relocate to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a year with my family because of the confusion caused by the CHA because of the lack of information. Within the state of Illinois, you either have to research extensively or hear word of mouth about deadlines or openings and even with doing so you still hear "NO". Basically finding afforable housing within Chicago as of right now through the CHA is slim to none if your not lucky enough to be a drawing in the housing lottery. The difference between Illinois and Minnesota would be that they are actually taking time out to listen to individuals to see if they are actually in need and by doing so with a completed background check you recieve RESULTS. Alot of people are abusing these agencies and that's making it even more stressful for families that want to be successful. I believe that if the CHA networked with families who want to prosper and have a CLEAR common ground, there would be no room for the system to be taken advantage of.
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2 votes
The computer system is not user friendly for finding available voucher housing. The main home page should have "Housing" so that landlord housing can be easily accessed, instead of going through a maze to find it. Additionally, the neighborhood catagory should be eliminated and allow people to simply look for housing by bedrooms, letting the landlord's advertisement show the neighborhood's name. Most people don't know ...more »
The computer system is not user friendly for finding available voucher housing. The main home page should have "Housing" so that landlord housing can be easily accessed, instead of going through a maze to find it. Additionally, the neighborhood catagory should be eliminated and allow people to simply look for housing by bedrooms, letting the landlord's advertisement show the neighborhood's name. Most people don't know neighborhoods and there are too many pockets in some neighborhoods that do not fit the stigma for same. submitted by DR
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0 votes
I think CHA need to really work on some things. A lot of people are moving out of Chicago do to the high cost of living no section 8 or public housing openings and the terrible crime in the city. Chicago need to get like other cities like Minneapolis who got a lot of people from Chicago moving there slowly but surely. They need to start busing the kids to school and open up the housing waitlist. All those homes they built ...more »
I think CHA need to really work on some things. A lot of people are moving out of Chicago do to the high cost of living no section 8 or public housing openings and the terrible crime in the city. Chicago need to get like other cities like Minneapolis who got a lot of people from Chicago moving there slowly but surely. They need to start busing the kids to school and open up the housing waitlist. All those homes they built for the mixed income and a lot of those units are empty. Chicago needs to be better we need to be able to apply for housing as needed. They open the section 8 waitlist in Chicago every ten years and we got people needing housing today. Start making people work or go to school to get the housing you can cut down on people using and abusing the system if you just give people the opportunity to even be able to try and get housing. We need to fill up all those empty units in public housing aswell as mixed income and scattered site.
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0 votes
Minneapolis, Mn house their most vulnerable first like: Refugees, legal immigrants, Homeless persons, Single women or men with kids or women and men that are married or living together and are low income but one or the other work. They help the people who need help first and fast. Chicago need to learn how to do the same. If Cha is so scared of getting used and absued then start doing background checks and start doing ...more »
Minneapolis, Mn house their most vulnerable first like: Refugees, legal immigrants, Homeless persons, Single women or men with kids or women and men that are married or living together and are low income but one or the other work. They help the people who need help first and fast. Chicago need to learn how to do the same. If Cha is so scared of getting used and absued then start doing background checks and start doing credit checks and make sure the person that is getting housing is working and or in school and got some type of livable income coming in.I also I think they should start doing drug tests on people if they want to get section 8 or get public housing. The mixed income places in chicago do drug tests which I think is a good idea. Also they should make sure everybody living in the house 17 and younger is in school.
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0 votes
There is so much lack of communication with CHA and the property managements that has CHA contracts. I have been reach out to by three different properties and have been shuffled around. Currently pulled from the waitlist August of 2011 and still haven't been housed, also I've been showed and offered a unit to find out that I was unable to recieve the unit because they made an error on there part bacuse my 90day grace ...more »
There is so much lack of communication with CHA and the property managements that has CHA contracts. I have been reach out to by three different properties and have been shuffled around. Currently pulled from the waitlist August of 2011 and still haven't been housed, also I've been showed and offered a unit to find out that I was unable to recieve the unit because they made an error on there part bacuse my 90day grace period for being housed was up, giving me false hope that I was about to house destroyed my spirits. I have two children staying house to house with relative struggling to make. In addition, screened for another property that sent false information about work requirements (CHA requires 20 pluse hours in addition to exempt if caring for child under 12 months old) after screened was told they require more hours. My question was why send CHA requirements instead of the property requirement( that was 30hours) so that we wouldn't have to go through all that paperwork and me waiting on a response, again false hope. I could have told them that I didn't meet there requirements because I only work part time 24 hours a week and that I should be sent somewhere else. Lack of communication could save a lot of time and paper!!!!! Honestly I feel like CHA transformation isn't really for low income people when your income is discriminated. I mean im a single parent with small children working to provide and still can't get house because my income is to low. WOW THAT SUCKS MAYBE CHA NEEDS TO RE-EVALUATE THERE SO CALLED TRANSFORMATION
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-3 votes
Women who have additional children while on public assistance and in public housing should be evicted. Welfare benefits should be pulled. Maybe that would encourage people to stop the cycle of receiving handouts.I hate to sound like a jerk, but why should someone get a free ride for having children that I have to pay for? I have one child because I CAN'T AFFORD any more.
-18 votes
We move to neighborhoods we can afford. Done it all my life. No need for a CHA, hotbed of crime and a misery to all who have to live in or near it. Get rid of it.
-20 votes
If an individual who is eligible for public housing desires to move to another State then CHA should provide a subsidy to that individual with the understanding that they will not return to Illinois for at least two years.
