“Ensuring the Same for All”: Rabbi Bruce Elder on the Importance of Affordable Housing

On Friday, July 29, 2011 leaders from JCUA joined some 160 other representatives of organizations that are part of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable at the White House for a policy briefing to exchange ideas on housing, healthcare, food justice and education. Below are two stories Rabbi Bruce Elder, JCUA’s new board president, shared on the importance of affordable housing.

Rabbi Bruce Elder (left) speaking to HUD leaders on the importance of affordable housing

Chicago, like most cities across the country, is in the midst of a housing crisis.  In 2011, a minimum-wage earner has to work 95 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in the Chicago metropolitan area, or more than two full-time jobs.

With this in mind, I want to share two stories:  One exemplifies the problem low-income people and communities are currently facing, and the second demonstrates an effective strategy to solve the dire need for affordable housing.

Lathrop Homes on Chicago’s northwest side is a 900-unit development with 730 current vacancies — a shocking fact considering that over 200,000 families applied for affordable housing when the Chicago Housing Authority opened up the waiting list last year.  Why all these vacancies? Many former residents wanted to stay in their homes, but have been displaced either as a result of the Chicago Housing Authority’s current policies or other market forces beyond their control.

Too many Chicagoans are being uprooted from their homes in public housing without adequate consideration for where they will go.

Painting Hope on Chicago’s Southwest Side

By Leah Shefsky
JMCBI Intern

Leah Shefsky

On Thursday, May 19 a diverse group of individuals and community partners stood in front of a boarded up house in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on the city’s Southwest Side. This house had been the site of countless crimes since it was foreclosed on 18 months ago.

In the middle of the block, across the street from an elementary school, 6210 S. Fairfield Ave. is unavoidable.

Through its Jewish-Muslim Community Building Initiative (JMCBI), the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs gathered with its community partners, the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) and the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP), and dozens of neighborhood residents, not only as a symbol of unity but as a way of making it clear that collectively we can and will stand up and reclaim our community.

Community Organizations Take Action to Reclaim Neighborhood

 

For Immediate Release

Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Chicago  |  www.jcua.org
Media:  Katherine Randall  |  katherine@jcua.org

CHICAGO — Residents, local religious and school leadership and community organizations are holding an action to announce progress and plans for reclaiming the abandoned, vandalized property at 6210 S. Fairfield in Marquette Park, a neighborhood that has seen more than 5,500 foreclosures since 2006.

Collective pressure from JCUA, the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) and the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) has recently led to the boarding up and securing of the building. On Thursday, May 19, community members will demonstrate their commitment to reclaiming their neighborhood and reviving the property by painting a mural on the house, creating a community garden in the backyard, and engaging in festivities on the lawn and down the block.

A news conference on the project will be held at 3:00 p.m. at the 6210 S. Fairfield house with community activities to follow until 5:00 p.m.

“This project is all about taking collective action against a place which has been the source of much fear, intimidation and pain for over a year,” said IMAN Executive Director Rami Nashashibi.

Nashashibi, Father Tony Pizzo and JCUA Executive Director Jane Ramsey will lead an interfaith prayer service to demonstrate the depth of commitment and unity on this issue. Invited legislators include: Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago), Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, and Ald. Toni Foulkes (15^th).

“The impact of bank foreclosures on area properties has been truly devastating,” said Judy Levey, JCUA community development manager. “Working together we can build the momentum necessary to fix this problem.”

About JCUA (www.jcua.org)

The mission of the Chicago-based Jewish Council on Urban Affairs is to combat poverty, racism and anti-Semitism in partnership with diverse communities. Guided by prophetic Jewish principles, JCUA pursues social and economic justice for our most vulnerable neighborhoods by promoting a vision of empowering communities from within. Since 1964, JCUA has assisted groups in low-income and minority communities, built coalitions with diverse groups, advocated on issues of poverty and racism and mobilized a Jewish constituency to create a more just city and nation.

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