------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/orkH0C/n97DAA/Ey.GAA/tOsolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: CPPH_Info-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There is 1 message in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. Little Help From: Grant ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 10:56:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Grant Subject: Little Help --- Daniel Romero wrote: > Reply-to: > From: "Daniel Romero" > To: "'Grant Newburger'" > Subject: Little Help > Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 10:32:15 -0500 > > Grant -- > > Can you send this to the group? > > Thanks, rifle. > Ambitious plan to aid homeless May 30, 2002 BY CURTIS LAWRENCE STAFF REPORTER After being dogged by criticism for not addressing the needs of the poorest of the poor, the city will implement a five-year, $100 million housing program for the homeless including CHA squatters, Mayor Daley will announce in Roseland this morning. At the heart of the unprecedented effort is a program to spend $60 million for 500 new single-residency apartments in the next five years. Two or three of the five new SRO buildings will be located near CHA developments, officials said. SROs are housing for the homeless or for those who are on the verge of living on the streets. The city's program also includes plans to build 90 apartments for poor families at a cost of $18 million and to put another $20 million into preserving existing single-residency apartments. But perhaps the boldest aspect of the effort will be in the spending of $2 million for two short-term housing centers that will benefit squatters who are living illegally in the CHA high-rises that have not yet come under the wrecking ball. Some experts suggest 10,000 people or more may live off the lease in CHA apartments. The two transitional centers, whose sites have not yet been determined, will have 50 units each and will provide temporary housing for 150 families a year. "We only expect people to stay for three to six months," said Housing Commissioner Jack Markowski, explaining how the center will be able to accommodate so many families. The centers will provide a wide range of supportive social services including health and child care, "with an eye toward moving them to self-sufficiency," said Markowski, who will join Daley at the opening of the Holland Apartments, an SRO at 240 W. 107th Pl. in Roseland. As part of its plan to tear down the high-rises and give the CHA a new image, the agency has implemented a program to offer social services for tenants under the theory that rebuilding the agency must begin with the tenants. But the Service Connector program, which has been closely scrutinized as part of the Sun-Times' CHA's Big Gamble series, has come under fire for not addressing the problem of CHA squatters. Many of the squatters are former CHA tenants who were kicked out because they did not conform to the agency's lease requirements. "This is an effort to address the issue of non-lease holders," said CHA Chief Terry Peterson. "We want to work with these families to find permanent housing and address some of the other challenges they face." Even housing advocates who have been critical of the city's lack of help for the homeless applauded the new initiative. "It represents that the mayor has both understood and accepted the argument made that there is a need to preserve and expand SRO housing," said Doug Dobmeyer, a board member of the Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund and former president of the board of directors for the Coalition for the Homeless. As for the CHA squatters, Dobmeyer said the program is "a recognition by the city that whether they are formally part of the CHA, they're there." He said many CHA squatters and other homeless have a problem finding rental housing because of drug problems or not being able to show proof that they will be able to pay the rent. The city and other agencies including the Chicago Housing Authority and the Department of Housing will contribute about $50 million to the five-year program, Markowski said. The other half of the funding for the unprecedented program will come from the Illinois Housing Development Authority, the Federal Home Loan bank and the Community Investment Corp. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/