122 S. Michigan Ave.

773-634-0100
tmilan@mynlu.edu

To: Chicago City Council

From: Tamela Milan, B.A. 4 U Housing Coalition
Date: 11/17/2015
RE: Policy Demand to Amend Low Income Housing Trust Fund
Executive Summary
The City of Chicago has addressed some housing policy issues through the Low
Income Housing Trust Fund (LITHF) to allocate resources to help communities
that the city council is representative of. While the fund can help address housing
on many levels we want to show that there is a looming gap that is forming for
larger families to find housing units. That community is Humboldt Park and this
issue is outside of affordability or gentrification policies of that area the main
issues drawing headlines. There lacks solutions to meet the demand of growing
minority families in that community and we want to formally support an increase
of 20% funding added to special initiatives for the LIHTF towards increasing 4
bedroom units or more. The objective of our coalition is to ensure low income
residents of Humboldt Park benefit from having specific housing produced for
families requiring larger units due to family size and what initiatives can lead to
supporting increase in funding but addressing production of units and demand for
units based on research of current but limited housing initiatives.
Recommendations
There is limited larger homes or apartments in general for the city for a variety
reasons. The developers in the community are not building housing with large
families in mind or very low-income residents we advocate for the planning and
development of housing units for large families in the Humboldt Park area, an
issue that is being overlooked in the community surrounding the 606 trail. We
support an increase of 20% funding added to special initiatives for the LIHTF
towards increasing 4 bedroom units or more. Which is the failure to address how
hard it is for families that are considerably larger, to find adequate housing that is
affordable. A neighborhood rich in the culture surrounding the 606 trail is already
home to a large Hispanic community with deep roots and families. While the
issue of the gentrification of the community the last few years has emerged as a

problem, a sub-issue is those with larger families who face an even greater risk of
not finding housing and being displaced. One recent publication talked about
how increasing the stock for larger units is necessary especially if one thinks
about the expanding community around the 606 trail According to Northeastern
Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC), fully 89% of the regions population
growth by 2030 will be Latino members. These characteristics suggest that the
need for more large (3+ bedroom) affordable housing units will increase
significantly in the years to come
Argument and Policy Implication
Recently we had to look for housing for a family of 5 which required at the very
least a 4 bedroom apartment or house. While looking for a unit which would be
considered larger it became clear that we would be going on an uphill battle once
again because the housing stock for a larger dwelling was few and far between.
The 4 bedrooms that were available were poorly kept and in older dwellings. The
divorced mother and grandmother after years of living in poor housing was given
a housing voucher with the opportunity to stay in an area that boasts amenities
like the 606 trail seemed like a move in the right direction. As we looked at the
smaller condo quality living spaces that the area seemed in ample supply of, she
thought its a lot of us; we cant stay here even though it is very beautiful and
modern its too small.
These cuts will result in higher rent burdens and other adverse consequences for
low-income families with children, who make up virtually all of the assisted
households that live in larger housing units. Low-income families with three or
more children are particularly vulnerable to such cuts. The cuts are likely to affect
Hispanic families disproportionately, since they tend to have more children.
There lacks solutions to meet the demand of growing minority families in that
community and we want to formally support an increase of 20% funding added to
special initiatives for the LIHTF towards increasing 4 bedroom units or more.
Conclusion

1(Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement (Voorhees Center) at the University
of Illinois at Chicago., 2006, p. 8).
Page 2

The 4 bedroom unit is elusive to find and those that are available were costly even
with a housing voucher, it was impossible to continue to even look at that
community. The City of Chicago is losing good families due to larger units or
homes not being available research states that this group experiences severe
shortages of affordable and size suitable units and is forced to compete for scarce
units with higher income households The area is now catering to the emerging
new residents of the community who can afford high-end condo rents, Starbucks
coffee daily and can bike to work. Gentrification will continue to push families
out of the community and our organization stands to remind developers that may
forget about the families like the grandmother who had to move out of the
community that we are standing in for them. The family dynamics of those
requiring larger units dont fit in a cozy condo, we are working to ensure that
families that already have barriers due to their size can live and remain in this
community.

was forced to find a larger unit outside of the neighborhood and city to rent in
the suburbs. Larger units were still hard to find but they found a single family
home that the housing voucher could cover.
There is limited larger homes or apartments in general for the city for a
variety reasons one of which is gentrification. The developers in the
community are not building housing with large families in mind or low-income
residents to tell the truth. Our organization found that working with
developers on production strategies are important wherever the supply of
housing is not configured adequately for an areas families, such as where
larger-unit apartments are not being built to serve larger families with
children (Briggs et.al, 2006). Warm regards,
Tamela Milan, B.A
References

1(Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement (Voorhees Center) at the University
of Illinois at Chicago., 2006, p. 8).
Page 3