Briefly read our mission statement. The Coalition of Low-Income and Homeless Citizens are a grassroots
self-help organization dedicated to challenging the root causes of poverty. Recognizing a real lack
of power, control, and public voice among low-income and homeless people are primary goals to create
political will amongst ourselves and our community. Through advocacy, technical assistance, and public
voice, we plan to expand our options and choices to take control of our lives and mobilize for social change.
And the specific reason we call this press conference is to announce a proposal for the city's use of
$1.2 million COA from the fall. And George is going to briefly outline a proposal to use it as state
capital for a housing trust fund. George Gale is going to briefly outline a proposal and explain a housing
trust fund and show you how it's going to describe the urgency of using this money for housing. Yeah,
basically we're proposing that the city place
the entire $1.2 million windfall into a housing trust fund. We want it to be seed money to get the fund
started. The housing trust fund will primarily be a loan fund for nonprofit and for-profit housing developers
to create low-income housing here in Bloomington, Monroe County. Specifically, the fund will create
permanently affordable housing. Currently, a lot of the city's tax dollars are spent on low-income housing
that will stay low-income for a period of five to 10 years.
Because the money will be a loan fund, the money will be recycled and used over and over. We strongly
feel that the co-op windfall should be invested and not spent on a one-time investment. We feel that
this would be the most fiscally responsible way to use the money in the housings without question, the
most pressing need in our community. Shelter Incorporated, Helen Renari, just this week, stated that 33%
their intake is up 33% over last year at this time. And I think the big question is we're here to say
it's stressed. And it's stressing not just for what I call low-cost housing. And with the federal cutbacks,
the Section 8 need to change the public's mind about it being priority housing. And that we see the
commitment for housing is going to be right here.
buying on us right here. And this trust fund is one way, if not a very good way, to seal that commitment
as a community. We'd like instead of just speaking to you, maybe open it up for questions, because we're
not sure how much people know about the trust fund. Currently, there's been lots of talk about a housing
trust fund. But I think a lot of people are talking about different types of funds. And we want to be
able to clarify what we're talking about.
How is the trust fund going to work so that it doesn't just disappear? Yeah, it'll be a loan fund. And
money will need to be paid back into the fund every three to five years. An example would be, say, Catch
Citizens Acting Together for Cooperative Housing borrowed $200,000 to build, let's say, five or six
units of low-income housing. As they pay the money back into the fund, Monroe County Housing Solutions
could borrow that same money
to develop, to add to the land trust or something similar. So the money's, it's basically a revolving
loan fund. How are you going to ensure that that money gets paid back? That'll be, we won't, one that
we should say is the Department of Redevelopment will administer the fund and the city council and the
mayor will appoint a board, a set of board of directors who will oversee the fund. And it'll be the
board of the directors that
the Council and the Department of Redevelopment will be responsible for being sure the money is repaid.
And in addition to acting as a revolving loan fund, the money is going to help leverage additional funds
from outside sources and bring capital into the community. Most housing trust funds on average leverage
$5.00, generate $5.00, bring $5.00 into their community for development. For example, the state of Maine's
housing trust fund mortgage in 1992 alone
with a seed capital of $4.2 million, leverage of $98 million. Essentially, when you are, especially
a nonprofit housing developer, it's really hard to get people to invest in your project if you don't
have site control. And once you have acquired the land or a large sum of money from something like the
Housing Trust Fund, other funding institutions are going to be more interested in funding your project.
Whether that could be federal programs such as Home and CDBG, local funding sources,
bankers, investors, and also the state Housing Finance Authority. So what Adam is saying is it will
bring lots of money to this community that would not be here. It is very possible that within 20 years
that the Housing Trust Fund, with its $1.2 million seed capital, will bring in $28.8 million in the
fact that the $1.2 million would be used over four times over a 20-year period, and then with
The leveraging of $5 to every trust fund dollar would come out to about $28.8 million. And Mary Brooks
from the Housing Trust Fund Project in California has found that this is coming in half. It means they
want some money. And we should probably also clearly indicate that this is only seed capital for the
trust fund. That was critical to the formation of any housing trust fund.
that receive dedicated revenue sources that will continue pouring money into the fund. And that although
the money is held in trust and it is recycled, 1.2 million dollars isn't going to live. Even if we did
generate the 20 million dollars over a 20-year period, it's not really going to address the kind of
substantive needs that exist in this community. What do you feel are the advantages of your proposal
over others?
what is going to be your selling point for it? Well, I think, absolutely. Well, it's fiscal. I understand
there is a definite need for a low end, or at least reasonably priced housing. Yeah, exactly. I mean,
it's outrageous what they charge. I understand the need for that. How bad is the, it seems to be well
hidden in this community. How bad is the homeless situation?
Do they want to answer that? I'll address it. It's bad enough that right now I've got two sets of family
living in my trailer with me because they can't afford the rent. And the homeless shelter, I will say,
they have helped. They help a lot of people. But they get out, you know, you get so much people in,
you know, to the homeless shelter, then they get a place to live. And the reality hits that
that income, that rent is too much, the utilities are too much for them. And they come back to be homeless
again. In this area, this year alone, I myself have took in at least 11 families this year. And that's
because I, and I don't, they don't pay me nothing. I let them come in so that they can help save their
money to be able to have a place to live. This one family that's staying with me has four children.
She can't find a place that'll accept her and her children because she's got four children and she's
a single parent. She can't afford the rent. She's working a minimum wage job. It's bad. It's real bad.
I see people sitting in a park and sleeping in it. I live by Cascades Park and I see people play at
the park. They have their children playing at the park late at night and then I'll come by later and
see their children sleeping in the back of their car and they're sleeping in their car.
because they have no home. Currently Shelter Inc. has about a dozen families, all of whom have emergency
needs on a waiting list. These are people we are not yet helping. We also have seen on a scale with
the Blemerton Housing Authority that there is about an average of, there's about
from what I've heard from 1992 to 1994, we had an average of, we started out with 400 and we came up
with 4,000 people that were homeless. 2,000 of that average is on a waiting list at the Bloomington
Housing Authority. They had to cut their certification signups because they didn't have any place to put them.
the other two percent the other two percent of the of that two thousand are either have been relocated
because of present housing that was tore down because of because of developing like uh... like condominiums
and so forth and they were relocated because they were good tenants the other ten percent of that of
that uh... we're are homeless now living on our streets of Monroe county and they desperately need homes
do you have any designs as far as uh...
What do you want the housing to be for low-end? Are there any designs what I'm trying to get at as far
as self-sufficiency as much as possible? Because a hard core fact of life that I've learned is you can't
depend on, you especially can't depend on the government for anything. As far as, are you going to have
like a community garden
something like that where you can grow your own food. Is it going to be that sort of thing or? The housing
will be scattered all over the community. We're not, we definitely are not advocating for a housing
project of any sort. It would be basically a loan pool for, for nonprofit and for-profit housing developers
to develop housing anywhere throughout the community. And, and definitely we would, I think in our proposal,
scattered site is one of the priorities. And would it be up to the
that you mentioned earlier to keep, to make sure that this housing remains affordable? Yeah, I think
that would be a condition, assuming the monies that remain commonly affordable. One of the things we've
talked about this funding is, as the federal government bails out of the Section 8, the vouchers and
the certificates, that that money could be pooled to save and protect the housing complexes that we
have here, which already have anywhere from 150 to 350 families.
I mean, you're talking about some 2,000 units here. This is Shelter Incorporated? No, this is, I'm talking
about all your private-based complexes like Henderson, Oatdale, Country View, there's Havy Square. Federally
subsidized. Federally subsidized. They're all being cut, and it is,
They have made a commitment to go out of the business of Section 8, but we have got families sitting
there. We've got elderly and disabled. One of the things that's been so hard is that everybody that
general public thinks, well, there's income housing for people that are below the poverty line of $13,800.
It's not so. You have to map. Before, you had to be a priority. You could be disabled or elderly or
paying more than $50 per city to rent.
You have to be a priority in several ways. And that's going to get tighter. And what we're finding,
like Summit Point, they've got 23 apartments that will accept certificates. They're deciding to not
do it anymore. At least this is what we found out yesterday. And starting next year, that they may go
flat market rate. Well, as those cutbacks federally are going to affect, all these places that just
have been scattered
23, 25% at Section 8, and we're going to be losing them. So they're going to scale down or eliminate
Section 8 funding without making any concessions for those who are already on the funding? Right, exactly.
It is a government that has really made a decision that homelessness is a lifestyle and a residue of merit.
That's the stigma. How are you going to overcome that stigma? That's your battle right there. I mean,
the stigma is that you are where you're at because you want to be there. Well, I'll tell you what, I'm
not homeless. I'm fortunate. I work, but I pay 70% of my income just to have a roof over my head. I
don't even know if I'm going to get to go back to college. I came to Bloomington because I thought,
I heard it was a great place.
You know, great school. You know, I thought this is a really neat place. I can learn a lot. You know,
I'm socially active. Well, I'm just trying to keep a lip over my head, and it's ridiculous. And I'm
a hard worker, you know? And there's a lot of people, they're out there, they're paying, you know, they're
paying over 75% some of them. I mean, they're just, they're not making it, you know? And the most they
can get is maybe some food stamps.
you know, they can't afford to have the car insurance, they can't afford to have the gas to get to the
job. So... Over 90% of the people, like, in intakes and surveys at Shelter Incorporated actually are
employed and working, they have been full-time, they have been in excess of four hours a week, so I
think it can be demonstrated, it's like sufficiently demonstrated clearly in this community that there isn't
It isn't a question of like lazy or just a question of extraordinary. But as an organization, how do
you plan to counter that? And is this proposal a part of that? Are you trying to attempt to set a public
agenda? Yeah, we see this as a critical way of returning control of housing in this community and to
the people that live here. Tom, did you?
Yes, I'd just like to point out that The Times recently published an article, a study out of Washington
DC that demonstrated Bloomington was among the states least affordable in terms of rent. It is the number
one highest rent area in the state. And that article came out about three weeks ago or so independently
of Bloomington researchers. It was out of Washington DC. What we're saying is we've got people paying
two and three weeks worth of income for a monthly rent. And that's the nitty gritty. We're not proposing
that the city is gonna step in and solve the housing problem. We think this is one way that we can seriously
address the community's housing needs. We think currently the way the city spends tax dollars on housing
is very inefficient. We're proposing more inefficient use of city funds. Currently, we give large tax
abatements, grants, and loans
for-profit housing developers to build low-income housing that only stays low-income or low-cost for
five to 10 years. And that is very short-sighted. We have, like Tom said, one of the most serious housing
crisis in Indiana and in the Midwest. And if we're gonna spend public dollars on it, we need to do it
efficiently. And I think without question, this is the most efficient way we can do that. What happens
after that five to 10 years? After 10 years goes back on the market, low-income people are priced out.
housing and we do that. That is the Allen Building received tax abatements to keep low-income a few
low-income units in there for 10 years. We've just we've done that historically here and it is a tax
abatement is it's basically foregoing tax dollars that would come into the community and we have this
1.2 million dollar windfall and I think I think you'd be hard pressed to find a way that would be better
to invest it regardless of whether it was housing because
from the fact that it's a loan fund and it will never disappear. And because of its leveraging factor,
which is well documented, it brings $5 to every $1 into the community. Have you talked to city officials
yet? We have. We've spoken with council members and have developed the proposal that you all have is
being presented to them individually. Are you going to speak to the council, to the mayor? Yeah, we're
going to speak with the mayor.
hopefully Monday. We've also spoken at length with the redevelopment department. Tell me about your
housing and homeless congress. Well, could we maybe make sure there are any further questions about
the trust fund? Well, I also read in the paper that there were several options for this windfall.
And I'm curious as to what we as individuals and community leaders can do to influence the city and
city council to move in this direction. Yes. I think, obviously, currently we're all meeting individually
with our respective representatives. And we really have to encourage everyone in the community to do
that as well and encourage the city council to do that.
like make the wise choice and invest the money. And I would encourage a July 10th is the budget meeting
with the council and it may be drying for the rest of us, but the fact is it'd be a good time to show
support for housing. It's July 10th. July 10th. Yeah. Right. Have you ever thought of using the resources
available at VCAT and putting together some sort of a documentary film
portraying just how bad the homeless situation really is in Bloomington. We are working on a film showing
how gentrification has kind of run rampant in Bloomington. It's displacing large numbers of people in
fell swoops, focusing on the Allen building, the south side of the square of Vermilha. See, it's kind
of hard when you can see there's a new municipal building that you'll be adding.
I mean, you see all the development in the Marriott Hotel, the Convention Center, and yes, we believe
that there has to be some economical development, but we think the strongest economical development
is from the base people that are here, surviving every day, and that housing is crucial to make it stable
for them to do so, to not lose your lives if you're constantly in transition.
And with the minimum wage jobs, they'll find their way out for six weeks during the winter and six weeks
during the summer. So we have a high cycle of homelessness turnover just here just because of that.
But we need to get our directions and say, our support, our strength in labor and in resources and in
responsibility isn't outside of us. It's in our own communities. And start addressing it from the ground up.
But that's absolutely true. One of the problems I'm sure you have to face is the fact that I see all
the time and hear about developers coming in from California, from New York. And that's fine if they
want to develop here. But what the city leaders, I think, need to do is make it specifically clear in
writing that this will benefit our community.
in some way, you're not just going to come in here and make your millions and then leave. Which is what
leads people to the situation we're in right now. Take Marriott itself. They're not using union letters.
They're not using people here. And yet they're getting tax evasions. They're getting as long as $700,000.
We've got to start directing ourselves more to addressing at least a balance between the two.
think would be a fair compromise. But I'm ready for us to have our time. Just the other night at the
council meeting, we found out that at the Allen Building, there were supposed to be four units that
were supposed to stay low income for five to 10 years. We found out Wednesday night, that that company
has the option to take the pass abatement or not take
They do not take the tax abatement. They don't have to keep those payments as low income. There's going
to be seven, I understand, that are federally funded, but they're only going to be for 10 years. What's
going to happen after 10 years? I mean, I don't think the general public understands that with these
tax abatements, sometimes there's a whole menu of options that they can do. And one of them is having
affordable housing for a certain length of time. But if we're giving you tax abatements, I think that
it should be a permanent
This trust fund, we would have the revolving part of it. We'd be able to build it. And there would be
no need for additional funding. There would be no need for additional Section 8. Because Section 8,
what it does is the people that can afford to be there, that are placed in these homes, they pay what
they can afford, 30% of their income, between 25% and 30% of their income. And then the general public,
the Section 8, picks up the difference between that
landlord is still asking. The landlord's not losing out on these Section 8 homes. They're still making
their profit. And what we're saying with this fund and building or renovating a home to rent out, all
that rent would go back into the fund. And that they would pay their 30%, their 25% to 30%, and that
would be it. They could continue living if they wind up down there at Winding Brook.
It was great. The county was so excited that we had somebody that was willing to build low-income housing.
But those homes are $65,750 with no appliances. You're 25 feet from an income. Unfortunately, in this
day and age, that could be considered low-income housing. I know. But the trick to this one is it's
a guaranteed 3% rate. And it's tied to your income. Whatever the loan is signed at at the day of closing,
The general public, again, it's like another subsidy. We're paying the interest on that. We pay the
difference between the guaranteed 3% and whatever the going rate is at the day of the sale of the home.
And then people have to go into debt to get their appliances. You have no control over really the design
of your home. And you have it tied to your income. It's tied to your income so the more you make,
The more your rent goes up, the more your mortgage goes up. You can never pay it off. Because the trick
at the end of that says if you sell this home, you have to pay us back all the interest that was paid
for you. You can never get out of it. It's putting the back of another cycle. And that's what we're
trying to eliminate is this constant cycle.
Has your proposal been submitted formally to the city council as of yet? Yes. It's individual members.
As you were developing the proposal, why did you decide that the loan fund would be better administered
to the city over an independent agency like CATCH, or maybe even CATCH itself? Well, CATCH would be
an applicant to the fund, so there would be a conflict of interest. But Mary Brooks's offer as technical
assistant, she
directs the Housing Trust Fund project, which is a project of the Senator. And she has actually flown
out here from California to talk with us, and we have been reading her literature and talking with her
extensively over the phone. She is without question the guru of housing trust, and has helped set up
over 100 across the country. She, from her experience, that that is the best way to go, to have the
city or county department
who deals with those with housing situations, administer the fund. What problems doesn't the city encounter
that private agents have read? Well, one, the city can be held politically accountable. The other, what
some people have tried is establishing a separate nonprofit, which we don't really want to create a
new set of bureaucracy and spend money from the fund on some new nonprofit that we essentially wouldn't need.
I've been to two big things. It's also a capacity question that redevelopment has a bit more capacity
than staff. They point out too that the Department of Redevelopment has successfully administered community
development block grant funds for many, many years. I think there's public perception about it too.
Appreciate it. Get back to the radio station. Listen to the news at noon today. You'll probably hear
something about that. Thank you. Great. Any other questions? That's a good question. Yeah, I think that
Andrea would be both. A lot of that will... Our proposal would include both. I think, of course,
as we know, this will be hashed out.
A lot of this will be really flexible, different types of ownership agreements, like cooperative housing,
non-interested agreements, and things like that. And of course, there's going to be a lot of rental
property constructed, but also trying to look at purchasing mortgages for people off of this one. One
of the biggest drawbacks from our community is we don't have anything to rehab. We have to start building
from the ground. And what we have found, there isn't that many money before the agency's ready
We should be clear that the money would be for
for-profit, non-profit housing developers. It wouldn't be for like a long-term person couldn't come
apply for the money. This money would be seed money. Housing trust fund to really work needs to have,
like Adam said, an ongoing revenue source. I hope you put that anything right because it really wouldn't
be a housing trust fund. It would just be a revolving loan fund. It needs to be more than that to really
address this community's housing needs.
Mary Brooks has said it's not a housing trust fund unless it has this ongoing dedicated revenue source.
We think this is a really opportune time for the ceiling to begin committing to this type of project.
And this would be a very important step in securing a lot of resources. We've been working on it. I
think it's important to note that the housing network
has been working on a housing trust fund extensively, and we're working. Any meetings prior to the July
10th meeting that we can attend and possibly influence? If I were you, I'd just call some of those senior
council members. I think they'd listen to you. But I do think it's important that we need to be involved
in the process of decisions. From what I understand, this
The council will meet at Twin Lakes tomorrow. Do you know about this? Yes. And I think this will be
discussed tomorrow at Twin Lakes. So this is definitely already being discussed. No, it would actually
be a meeting. We feel this is a good time for us to really make the community aware now that we're going
through changes of not only elections, but a shift here. And I think we've reached a point that
We have to make a commitment and the community has the bypasses to maybe not be aware, but we're here
to say as a group that there is a problem and needs to be. Do we have a question? All right. Hey, thanks
for coming.