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Come to the open forum at First Baptist Church in Edwardsville, Friday November 10th at 6:30 pm at 534 St. Louis Street. Local citizens engaged in developing an Overnight Warming Center [OWL] in Edwardsville, based on a successful model underway in Alton, will discuss plans so far. They will make a good faith effort to address concerns raised by local residents.

Why an OWL in Edwardsville? Is there really homelessness in Edwardsville? Are people here at risk of exposure to extreme cold if they lose stable housing? We all know that rental prices have escalated beyond the capacity of working people and families who depend solely on wages to pay for housing.

Here are wage rates and annual salaries of people in Edwardsville who work largely in the service industry:

Occupational Area	Hourly Wage	Annual Salary
Healthcare Support	$15.85	$32,955
Food Preparation & Serving Related	$14.23	$29,592
Building & Grounds Cleaning & Maintenance	$16.10	$33,462
Personal Care & Service	$15.63	$32,492
Sales & Related	$15.96	$33,186
Office & Administrative Support	$20.26	$42,128
Production	$20.05	$41,698
Transportation & Material Moving	$19.66	$40,893
Madison County Data from the Living Wage Calculator: https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/17119	ㅤ	ㅤ

Do you know what it costs to buy a $300,000 home, currently billed as ‘affordable’ by local developers? According to this site [https://themortgagereports.com/22502/how-to-buy-a-home-50000-per-year-income]:

How much do I need to make to buy a $300K house?

To purchase a $300K house, you may need to make between $50,000 and $74,500 a year. This is a rule of thumb, and the specific salary will vary depending on your credit score, debt-to-income ratio, type of home loan, loan term, and mortgage rate. Still, with a 3.5 percent down payment on a 30-year fixed-rate loan at 6 percent, you should be able to afford a $300,000 house with an annual salary of $74,500.

What are the monthly payments on a $300K house?

The monthly payment on a $300,000 house is in the ballpark of $2,000 a month. Your specific housing payment will depend on your credit score, loan type, loan amount, and down payment size. But with $20,000 down on a 30-year fixed-rate loan at 6 percent, you can estimate that a $300K house will cost you about $2,000 each month.

A $300,000 house is not affordable for any of the service workers with salaries listed above. Monthly takehome pay for the service workers above might be $3,400 [minus taxes]. So a household would easily pay more than half of its income for housing alone to pay for a $300,000 house. Where would the downpayment come from?

Where are subsidized housing units located in the Metro East Illinois area?

Here’s a map with details of all the funded Low Income Housing Tax Credit Projects in the area:

Overview of the Edwardsville Community Housing Alliance

We’re excited to announce a newly formed nonprofit organization, the Edwardsville Community Housing Alliance, with the mission of increasing the supply of housing in Edwardsville that is accessible and affordable to persons and families earning $15 to $30 in hourly wages.

We believe that people who work here in Edwardsville should be able to partake of the benefits of living here—people who work in the jobs created by new retail, big box stores, and warehouses, those who serve us and our loved ones in restaurants, day cares, nursing facilities, the essential workers who make Edwardsville a comfortable place to live. They should share in the same benefits, like good schools, safe streets, and welcoming atmosphere that our City boosters are rightly proud of.

The Edwardsville Community Housing Alliance will bring people together to create housing opportunities for working persons and families in Edwardsville. Over the next few years we plan to address disparities of household income and wages by ensuring that a supply of decent and affordable housing is accessible to persons and families struggling to stay in or enter the local housing market.

We welcome allies: local officials, advocates for equity and racial justice, housing developers, and finance institutions with a track record of creating and supporting the kind of housing that will enable local workers and families to enjoy the benefits of our shared community life.

See our page on Housing for Workers for a history of Leclaire– an early example of affordable housing for workers that worked well for many years.

We’d especially like to provide a forum for people impacted by the current housing market, hear their stories, and share their vision of a good community life. We’re working to develop public support for projects that increase the supply of affordable housing for people working in Edwardsville, IL.

Blog

Race Relations and Equality in Edwardsville

A Directive for Improving Race Relations and Equality in Edwardsville

Mission

Edwardsville’s 2010 Comprehensive Plan

How Edwardsville’s 2010 Comprehensive Plan addresses affordable housing

Mission

Affordable Housing for Workers

The phrase “affordable housing” has come to mean a variety of things

Vision

Education

Edwardsville

Perspective on Affordable Housing in Edwardsville

Edwardsville has historically been a more inclusive, integrated community than others in Madison County.

Mission

Affordable Housing Terms

Understand common terms and acronyms related to affordable housing

Education

The Story of Leclaire

A brief history the Leclaire neighborhood, from the Nov 2021 ECHA Newsletter

Edwardsville

History

What does NIMBY mean?

What is NIMBY [Not In My Back Yard] and why does it occur?

Education

Apply for Housing Assistance from IL

**Announcement: Illinois Homeowners Assistance Fund Applications Now Open Apply Now The Illinois Emergency Homeowner Assistance Fund (ILHAF) program is now accepting applications for assistance

ECHA Comments on the Housing Study So Far

Developing Evidence of Affordable Housing Need

How can I apply for affordable housing?

We are a new organization and do not yet have the capacity to provide any housing—that is what we’re working to accomplish.

You can search for existing affordable housing developments, homeless resources, and local public housing authorities on-line at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: https://resources.hud.gov

Meanwhile, we’re happy to help in your search. Contact us at: edwardsvillecommunityhousing@gmail.com and we will provide a few suggestions on who you might contact to find out about affordable units.