From MPC's November 2002 Media Tips
Riverdale rolls out employer-assisted housing program
Employer-assisted housing (EAH) is gaining momentum in the Chicago
metropolitan area. Riverdale, a community of nearly 20,000 people just 23
miles south of the Loop, is the latest to offer EAH to its employees.
Riverdale Mayor Zenovia Evans, co-chair of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus
Housing Task Force, has been a leader in the effort to promote EAH.
Riverdale will partner with the Regional Redevelopment Corporation, a local
nonprofit organization with experience in homeownership counseling and home
rehabilitation. The Riverdale EAH program aims to help five employees buy
homes in the Village by offering $5,000 toward down payment and closing
costs. Eligible employees may access up to an additional $5,000 of state
matching funds. All participating employees will benefit from credit
counseling and homeownership education provided by the Regional Redevelopment
Corporation.
According to Mayor Evans, EAH is a way to encourage investment in the
community. “Our village does not have a residency requirement for employees,”
she said, “so we hope the program will encourage municipal employees to
live in Riverdale. EAH is a positive incentive; a win-win situation for
everyone.” The Village hopes its EAH program will serve as an example for
other south suburban employers.
Contact: Samantha DeKoven
Housing Associate
312.863.6021
MPC assesses CHA plan for redevelopment
The latest in MPC’s series monitoring the progress of the Chicago Housing
Authority’s Plan for Transformation, “Examining the Chicago Housing Authority’s
Redevelopment Strategy,” focuses on issues that will determine the effectiveness
of the redevelopment plan. These include timing, land availability,
decision-making and financing. The report looks at six sites: Lake
Park Crescent and Jazz on the Boulevard (North Kenwood /Oakland); Henry Horner,
Rockwell Gardens and ABLA Homes (Near West Side); Madden Park/Ida B.
Wells/Darrow (Douglas and Oakland).
The goal of the CHA’s Plan for Transformation is to develop public housing in
mixed-income and pedestrian-friendly communities that are neither isolated nor
insulated from the city as a whole. This means ensuring that new public
housing development addresses and works to mitigate the historic causes of
racial, economic and spatial segregation.
Contact: Robin Snyderman
Housing Director
312.863.6007
For the complete November 2002
Media Tips, click here.