By Jordan Whalen, 44 News
26 Congregations Acting for Justice and Empowerment banded together to tackle the lack of Affordable Housing in our community.
After a passionate meeting where representatives voiced their concerns about the lack of affordable housing and youth literacy in Evansville, Mayor Stephanie Terry and the City Council have agreed that more must be done to address this pressing issue.
The congregations demanded action from Mayor Stephanie Terry and the City Council, calling for tangible solutions to alleviate the housing burden on the city’s residents. Data from the city’s own Reports shows that Evansille is short over 2800 units of affordable housing.
Mayor Terry plans to request an additional 250,000 dollars from the city council to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund for the 2025 budget. Possibly making the total $750,000.
During the meeting Terry expressed her solidarity with the congregations and emphasized the importance of taking action in the future to provide affordable housing options for residents, as this is her first budget as mayor.
44News spoke with Mayor Stephanie Terry on their plans for affordable housing.
“Continuing to make those investments in nonprofit organizations and others that are interested in developing safe and affordable housing. I’m looking at other alternative funding sources and that’s going to take some time. But we’re I think making some end roads there,” Mayor Terry expressed.
Monday night’s agenda also included a discussion on early childhood reading and literacy, and the importance of supporting teachers and children.
Educational Supporter, Rev. Walter Fisher, spoke on the numbers our city is facing in childhood education.
“Our city has around a 30% efficiency rate in math and English and language arts. That simply means that 70% of our children have an education level below standards,” Rev. Fisher stated.
School Board members emphasized the importance of addressing education and sustainable housing from an early age.
Tonight’s meeting has sparked a newfound determination to tackle Evansville’s affordable housing crisis.
View the original story here.
