"No Tenements for Some and Castles for Others": Henry Demarest Lloyd, Winnetka

I sent the following to Interfaith’s Winnetka supporters the day after the marathon Village Council meeting, at which the Property Maintenance Code passed — a huge win — but the affordable housing discussion was indefinitely tabled after a six-year process.

There’s a saying that “it ain’t over till it’s over” and fortunately, that’s not the case when it comes to grappling with a role for the Village of Winnetka regarding families who are simply not rich.  The show goes on…

Thank you.

My respect for all of you who have spoken out for affordable housing out of personal need or a generous sense of community — including Trustee Rintz and the Plan Commission through all its iterations over the last six years, now powerfully led by Becky Hurley – is through the roof.  Who would have thought that this would be risking public ridicule? 

Founding and leading WIN, Ann, Jen, Katie, and Nancy have done a tremendous job of mobilizing the community, not only through “facts, not fear”, but through outreach like the food drive, their voices, and their passion.  They expanded upon the earlier clergy-led mobilization of last winter and spring.

I fear that if I start listing names, I will inadvertently forget someone, but if you’re getting this e-mail, you’re on that list.  But I did want to thank Terry Dason and the Chamber of Commerce for their strong support for the Property Maintenance Code.  Here’s a case in which small businesses and renters in commercial areas came together over a common interest: their right to decent, safe and sanitary conditions.

State Rep. Daniel Biss and his assistant Alison Leipsiger stayed through the entire meeting last night.  Thank you for your support — and fortitude!  Speaking for Interfaith, I hope that the State of Illinois can reinvigorate the Affordable Housing Planning & Appeal Act so people understand why affordable housing in every community benefits not only that community, but all of us.

The Village staff have also been quiet heroes through this year-long public campaign since the Plan Commission handed their set of recommendations to the Council. 

I had great respect for President Tucker’s leadership when she reminded the Trustees last night that their charge is to use the Caucus platform as a “guideline”, that they must not abdicate their obligation to study and deliberate for the long-term benefit of the community, beyond their personal tenures.

Lessons moving forward

In all these years working on affordable housing for Winnetka, I wanted to share with you what I’ve learned — something to think about in all future affordable housing efforts:

* The term “affordable housing” is meaningless when it comes to identifying housing problems or solutions.  Trustee Chris Rintz said it most eloquently last night when he commented that the real problem that the Plan Commission identified early on is the loss of diversity in Winnetka.  He talked about how Winnetka used to be a community where “the help” could live — as well as school librarians, young families just starting out, and the elderly.  The teardown phenomenon (441 modest homes lost between 2000 and 2009 alone), fueled by easy mortgages and a rise in property values before the bubble burst, is one cause of that community change. 

He said he initially thought that the public would be debating how to make housing affordable in an area with such expensive land prices, not do we care about this issue in the first place.  But this got lost in the heated anti-government rhetoric of the Winnetka Home Owners Association.

So when you redefine the problem as, “How can we promote diversity?”, your solutions change.  That’s why the Plan Commission’s recommendations of a Property Maintenance Code to protect tenants and the rental market, and liberalization of coach house restrictions on rental, begin to solve the problem while not being per se affordable housing tools. 

It makes me pause to think that if we had solutions that fit the identification of the problem, without using the loaded term “affordable housing,” we might have better headway.  The bottom line is, “What is our obligation toward our neighbor?  How do we care for our neighbor as a community?  We care for mature trees even though they don’t vote, because we value them.  What about the family who’s lived here for years, shopped in our stores, gone to our schools, but suffered a disability?”

… which brings me to a second lesson:

* People first.  The housing stock in Winnetka is quite homogeneous, at 90% owner-occupied.  There simply aren’t options in the Village to “shoe-horn” newlyweds, people with disabilities, older persons, single-parent families, residents whose incomes have gone down, and public and private workers.  So they either aren’t moving in; or when they leave, they are replaced by “upper bracket” families, so the older, accommodating stock vanishes.  It is unfortunate that in none of the Village Council hearings since last April, when the Council deliberated the proposed Plan, did Council members other than Trustee Rintz reference the people who need affordable housing. 

It also means that we need to make it safe for the people who would benefit to speak for themselves — like Surrosh Shakir, who really made a positive difference in promoting the Property Maintenance Code.

The lesson learned here is that a focus on the people again ties the problem with the solution.  I think that governments, in setting the groundrules for debate, need to make it an unshakable value that when we talk about the people who need affordable housing, we do not malign them as people who don’t work hard enough, or who have no worth in our town.

* Policies addressing people who are disadvantaged are not always appropriate for “majority rules” decision-making — because by definition, the disadvantaged are disadvantaged.  In other words, justice is not subject to a popularity contest.  As one Winnetkan said to me after the November meeting, if we didn’t have checks-and-balances in this country that included the court system, African Americans would still be 3/5ths of a person.  This means that in exercising their mandate as elected leaders of the entire Village, Council members must include “the least of these” — even if they don’t speak out.  This also means that the Village Council should not allow itself to be swayed by anything but the facts.  Read the thorough Affordable Housing Report filled with important data.  It was unfortunate that most Council members did not even reference it — because referencing it is an expression of understanding of need, supply, and gaps.  This also means not shying from open discussion. We grow through conflict.

There might be other lessons.  In fact, if you have other lessons, send them in to me and we can publish them in some way!  And then we can start all over again with housing solutions that build diversity instead of “socially engineer” us toward increasing homogeneity by income, race, age, and physical ability.

Meanwhile, in the new year, we have the coach house ordinance to look forward to — as well as WHOA’s referenda — unpleasant even while non-binding. 

Again, many thanks — and think of that spiritual, keep your eyes on the prize!

Only chain that a man can stand
Is that chain of hand on hand
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on

I wish you a happy and healthy 2012!

Gail Schechter

Winnetkans supporting diverse housing

Capping a six-year process, the last of which involved fine tuning and deliberation, the Village of Winnetka moved forward in halting steps toward a restoring a more diverse housing market. 

This week, on December 6, 2011, the Village Council unanimously passed a Property Maintenance Code, to stem the loss of rentals, largely tenanted by lower-income persons and older adults, due to mismanagement and deterioration. 

At this same meeting, however, the Village Council decided to press the pause button on any further planning for affordable housing.  Grassroots advocacy has helped forestall an initiative of a Village trustee, backed by a conservative homeowners group, to kill the discussion altogether. 

But Interfaith, as a Winnetka-grown and -based organization, has doggedly work to build broad-based community support for affordable housing.  This comes from experience as well as social commitment.  In 2010, Interfaith counseled 26 Winnetka families facing foreclosure, seeking tenant advice, or looking for a Homesharer because they could no longer afford their own housing.  These are lives of quiet desperation for which the only solution is to move away.

Winnetka clergy and Interfaith pulled together a mobilization campaign that lasted from the summer of 2010 to April 2011, when the Winnetka Plan Commission’s affordable housing recommendations, including the PMC, were introduced to the Village Council.  The clergy of six Winnetka congregations testified and wrote, “If measures are not taken to ensure that some moderately priced housing is available in our community, we will continue to lose our own residents and all the richness they contribute to Winnetka community life…. Standing up for fellow citizens, a more diverse and healthy community, and respectful dialog are all matters of faith.”

Rabbi Bruce Elder of Congregation Hakafa wrote in an editorial, “We who work in Winnetka take pride in what we do for you. Think about how much more committed we would be to our work, how much more pride we would have if we were able to say, ‘This is our village, too.’ Imagine if residents could see us not only in our uniforms, but at PTA meetings as well. It used to be that way in Winnetka, not too long ago. There is no reason why it shouldn’t be made that way again.”

Nancy Pred, Jen McQuet, Ann Airey, and Katie Seigenthaler started a new grassroots group of residents called Winnetka Is Neighborly.  They disseminated a simple brochure to all residents asking for support of the plan, and generated emails to counter the misinformation of a group that vigorously opposes the plan, Winnetka Home Owners Association (WHOA).  WHOA’s stated opposition reflects an anti-government stance, and suspicion of affordable housing as “a pig that smells.”

Perhaps affordable housing’s greatest champion in the Village was its own Plan Commission, now chaired by Becky Hurley, probably the most informed subset of the community.  According to the Commission, in its report, “Winnetka’s housing stock increasingly serves only one kind of resident—a family at the peak of its earning years and with school-aged children. This limited vision of a Winnetka resident excludes too many of our own residents, offers little flexibility for dealing with changes in the economy or in demographics, and does not do justice to the economically diverse history of Winnetka.”

Interfaith applauds the Village Council for passing the Property Maintenance Code and working on an ordinance that would permit homeowners with coach houses vacant for more than six months to fix them and rent them as apartments, should they choose.  This could potentially create over 30 new apartments. 

WHOA has a referendum on the March 2012 ballot that would prevent any affordable housing anywhere in the Village.  Fortunately, the results would be non-binding.

Winnetkans: Make sure to come to meetings related to the coach house ordinance as it comes up in the new year.  And be informed. 

Thanks to all Winnetkans, from tenants and homeowners, to clergy and the Chamber of Commerce, to the Plan Commission and elected leaders, for your passion and hard work. 

King Poor, former Village Trustee of Winnetka, said it best to the Council at the December 6 meeting: “Whether we continue any discussion of Affordable Housing does say something of who we are as a community. This discussion has its roots in what Winnetkans did 46 years ago in hosting Dr. King on the Green. And we honor their courage and that legacy by allowing the discussion to continue.”

Read Winnetka Reflections for more thoughts.

In mid 2011, Interfaith helped this Winnetka tenant move from her moldy unit.

After more than 30 meetings and as many drafts since 2007, the Village of Winnetka adopted a Property Maintenance Code to provide a mechanism by which renters in commercial properties can complain about unheeded life/safety violations to the Village.  This new Code, passed on December 6, 2011, also covers storefront businesses and other offices in downtown commercial buildings.

Interfaith has long advocated for this code for many years.  Two years ago, a group of tenants living above stores downtown complained to Interfaith about broken stairs, mold, and collapsing ceilings.  Despite repeated calls for help to the management company, requests went unheeded. 

Because the Village had no code, the best the Village could do was to express sympathy.  The only way the Village could intervene was to issue a vacate order — a very extreme, inappropriate, and unsatisfying solution.  Tenants had no recourse but to move.

As Brendan Saunders, Director of Organizing & Advocacy for Interfaith and the agency’s landlord/tenant expert, wrote in a letter to the Village and to local papers, when “the property further deteriorates, it is a lose-lose for everyone but the landlord who is able to re-rent the apartment as is.”

“Under state law, tenants have the right to sue a landlord; unfortunately this is a very complicated and costly system. Without an attorney tenants are often unable to accomplish anything. In court the most common agreement reached is to allow the tenant to break their lease and move out.  This does not solve the problem.  Property Maintenance Codes are not set up to police and penalize landlords. Rather they are designed to encourage proper care of buildings, uphold property values, and promote strong communities.”

The Property Maintenance Code was also a recommendation by the Winentka Plan Commission within its affordable housing report because Winnetka lost 260 rental units between 1980 and 2000, a 37.5% decline (see the Village’s affordable housing report).  

This victory would not have been possible without the advocacy of local tenants like Sunita Amatya and Surrosh Shakir, the latter having spoken up numerous times before the Village Council and the media about the neglect in her downtown apartment, and Winnetka Is Neighborly, a grassroots group of hundreds of residents who have advocated for diverse and affordable housing in their own backyards.

Finally, we thank the Village Council, which voted unanimously in favor of the new Winnetka code, and the City staff.  The PMC is not currently available on the Village’s web site, although you can find the draft that was passed in the Village Council’s packet for the 12/6/2011 meeting, starting on Page 81.

If you are a Winnetka tenant and you have been unable to resolve your concern with your landlord or property manager, contact the Village’s Community Development Department at Bnorkus@winnetka.org or 847-716-3522.

Evanston Fair Housing Advocates at the Civic Center

Since August 2011, the Interfaith Housing Center is serving Evanston landlords and tenants, responding to calls and in some cases, providing intervention with the City to prevent illegal lockouts. 

In the four months of August through November, Interfaith fielded 126 calls from Evanston tenants and a few landlords.  Most calls relate to return of security deposits, getting repairs, and lease questions.  In one case, Interfaith helped prevent an elderly disabled man from becoming homeless.

This complements Interfaith’s nearly two-year partnership with Evanston to counsel homeowners facing foreclosure, providing intervention with lenders.  In one recent case, Interfaith’s counselors were able to help an immigrant homeowner from South America have the principal reduced on his mortgage.

The City of Evanston is also updating its fair housing education materials.  Stay tuned in 2012.

Since the late 1990s, the City of Evanston has supported Homesharing through its Community Development Block Grant program.

Evanston, at over 70,000 people, is the largest suburb of Interfaith’s service area and borders Chicago.

Interfaith staff have office hours at the Evanston Civic Center.

For landlord/tenant assistance, Brendan Saunders (brendan@interfaithhousingcenter.org or 847-501-4352, ext. 402) is at the Civic Center on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. 

For foreclosure prevention counseling, please review the list of mortgage and income verification documents that you need prior to setting an appointment.  You can make an appointment after dropping off (or faxing or emailing to anna@interfaithhousingcenter.org) the copies of these documents to the office.

For fair housing complaint investigation, contact Andrea Juracek, Director of Fair Housing at Interfaith (andrea@interfaithhousingcenter.org or 847-501-3278, ext. 501).  In Evanston, you have the right to be treated fairly when you seek to rent or own your home regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, familial status, or national origin.

For shared housing through Homesharing — that is, if you have a room to rent in your house or apartment, or you are seeking a room to rent — contact Jackie Grossmann at 847-501-5732, ext. 401, or jackie@interfaithhousingcenter.org.  Jackie also has office hours once a week at Evanston/Skokie Valley Senior Services.

A Homesharing "match" in Chicago's northern suburbs

We think of our Homesharing Program as a means to build community “one housing match at a time”.  Through a careful, sensitive process our staff match people with different backgrounds and experiences – and we at Interfaith continue to marvel at how lives become enriched through shared living.

This fall, we helped a 30-year-old woman with a physical disability to continue to live independently in her apartment.  She rents to a 35-year-old woman working in social services who wants to save money to purchase a condo. They have become friends and often have dinner together. The homeowner is more secure with someone in her home at night. The renter is achieving her future goal and rent is $300.

Older homeowners also benefit. A 65-year-old retired secretary living on a modest pension needs income to afford her condo.  She shares with a 40-year-old woman from Greece, who is a full-time nanny on the North Shore. They exchange recipes and compare cultures. Life is fuller and less stressed financially for both and rent is $550.

Homeowners are sharing their homes with visiting scholars, teachers, social workers, health care workers, customer service representatives…initially for additional income, for some home care, for companionship. But, aside from the monetary benefits – as a result of our matching skill – both parties are often surprised to find friendship and lives deepened through the Homesharing experience. 

Please contact Jackie Grossmann, jackie@interfaithhousingcenter.org, to learn more about Homesharing or to request us to help you find someone to share your home, or a place for you to move into on the North Shore.  All services are free of charge and confidential.

Since July 2011, the Village of Lincolnwood is looking into amending its group homes zoning ordinance and bringing it into full compliance with the Fair Housing Act. 

Although Lincolnwood currently has no group home serving people with disabilities, the zoning code only allows for group homes in R-4 districts.  These are higher-density districts which, Lincolnwood, are in only two corners of town and take up a tiny fraction of the total land, most of which is devoted to single-family homes (77%). 

Interfaith Housing Center have been providing legal opinions and feedback to the Village Board and the Plan Commission.  Read the draft of a group homes ordinance from Lincolnwood.   In Interfaith’s opinion, it is still inadequate, but the Village is moving in the right direction.  As a Trustee said at their November 15, 2011 meeting, “Lincolnwood is proud of its religious and ethnic diversity, and we are now welcoming people with disabilities.”

Lincolnwood residents: Please express your support for the availability of group homes throughout the residential areas of town, and at terms no more or less restrictive than other homeowners, by sending an e-mail to Mayor Gerald Turry via the Village Administrator Tim Wiberg, twiberg@lwd.org. 

Also try to attend the next Plan Commission meeting where this will be discussed, on January 4, 2012.

Principals from Evanston, Northbrook, and Skokie talk about diversity in the schools. Moderated by Barb Hiller (left)

             This year, Interfaith’s annual meeting focused on how a diverse community benefits all, including school children.  Taking place on Sunday, October 23, at 3 pm at the Winnetka Congregational Church, this free, public event featured a panel of public school principals talking about schools and housing together, and how to make the school-book lessons about diversity, real.  Speakers were Dr. Ryan McTague of Niles North High School in Skokie, and Erin Murphy of Field Middle School in Northbrook.  The panel was facilitated by Barb Hiller, a retired principal herself and a founder of United We Learn. 

The experiences of the three educators engaged the 31 attendees.  Each school system has become increasingly diverse by race, national origin, income, and disability.  At Niles North High School, Dr. McTague said “four out of ten students are born elsewhere” and 31% receive a free or reduced-price lunch.  In Northbrook, Russian, Korean, and Spanish are the primary second languages today.  At King Lab in Evanston, 40% of the students are African American and 40% are White. 

How do they serve a diverse population?  “If we were just handing people a book and a pen, it would be easy,” said Dr. McTague, but that’s not what’s best for the children.  Lessons learned?

• “Let kids tell their stories.”  What is it like to be me in this community?
• “Let kids educate the teachers.” Efforts that rise from the children in fact facilitate mutual communication.
• “Have family liaison programs.” These engage families, many of whom are new to this country and fearful of getting involved.  Teachers should ask parents what their goals are for their children.
• “Hire a diverse staff.” As Lonnie Barefield, a retired educator in the audience said, “I should see in the faculty who I see [the kids] in the schools.”
• “Expand extracurriular activities.”  These activities — arts, sports, civic engagement, etc. — have the “strongest correlation for success.”
• “Look to see who is being underserved.”  To educators: Get out of your office, look at the demographic data for the school, don’t leave anyone behind.
• “Give every child the tools to be college-ready.”  Mainstream children out of remedial tracks, so as not to expect less of them.
• “Don’t be color-blind.”  Recognize that diversity only enriches.

As Dr. Erin Murphy of Field Middle School in Northbrook summarized, “Balance making child every feel safe and unique, while meeting academic standard.”

How can the lessons help build a proudly integrated community? Simply substitute the word “student” for “resident.”