Urban Housing Solutions
Recycling unwanted and discarded structures into homes families can afford.
Mission Statement:
We are a 501(c)(3) organized to address the issue of Affordable Housing in urban communities. Our mission is to:
Improving housing for the poor, the distressed, homeless and the underprivileged residing in urban communities;
Advancement of education in building trades and skills within poor and underprivileged communities residing in urban areas;
Erecting or maintaining buildings to address homelessness and improve the overall conditions of housing available to urban poor and underprivileged.
Please check back for more pictures and accounts of the condenmed properties we have rennovated into homes for grateful familes.
Our story
This is a picture of a condemned property in the East Side of Cleveland, Ohio. The City of Cleveland was planning on tearing it down.
We had another idea.
We looked at this damage and saw opportunity. Others looked and saw urban decay. More importantly, with some skill, damage like what is shown above is easily repaired.
Step by step, we turned that would otherwise have ended up being a grass field into a home for 2 families. A place children now call home. A place where a mom comes home after a long day of work to rest and relax. A place where home cooked meals are made and shared. A place where memories are made. A place residents are proud to call home. A street with one less grass lot on it. A city lot that pays property taxes.
Our point is that instead of tearing down blighted housing, and creating green fields of grass that generates zero revenue for a City, we are better off investing in these structures and bringing them back to life.
We should rush to save structures instead of investing our limited resources to tear them down.
While we were renovating this property pictured above to what it is now, there was an abandoned property across the street. It was like many properties in an urban city, unkept and likely abandoned after it was foreclosed. It was in far better shape than the property we haven’t shown above. One day, we noticed some paperwork taped to the door of this property across the street. It was a condemnation notice. We went over and looked it and did our own examination of the property and the "claimed" violations the City had listed. Nothing of what the City claimed as "building violations" were accurate. The only thing this property was guilty of was being abandoned. (We will post pictures of this structure for you to see for yourself.) However, the City tore it down for no good reason and now the lot is now vacant and growing grass instead of providing a home for a family.
Because of these and other examples we can detail of viable structures being destroyed instead of rehabbed, Urban Housing Solutions was created bring our knowledge and skills in taking condemned properties and turning them into affordable homes for today.
The Problem of Affordable Housing
The issue with affordable housing is insufficient supply of homes to support the demand for housing. A main cause is the existing housing stock that falls out of the supply side of the equation. This happens as a result of lack of access to good paying jobs, to jobs that are stable and that provide families with stability. Jobs that are short term, low paying leave workers without the resources needed to put care for their homes. The result is lack of capital to invest in maintenance, coumpounded with a lack of skills and knowledge that could allow those workers to maintain their own homes. The result is blight and a decrease in the number of available places to live. We need to increase the supply of housing and we see the quickest way and most cost effective way is to repair unwanted structures to bring them back to the supply inventory.
Our view of the Solution to Affordable Housing
The dream of home ownership for most everyone is a wonderful dream. But, we must realize, it is a dream. Especially in neighborhoods where low income jobs are rule instead of the exception. Programs designed to promote home ownership in such areas have failed time and time again. As an example, a redevelopment corporation located in Cleveland's Buckeye neighborhood received federal grants and City funds to promote home ownership for lower income residents. New homes were built with these funds and low interest loans were established, property tax abatement were given for 15 years and everything was great. Things were great until the abatements stopped and folks couldn't afford the taxes and started walking away from those homes. A number of those newly built homes sit vacant and are in a distressed status. Homes that are less than 20 years old. The point is, if you don't have a steady job that pays a living wage, your likely not going to be able to be a homeowner.
Promoting Home Ownership is NOT the Answer
We think a better solution is to recognize what residents in urban communities’ need is a place to live at an affordable cost. If we can provide good housing at a low cost then the problem is solved. We need to be able to rehab a structure in a cost effective manner so the rent charged can cover the cost to develop the rental unit and fund the cost to maintain the property. Thus, the challenge is creating good housing with a low enough investment and maintaining it at a low operating cost over time. New constuction is simply to costly to truely be affordable housing.
We have solved this challenge. Using our years of experience in rebuilding homes, our solution is to repair the aging housing stock and make it fit for another generation. We have done at a low enough cost to allow us to set rents that are affordable. We see applicants seeking to rent properties who are on a fixed income of between $1,200 to $1,650. They need to find a place to live that has a rent of between $300 to $450 a month. By putting a small investment in unwanted structures, we can turn them into good homes at an affordable rent.
Will you help ? Do you have a run down property you don’t know what to do with. Do you have materials you don't need ? Contact us and lets rebuild our community together !!