The crisis that is erupting into our streets right now with regard to evictions has its roots in decades of neglecting to do what is truly needed with regard to affordable housing needs in our city. 40,000 households in this area rent and make less than 30% of the Area Median Income (which is $25,000 annually for a family of four.) For every 100 of these households, there are only 33 available and affordable units. The Richmond area needs more than 26,000 units of affordable housing.
While RISC got the city to start funding the Affordable Housing Trust Fund beginning in 2015 – the dollars allocated have been nowhere near enough to even begin to close the gap on this “unit shortage” we have. We will be asking city council and the mayor to:
- Dedicate streams of revenue for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund that equal at least $10 million yearly.
- Ensure that at least 50% of the Affordable Housing Trust funds go to the creation of units for households earning 30% AMI and below.
For more information on RISC’s website, please go here.