Apartment plan for the homeless (in Charlotte)

[Thom Little]

By Fred Kelly
Charlotte Observer
Monday, Nov. 21, 2005


Charlotte officials are considering a plan that would waive rental security deposits for hundreds of low-income families.

Crisis Assistance Ministry and the Charlotte Apartment Association are asking the city to finance a program aimed at reducing homelessness among the working poor and filling vacant apartments.

Under the proposal, Crisis Assistance Ministry would refer 300 working families to landlords who would waive security deposit requirements. The social agency provides emergency financial relief to the poor.

City officials would use public funds to pay the security deposits in cases where recipients do not fulfill terms of their leases.

Organizers estimate the average security deposit is $500. They anticipate 10 percent of participants will break their lease agreement.



http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/13221975.htm

[wildeyed]

1. Crisis Assistance is a great organization.

I donate every year because they are so smart and creative about dealing with these issues.

[Marie26]

2. Crisis Assistance is wonderful

They work on a shoe-string, but have great ideas on how to help people and are very effective. I know from first-hand experience that they have kept many families in the Charlotte area from becoming homeless.

[sam sarrha]

3. I was a VISTA Volunteer in WA and we started a homeless program using

donated trailers, a trailer park had extra pads 8 or 9 months out of the year and we got them for a song, we bought donated trailers people didn't want for a dollar and then the Community Action Council charged themselves the going rate we previously paid to absentee motel landlords, in 1989 that was $60 a night, then all the money went into the Homeless fund, which we bought clothes and fixed cars and did dental work donated by local dentists.. a church did the laundry and cleaning. we found them jobs and provided an address so they, nearly all were families, could get food stamps and AFDC and section 8 housing, our turnover was usually about a week. i took all the gas stuff out of the trailers and replaced them with electric.

i supplied 6 food banks in 2 big counties, started a food bank warehouse, collected and distributed 1,000,000 pounds of surplus food in 2 years, and started a USDA distribution site for surplus commodities for 2 counties. we had 17,000 families in poverty distress.