In Richland County, 26% of homeowners and 55% of renters are spending more than 30% of their household income on housing. That’s an estimated 66,000 of us & our neighbors, 15% of Richland County’s population, 1 in 6 people you see walking down the street. However you want to say it, it is undeniable—we are in a housing crisis.
Enough is enough. On Tuesday, April 21st at 5:30pm faith community & non-profit leaders will gather outside of the Richland County Administrative Building (2020 Hampton St.) for a press conference to call for council to take action on the housing crisis. Specifically, the community will call for the Council to move on creating and funding a Richland County Affordable Housing Trust Fund. At 6:00pm, community leaders will join Richland County Council’s regular session and make public comments.
MORE Justice has been pushing for this solution in Richland County since 2018. Housing Trust Funds are a source of public revenue that provide developers with incentives to include affordable housing in their projects. Run by a non-profit, the Housing Trust Fund would provide funding to bridge financial gaps to keep projects affordable. To read more about the problem, solution, and MORE Justice’s campaign, please see the Housing Trust Fund Report or the Housing Trust Fund Project from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).
MORE Justice is a non-profit organization of over 25 diverse congregations in the Midlands that organize for policy change in the community. Every single day, these congregations are providing direct services for community members in need and are raising their voice for change at the root of these problems.
Our biggest event of the year, the Nehemiah Action Assembly, is coming up on Monday, April 27 at 6pm at Pastides Alumni Center (900 Senate St.). Hundreds of people from across the Midlands will gather as congregational leaders present research on both problems and solutions to serious local community problems. Congregational leaders will ask for commitments from local officials for specific steps to implement these solutions.
