Mutual Interests - February 2012

 

Resident Voices

Mutual Housing asks residents to share with us their stories – to tell us, in their own voices, what it means to have safe and stable housing, and what it’s like to live in their Mutual Housing community. With “Resident Voices,” we are proud to inspire our readers with their words.

By Dinael Bedolla, Age 10, River Garden Estates Mutual Housing

My life has changed a lot since we came to live here. I have more room to play, more room to sleep, and more room to place more Christmas presents!

We even have a puppy. At school I have made a lot of new friends. At the park I spend a lot of time playing. I concentrate on my homework. At my old school I couldn’t concentrate that much. In my old apartment I didn’t have enough room for any of my things.

I’m a lot happier here. I feel like it’s my dream house. I always wanted to have a house with stairs.
I even have a lizard here.

I love this house.

Lemon Hill residents find leadership niche at national training

“Learn from the people. Plan with the people. Begin with what they have. Build on what they know. Of the best leaders, when the task is accomplished, the people will remark, ‘We have done it ourselves’.” – Lao-Tzu, from the Tao Te Ching

Mutual Housing took these famous words of wisdom to heart recently when we sent three residents from our Mutual Housing at Lemon Hill community to a three-day national training to help them realize their own potential and bring newfound skills back to Lemon Hill to share with other residents.

Patience Anderson, Ebony Price, and Jenny Saechao (a youth leader) attended NeighborWorks® America’s annual Community Leadership Institute in Kansas City, where other residents, volunteers and organizers from around the country gathered to attend workshops, network, and set their ideas into action. Providing an open forum where resident leaders can discuss some of their community issues with their peers and share solutions, the institute also offered workshops on finding leadership potential, balancing community involvement with personal life, and bridging gaps between generations and cultures.

“There was a theme at this institute that really focused on connecting to neighbors who may be different from you,” said Executive Director Rachel Iskow. “Our residents all felt really good about being part of something larger than just their own community and making connections with residents from other states around the country.”

Mutual Housing residents kept journals of their experiences, including everything from phone numbers of fellow residents they can call on for advice to helpful tips from workshops they attended. At the end of the training, they gathered as a team to create an action plan for their agreed-upon project: a community garden to be cultivated and cared for by all residents at Mutual Housing at Lemon Hill.

“The thing that I like best about the institute training was the interaction between resident leaders from around the country,” said youth participant Jenny Saechao. “I was able to learn the different problems some residents faced in their community and their solutions to the problems.”

Having created an action plan, Patience, Ebony and Jenny have returned to their Mutual Housing community armed with a timeline and a strategy for recruiting more resident leaders, generating community-wide support, and soliciting community partners. Already Ubuntu Green, a local organization committed to equitable and sustainable communities, has signed on to help the group.

“Since the leadership institute, our Lemon Hill group is trying to gather more residents to participate in the garden. In addition, we are encouraging the youth and elders to work together,” said Saechao.

How substandard homes create health problems

By Crystal Saeturn

The environment we live in and the quality of our housing conditions have a huge impact on our well-being, both physically and mentally. At Mutual Housing we take very seriously our responsibility to create and maintain healthy living conditions in our communities. Unfortunately, in many neighborhoods substandard conditions still prevail —from poor indoor plumbing to pest infestations—and create a downward spiral of health problems for the families who live there. 

“Adequate housing has a huge impact on people’s health not only because it provides safety but because it’s free of environmental toxins and contaminants,” said Executive Director Rachel Iskow. “On the other hand, when housing conditions are inadequate, people can develop a variety of serious health problems, ranging from respiratory conditions to chronic diseases, just from living in their own homes.”

Because most people spend a vast majority of their time indoors while at home, it is important that building conditions are safe and healthy. Exposure to various toxins, irritants, allergens, and gases can cause harmful health effects, such as: 

• Lead poisoning from exposure to lead-based paint may result in learning disabilities and behavior problems in young children.
• Pests such as rodents and cockroaches leave dander in carpets. Once airborne, the dander is linked to asthma, currently the leading cause of absence from elementary schools. 
• Water leaks, construction defects, and poor ventilation all are contributors to mold problems, which can cause respiratory infections and other health problems. Studies find that asthma problems are more prominent in homes where mold is a problem.
• The residues from pesticides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in such household products as cleaning supplies and some paint can become airborne and reduce air quality, putting residents at increased risk for neurological damage and cancer.  

“Many of the rental properties that working families can afford simply aren’t safe,” said Iskow. “A shortage of high-quality affordable homes means they’re too often forced to live in substandard households and unsafe neighborhoods.”

Housing is considered “affordable” when a family spends less than 30 percent of its monthly income to pay for their housing. However, in the Sacramento region  people need to earn $19.98 per hour to afford an average market rate two-bedroom apartment. The average hourly wage for a renter is only $14.20 per hour.  

“That’s why at Mutual Housing we’re constantly working to build new multi-family communities and buying other communities to rehabilitate – so we can increase the number of healthy households that local families can afford and that they deserve,” said Iskow.

Message from the Executive Director

This month we’ve been getting questions from our supporters about how the elimination of redevelopment agencies in California will affect Mutual Housing. Many seem worried that we’ll be closing our doors. Not to worry. For the short term, we are fine. Our doors will be open, and we will continue housing 2,700 people who live in our communities. 

The construction of our newest community in Davis -- New Harmony -- will continue…and it is coming along wonderfully. We also are continuing our green renovation on a few of our Sacramento communities. For the longer term, however, there is a great deal of uncertainty. To leverage state and federal funding to build and acquire properties, we need to show local funding commitments. We also need that local funding to make housing development financially feasible. Local government funding plays a critical role in our housing development work.  Without redevelopment agencies available as a source of funds, the projects in our pipeline are at risk, including land that we own that is planned for our future communities, and occupied housing in our area that is deteriorating and needs renovation.

We are working with concerned advocates and community members, as well as elected public officials, to think creatively and identify new funding streams for developing housing for low-wage workers, the elderly and disabled, and families with children who are struggling to find safe places to live. Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg from Sacramento is committed to providing leadership on this effort. I hope you will join him and our Mutual Housing association in educating others on the importance of our housing in the community. 

You can support this effort by:

•  inviting people you know to one of our monthly tours (see our schedule here),
• having people sign up for this newsletter,
• writing your state legislators to let them know how important it is to you to find a permanent source of funding for affordable housing at the state level, and
• informing your local elected officials that you would like their leadership in working with the state to identify an alternative source of housing funding to replace the redevelopment funds that went to help develop homes like the ones in our Mutual Housing communities.

Thank you for your continued support, and I wish you a safe and well-housed year!

(Click on a picture to see a larger version)

Mutual Housing Newsletter Archive