The Whitworthian

Issue date: 11/13/07 Last Updated: 11/15/07

Low-income housing letter from Whitworth and Gonzaga Universities

October 25, 2007
To whom it may concern,

We are an assembly of concerned students from Whitworth and Gonzaga Universities. We wish to address the recent evictions of residents at the Commercial Building, New Madison, and Otis apartment buildings, and the resulting crisis of insufficient low-income housing in the downtown area of Spokane. We commend the local government for its aim and effort in relocating and providing housing vouchers for many of these displaced tenants. Despite these efforts, we believe that these measures are short term solution inadequate to resolve the increasing need for affordable housing for low income residents of Spokane. We ask for a greater commitment in the City of Spokane budget to support the construction and maintaining of low-income housing units in the downtown area.

City and State budgeting of low-income housing in the Spokane downtown area is important many reasons.

 *   First, centrally located housing provides tenants- many of whom suffer physical or mental disabilities- with easy access to nearby health clinics and other social services.  A consequence of the limited availability of housing is that many of these former tenants are required to live farther from the downtown area. Transportation becomes an obstacle to receive necessary treatment.

 *   Second, the recent closure of over 200 low-income housing units makes evident that private funding, alone, is inadequate to maintain enough housing to meet the growing need. The City of Spokane needs a base of permanent low-income housing that commercial redevelopment of the downtown area will not adversely affect.

 *   Thirdly, our state and federal government requires Spokane County to reduce homelessness by half in the next six to eight years. Spokane needs to make low cost housing accessible if Spokane is to approach this goal. The City of Spokane may look to policies and initiatives in other areas of Washington, the Seattle Housing Levy for instance, as a guideline.

Many of us know evicted tenants personally. We believe that as Spokane’s business economy expands, it is also crucial that all Spokane citizens, despite social or economic class, can take advantage of these advances. The City of Spokane can do this by creating policy that protects the interests of its lower income citizens and by allocating funds to support the building and maintaining of low-income housing in the downtown area. The Housing Voucher Program is helpful to alleviate the current housing crisis, but it is not a long-term solution. There is still a need in downtown Spokane for low-income housing.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Concerned students of Whitworth and Gonzaga Universities

Communities in Crisis, c/o ASWU
300 W. Hawthorne Rd.
Spokane WA 99251

Scarlet Ponder
Breanne Durham
Kyle Navis
Zachary Dahmen
Katie Stewart
Kristina Kielbon
Julie Foran
Alex E. Schilperoort
Ruth Stoops
John Williamson
Laura A. Schaffer
Jeffrey Upton
Brigid Castrolang
Ali Kara
Garrett D Young
Caitlin Marineau
Hannah Kimball
Kyle Broeckel
Nicola Crawford
Anna Collins-Wakeman
Kevin Weiser
Jesse A Prichard
Greg Hess, Whitworth Graduate
Melissa Stratton
Katie Petitt
Vi Nguyen
Katie Mulcaire-Jones
Regan Walsh
Katie Skattebo
Eric Eddy
Courtney Miner
Kristin Valentine
Michael Vander Giessen
Erin Cooley
Andrew Dickson
Emily Royal
Linh Aven
Galen Sanford
Christine Carnevale
Bryan Putnam
Allyn Krzymowski
Amy Johnson
Nathaniel Orwiler
Whitney Pitts
Robert Wahlstedt
Tim Langeloh
Kristin Nilsson
Alec Olschner
Kelsey Atwood
Elizabeth Moreno
Christopher Dennis
Sam Keenan
Nicole Howell
Kevin Johnson
Barb Liggett
Calli Strellnauer
Elizabeth H. Orphan
Jessica M. Leonardi
Michele L. Ward
Anna E. Schofield
Brian J. Lays
Eric Brewer
Rebecca L. Dodge
Shawna Sheppard
Corinne Wilson
Jeffrey L. Wheeler
Christina Conrad
Carrie Bowers

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