YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
There were two options on the city of Springfield’s online list of affordable housing rentals as of press time: a three-bedroom house at 1436 N. Clifton Ave. and a three-bedroom apartment at 520 W. Nichols St.
It’s no wonder that when Sherry Blair posts a vacancy, she can expect a line of applicants camped out on the sidewalk of the nonprofit Affordable Housing Action Board of Springfield Inc., for which she serves as executive director.
Blair said the demand is high, and supply can’t keep up.
To qualify for the house on Clifton Avenue, leased by AHAB for $655 per month, an applicant must make 50% or less of the area mean income, which is $71,000 for a family of four, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Blair’s organization buys houses and vacant lots at city auctions for new builds or renovations, then leases them out to qualifying renters. AHAB has an inventory of 129 houses it has built in low-income housing census tracts, Blair said. Three more are under construction and should be ready to rent out by November.
Blair said the competition for properties being auctioned by the city has become intense. For most of her 26 years on the job, she had not seen much interest, whether from for-profit or nonprofit bidders.
At a May Springfield City Council meeting, AHAB was awarded deeds to two properties acquired by the city through its dangerous building program: 2237 N. Farmer Ave., with a bid of $13,213, and 2824 W. Water St., with a bid of $16,600. Two of her other bids were unsuccessful.
“The city sends out these bids generally twice a year,” she said. “I research every single one of them that’s on there that’s zoned residential. I look to see where the sewer is, where the water is, if it can be connected, if they’re buildable lots.”
AHAB is funded mostly by HUD, with other revenue coming from tenant rental payments.
Blair knows there’s a desperate need for affordable housing in the city, so she doesn’t keep a waiting list. The organization takes applications only when it has an active vacancy.
Blair said in the past, she has posted vacancies on Monday or Tuesday, and maybe four or five potential tenants would show up just before her office’s 8:30 a.m. opening.
“Last year, people started showing up at 4 a.m., sitting in our driveway,” she said. “Once we have a unit, it’s not very long before we can get it rented.”
Rental listing service Rent.com puts the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Springfield at $682, as of July 20, and that’s 11% higher than a year ago. Average rent for a studio is $700, up 4%; a two-bedroom apartment is $805, up 12%; and a three-bedroom, $1,095, up 35%.
Local need
City Council passed a draft of an allocation plan for the city’s $3.8 million Home-American Rescue Plan funds at its meeting on June 27. The plan has been sent to HUD for final approval, which can take up to 45 days.
In a presentation to council, Bob Jones, grants administrator for the city, outlined plans to put $2.2 million toward noncongregate shelters for homeless people. Another $1 million would go toward development of affordable rental housing.
Jones said the cost of developing a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house is about $200,000. Money could stretch further if put toward an apartment building, he said.
There are 41,050 total rental units in the city, Jones said, citing the American Community Survey from June. Of those, 5,980 are affordable housing units available to renters living at or below 50% of the area mean income level.
But on the tenant side, Jones said, there are 14,215 households at or below 50% of the AMI. That leaves a gap of 8,235 units that are needed but absent from the market.
As part of its Home-ARP funding plan, the city also is seeking $400,000 in support services that can be used to connect qualifying people to shelters and housing.
Jones said it is possible the need for housing units is felt by more than 8,235 households.
“I’ve seen a number as high as 14,000,” he said.
City Manager Jason Gage pointed to the impossibility of providing housing for everyone in need.
“If the number’s 12,000 and you could build for $100,000 a unit, that’s $1.2 billion,” he said. “We can’t get that level of funding from the federal government.”
A 2021 community survey to determine how Springfield should use its American Rescue Plan Act Funds showed homeless and housing services as the second-highest priority for respondents, after public safety and crime prevention. Of the 1,438 respondents, 40% ranked housing as their top priority.
Case study
Meghan Storey is director of personal development for the Drew Lewis Foundation’s RISE program. RISE, which stands for Reaching Independence Through Support and Education, exists to help families overcome challenges that keep them living in survival mode so that they can achieve long-term success, according to the foundation’s website.
She said the housing crisis has been ongoing, and she has not seen any improvement.
Like Blair, Storey has seen the scramble for any affordable housing unit that becomes available.
“If there’s a listing, it’s just a free-for-all,” she said. “Most case managers check this list daily, notifying I don’t know how many different clients about them.
“There’s also a sense of hope that families feel ripped away from them when they constantly are being let down, competing with 20 other families to get an application in.”
Storey said the $655-per-month, three-bedroom house AHAB is leasing will go quickly.
“That’s unheard of nowadays,” she said.
A problem with a lack of available options is that some families feel forced to stay in housing that is unsuitable – even dangerous, Storey said.
“People are so desperate, they’re more apt to rent anything,” she said.
She gave the example of a RISE family with a mom who is disabled, a dad who is working and three kids who have varying degrees of disability. Their house has mold, asbestos and structural damage, she said, but the landlord has refused to do any maintenance.
“This family is not willing to allow us to report it, even anonymously, because then the landlord would have the right to evict them, and what good does that do, if they can’t find an affordable alternative?” she said.
Through coaching from RISE, the father has obtained his GED, which has allowed him to get a better job, and the mother has graduated from The Geek Foundation, which has trained her to do information technology work in the home.
The mom, who insisted on anonymity for fear of eviction for speaking out, said she has felt hopeless at times.
“He’s just going to evict us anyway and find somebody else who will afford $450 a month and not complain about it because there’s no other options,” she said. “If I fight him, he’ll kick me out.”
This renter hangs on as a member of Springfield’s population that is at risk of homelessness. For now, her family has some shelter, unlike the 1,397 people without homes counted in the most recent street census maintained by The Connecting Grounds church.
“For people who are actually making an effort and trying, it’s still an impossible situation,” she said. “I’m doing everything I possibly can to change my situation. You can’t always turn a no into a yes, but sometimes with polite perseverance you can.” •
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