Chicago’s Efforts to Keep Housing Affordable in Woodlawn Falls Short as Obama Center Nears Opening – Illinois Answers Project

Chicago’s Efforts to Keep Housing Affordable in Woodlawn Falls Short as Obama Center Nears Opening – Illinois Answers Project

A review of hundreds of pages of city records and dozens of interviews with residents, organizers and experts shows that the city’s promises often fell short of reality as it failed to spend enough money to run some programs, provided little supervision and abandoned others. One home, built in 2019 on a lot that used to be owned by the city, is currently listed for more than a million dollars.

Chicago’s Efforts to Keep Housing Affordable in Woodlawn Falls Short as Obama Center Nears Opening

Latisha Bolden, exhausted from her eight hour shift at a nearby hospital in early March, came home to devastating news.  Her son handed her a notice from their landlord stating they’d have to move out of their Woodlawn apartment by the end of July. The building’s new owners are renovating.  “I didn’t see this coming at all,” she said. Looking around for other apartments, she was again surprised that units similar to her one-bedroom now cost abou…