I met with Michael earlier this week to talk about Habitat for Humanity, what they do, and how they operate. We talked about the importance of affordable housing and helping our growing homeless population.
Habitat for Humanity builds homes with the family that they’re building the home for. They then sell that house to the family for a reasonable rate, and charge no interest. They use the income from those house payments to fund further affordable developments. They operate to help those folks who have steady income, and bad credit, into a home that they can call their own. They also help make repairs to homes for those in need, and install wheelchair ramps. They can only service a tiny fraction of Jonesboro’s population though.
We discussed lots of options for encouraging more affordable housing developments in Jonesboro. Tax breaks to those who build affordable housing, zoning requirements that require a certain percentage of all new developments to be built as affordable housing, and of course Jonesboro doing more to support charities like Habitat for Humanity to get more folks into homes.
Kier and Michael
When addressing the homeless population in Jonesboro, affordable housing well help, but it’s not the only piece of the solution. We need shelter options in Jonesboro that will house our homeless population. The Salvation Army has an emergency shelter to give folks a place to sleep at night. The Sure Foundation’s Hope house which is opening soon will provide a day shelter to give folks a place to eat, shelter from the elements, and a place to take a shower. The HUB connects people with resources, and offers free meals to those in need! These are just a few of the organizations helping, and we need more!
All of these organizations are putting in their own time and resources to make Jonesboro a better place and I want to see the city help these organizations succeed with grants, tax breaks, and financial aid. I want to see the city encourage them to come together to maximize the help they offer! We have a strong foundation, now we just need to finish building the house!
