Home 1111

Become An Advocate

Join Us!

The St. Louis region’s Workforce Housing Campaign shows how all our region’s residents can have a good place to work—near where they live—and why that is good for everyone!

Here is how you can support the St. Louis Workforce Housing Campaign [MORE]

 


Features

AFFORDABLE WORKFORCE HOUSING ASSOCIATION LAUNCHES 

FOCUS St. Louis launched the Affordable Workforce Housing Association this month. The association answers an unmet need for a sustained workforce housing advocacy effort at the federal, state and local level.  “The Affordable Workforce Housing Association will provide a long-term political and social force for housing that’s affordable, safe, and within a reasonable commuting distance for workers making less-than-average pay,” said FOCUS St. Louis Policy and Community Engagement Director Nikki Weinstein, who has led the formation of this new group.

The objectives of the association are to:

  • Establish transparency and predictability in the award of resources by the State Housing Finance Agencies (MHDC and IDA),
  • Increase Housing Trust Funds at the federal, state and local level,
  • Promote the use of innovative building techniques and materials to reduce costs and improve affordability,
  • Implement zoning ordinances that encourage workforce housing and eliminate restrictive zoning requirements,
  • Promote incentives for Employer Assisted Housing,
  • Tie economic development incentives to the provision of affordable workforce housing, and
  • Develop statewide plans to preserve affordable workforce housing.

The coalition is composed of interested organizations and individuals in Missouri and Illinois including financial institutions, developers, nonprofit organizations, universities, trades related groups and interested individuals who recognize that together they have a stronger voice to influence positive policy changes. While the difficult financial times we are facing are connected to housing issues, the need for affordable workforce housing transcends the current trend. Even before this crisis, in the St. Louis region alone, more than 25 percent of families were paying more than what is considered affordable for their housing. “There is a need for permanent solutions,” said Weinstein. “We need to allow working families to afford homes.  Doing so benefits all of us.”

For information on joining the association, contact Nikki Weinstein at nikkiw@focus-stl.org or 314-622-1250 x102.