Join MIFA to explore solutions to the local housing crisis

Join MIFA to explore solutions to the local housing crisis

 

Dear friends,

On September 15, MIFA will host our fourth annual Our City, Our Story event. This luncheon, held at the Holiday Inn, University of Memphis, will feature Stephanie Land, the New York Times bestselling author of Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, which is now an acclaimed Netflix series.

Maid follows Land’s struggle as a single parent with a limited support system, escaping an abusive relationship and navigating what she calls the “bureaucracy of poverty” to access services, narrowly maintaining housing, childcare, and employment.

A panel of local experts will discuss some of these issues in the context of Memphis and Shelby County, in a conversation moderated by Dr. Stephen Cook, the Senior Pastor of Second Baptist Church and chair of MIFA’s Board of Directors. Panelists include:

• Elena Delavega, PhD, MSW, Professor and MSW Program Director, University of Memphis School of Social Work
• Dorcas Young Griffin, Director of Community Services, Shelby County Government
• Mary Hamlett, Vice President of Family Programs, MIFA
• Altha J. Stewart, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Community Health Engagement, UTHSC

According to the Community Alliance for the Homeless, the Memphis and Shelby County area has a deficit of nearly 36,000 affordable and available rental units for households at or below 50% AMI. For renters with a history of eviction or poor credit, even substandard housing is unattainable when so much demand exists. As costs of all kinds have increased over the past year, rents have as well, by about 12%. The average cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Memphis today is $950.

MIFA provides utility, rent, and mortgage assistance for households who have experienced a recent, unexpected, and temporary financial crisis. Studies have shown that a utility cutoff can be the first step toward homelessness, and this one-time assistance can stabilize a household while they recover from a crisis.

For families who do become homeless, MIFA offers a range of emergency shelter services, including a 24-hour hotline that connects homeless families with shelter, referrals, and other resources and an emergency shelter placement program that places homeless families in shelters. Increasingly, MIFA has supplemented shelter referrals with motel stays due to a community-wide shortage of shelter beds. Last year alone, MIFA paid for more than 19,000 nights to keep families sheltered while they sought permanent housing.

MIFA also provides rapid rehousing services for eligible families in shelter, providing short-term assistance to help them obtain permanent, stable housing. The process of helping a family locate and secure an apartment previously took two weeks; rehousing a family can now take more than 45 days.

These conditions have created a local housing crisis that is not sustainable. Addressing it will require partnerships among service organizations, government entities, and community leaders to explore innovative solutions to homelessness and affordable housing.

Our City, Our Story is an effort to convene and educate MIFA stakeholders and community leaders on these issues and opportunities for collective action. Please join us on September 15 to start the conversation.

Sincerely,

Sally Jones Heinz
President & CEO