Lathrop Leadership Team Socks it to Them!

Lathrop Homes must be rehabbed and kept as housing for low and moderate income residents, an eloquent panel of Lathrop Homes leaders told the Chicago Housing Authority Board on September 15. Speakers urged the CHA to fix, rather than tear down the existing housing, and not to require one-third market rate housing for Lathrop as it has in other public housing Transformation plans.
    Members of the Lathrop Leadership Team along with the Lathrop Local Advisory Council spoke for 15 minutes to attentive board members and an enthusiastic audience made up of supporters from Mary Crane Childcare Center, LSNA, Lathrop Alumni, Preservation Chicago and Lakeview Lutheran Church.
    “Lathrop Homes was here for me when I was going through tough times and it should be here for other families who fall on tough times,” said resident Sandra Cornwell who spoke about the need for affordable homes for single mothers.  
    Others spoke about Lathrop’s history, the importance of preservation and the current housing market crisis. Ellen Ray, speaking for LSNA and Kimball Avenue Church noted that market rate condos are staying vacant while rental property is badly needed. “Why would anyone build more market rate units when the simple fact is that Lathrop is surrounded on all sides by market rate units? Keeping Lathrop as a mixed income community does not require market rate housing. It requires the creation and preservation of affordable housing. That may not be CHA's standard formula, but it is the right formula for Lathrop."
    Scott Shaffer of the Lathrop Alumni Group said Lathrop was green long before green became trendy: “I am a member of a 600-member alumni group. Many of our residents are very successful and have never forgotten the support we received at Lathrop. The buildings were built to last, they are solid! It would be a waste to put them in a landfill somewhere!”
    Pastor Liala Beukema who has lived one block from Lathrop for 25 years, shared this with the Board:  “Lathrop is not TBD - To Be Determined. It’s TBD – Too Beautiful to Demolish!”
    

The Lathrop Leadership Team would like to tell their story to other Chicago groups that support affordable homes.  For a brief presentation to your group or additional information, call or email Tami Love, 773/549-2525 tlove@lsna.net.