Affordable Housing Is the Critical Foundation of Thriving Communities
Hudson River Housing believes in and stands by affordable housing as the critical foundation of thriving communities that provide opportunity for all. Home is the foundation from which we all can achieve our full potential. As a community, we must be willing to step up to the challenge of providing housing people can afford, combined with the tools people need to thrive. As communities across the region face rapid change, we urge them to consider:
That affordable housing is desperately needed
That projects of any kind require active and present management and an array of community services and supports that help individuals and families access opportunity
That when possible and appropriate, mixed-income projects are ideal in that they replicate on a smaller scale how healthy communities exist as a whole, and reduce stigma by lessening the separation between “housing” and “affordable housing”
That the number of people on the precipice of homelessness must be faced as a reality communities will eventually bear regardless, and investing in affordable housing is certainly the proactive choice
And, that residents are right to express their concerns about the scale and pace of development in the region. All the more reason for communities to prioritize affordable housing as the bedrock for any additional changes that may come.
We are well aware of the challenges that make the task of providing a continuum of housing options difficult. Issues such as substance abuse, mental health crises, and homelessness have been exacerbated by the combined blows of the pandemic and skyrocketing housing costs. Our community has a responsibility to unhoused and low-income families that have faced the trauma of poverty, unemployment, difficulty accessing quality mental or physical healthcare, and many other barriers – all societal shortcomings – and so we must support those who are suffering, even when – especially when – it is most difficult.
As we face the decisions before us, low-income and unhoused families, and those that are in service to them, must not become the victims of a narrative of fear and discrimination. This allows stigma to grow unchecked, and limits the ability of our community to meet our present and future with innovative, compassionate solutions.
We urge our neighbors to stand in support of affordable housing as the critical foundation of thriving communities that provide opportunity for all.