Putting Faith Into Public Housing

The transfer of "seven broken-down and boarded-up buildings from the Chicago Housing Authority to St. Edmund's Episcopal Church, 6105 S. Michigan Ave., in the Washington Park neighborhood is being hailed by housing reform advocates and city officials as an innovative strategy for revitalizing public housing in Chicago and across the nation. It is the first purchase by a private entity of federally owned CHA property....Some federal officials, however, have raised concerns about the idea, fearful of setting a precedent that opens the door to profiteering by speculators at a time when the nation's public housing stock is shrinking....The new St. Edmund's Meadows will lease one-quarter of its units back to CHA for public housing residents and divide the rest between reduced-rate and market-rate housing."

Thanks to Connie Chung