AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN TOMPKINS COUNTY ONE HOME AT

AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN TOMPKINS COUNTY ONE HOME AT A TIME Prepared by Mc. Kenzie Jones-Rounds for INHS & DEA 6610: Environments and Health [April 2010]

“I came to the conclusion that what makes a difference for people is their environment, where they live. If people have a decent place to live, then that allows them the time and energy to focus on other issues, like their children’s education. ” 1 Lucy Brown, INHS Board of Trustees

THE STATE OF OUR COMMUNITY

Tompkins County, New York is experiencing a rise in housing costs that is 3. 2% faster than the rate of income growth, leaving only those families earning 120% of the area’s median income capable of owning a home. 2 Unfortunately, this means that many residents of

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HOUSING MATTERS TO ALL OF US

Poor quality housing is associated with several physical and mental health problems, such as asthma lead poisoning hyperactivity reduced IQ lung cancer and brain damage. 7, 8

On top of that, low income families are often living in neighborhoods that do not provide them access to healthy food, nature, or physical activity. 9 As a matter of fact, due to where they live, low income families are at greater risk for suffering from obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. 10, 11

BUT WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services is supported in part by federal and state funds, including grants for which they must regularly apply. The non-profit also depends on the generosity of the people in Ithaca and Tompkins County, even if each community member does not know that he or

“I believe that decent housing is a human right, as important to each of us as food, water, and love…I donate because I am able to do it and because each of us depends on the other in this small town. For if I value myself, I value you; and if you are hurting, so am I. This is what we accept if we believe in community. ” 1 Ken Mc. Lane, INHS Donor

SO WE CAN ALWAYS HAVE HOPE

Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services addresses these issues by providing the City of Ithaca and all of Tompkins County with valuable resources, including Homebuyer Education and Assistance Energy Improvement Loans

By providing quality affordable housing to low income families, INHS is ensuring that Ithaca and Tompkins County will remain a place for people to live and work, to experience economic diversity, and most importantly,

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“Here I can finally relax, open my windows, inhale, exhale. I’ve had a tough life, I can get depressed. I’m a dark person…but since I’ve moved here to Cedar Creek, I have no desire to be in the dark ever again. ” 17 Jerome, INHS Tenant

THANKS TO INHS, WE MAY NEVER BE FAR FROM HOME…

thank you! Isabel Boggs-Fernandez Carol Eichler Gary W. Evans Jim Hilker Jamie Jones-Rounds Kenneth Mc. Lane Pamela Webster Nancy M. Wells

featuring “Sun and Moon” by Chris Brenne

references 1. Lucy Brown, INHS Board of Trustees, personal interview with Carol Eichler, 2010. 2. Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, Strategic Plan, 2008 -2012. 3. Isabel Boggs-Fernandez, personal photo, 2010. 4. Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, organization photo, 2010. 5. Gary W. Evans, lecture photo, 2010. 6. Ibid. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Bashir, S. A. (2002). Home is where the harm is: Inadequate housing as a public health crisis. American Journal of Public Health, 92, 733 -738. Krieger, J. & Higgins, D. L. (2002). Housing and health: Time again for public health action. American Journal of Public Health, 92, 758 -768. Wells, N. M. , Ashdown, S. P. , Davies, E. H. S. , Cowett, F. D. , & Yang, Y. (2007). Environment, design, and obesity: Opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborative research. Environment and Behavior, 39, 633. Krieger, J. , Rabkin, J. , Sharify, D. , & Song, L. (2009). High point walking for health: Creating built and social environments that support walking in a public housing community. American Journal of Public Health, 99, S 593 -S 599. Diez Roux, A. V. (2003). Residential environments and cardiovascular risk. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletine of the New York Academy of Medicine, 80, 569 -589. 12. Kenneth Mc. Lane, person email correspondence, April, 2010. 13. Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, organization photo, 2010. 14. Ibid. 15. Ibid. 16. Ibid.

Building Neighborhoods, Community, Ownership…