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THE PHILADELPHIA HOUSING TRUST FUND CAMPAIGN |
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Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund Becomes a Reality! After two years of hard work, we won our campaign to create the Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund. The Trust Fund is expected to provide $15 million per year of new funding to address the housing needs of Philadelphia’s residents and spur equitable neighborhood revitalization. In June, City Council unanimously passed legislation creating the Trust Fund, and in July, the General Assembly and Governor Rendell approved the needed state enabling legislation. On August 3rd, Mayor Street signed an executive order (the final authorizing document for the Trust Fund) at a joint press conference between city and state officials and housing advocates celebrating the creation of the Trust Fund. The City began collecting the new fees that are supporting the Trust Fund on September 12, 2005. As initially proposed by the Trust Fund Campaign, 65% of the programmatic funds in the first year will be used to support the production of new homes and apartments, 30% to preserve existing homes, and 5% for homelessness prevention. We were also successful in securing four slots for community representatives on the eight-person Trust Fund Oversight Board, which will oversee the administration of the Trust Fund. A special thanks to all of the Campaign members for their hard work and determination. What a victory! The Philadelphia Housing Trust Fund, proposed by more than 100 organizations led by the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, ACORN, and the Philadelphia Affordable Housing Coalition, would provide nearly $15 million per year to address the housing needs of Philadelphia. Each year, the Trust Fund would create about 275 units of affordable housing, assist more than 900 homeowners with home repairs, and prevent nearly 1,000 families from becoming homeless. More than 350 cities, counties, and states across the country, including 50 other counties in Pennsylvania, already have Housing Trust Funds. Let's join them! |
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