March 23, 2023

Getting housed in Champaign County should not require a miracle – especially if someone has income. But increasingly, finding affordable housing – and especially physically accessible housing for people with mobility impairments – sometimes feels like it requires a miracle. Many homeless individuals in our community have income, but still cannot afford housing.  This situation contributes to the growing crisis of homelessness. It shouldn’t be this way.

A client story – the search for affordable housing: Our clients, an elderly disabled couple whom we will refer to as the Smiths (not their real name), contacted us late last year with a desperate plea for help. The apartment where they had lived for many years was not renewing their lease (for no fault of theirs), and they had nowhere to go despite searching for a new, wheelchair accessible apartment. Despite their best efforts, they were on the brink of homelessness. 

At the time, CCHCC had a small grant to help pay for hotel rooms for individuals experiencing homelessness who are also medically fragile. So the Smiths put their household belongings in storage, and CCHCC put the Smiths up at a hotel for what was supposed to be a two-week stay. CCHCC paid for their hotel room so that they could save enough of their own funds to pay application fees, deposit, and first month’s rent at a new apartment. Two weeks turned into two and a half months. The challenges the Smiths were facing were two-fold: a) finding an apartment they could afford; and b) finding an apartment that was accessible for someone using a wheelchair. CCHCC worked with the Smiths for two and a half months, paying for their hotel room, and helping find leads for apartments. Subsidized senior housing was not an option for the Smiths because of the long waitlists. Finally, at long last, the Smiths were able to move into an affordable and accessible apartment!

Housing is healthcare. Safe, affordable housing is a cornerstone of a thriving and healthy community, and it is a key factor in each person’s health and well-being. For people experiencing homelessness, housing is healthcare. Housing is the foundation from which we build our lives. We spend most of our lives in our homes. The affordability, quality, and stability of our homes is directly linked to our health and well-being. People who experience homelessness have a harder time managing their health – it is harder to keep up with doctors’ appointments, maintain medications, and get preventive and primary care. People experiencing homelessness are more likely to seek care through hospital Emergency Departments, which is the least efficient and most expensive way to manage chronic health conditions. And of course, being homeless is detrimental to one’s health, even if it is for brief periods of time. Studies tell us that individuals experiencing chronic homelessness have lifespans that are 20-30 years shorter than people who are consistently housed.

How much should hosing cost you?  Experts say that housing costs – rent or mortgage, plus utilities – should not cost you more than 30% of your monthly income. At the very most, it should not cost you more than 50% of your monthly income. But 50% is a huge proportion that limits a person or household’s ability to deal with unexpected expenses such as car repairs, etc.

Too many homeless people in our community have incomes, but cannot afford housing. CCHCC has had great success in helping people apply for disability benefits, including individuals experiencing homelessness. Disability benefits provide monthly incomes. One disability benefit program is the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. SSI provides monthly payments to people with disabilities and older adults who have little or no income or resources. But in 2026, SSI provides a maximum monthly federal payment of $994 per month for an individual, and $1,491 for a couple.

If housing should not be more than 30% of a household’s income, then an individual with SSI income of $994 per month, should not pay more than about $300 per month for rent and utilities! At maximum, they should not pay more than 50% for rent and utilities, which would come to about $500 per month. For a couple earning $1,491 in SSI benefits, 30% of their income would be $447 for rent and utilities, or at 50% of their income, it would be $745 per month. It is virtually impossible to find places to rent in our community if someone is living on SSI. Subsidized housing, and housing vouchers are available to some, but our community does not have enough of either of these to meet the need. 

Landlords create barriers for low-income individuals and households. Even the more affordable apartments in our community, in the $700 – $800 range, create barriers to housing through their requirements. Specifically, many landlords require a minimum credit score that is unachievable for most people with low income. Also, many landlords require an “income to rent ratio” of three times the amount of income to the cost of rent. Add to all of that the need of an increasing number of people to find physically accessible housing, and this creates a recipe for homelessness in our community.

Hotels are expensive – even the cheap ones! CCHCC is all too well acquainted with this fact. We have maintained a dozen individuals and households in hotels over the last several months, ensuring they could  survive this past brutal winter. All of our clients in hotels are medically fragile. Even “affordable” hotels can cost between $1,800 – $2,200 per month. Grant funding that allowed us to pay for hotels has expired, but we still have a few clients in hotels, awaiting housing. None of them can afford to pay for a whole month at a hotel, so we are providing this assistance to them, even as we try to help them find housing. Eventually, when Hope Village opens later this year, these clients may be able to go there. Until then, they need our help.

Please consider making a contribution to help support CCHCC’s ongoing work to address homelessness. The work we do can help stabilize community members’ health, and their financial lives. And in turn, we need your help! Please consider making a financial contribution to support CCHCC’s work.

SUPPORT CCHCC!

Thank you for your support!
We appreciate your financial support for our services. Together, we are building a stronger, healthier community – together, we are giving the gift of health and security!

Sincerely,
Claudia Lennhoff
Executive Director
Champaign County Health Care Consumers