A local nonprofit is leading a movement to bring attention and solutions to an issue it says the community too often turns a blind eye to — poverty and affordable housing.
Bridges Alliance of Johnson County is a collaboration between businesses, social service agencies, churches and individuals working together to end poverty in the community.
The program, which started in 2016, provides the tools, resources, support and relationships necessary to be successful, helping people establish stability and independence in their lives. In addition to helping individuals in Johnson County climb out of poverty, Bridges Alliance researches and advocates for affordable housing solutions throughout the county, especially in Greenwood and Franklin.
United Way Worldwide coined the term Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed Household, or ALICE, to define households that struggle to make ends meet but are above what is considered the federal poverty line. Nonprofits, such as Bridges Alliance, use ALICE household data when talking about addressing middle- to low-income housing issues.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
In Johnson County, 22% of households meet the ALICE criteria, and 7% are below the federal poverty line, according to the United Way ALICE report.
ALICE households are defined as those who struggle to pay for “bare-bones” household needs, such as housing, food, transportation, child care, health care and necessary technology, according to United Way.
In Greenwood, 33% of households meet that ALICE criteria. In Franklin, it’s 35%. Edinburgh has the highest percentage of ALICE households at 50%.
There are more low- to middle-income households than many people may realize, which is why local residents push back so much against accommodating housing for those middle- to low-income families, said Amanda Ott, volunteer and marketing director for Bridges Alliance.
People in ALICE households are typically those who work minimum wage jobs, or work in warehouses, or sometimes they’re teachers.
“We need people to see that the people they know are ALICE households. The people that take care of their grandma at assisted living; the people that serve them their coffee every morning; a single mom that’s a teacher,” Ott said. “They have no empathy because there’s not a face with it.”
Houses and rentals are getting more expensive in the county as demand rises but the supply does not keep up with it. In the last five years, single-family home prices in Greenwood skyrocketed, up more than 38% since 2015, when the average was $180,000, to nearly $250,000 in October, according to Zillow.
MIBOR Realtor Association, a professional association representing central Indiana realtors, says an attainable mortgage should be no more than 3.5 times a family’s income. Based on that, the average Greenwood household, which makes about $55,00 each year, should not pay more than $192,500. But few homes are available at that price point.
The average rent for an apartment or house with two to three bedrooms is $1,000 or more in Johnson County, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The lack of diverse housing is not good for the local economy overall, especially when people who work lower-paying jobs cannot live in the area where they work, Ott said. She’s seen local employers struggle to find employees because those people that typically take those jobs can’t afford to live here.
“You’ll see employers saying on Facebook, ‘Well, we’re closed because we don’t have anybody to finish this shift, or Dollar General had to close because they don’t have any employees,'” Ott said. “The reality is that those people can’t afford to live in Franklin, so why are they going to drive 30 minutes to work in those places?”
Solutions to creating more affordable housing options could be building smaller houses, attached townhouses or income-based apartments, she said.
“There’s so many things we could be doing,” Ott said.
That may include letting go of design standards that exclude lower-priced building materials, such as vinyl siding. Greenwood city officials, specifically, have started requiring developers to build homes with no vinyl siding due to concerns of longevity and appearance.
“You have to allow vinyl siding,” Ott said. “You can’t build a home with all brick and expect people to afford it.”
Bridges Alliance’s goal as a new organization is to start the conversation for change, and get the county’s stakeholders — government officials and local developers — on board.
A goal of the organization is to create a housing coalition made up of community leaders, nonprofits and volunteers. The group would work to create programs that could be funded, possibly, by Federal Community Development Block Grants to address affordable housing issues in the county.
Hamilton County, for example, created it’s own housing task force, HAND, in 2003, and has had success with it. Hamilton County houses several of central Indiana’s upper-class suburbs, with average home prices above $300,000. But HAND has successfully added several apartment developments for lower-income families in cities such as Fishers and Noblesville.
Fishers this year approved construction of affordable apartments. The new complex will include 62 units for renters who earn 50% to 80% of the area’s adjusted median income, and 25% will be set aside with lower rents for developmentally disabled residents.
Hamilton County also continues to have a low crime rate, with violent crimes at 10%, and property crimes at 24%, according to Best Places. That is lower than Johnson County’s violent crime rate of 14.5% and property crime rate of 40%
Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett said he recognizes affordable housing is an issue in the city, and he’s been working on solutions the past couple years, including with a couple developers about the possibility of constructing low- to middle-income housing.
“We need all kinds of housing, especially in Franklin,” Barnett said. “We’ve got to make sure we have the right mix.”
Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers has also said he is not against bringing more affordable houses to the city. However, he also said property taxes on a $250,000 home cover the costs of amenities such as parks and needs such as public safety, and lower-priced homes could hinder those services.
Bridges Alliance’s research suggests adding more affordable houses to a community would not bring down its quality of life or tax revenue.
Residents who are not stretching their incomes to pay rent or a mortgage are able to spend more at local restaurants and shops, and health care facilities tend to open near those types of properties. Building 100 affordable rentals could generate $2.2 million in sales and other taxes, according to the organization’s research.
“Bridges wants to keep the conversation going, but they want to make the playmakers do the work,” Ott said.
Bridges Alliance plans to continue working with the county’s chamber, Aspire Economic Development, to come up with solutions that address the need for more affordable housing options. The organization wants to continue to keep the conversation going about poverty and housing in the county online through social media posts and informative videos, but they need more volunteers to spread the message, she said.
Those interested in learning more or volunteering can visit the organization’s website at bridgesalliancejc.org.
Editor’s note: Read the first story in this series, “Affordable housing out of reach in Greenwood,” in the Nov. 30 edition of the Daily Journal, and the second, “Greenwood family struggles to find house within their budget,” in Tuesday’s Daily Journal. Read both online at dailyjournal.net.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”By the numbers” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Here is a look at the percentage of ALICE households throughout Johnson County:
Bargersville: 30%
Blue River Township: 49%
Clark Township: 49%
Edinburgh: 50%
Franklin: 35%
Franklin Township: 36%
Greenwood: 33%
Hensley Township: 21%
Needham Township: 27%
New Whiteland: 32%
Nineveh Township: 26%
Pleasant Township: 34%
Prince Lakes: 29%
Trafalgar: 32%
Union Township: 43%
Whiteland: 19%
White River Township: 18%
Source: United Way ALICE Report
[sc:pullout-text-end]
