Dave Woodside, a special deputy from the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department, attaches an eviction notice to the door of a house in Ypsilanti last year.

File photo | Eliyahu Gurfinkel 

Sonia Keefe sat quietly in a packed courtroom recently, her eyes wide and her clenched hands occasionally shaking in her lap.

As she listened to tax foreclosure proceedings involving Washtenaw County homeowners - including her sister - Keefe sensed the anger, despair and helplessness in the room.

“That’s me next year,” the 47-year-old Ann Arbor resident said before the proceedings started. “If my husband and I can’t find a job soon, we’re not going to be able to pay the taxes. Of course, if we don’t get a job soon, we’re not going to make it to next year’s tax bill - we’ll get foreclosed by the mortgage company.

“Then where will we live? My sister’s here today. She can’t help. My husband’s family is out-of-state. They don’t have spare money. Public housing? Out on the street? I just don’t know what we’ll do.”

Keefe isn't alone. Housing worries are an increasing problem for Ann Arbor’s rising poor population.

The number of applications for a spot in the city’s public housing sites has grown 67.5 percent over the last five years. When Avalon Housing opened its own waiting list last fall, it got flooded with more than 600 applications for its affordable and subsidized housing across Washtenaw County. Although exact numbers aren't available, local caregivers report the number of people who are living on the streets, living in hotels, or doubling-up with family or friends is skyrocketing.

“We stopped building public housing, we're barely taking care of the public housing we have. We don't have enough Section 8 vouchers. It's a very difficult situation," said Ellen Schulmeister, executive director of the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County.

Rose Martin, who has been working with low-income people in Ann Arbor for 30 years and is the founder of the Peace Neighborhood Center, is blunter.

“The availability doesn’t match the need. They just don’t want it here," she said. "They don’t want to have this deluge of low-income people here in Ann Arbor. They pay lip service while you’ve got a family with three kids sleeping in their car behind the trailer park (on Jackson). It brings reality too close.

“The numbers of people who need help are growing astronomically. It’s not people coming here from Detroit. It’s people who grew up here, who went to school here. If you don’t think it’s a problem here in Ann Arbor, you’re a damn fool.”

The growing need

Martin came to Ann Arbor in the early 1970s in need of a job and a place to live.

She found both.

“If you were willing to work, you could find a place to live and you could get a job that would pay for that," she said. "That’s not true today."

The reason, local officials say, is the line of people who need help keeps lengthening.

In fiscal year 2005, the Ann Arbor Housing Commission had about 360 units, the same amount it has today. A total of 431 applicants were on the waiting list that year. Of those, 379 came from those classified as extremely low-income, 41 were very low-income and 11 were low-income. Families with children filed 217 of the 431 applications. A total of 59 percent of applicants were black, and 48 percent of the applications came from families with someone who had a disability.

Flash-forward five years, to fiscal year 2010.

The waiting list ballooned to 782 applications, documents filed with the federal government show. Of that, 722 were from people who qualify as extremely low-income, 51 were very low-income and nine were low income. Families with children filed 406 of the applications. A total of 70 percent of applicants were black, and 25 percent of the applications came from families with someone who had a disability.

The driving force behind the the increase: The economy.

A growing number of families who just a few years ago were considered middle-class with one or two steady incomes are finding themselves in big trouble as they struggle to pay their mortgages, taxes and even energy bills. Meanwhile, many who were just making it by on part-time jobs are being squeezed out in the competition and finding it harder to hold on to housing.

Avalon Housing, which is affordable housing owned and managed by a non-profit organization, sees a few tenants move out for new opportunities or Habitat for Humanity homes. But most, particularly with the job market in Michigan, have little opportunity for upward mobility, said Michael Appel, executive director.

“Over half of our clients are on long-term disability, and many of those individuals have a lot of trouble competing for jobs," Appel said. "The reality in this weakened economy is, even with the lower-wage jobs, they are finding more competition. It’s fair to say most people are trying to hold even now and even that’s tough.”

The economy's effect is rippling through families, said Peri Stone-Palmquist, the manager of the Washtenaw Intermediate School’s Educational Project for Homeless Youth.

“There’s a ton of economic pressure on families," she said.

"We’re seeing more and more families saying to teens, ‘You’re 17, almost 18, you need to leave (the family house) and find a way to make it. We just can’t afford it.'”

Local experts say a large number of people affected by housing aren’t being counted anywhere.

“The situation described about people doubling up and couch surfing is true, especially with this economy,” Schulmeister said. “More adult children are moving back in with their parents, maybe even with their spouse and their child. That is happening, but I only know about it anecdotally.”

In Ann Arbor, the high cost of housing also is an issue, experts said.

The average fair market value for housing in the state was about $588 a month, according to the Economic Self-Sufficiency in Michigan report compiled by the Michigan League for Human Services in 2007. For a family with one parent working, that's an average of about 27 percent of the family income.

In comparison, the report estimates, it would cost the average family with one parent working about $934 - or 34 percent of its income - to pay for housing in Washtenaw County.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition reported in 2008 that the cost of rent and utilities for a two-bed room unit in the Ann Arbor metropolitian area is $942 - the most expensive in the state.

Nationally, the same report said, a person would need to earn $17.32 an hour to afford rent for a two-bedroom unit. In Michigan, that number is $14.22 an hour.

But in Ann Arbor, the report projected someone would need to earn just over $18 an hour, or about $37,680 a year, to cap his or her spending on housing and utilities at 30 percent of total income - the study's measure of what is considered affordable.

In other words, for a family of four earning $22,050 annually - which qualifies the family as living in poverty under federal guidelines - rent shouldn't top $551 a month to be considered affordable.

To even get an apartment in Ann Arbor, it takes at least $2,000 to $3,000 cash up front, Martin said. That includes $700 for the first month, $700 for the last month, a security deposit and money to get utilities.

The resources

Some housing resources are available to help Ann Arbor area residents.

The Washtenaw County Treasurer's Office, for example, offers counseling assistance for homeowners struggling to avoid both tax and mortgage foreclosure.

And the Housing Prevention and Rapid Rehousing program was set up in Ann Arbor for those in danger of foreclosure or eviction. The program helps cover rent for up to a year and pay back utilities and rent up to $1,500. But it's an option to help in temporary situations like job losses - not chronic problems.

“Those dollars are pretty targeted to those who are able to get back on their feet,” Schulmeister said.

The program started at the end of November, and 299 people asked for help by mid-January. More than 80 were approved, with most receiving assistance in paying their rent or mortgage. For those who didn't get help, many weren't yet facing eviction, didn’t return phone calls, had disconnected phones, were calling from outside of the county, or were already receiving subsidized housing. Of the $500,000 available through August, more than $176,500 has already been spent.

Another $500,000 will be available starting next year. Information on the program is available at 734-662-2829, ext. 232.

“We're not surprised at the demand,” Schulmeister said. “I think the demand will increase as we go along.”

DTE Energy has seen an uptick in customers saying they’re in trouble, said spokesman Len Singer. The company, like others, suggests customers who may have trouble paying contact the utility provider as soon as possible.

“Because of a really tough economy in the state, a big number of people are struggling to pay their bills,” Singer said.

Ann Arbor's low-income housing options include public housing, co-ops and senior housing. There are HUD-funded housing options, Avalon Housing, Section 8 voucher-accepted housing, Shelter plus-care vouchers and homeless preference vouchers.

Since Ann Arbor made a pledge to replace affordable housing after demolishing the old YMCA, at least 60 new affordable housing units have been created downtown, said Mary Jo Callan, Washtenaw County’s director of community development.

The problem is having enough for everyone, Schulmeister said.

“We don't have enough living places for people on the margins, and people are very low-income," Schulmeister said. "There are just not enough options and each type of housing."

The largest non-government affordable housing provider in Washtenaw County is Avalon Housing.

It has 324 units, with 43 units in one apartment complex in Ypsilanti. It purchases and renovates apartments, then leases and manages them. Avalon acts as a landlord, but offers reduced rent rates based on income and has support programs - including housekeeping and mental health management - within its apartment complexes.

Avalon also offers community center spaces with an emphasis on getting access to employment services. Earlier this year, Avalon agreed to partner with the Washtenaw Affordable Housing Corp to manage an additional 114 units.

The average household income for residents at Avalon is just over $11,000 annually, Appel said. Rent at an Avalon unit is typically less than half the rate of fair market prices. For example, an efficiency that might cost $689 monthly in 2009 would cost an Avalon tenant $280 to $371. For a three-bedroom rental with a fair market value of $1,183 in 2009, it cost an Avalon tenant between $398 and $795, not including utilities.

“We have a really diverse housing stock,” Appel said.

But Avalon also is struggling to hold steady in the real estate crunch.

Avalon increases its number of units by using public grants, private investments and rent vouchers. Private investors, often businesses, gain financially through income tax credits by throwing their money behind a project. But with business down, the value of income tax credits is decreasing, and it's getting harder to secure public or private financing.

The politics

Martin blames the inability to build more affordable housing in large part on city politics that date back to the late 1960s, when Ann Arbor started building public housing after the housing commission was established.

The decision was made to build several collections of units around town, instead of one large “project,” officials said.

Newspaper articles detail a lengthy process of packed public meetings through the late '60s as city officials and the housing commission revised plan after plan to build the units. In July 1970, the first residents moved in.

Overall, the city's affordable housing stock has increased in the last 25 years with about 400 additional units scattered throughout Lurie Terrace, the Stone School townhomes, Courthouse Square and Ashley Mews, among others. Losses within the housing stock have also occurred, most notably when the original downtown YMCA building was deemed uninhabitable at the start of 2006. When that building was torn down, the Ann Arbor City Council made a pledge to prioritize creating new affordable housing.

City rules say all new housing developments must either include a few affordable housing units within their complexes or pay a fee into the city's "Affordable Housing Trust." That money was used to help build at least 60 new affordable housing units - among them, 23 units in the Pear Street complex and six in the Ashley Mews development.

“As long as for-profit developments were still coming into the city, it was sustainable,” Callan said. "Now instead of investing in building up the stock, the goal is to maintain what we have."

The city’s housing commission has come under fire, almost from the beginning. That continues today.

Last month, the City Council sacked the entire housing commission board, citing a consultant’s study of the housing commission and a “lack of vision” from the board.

"The consultant's report was very thorough and on target, and similarly I think the recommendations were sound and insightful," said Joan Doughty, the executive director of the Community Action Network, which runs community centers in several of Ann Arbor's public housing complexes. "The findings suggested areas where AAHC should take a different direction. It is reasonable to assume that because the new vision did not come from within the last AAHC board, its implementation might be more effectively managed by new directors."

The impact

Earlier this month, Martin was approached by a man who didn’t have a home and asked for help.

“He said, ‘Rose, you got somewhere you can put me up for two or three days? I’m worn out from trying to protect myself, from trying to scrounge for what’s next. I need to get my stamina back and think about what’s next,'” she said.

Martin got him a couple of nights in a hotel, thanks to some donations. “I know families that have lived 10 different places in the last month,” she said.

That’s creating instability - especially for children, Stone-Palmquist said.

“Lacking housing stability has a profound impact on children," she said. "Just the emotional trauma you’re going through. We get families who tell us, 'I don’t know where to have you drop the kids off when they get out of school this afternoon, because I don’t know where we’ll be staying.'”

There’s also a community issue, Appel said.

“There’s a mismatch between income for lower wage workers and the cost of housing in this community," he said. "The housing stock forces people to live elsewhere, and it essentially segregates our community. There’s a whole range of reasons why that matters, primarily when it comes to equity.”

And it’s harder to work with people to break the generational cycle of poverty when they don’t have a home or have an unstable one, Martin said.

“You can work with people if they know where they are going to lay down at night.”

A solution?

Appel said the issue it comes down to keeping housing and supportive services available for low-income residents. That means working harder to get more federal subsidies and spending money within the city budget in smarter ways.

“Our community seems to have a history of recognizing the best way to fight homelessness is supportive housing,” Appel said. “As long as the need is so much greater than the supply, we need more affordable housing. As we see a slowdown in Ann Arbor construction, how do we get a more affordable housing units built? We need to be vigilant in preserving what we've got and creative in figuring out how to secure resources to create new units elsewhere."

Within the last year, one of the city's five affordable housing co-ops closed, Appel said, showing a renewed need to preserve such large buildings for housing.

Avalon is hoping to fundraise enough to break ground later this year on the Near North apartment complex, which would include 39 affordable housing units, Appel said. Near North is a mixed-use project being developed near downtown Ann Arbor with Three Oaks, a for-profit company.

To fix the affordable housing shortage, Martin said, the answer is buying foreclosed houses and turning them into affordable housing.

“There’s no reason for us to have a non-affordable housing crisis here. We have to set priorities," she said. "Those who have money have to crawl out of their shell and realize there’s a problem here."

David Jesse covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534. Tina Reed covers health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at tinareed@annarbor.com, call her at 734-623-2535 or find her on Twitter @TreedinAA.