Is Abilene losing affordable housing options? Low-income tenants face high wait times for placement

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Everyone deserves a place to call home, but rising costs of living can make affording a place to live challenging, which is why Abilene residents Joanna and Mertin Sawala choose to live at Aspen Square Apartments in North Abilene.

“For 2 bedrooms which what we have is 750 but honestly I think it’s reasonable because other 2 bedrooms is 900 to 1000 dollars and minimum wage is 7.25 here still you can’t afford that,” explained Joanna Sawala.

Things took a turn for the worse in March earlier this year when the complex caught on fire, since then residents have been without gas, and the couple is now stressing for safer and more affordable housing options.

“We had a fire here, and we still have no gas or water so it’s kind of a lose-lose situation. We definitely need more affordable housing especially like houses,” added Joanna Sawala.

Spanish Arms is another Abilene Apartment complex with affordable units, demolished July 8th after an early morning fire caused the building to be unhabitable. Rosten Callarman, Executive Director, for Habitat for Humanity Abilene shared when affordable housing is not available it can lead to financial hardship and eventually homelessness.

“Most people will see that fire and say ‘oh I drove past that place a few times and it didn’t look very nice, it’s probably best that it’s gone’. There is probably some truth to that except for the fact that when a place like that goes away, there’s nothing that replaces it. No one is saying ‘oh I just really want to build affordable housing’ because it’s hard to build in a way that makes economic sense and financial sense, but it’s also hard to manage because those people are difficult tenants but are still our neighbors and need a place to call home,” explained Callarman.

While some may turn their head away when it comes to talking about people who are unhoused, Callarman adds it is an issue that impacts everyone even if you may not realize it.

“When folks stay on the streets, it’s hard on all of our public services, its hard emergency rooms, its hard on the police department, its hard on the sheriffs department, it causes more of a tax burden for the average Abilenian and the average person in Taylor County to have that person on the streets. So when we lose places like Spanish Arms and there isn’t another option to replace it its bad for all of Abilene,” said Callarman.

Gene Reed, Chief Executive Officer with the Abilene Housing Authority shares about 14 people from the Spanish Arms fire were people who were part of their housing voucher program, quickly re-issuing those vouchers so they can find a new place to live. Many are already living at another complex, but thousands of Abileneans are in the waitlist for affordable housing. However, over the years Reed says new options are coming but this issue is part of a larger conversation.

“We have about 3,000 on our voucher wait list about 6 thousand on our public housing list, we had a 1,000 vouchers we have over 1,800 now. In terms of getting hold of additional vouchers, it takes an act of congress to actually a lot more vouchers, so it’s not something that happens quickly or every year,” added Reed.

With a high waitlist – it can lead to low-income families spending more money on rent rather than other needed essentials.

“For the past several decades we focused more on luxury apartments luxury homes, high-cost apartments and high-cost homes and we build less of the kind of units that could end up being more affordable. So, they have less money for health care less money for food transportation, so they are more likely to end up homeless again because of it,” expressed Callarman.

Courtney Horton, Coalition Coordinator, for the West Texas Homeless Network adds nowadays it can be challenging to find an affordable housing option that covers all the basic essentials.

“A standardized unit right now is $841 and so if that is what they are getting for month, we have to look at all bills paid units and there is only one in the entire city,” explained Horton.

All those who need assistance are encouraged to reach out if resources apply to your unique situation.

“Call 2-1-1. It’s our database that we use because we are also collecting that information for our entire community on those on those who are struggling every single month. If they are literally experiencing homelessness we have a coordinated entry line,” said Horton.

RESOURCES:

Home | West Texas Homeless Network | Abilene (wthnetwork.org)

Abilene Housing Authority | Abilene, TX (abileneha.org)

Homeownership : What We Do : Habitat for Humanity Abilene (habitatabi.org)

211 Texas A Call for Help | United Way (unitedwayabilene.org)

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