‘I get to keep my memories’: Tenant purchases home, former public housing unit

Editor’s note: This story comes from the Wichita Journalism Collaborative , a partnership of 11 organizations, including The Journal.

Lawonder Markham’s home is her comfort place — it’s where she raised her daughter, where she took care of her mother until she died and where she’s lived since 2003. But she didn’t own her home until July. It used to be public housing.

The city of Wichita announced plans in January of 2022 to sell its 352 single-family public housing units. Tenants were given the option to begin the process to purchase and own their home.

Markham leaped at the opportunity to purchase her home.

“I’ve been through a lot of stuff in this house. I don’t want to lose my memories,” she said.

Markham said the City was attentive to all of her needs throughout the process and it went “so smoothly.”

“God didn’t want me to move; He wanted it to be my home because I got so many memories here, and I didn’t want to move,” she said.

The inside of her home is rich with pictures depicting family, love and successes of Markham’s life.

She shared one of her most precious memories: The day of her mother’s wake, she was doing her hair in the bathroom when she said she felt an energy enter her body and then leave.

“I was immediately overjoyed because I knew the Lord had me,” she said, “He took away all my sadness — everything. I was very happy. And that happened in this house.”

Other memories in her home feature surprise findings of snakes and vermin, sending Markham out to her yard, yelling for her nearby neighbors to come to her rescue.

“I always tell Him, ‘Please, Jesus, keep my head above water and don’t let me drown,’ and He’s done that for years and years and I know He’ll continue to keep me safe no matter what,” she said.

Her daughter grew up playing with other kids on the street — kids who have grown up and moved out but whose parents still live in the neighborhood.

She says she believes there are also spirits in the house that keep her safe. She feels them sit on her bed occasionally, but they don’t bother her.

“I believe all of that is a part of my journey in this house,” she said.

Efforts to keep housing affordable

As of July, Sarah Gooding, the former real property section manager, said the City had “successfully relocated everybody who has been through the process.”

Tenants who decided not to purchase their unit were given a 90-day notice to vacate. Some tenants decided to enter the private housing market. Income-qualified individuals received a housing voucher for rental assistance. Other tenants were moved to public housing in South City.

Of the 59 public-housing families who have been relocated as of June 2024, only two have purchased their homes , with three additional tenant-homebuyer purchase contracts pending.

The short version of how a tenant purchases their house is this: the City puts the single-housing units up for sale, developers propose their plans to purchase and rehabilitate the unit, then they sell it at an affordable price.

So, what’s considered “affordable”?

Gooding said the tenant’s house payment, interest, taxes and insurance must not exceed 30% of their monthly income.

The current available housing department properties range from $44,000 to $149,000.

Developers receive 12% of construction costs. But they don’t make a profit. That way they are deterred from planning expensive remodels just to raise the purchase price when it’s time to sell.

“We don’t want them putting custom finishes that really drive up the purchase price because we want to keep it affordable. But we do want it to be nice and something that the homeowners can be proud of,” Gooding said.

Markham described the condition of other houses in her neighborhood as “horrible,” but her home is “nice.”

She admitted she’s nervous for when one of her utilities or appliances break because she can’t call the City to help. Now that her home is no longer public housing, she would have to pay for someone to come fix it.

She said she’s excited to paint her walls that used to be required to be white. And she already has her Amazon cart full of tools.

After saving all the money to purchase her home, she began saving for her home improvement projects: new floors, painting the porch, filling in holes and patching over marks in the wall.

“It (the house) got some work to be done. But I figure if it’s the Lord’s will,” he is “going to help me like helped me get it,” she said.

Sitting on her quaint porch, she said, “I love my little house. It’s perfect for me.”

Loren Amelunke, a student at Wichita State University, is the Summer 2024 semester intern for the Wichita Journalism Collaborative. Monique, a student at Wichita State University, is a photographer at The Sunflower.

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