For Immediate Release: NfAH Releases Campaign Video, Launches Recruitment Drive, Responds to City&#

For Immediate Release:

October 11th, 2017

www.neighborsforaffordablehousing.org

Neighbors for Affordable Housing in Jefferson Park Releases Campaign Video, Launches Recruitment Drive,

After City Funding Announcement Just days after the Mayor’s Administration announced that the City will not be funding the controversial Jefferson Park affordable housing effort, Neighbors for Affordable Housing in Jefferson Park releases a campaign video aiming to draw hundreds more into the fight for affordable housing on the Northwest Side. WHEN: Wednesday, October 11th 10:10 a.m. Public Statement and Community Pledge of Support 1:00 p.m. Release of Campaign Video WHERE: Chicago City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle, 2nd Floor, inside City Council Chambers WHO: Anti-racist homeowners and renters with Neighbors for Affordable Housing in Jefferson Park WHAT: Northwest side residents who support affordable housing will show up in large numbers to Chicago’s City Council meeting this morning to make a collective public declaration of their ongoing commitment to the cause of bringing affordable housing to Chicago’s Northwest Side, a low-poverty “area of opportunity” in the City rich with jobs, transit, high quality public schools, and amenities. WHY: The Mayor’s Administration failed to fund one of the most important fair housing opportunities of the decade in deciding not to support the affordable housing proposed for 5150 N. Northwest Highway. Neighbors for Affordable Housing responds this morning with a campaign video released to 250,000 viewers, and a recruitment drive aiming to bring hundreds more into the work to bring affordable housing to the Northwest Side.

VISUALS: Campaign video: https://vimeo.com/236995109 50-60 Northwest Side residents in Neighbors for Affordable Housing T-Shirts The campaign to bring accessible, affordable and inclusive housing to Chicago’s northwest side has reached a crucial stage. Earlier this week, Mayor Emanuel and the City of Chicago's Department of Planning and Development (DPD) failed to fund the construction financing application to allow the proposed affordable housing development at 5150 N. Northwest Highway to move forward. There is a large groundswell of support for this affordable housing proposal, and for all that it has come to represent citywide as an iconic fight against Chicago’s enduring segregation and inequality, and the racism that undergirds and perpetuates it.

Today at 10 a.m. in City Council Chambers, as the first speaker during the Public Comment period, Neighbors for Affordable Housing (NfAH) will release a public statement about the Mayor’s decision not to fund 5150 N. Northwest Highway. During the planned testimony, 50-60 members of the organization will stand together from their seats in City Council Chambers to offer a silent pledge of community support and signal that--- despite the City’s failure to fund the development--- we are undeterred.

Andrea Mitchell, a Jefferson Park resident, homeowner, and mother of children in a CPS school says of the gathering in City Council today, “Mayor, Aldermen, this not a protest, it's a promise. A promise that we will keep the critical conversation about affordable housing and segregation at the forefront of our City. We promise to push our elected officials, from the Ward offices to City Hall to Springfield, to make affordable housing a priority. We promise to support the esteemed Aldermen here today who lead on the creation and preservation of affordable housing. And we promise to do our part on the northwest side - some of our wards have zero affordable housing units. That is unacceptable, and we re-dedicate ourselves today to changing that fact.”

Later this afternoon, Neighbors for Affordable Housing in Jefferson Park will release a powerful new video illuminating the community support for affordable housing within the context of the struggle that the campaign has endured throughout this year. The video will reach an estimated audience of at least 252,000 people within the first hour of its release. Neighbors for Affordable Housing in Jefferson Park calls on all Chicagoans to view and share this video, and in doing so, inspire all of our citizens to encourage the Mayor and the Department of Planning and Development to invest in efforts to decrease Chicago’s pronounced segregation and inequality, by bringing affordable housing to areas it has historically been excluded from, and by doing so, offer more equitable access to economic and educational opportunity to all of Chicago’s families. Individuals interested in getting involved in the fight to ensure that all neighborhoods offer affordable housing to families in need can sign up to join us at www.neighborsforaffordablehousing.org. Neighbors for Affordable Housing in Jefferson Park is an independent and grassroots group of Northwest Side neighbors that has organized a community of care, compassion, on the Northwest Side and openness to advocate for more affordable, accessible and inclusive housing

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