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50 percent of their income on housing . The homeownership rate for minorities is significantly lower than that of white households — 68 percent for whites , 34 percent for Black households , 30 percent for Latinos and 48 percent for people of Asian descent . State rates for minority households trail the national averages anywhere from 10 to 20 percent .
So , if getting into a program that gives low-income borrowers a shot at a decent , affordable home feels like winning a sweepstakes , it ’ s because it is .
But for the first time in a long time , current and aspiring policymakers have put the production and maintenance of affordable housing at the top of their to-do lists . December alone saw more decisive action from political leaders than in entire years past . The Housing Resources Commission granted nearly $ 31 million of previously approved affordable housing bond funds to produce or preserve more than 600 units in thirteen Rhode Island communities . A sixteen-night camp-out on the State House brick and marble plaza to protest a lack of emergency shelter beds ended with Governor Dan McKee ’ s announcement that the state had created 150 new shelter beds , opened a non-congregate shelter at the old Memorial Hospital site and established a new quarantine facility . McKee , House Speaker K . Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick J . Ruggerio agreed to allocate $ 29.5 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act ( ARPA ) money for affordable housing . Urban planner and affordable housing specialist Josh Saal was hired as the state ’ s first deputy secretary of commerce for housing .
“ It ’ s a unique time for us ,” says James Comer , deputy executive director of Rhode Island Housing . “ The need has not abated in many years and , for a very long time , housing advocates in the community have been ceaseless in their efforts to make people aware . We are finally finding receptive ears in the media and among our elected leaders . We now have the opportunity to move the needle in a bigger way .”
This new focus is the marriage of necessity and resources .
Affordable housing is a catch-all term for any unit — rented , owned , privately or publicly funded — serving the population that must spend a disproportionate
28 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MARCH 2022