LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT SHOWCASE

F
LIHTC Rental Homes
Change Lives
For residents of low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC)
properties, affordable housing is a game-changer, whether
it’s a 65-year-old Bostonian who moved into a senior
development, or a developmentally disabled adult in
Alameda, Calif., who gets to learn how to live independently.
Frances Sullivan, 65, said living
in a LIHTC development changed
her life. “It lifted my spirits,” said
the resident of the Charlesview
Residences in Boston. “It helped so
much. There are great people who
live here. It’s wonderful.”
Before she moved into
Charlesview Residences, Sullivan
lived nearby in an apartment
building that she considered
unsafe and rundown. “There’s
no comparison,” she said. “This
is a beautiful building. It’s got all
new appliances and bathrooms.
There are beautiful tile floors
and it’s clean.”
Moving into a LIHTC-financed
apartment completed an impossible
dream for 26-year-old Brittany Cole
of Minneapolis. The single mother
thought she would never have her
own apartment before she moved
into West Broadway Crescent
apartments in late 2014, with her
7-year-old son. “I only make so
much money,” she said. “Most of
the apartments here cost more than
I make [in a month]. I never thought
it would be in my budget. But now I
can pay the rent and be OK.”
On the West Coast, William
Piehl lives in The Jack Capon Villa
in Alameda, Calif., a residence for
developmentally disabled adults. He
said the LIHTC rental home where he
lives provided him a chance to grow.
“I love watching movies and I love
music. I can do both here,” he said.
“I’m so free. I can do whatever I want.”
Most of the apartments here
cost more than I make [in a
month]. I never thought it would
be in my budget. But now I
can pay the rent and be OK.
Piehl credited the housing with
putting him in a position to become
more independent including
cleaning, preparing food and
taking care of himself. “I love my
home and I have a lot of stuff here,”
he said.
The LIHTC also helps military
veterans as well. In Battle Creek,
Mich., Army veteran Michael
Carter was unemployed and
homeless for three years before
he moved into the Silver Star
Apartments. He is now Silver Star’s
supportive services coordinator.
Carter said he was first hired
as a liaison between property
management staff and residents,
because he could relate to his
peers’ experiences. “People don’t
necessarily understand what
homelessness is about … they don’t
understand the stresses and strains
that come along with that,” Carter
said. He said that, like many fellow
residents, he was unemployed
before moving into Silver Star
because he had to focus on finding
food and shelter every day. “When
I finally got my apartment, it took
a load off and I could concentrate
on other things I needed to do to
survive,” he said.
And then consider John
Wedgeworth, who lived in the
Rosedale Court apartments in
Tuscaloosa, Ala., for 13 years before
he was displaced by a tornado
and subsequent storms in April
2011. Nearly half of the 188-unit
apartment complex was destroyed
and LIHTCs helped finance the
$17.7 million renovation, and
subsequent development at the site.
“I was just so happy to come
back home, because this is what I
know,” Wedgeworth said after the
renovation was complete and he
moved back in. “This is home.”
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