HOUSING INITIATIVE SEEKS VOTE ON COVID ORDINANCE

The Chicago Housing Initiative (CHI) is seeking a vote at the next Chicago City Council meeting on its proposed Public Health and Housing COVID-19 Emergency Ordinance, which would prioritize 1,250 vacant Chicago Housing Authority units for medically vulnerable individuals and families in shelters. The ordinance would also require CHA to maintain a 60-day turnaround on vacancies.

CHI Executive Director Don Washington said the coalition of nine community organizations has been working since fall with the Chicago Department of Health and with Ald. Harry Osterman (48th ward), chair of the Chicago City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate.

“We believe the ordinance is going to get out of committee and we would like to see it in front of the entire Council,” Washington said. “The bottom line is, if it doesn’t happen, the committee decided not to hear it.” CHI members include Access Living, Pilsen Alliance, Metropolitan Tenants Organization and ONE Northside.

CHI also calls for walk-up testing and mobile testing vans working with every community organization in the city, along with door-to-door contract tracing, especially in ZIP codes that are predominantly of color and with the highest COVID-19 death and infection rates. Predominantly white ZIP codes had up to seven times higher vaccination rates than those for people of color, CHI said in prepared material, citing the Chicago Data Portal on vaccine coverage.

The Gold Coast ZIP code of 60611, for example, had a 26.2 percent completed vaccination rate as of March 21. However, in Englewood’s 60621, the rate was 4.9 percent; in the 60609 Stockyards, it was 7.9 percent and in 60619 Grand Crossing, 8.9 percent.

–Suzanne Hanney