Menlo Together, Housing Leadership Council,
The League of Women Voters, Pro Bono Photos
Feb 25th at Feldman’s Books
Feldman’s Books was packed on the evening of Feb 25th with people who gathered to learn and discuss WHY the city is proposing to improve parking and build hundreds of affordable homes on three downtown parking lots, WHO might live there, and WHAT is being proposed.
Menlo Together, Housing Leadership Council, and the League of Women Voters organized and hosted the event, with photography support by Pro Bono Photo. We are grateful to Housing Choices client and self-advocate, Noemi Perdomo, former Jefferson City School Board Trustee and director of the REACH Coalition Kalimah Salahuddin, Environmental Justice leader Marlene Santoyo, and Toddle Preschool owner Heather Hopkins who generously shared personal stories to illustrate why affordable housing is important to them.
Karen Grove presented the work of many to illustrate the harsh reality of WHY every jurisdiction must build more homes, more affordable homes, and especially more homes that are affordable to people who earn the lowest incomes. Some illustrative take-aways:
- As the population has grown over the last few decades, construction home starts have significantly declined.
- Home prices have doubled in the past two decades
- Rents have increased by $1000/month in the past 10 years.
- For people who already earn the least, wages have stagnated or declined.
We reviewed where we are in the process to develop the new homes, and looked at highlights of the three proposals the city received last December.
Next Steps:
In March, at a date to be determined, the city will host a public open house where community members will be able to see visuals and meet the developers of all three proposals. At a subsequent city council meeting, developers will present their proposals and answer council’s questions.
Who is Your Why?
We shared with each other “who is our why” – who in our lives motivates us to care about this issue? And we heard,
- “me!”
- “my 6 year old who wants to be a teacher”
- “Kai and Eva”
- “my sister”…
Who is YOUR why?
Please join us to support the completion of these new homes so we can welcome our new neighbors!
- Sign this petition to show your support for new affordable homes downtown
- Join the League of Women Voters!
- Support public transit, which is an essential component of sustainable, affordable communities.
- Join the team to defeat the November 2026 ballot measure that would block the new homes!
Check out the slide deck, and more photos (by probonophoto.org).
