Heartland Center for Jobs & Freedom
On March 30, Rosewood Estates and Cedarwood Terrace tenants testified in court as they seek to preserve the longstanding homes they have cultivated for over ten years. Tenants have submitted scores of affidavits in support of their fight to remain housed while the court makes a final decision in their case. Without a preliminary injunction, tenants would face eviction this August, even though the Court could later rule they had a right to stay. To win a preliminary injunction, tenants must show, among other factors, that their evictions would cause irreparable harm. Springfield’s severe affordable-housing shortage threatens tenants with severe hardship and homelessness.
Seniors and people with disabilities live at Rosewood Estates, and many low-income working families enjoy Cedarwood Terrace. At both properties, the tenants have built support networks critical to their health and quality of life. Losing their homes is much greater than simply finding a new place to sleep.
Community meant a great deal. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t the only one like me [blind] in my community. When you’re the only one in your community who is different, other people usually don’t know what to say, so you are met with silence. I didn’t know anyone’s name. Basically I don’t have a community now.
These tenants have been forced to look for new housing that is well beyond the affordability of low-income housing opportunities.
I’ve been at my place of stay for a long time; my kids grew up here. I passed my test to get into the nursing program but had to drop out because I had to save my money to find a place so my family would not be homeless.
In Missouri, 10% of federally assisted affordable-housing units are set to expire in the next five years, a total loss of about 10,000 units, according to the National Housing Preservation Database. In Greene County, the situation is even more dire: 20% of affordable units are set to expire in the next five years, and there is only one affordable unit per every 84 residents, compared with one unit per 62 residents for Missouri as a whole. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates a deficit of 176,296 affordable homes for tenants making 50% of area median income or less.
It is very difficult to find housing in Springfield as a low-income individual. Low-income housing for those with disabilities and special needs has a 1½-to-3-year waiting list. About 65% of Springfield residents make under 200% of the federal poverty level. There are more individuals in need than units available.
Tenants joined forces with attorneys at the Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom, a nonprofit organization that enforces the rights of low-wage workers and tenants while building their collective power to win good housing and jobs for all.
Rosewood and Cedarwood tenants have built model communities, communities where people take care of each other and where people can live stable and healthy lives. We should be developing more affordable-housing communities like this, rather than destroying them. That is why we stand with Rosewood and Cedarwood tenants in their fight for justice.
About the Heartland Center
The Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom is a nonprofit organization in Kansas City, Missouri, that enforces the legal rights of low-wage workers and tenants while building their collective power to win good housing and jobs for all. Heartland Center envisions a world where everyone lives free of exploitation, racism, abuse, and poverty.
About the Rosewood-Cedarwood Tenant Union
Rosewood-Cedarwood Tenant Union is a chapter of Springfield Tenants Unite (STUN), Springfield, Missouri’s citywide tenant union. Founded in June 2020, STUN is organizing to ensure that everyone in Springfield has access to safe, accessible, and truly affordable homes. They are led by a multigenerational, multiracial base of poor and working-class tenants.
Media contact
L Hudson, lhudson@jobsandfreedom.org, 816-541-6791