Safe and stable housing creates the foundation that every person in our community needs to thrive, live a healthy life and reach their goals. As achieving stable housing grows difficult so too does the number of our neighbors forced to spend their energy in survival mode each day trying to figure out where and how […]
housing
Posted inNews
From the streets to stability
William Guyer PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE It only took about a month for William Guyer of Springfield to go from employed to living on the street, but it took him almost a year to get back. Guyer’s story is one of injustice, heartbreak and determination. Although he ultimately climbed out of homelessness, he says he’s […]
Posted inNews
A martyr or a menace?
Jeremiah Elugbadebo of Springfield runs Joyce’s Community Home for Adults, two houses for people with mental and physical disabilities. The houses have been cited several times for alleged violations by city building inspectors, but Elugbadebo says he is providing a valuable service for people who might otherwise be homeless. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Correction: This […]
Posted inOpinion
Here comes the neighborhood
Back in 2011 I chastised Springfield officials for the city’s failure to take steps necessary to slow the rot that has been spreading through east side housing for years. Having damned officials then, it is only fair that I praise them now. The manager of the city’s building department recently announced that 63 dilapidated buildings […]
Posted inNews
Phone a friend
Karen Zangerle dials the number and waits expectantly as a young man answers with a gentle tone. Zangerle explains that her husband has lost his job and the family won’t be able to pay an upcoming utility bill. As the young man on the phone tells her where she can find assistance, a knowing smile […]
Posted inOpinion
Poor housing
If its aldermen were running Springfield’s fire stations, the city would have burned down years ago. On Oct. 18 the Springfield City Council passed a complex new ordinance that stiffened the penalties for owners of dilapidated buildings. The vote came a mere nine years after consultants urged that such action was necessary to slow the […]
Posted inNews
Bedbugs are back – in Springfield
Once nearly eradicated, bedbugs are back in full force and not just in cities like New York and Chicago – Springfield’s got ’em too. The flat, brown, oval-shaped critters are about a quarter of an inch long and like to feed on human blood as we sleep. They’ve re-emerged in developed countries after a population […]
Posted inNews
Sangamon County sells off 109 tax-delinquent properties
An annual countywide property auction last week brought in $40,000 more this year than last, but county officials say the total could have been even more. On Aug. 11, Sangamon County held its yearly public auction of properties with delinquent taxes, selling off 109 properties and raising $95,275 in revenue for the county. Last year’s […]
Posted inNews
East side wins housing grant
The sounds of nail guns and power saws filled the air in a section of the east side of Springfield last week. Men with tool belts worked feverishly to build a new home at the corner of 12th and Edwards streets, raising walls and covering the frame with plywood. Right next door, a rundown, boarded-up […]
