Windy City Times: LGBT-Friendly Town Hall Senior Apts Open 10-10-2014

• published: 10 Oct 2014
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Heartland Housing and Center on Halsted Oct. 10, 2014 joined with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Senator Dick Durbin, U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley and Jan Schakowsky, State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, Ald. Tom Tunney, Lakeview residents and LGBTQ supporters to open Chicago's first LGBTQ-friendly, affordable senior housing development. Also at the event were state Rep. Greg Harris, and Aldermen James Cappleman and Deb Mell. Town Hall Apartments is located at 3600 N. Halsted Street in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, the heart of Chicago’s vibrant LGBTQ community. The $23.7 million, 79-unit building provides housing for seniors 55 years old or older. Because all units are subsidized, rent will be no more than 30% of a given resident’s income. Eva Skye, a senior program participant at Center on Halsted since 2008, lives on a fixed income and could only afford a room in a single room occupancy building, where she felt unsafe and unwelcome. When she learned about Town Hall, she jumped at the opportunity. “I don’t have to worry about my safety anymore,” said Skye. “I feel at home. Everyone has embraced me for being myself. Some say moving into a senior living community is the end of the line, but for me it’s just the beginning.” “Town Hall Apartments directly addresses the disparities amongst our LGBTQ older adults,” said Modesto “Tico” Valle, CEO of Center on Halsted, the Midwest’s largest LGBTQ community center. “This generation lives in isolation and experiences housing and healthcare discrimination more frequently and proportionally than their straight counterparts. With more than 50,000 seniors who identify as LGBTQ in the Chicagoland area, Town Hall will act as a model, both locally and nationally to address these issues." “Town Hall Apartments is a safe, welcoming and affordable place for seniors to call home in a community that embraces and supports everyone, regardless of sexual orientation,” said Michael Goldberg, Executive Director of Heartland Housing, a division of Heartland Alliance, the leading anti-poverty organization in the Midwest. “Affordable housing is critical to the success of any city. Town Hall demonstrates how good design, development and collaboration can fulfill a critical need while improving the surrounding neighborhood.”