HUD to poor people: Get out of Cairo
Tuesday, Apr 11, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Southern Illinoisan…
A gathering of Cairo residents erupted in anger Monday night as federal housing officials informed them that close to 200 families residing in two sprawling World War II-era family housing developments of the Alexander County Housing Authority will have to move out of their units in the coming months, and that there is no immediate plan to provide new government-assisted housing in Cairo to replace the developments they intend to demolish. […]
For more than a year and a half, The Southern Illinoisan has detailed the inhumane living conditions of ACHA’s Elmwood Place and McBride Place complexes, which have been in poor condition for years. The problems include mold, plumbing and electrical issues, inadequate heating and cooling, rampant infestation and other health and safety issues.
There are presently 82 families living at Elmwood and 103 families at McBride. Many units are vacant, as those that have been vacated since the housing crisis began and are not being filled, HUD officials said. […]
One by one at the standing-room only meeting, residents expressed anger and frustration that HUD does not have a plan to provide adequate housing for the displaced residents within the city, and that no one has been officially held accountable for the alleged mismanagement of the complexes by ACHA administrators, or the lack of oversight by HUD as millions of federal dollars were squandered.
“You have decimated a whole community and you don’t care,” one resident said to cheers and applause.
According to the story, about half of the students who attend Cairo Unit School District 1 live in those two housing projects. So, this is definitely going to have a ripple effect in Cairo and throughout the region.
* Background…
* Living large on the public dime: CAIRO – Hundreds of people here rely on public housing for shelter, with the average income among Alexander County Housing Authority residents just $8,655 a year, the majority of them raising children and nearly half as single mothers. More than half of the county’s children live in poverty, and nearly a third are considered food insecure – meaning they don’t always know from where their next meal is coming. But some of those who were charged with overseeing the shelter upon which many of them rely, lived large, records show, traveling extensively to conferences in destination cities, drinking on the authority’s dime, shelling out hundreds of dollars for steak, salmon, shrimp cocktails, sorbet and other multi-course meals, sometimes paying nearly $100 per person at fine-dining establishments. Meanwhile, the public housing developments that provide shelter in the state’s poorest county have deteriorated into abysmal conditions, besieged by infestation and violent crime.
* (March 30, 2016) HUD officials outline work under way in Cairo at first board meeting since takeover: The Alexander County Housing Authority Board, in a brief meeting on Wednesday afternoon, its first since a federal takeover, approved issuing a $380,000 contract to a Marion-based company to begin structural repairs on the outside of the Connell F. Smith, Sr., apartment complex in Cairo.
* One year after HUD took possession of the Alexander County Housing Authority, people still live with roaches, rats, mold and despair: In squalor, predominately black families live among roaches, rats, mold and despair while former ACHA managers and board members, according to records and as previously reported by The Southern Illinoisan, spent lavishly on themselves with taxpayer funds intended to benefit housing residents.
- Jerry 101 - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:38 pm:
And with $6 billion of HUD’s budget on the chopping block, doesn’t seem like any help is coming to the good people of Cairo, either.
Cairo’s struggled for years, looks like President Trump’s going to finish it off.
- 51st ward - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:41 pm:
“One by one at the standing-room only meeting, residents expressed anger and frustration that HUD does not have a plan to provide adequate housing for the displaced residents”
Also not one person stood up and decided to get a job and pay for their own housing.
- PJ - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:45 pm:
Ah, 51st ward with the almost obligatory “poor people are just lazy” riposte. If only those dumb colored folk could see that all it takes to escape vicious poverty is deciding to pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Maybe you could start an educational non-profit, wherein you travel around the state educating your inferiors on just how easy it is to be highly successful.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:46 pm:
===Also not one person stood up and decided to get a job and pay for their own housing.===
I know, right? What a bunch of deadbeats. Those children can work. I worked when I was a kid. I bet they even have cable TV and video games.
Mothers don’t need day care either, just have the older kids watch the younger kids. What’s the worst that could happen?
Ah, the sweet life of a welfare recipient. Don’t get no better than that. Everyday is a holiday.
- SOIL M - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:47 pm:
Sadly, this is the conclusion to this problem that should have happened years ago. Had these projects been condemned when this all came to light, there could have been new, up to date housing built for the remaining residents to move to now. But it wasnt. Those who remain in Alexander County should really think twice about voting for the people who brought them this mess.
- Perrid - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:47 pm:
@51st ward
I didn’t know you lived in Cairo and knew everything about these hundreds of different people’s lives. Thanks for sharing.
- Give Me A Break - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:50 pm:
This will finish off what little is left of Cairo.
A few years back I was able to tour the area and thought it reminded me of pics of Europe taken after WW II. Block after block of falling down buildings and houses that seemed last occupied decades ago.
- SOIL M - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:53 pm:
51st—actually some of the people in that article are employed. While, in my opinion, the residents do have some blame in this also, it is not that they are the parasites. It is that they have sold their votes for years to the parasites, who have sucked the life blood from them. The fact that they have been lied to by politicians who led them in the wrong direction does not make them bad people, it makes them misled.
- Put the fun in unfunded - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:54 pm:
Jerry 101, HUD took over the operation a year ago. That was under Obama. What has been accomplished since then?
- blue dog dem - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:55 pm:
I pity the residents. All that are left. Was in Cairo last week. The town cannot he resurrected. Sorry.
- Newsclown - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 12:55 pm:
I’m reminded of the “stunt” when Mayor Jane Byrne moved into CHA apartment housing to draw attention and constant vigilance to the plight of the people there, and get things moving. The city council did not offer to move in next door, though.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:00 pm:
Being poor in the hardest work there is., especially outside metro areas. Even the most basic tasks and pressing needs are harder to fulfill, if they can be at all, requiring time and effort that could be devoted to other productive areas.
Poverty is easy to achieve, but very difficult to maintain.
- Saluki - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:01 pm:
Molly Parker is one incredible writer. She has been turning over rocks on this story for 2 years now. It’s a sad outcome, but one that is rooted in corruption going back decades.
- Anon221 - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:03 pm:
Rauner? (pause) Rauner? (pause) Rauner? (pause)
Rauner’s spokesperson, “He’s out touring the state, sir. And, he’s already been to Cairo. He wanted me to tell you he’s frustrated for them.”
https://www.facebook.com/GovRauner/photos/pb.313710615502068.-2207520000.1483186650./594114410795019/?type=3
- Downstate Illinois - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:05 pm:
It’s harsh but getting out of Cairo is the best thing that could happen to those residents. Last time I checked the city was down to one gas station, no fast food restaurants and until an announcement was made last week for a new one, no supermarket.
It will hurt the town but official corruption has been killing the town slowly for more than a century. The actions of former mayor and housing authority executive director led directly to this moment. May it be remembered as his epithet.
- illini97 - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:06 pm:
Alexander county has the lowest per capita income in the State, at $15,858. Clearly a lot of residents there just need some bootstraps to pull on, according to 51st ward.
Let’s look at income, shall we? Average wage in Alexander County is 69% of State average. That’s assuming one is gainfully employed as unemployment in the County is several points above the State average as well. Cost of living is on par with State average, though.
- Winnin' - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:22 pm:
Where’s our governor? He needs to stand up for these people.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:23 pm:
the term pull yourself up by the bootstraps is probably misunderstood by most people. Most think it means initiating self- reliance, self-sufficiency. Think of the mental picture of that phrase. You CANT pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
- Honeybear - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:24 pm:
51rst- I work with the poor disabled and elderly every day. Honestly and I mean honestly there are only about 5% who are lazy and a drag on society. The other 95 % I would have no trouble inviting into my home for Thanksgiving. The barriers to self sufficiency are nearly insurmountable. The jobs just aren’t there. Well jobs for the uneducated aren’t there. Even then jobs are hard to find. Again the barriers are horrific. The vast amount of people would love to work. It’s not will it’s way.
- Downstate Dem - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:24 pm:
What we need is for some of those who live in Chicagoland area to move to Southern IL — easier traffic, beautiful parks, rivers, green space — and rebuild the region.
- Amalia - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:29 pm:
well that is one way to get rid of voters! what a cruel and unbelievable story.
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:35 pm:
Well you have to understand HUD just found out about this mess last week. What a joke. And where is Rauner? And serioously what about the local congressman? I read in Capfax last week he was actually trying to do something for Cario and what about section 8 certificates or emergency shelters. They really are just going to throw them out? On the good side maybe it will destroy the school and shut down all those union teachers. Hey send the kids to Walter Patyon Acadamy I know someone with clout.
- Big jack - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:40 pm:
What kind of person brings a kid into this world and can’t afford to keep them out of poverty sounds irresponsible and criminal to me
- Rufus - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:41 pm:
I tried to pull myself up by my bootstraps and realized I have no boots.
- illini - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:42 pm:
Sen Fowler has been making some news lately with his overtures and committments to Cairo and Alexander County lately.
I can’t wait to see how he addresses this issue.
Given the excellent reporting that Molly has done this final resolution comes as no surprise. Yet, I do feel for the residents who are being forced from a bad place to ????.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:43 pm:
Even with housing and food there’s no economic opportunity in Cairo.
Rebuilding these facilities would be a disservice to the families who would live in them and the public that funds them.
It makes no more sense to warehouse poverty in Cairo than it did to warehouse it between State Street and the Dan Ryan.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:55 pm:
Big Jack, for most of human history, poverty has been the prevailing human condition. And the instinct for continuing the species is biologically hard-wired.
So, you understand that if some of your poor ancestors had not brought children into the world, you wouldn’t be here today spouting your misanthropic nonsense?
- ANON - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 1:55 pm:
They do get vouchers. But very little housing in Cairo is Section 8 eligible, so they will mostly move. That is a good thing. Cairo is a port city without a modern port. Cairo has not had a good reason to exist since the end of steam power. The whole town is a swamp behind a concrete wall. Just give it up.
- IllinoisBoi - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 2:12 pm:
Sadly, it’s time to let Cairo become a ruin, and make it a historic park like Cahokia or Kaskaskia.
- Doofman - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 2:17 pm:
Just let the free market decide which towns should live and which should die. /s
- Give Me A Break - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 2:20 pm:
Sad that it comes to this for Cairo. It sits on the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, has easy access to I 57 and last time I checked, was on the migration path for several types of water fowl. In terms of appeal of the area’s natural attractions, it’s hard to beat the area with the Shawnee Natl. Forest not that far away.
Maybe Ranuer and his friends would like to plow some millions into the area and develop it.
- Cheryl44 - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 2:32 pm:
What kind of person brings a kid into this world and can’t afford to keep them out of poverty sounds irresponsible and criminal to me
The kind of person who needs a Planned Parenthood clinic nearby. Oh wait! The GOP wants to shut all of those down.
- Bob Cobb - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 2:34 pm:
Open-ended housing vouchers for able bodied individuals are a failed experiment of the 20th century.
Our country, rightfully, provides opportunities for people to grow by utilizing GED programs, community colleges, financial aid, etc… It doesn’t take 10 years to get a two year degree or learn a trade. If there’s no jobs or opportnities where you live, perhaps moving is the right choice. Leaving your home for other opportunities is about as American an idea as there is.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:04 pm:
===Leaving your home for other opportunities is about as American an idea as there is.===
You must be a big fan of John Steinbeck.
Or the Great Depression.
- Montrose - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:16 pm:
Bob Cobb- Voting with your feet works great when you have the means to pick up and relocate. Not so much when living in poverty. Try again.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:17 pm:
===Leaving your home for other opportunities is about as American an idea as there is. ===
But forced emigration actually ain’t.
- Last Bull Moose - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:20 pm:
People move to where there are opportunities. Sometimes they are driven by wars and drought. Better to be pulled than pushed, but moving is part of the human experience.
Why build housing in a place with so few opportunities?
- crazybleedingheart - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:20 pm:
AUTHOR Good, Paul
TITLE Cairo, Illinois: Racism at Floodtide. Clearinghouse Publication Number 44.
INSTITUTION Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, D.C.
PUB DATE Oct 73
Robert Landsden, a 62-year-old white attorney
and banker whose grandfather wrote Cairo’s official history and has a park named in his honor, says: “There are a lot of white people who would sooner see Cairo float down the Mississippi than give a black man a break.”
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED081884.pdf
Reprise via:
https://capitolfax.com/2015/08/27/oy-10/
- Honeybear - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:21 pm:
Bob Cobb, wow I’m experiencing behavior from you right now that I believe is very linked to a huge problem we have. A huge problem with Rauner. It’s the malignant callousness that comes with privilege. You are privileged sir and desperately need to evaluate your moral standing.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:23 pm:
–But forced emigration actually ain’t.–
Well, it was for some, but fortunately that’s out of fashion for a while.
- Jerry 101 - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:28 pm:
Put the fun in unfunded -
Obama didn’t propose slashing HUD funding by 6 BILLION dollars. Trump did.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:29 pm:
But then, for some, it’s always nice to have a place to call home, regardless of the current condition of that place. I stumbled upon this photo-essay looking for something else. I’d encourage everyone who’s never been to Cairo to take a look and think on this for a while. The photos are haunting and the story is honest.
https://medium.com/@Chris_arnade/a-town-forgotten-c870c317417b
- RalphSchwartz - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:32 pm:
Anybody who is not personally familiar with Cairo should visit the town, if for no other reason than to appreciate what you have at home. Cairo is nearly like a third world country and all of Illinois should be ashamed to have let the once great community decline to such a point. It is not about lazy people, there are no jobs. Period. And for those who say the citizen should just move out, how will they pay for that? They have no resources to pack up and leave in search of better opportunities. I do believe when Dr. Ben Carson, Secretary of HUD, is made aware of the situation things will begin to move. But, until then our State must step up and protect this community.
- Chicagonk - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:33 pm:
This is definitely one of those “no good options” scenarios.
- Arock - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:41 pm:
Bob Cobb makes some sense, why would you want to stay in a failed system that your children will follow your same course? Why keep them in a school system that evidently is not going to help them leave this vicious circle poverty? In doing my family tree I have seen a lot of migration in my ancestors to where there are opportunities. Unfortunately here in Illinois government has gotten in the way in some areas and is part of the problem. Some people will not look to reform the system because it protects who keeps them in power. It is a problem on both sides of the aisle but obviously just throwing more money at the problem in Cairo has not solved a thing if you go back a research the many articles by the newspaper author. It appears HUD is either too large or too large too oversee its system.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:44 pm:
With enrollment down at SIU, why not make some of the dorms public housing? /s
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:45 pm:
–Unfortunately here in Illinois government has gotten in the way in some areas and is part of the problem. Some people will not look to reform the system because it protects who keeps them in power. It is a problem on both sides of the aisle but obviously just throwing more money at the problem in Cairo has not solved a thing if you go back a research the many articles by the newspaper author. It appears HUD is either too large or too large too oversee its system.–
Here in Illinois, and the rest of the United States, HUD is a an executive branch department of the national government.
- crazybleedingheart - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:46 pm:
Mr. Schwartz,
Your post was like biting into a beautiful, juicy apple on a warm day and closing my eyes to chew it, appreciating its sweetness and the warm sun on my face and then opening my eyes and mouth for that second bite to discover half a worm.
Gifted Hands just doesn’t KNOW! Ha.
- NorthsideNoMore - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:50 pm:
How is this much different than when Chicago allowed 1000s of units to close ? There was no alternatives built for those residents they just vouchered them out of there hair. All so there could be some gentrification by elimination. Nothing to see here move along folks.
- Bob Cobb - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 3:50 pm:
== But forced emigration actually ain’t. ==
True. Luckily, they’re receiving vouchers.
It’s certainly not easy, but it’s the right thing to do. These buildings should be demolished.
The same thing happened at Robert Taylor. Why? Because officials recognized giant public housing complexes didn’t work as hoped. We should recognize when public policy fails instead of doubling down. Let’s try to do something that works.
- SOIL M - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 4:00 pm:
While there are many problems in Cairo, to rebuild anything you have to admit where the root of the problem is. The conditions that brought this all about were caused by ACHA being operated as a place to pay off political operatives, for a corrupt system, as well as maintaining a system of warehouses to hold votes to keep these people in power. All the residents had to do was line up every 2 years, take a few dollars and go vote. In return, they were promised that the people they were voting for would always take care of them. In return, the ones in charge maintained their hold on power and used other peoples money to reward the best workers. And by best workers those were the ones who worked hardest for the party and for the union that financed the party not only in the county but state wide. No matter the other things that people point to as the downfall of Cairo this is the absolute root of the problems at ACHA. To not admit the problem will allow it to grow again.
- Honeybear - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 4:09 pm:
Guys where are they going yo get housing? Look at the photo essay 47th posted. This is nothing like Chicago where there are more voucher units available. Gentrification in Cairo? Jesus people. Check your privilege. 51% of Illinois school children have free or reduced price school lunches. Man you guys need to see how a huge percentage of Illinoisans live.
- Bob Cobb - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 4:12 pm:
Montrose -
I agree. That’s why I think community colleges and job training programs are terrific. They provide people with drive plenty of opportunity to escape poverty. It’d be great if those types of things received more funding
- Montrose - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 5:14 pm:
Bob- I don’t disagree. Folks also need access to a decent education system and adequate supports so they can take full advantage of such programs. Unfortunately, Cairo lacks those.
- Big jack - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 5:20 pm:
Wordslinger where do you think all the money in this state went second and third generation welfare
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 5:25 pm:
===But forced emigration actually ain’t.===
Tell that to the Indians and see if they agree with you that it ain’t American.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 5:25 pm:
–Wordslinger where do you think all the money in this state went second and third generation welfare–
Could you break it down a little bit as to what you mean by that exactly, show your work?
Otherwise, I don’t have a clue as to what you’re talking about, which I think makes two of us.
- Big jack - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 6:00 pm:
Wordslinger if you don’t get it you never will your the kind of voter the politicians in this state love
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 6:04 pm:
–Wordslinger if you don’t get it you never will your the kind of voter the politicians in this state love–
I take it all you have then is grievances and slogans and nothing of substance like numbers, data, a point, etc.?
I think politicians like “your kind” way more: Some of the people, all of the time.
- blue dog dem - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 6:08 pm:
how comes New Valmeyer gets to move after the great flood of ‘93, and Cairo has to rot. Do progressive Democrats have something against the people of Cairo?
- Big jack - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 6:28 pm:
Wordslinger the clock is ticking it’s just a matter of time and I’m outta this state no more of my tax dollars going for your welfare checks
- Talking Past Each Other - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 6:46 pm:
With no place to live, a weak education system and no jobs there is no reason to rebuild the public housing here beyond the fact that Cairo is the hometown they know. Would you empty your retirement account to accomplish that leaving both those you would help and yourself on the public dole when your act of compassion is complete?
- @misterjayem - Tuesday, Apr 11, 17 @ 7:08 pm:
Commas serve an important function in sentences.
Use them.
– MrJM
- overhere - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 5:56 am:
why with all the evidece are people not being prosecuted
- SOIL M - Wednesday, Apr 12, 17 @ 8:01 am:
Overhere–The people who are actually responsible will never be prosecuted. Expect a scape-goat or two. Wilson in particular. The question with him is will he go quietly or tell all he knows. There is too much clout for those that orchestrated this mess to face any charges. The one person who put together the union/political machine, and who hand picked Wilson as well as all of the Board Members and most of the employees moved to Washington. He wont be back to answer for anything. The politicians that benefited from this system range from city council to Senators. Except for a couple fall guys the root of this will never be charged.