PHOENIX — On Thursday morning, Eva Olivas, the executive director and CEO of Phoenix Revitalization Corporation, sat side by side with other Valley organization leaders at a roundtable hosted by Representative Ruben Gallego.
Olivas says low-income communities are deeply affected by our housing crisis.
“When HUD changed the income level last year, the next day, we were getting phone calls from people who said, ‘My owners raising my rent, it's like $250 more a month’," Olivas said.
Gallego shared plans he says would cut costs for everyday Arizonans.
"Unfortunately, right now there's a lot of Arizonans that are slipping through the cracks and are finding themselves homeless, couch surfing, or having to work extra jobs for housing and it does affect people’s livelihood and sanity,” Gallego said.
Gallego worked to address Arizona first-time home buyers, seniors, and veterans who are being priced out by introducing legislation at a federal level.
He wants his constituents to understand that Southwest needs immediate aid.
"For example, when I was talking about housing vouchers – and in Midwestern states, there are unused housing vouchers every year. Meanwhile, we have tens of thousands of people here who could use those housing vouchers like seniors or veterans that we need the federal government to reallocate them down to these growing areas of the country,” Gallego said.
While these discussions are important, organizations hope action follows close behind.
“We really need to see what is the permanent for every solution, for housing. And I'm encouraged that we're having these conversations early. But I don't want to have the same conversation in 10 years,” Olivas said.
