Lakefront SRO
Jean Butzen
4946 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago, Ill. 60640
(312) 561-0900

Turning conventional wisdom on its head, as model programs often do, Lakefront SRO defies the assumption that single-room occupancy hotels are fleabags and hotbeds of crime and prostitution by operating modern, dignified SROs that provide hundreds of Chicago's poor people decent and permanent places to live, along with the help they need -- but only if they want it -- to deal with the problems that plague their lives.

The program began in a very small way, about seven years ago, when a group of shelter providers in Chicago's yeasty and multi-ethnic northside Uptown neighborhood noticed a sudden, dramatic increase in the numbers of street homeless people. It didn't take them long to figure that the problem was coming about because a lot of the neighborhood's traditional SRO hotels were disappearing, either to gentrification or because the property owners were simply abandoning them. Something similar was happening in many urban areas, a 1970s study by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs revealed; and while much of the criticism of profit-making SROs was justified, advocates increasingly realized that SROs were a legitimate option for low-income people, and a big step up from homelessness.

A group of concerned advocates formed a non-profit called Lakefront SRO, started thinking about what to do next, and coincidentally found that residents of the old Moreland Hotel, a dilapidated near-fleabag, were worried about their future because the owner had literally thrown his keys on the street and left. They contacted Legal Aid, which got in touch with Lakefront, and to make a long story short, the group eventually scared up $2 million in city, foundation and LISC funds to gut and renovate the three-story building as a modern hotel with 70 single-room units and rentable commercial space on the street. It reopened in 1989, dubbed the Harold Washington SRO in honor of the late mayor, who died shortly before then.

Rentals vary according to income and to the specific financing requirements of each building, but they typically range up to 30 percent of the resident's income (in Section 8 buildings) and in most cases range from $90 to about $250 per month.

The model worked so well that Lakefront SRO soon rehabbed two more nearby SROs, making low-cost housing available for 222 people; and by the end of next year, based on reconstruction now under way, it will have 619 units available in seven buildings, well exceeding its goal of 500. Lakefront has built a track record and gained the city's confidence, ensuring a strong base of financial support from city housing money; and it plans to export its model to either the West Side or the South Side before long. It has also standardized its manuals and information packages in order to respond to many requests for technical assistance from organizations interested in replicating the model all over the U.S.

Creating low-cost housing by rehabilitating existing SROs is the organization's model, but only half of its secret to success, Bishop says. The other half takes the form of full-time social services available onsite -- in each building -- to work with tenants and provide them a holistic range of services. In a "blended management" concept, the social workers and building managers work together, keeping a close eye on residents and trying to anticipate their needs. Social services aren't forced on residents; they're strictly optional. But by being available in a friendly, supportive and non-threatening setting, they get used. And while the rules, as they must, provide for eviction in cases of non-payment or flouting the rules of the community, these stern measures are rarely needed. According to the organization's statistics, residents tend to stay, happily. In the Harold Washington SRO, for instance, 83 percent of the residents stayed in place during 1992. Only 14 people moved out during the year, and only 14 percent of them were evicted or denied lease renewal; 72 percent moved on to improved housing situations, and the remaining 14 percent died.

Although staff are pleased to see residents improve their situations, moving people through the SROs to other housing is not a particular goal, Bishop said. "What's a success story here? Two different stories, equally valid. One comes in, and over time, with the help of social services, is able to stabilize their life, follow the rules, make a life in the building and never have to leave. The other comes in, uses us as a safe haven to get job training, rebuild their life and hooray for them. If they get a good job and move on, that's a success story too."

All the feature stories on @GRASS-ROOTS.ORG's pages are reported and written by Robin Garr, a prize-winning journalist who has visited more than 500 innovative grassroots programs in all 50 states since 1990.

Browse his book, Reinvesting In America, at Amazon.com.

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