ECHO’s Affordable Housing Action Items

Action Item
Develop an education initiative & funding sources for life skills training at the high school level to improve financial responsibility.
Action Steps
1. Contact senior and junior high school principals throughout Erie County and propose to train high school students on financial planning and budgeting leading towards home ownership. (Training has been given to some high school students.)
2. Create a schedule of workshops for high school students in various high schools throughout Erie County. (Regular workshops have been conducted in Fort Leboeuf, East High, Iroquois High Schools.)
3. Arrange free personal finance education by GECAC’s financial literacy educator
4. Train the high school students on the following financial topics that would educate them on housing:
a. Setting goals, including goals for becoming a tenant or home owner
b. Budgeting, to include savings for a down payment on a house
c. The miracle of compound interest
d. Home loans and mortgage contracts
e. Tenants’ or homeowners’ rights and responsibilities
f. Zoning codes for single family homes
g. Homeowners’ insurance
h. Payments on household utilities
How to save money on home maintenance, repairs and improvements
Contact/status
1. High school principals in Erie County
2. GECAC Financial Literacy Educator
3. GECAC’s “Money Works for You Program” is in place and Workshops on Housing and other topics are being conducted; up to $500 savings is matched by GECAC, for a possible purchase of household appliances, etc.
4. GECAC’s Family Savings Account Program is in place and Workshops on Housing and other topics are now being conducted; up to $2,000 savings is matched by GECAC for a possible down payment on a house, etc.

Action Item
Urge legislators to fund the Affordable Housing Trust Fund;
Develop talking points for HB 60, the State Housing Trust Fund
Action Steps
1. Let legislators know that there are not enough affordable homes available for families, people with disabilities and seniors.
2. Work on points to get the public aware of dollars that Pennsylvania can get from the Housing Trust Fund
3. Contact PHFA to work with them in getting legislatures to
4. be accountable in passing HB 60.
5. Work more on getting voters to support a State Housing Trust Fund and look at recent polls of support from voters.
Inform the public that the State Housing Trust Fund is good for the economy and investment in affordable homes creates jobs and tax revenues.
Contact/status
1. The general public
2. Legislators:
a. Congresswoman Dahlkemper’s office
b. Representative Harkin’s office
c. Senator Specter’s office


Action Item
Prepare for the utility rate change & taxes with communication and “green” application

Action Steps
1. Rates are scheduled to go up regardless. The preparation at this point is either how to pay for higher utilities within your budget or how to avoid excessive usage.
2. Low income consumers have a safety net to have their utilities paid or discounted in the event that they don’t pay – often this is the last item in their budget and goes unpaid. In our education efforts in other sections of this group we ought to teach to put housing expenses first followed up by other nonessential material items.
3. Urge legislation to cap utility companies’ profitability.
4. Urge legislation to create tax credits for landlords of rental units who create more energy efficiency.
5. Urge utility companies that “fair” rates are more likely to provide paying customers.
6. “Green” applications for renters often do not apply (geo-thermal or solar panels VERY costly – even energy efficient windows a renter would not put into their rented space.). In our education we ought to stress importance of not leaving running water on, unplugging unused appliances, keeping thermostat lower when not at home, etc.
7. “Green” applications for homeowners in the area are hardly a reality. Additional costs to purchase a “green” house have become less obtainable in this economic climate.
8. We need to continuously be paying attention to both pending and passed legislation. In this climate there is a lot changing quickly.
Contact/status
Landlords, Homeowners, and Tenants