Find affordable housing?

SANDUSKY — There's a new minimum wage standard, based on affordable housing, according to a Housing Coalition study released in June. Serving Our Seniors executive director Sue Daugherty speaks during an interview on the Register's "Between the Lines Live" on Thursday, July 18, 2024. The study determined that the average Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Ohio is $1,082. In order to afford that level of rent and utilities — without paying more than 30% of income on housing — a household must earn $3,608 monthly or $43,293 annually. "Assuming a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks per year, this level of income translates into an hourly housing wage of $21.80," the study states. When residents pay 30% or more of their household income for rent, there is too little left over to pay other bills — and people, especially older people, on fixed incomes know this all too well. Retirees today are renting in a tighter market. They didn't anticipate the rising rental costs that have occurred in the last few years with many markets far exceeding the monthly rental rates determined in the coalition study. Serving Our Seniors, the Erie County agency advocating for residents who are "60 and better," is sponsoring a forum next month, Public-Private Partnership for Affordable Housing. The Register is co-sponsoring the forum. Make reservations to attend the forum, Aug. 15 Public-Private Partnership for Affordable Housing. Public is invited and encouraged to make reservations to attend by calling Serving Our Seniors at 419-624-1856, or emailing the agency at Mail@ServingOurSeniors.org. "Over 4,000 people age 60 and older are renters," said Sue Daugherty, the executive director of Serving Our Seniors, during a recent segment of "Between the Lines," the Register's public affairs talk program at sanduskyregister.com. "Those who are paying market rate rent were not prepared in retirement. If I retired 10 or 15 years ago, I probably wasn't planning to pay $1,500. If you look at what apartments are open, (per month) they are $900-plus, up to $1,500 and more to $2,000. That's not going to work if I retired (20 years ago), and I'm renting." For older residents, incomes most likely will not be increasing in the future — and not near enough, in any event, to keep pace with rising rental costs. "We're not going to be climbing the corporate ladder and earning more money," Daugherty said. "So where are we going to live? That's the conversation. The forum is going to be a conversation, Daugherty said, and will include a panel of experts, including community leaders, housing specialists, advocates and others with the audience driving the program with questions the panel will do its best to answer. "It's not a blame game or a finger-pointing session. It's going to be a conversation about what are we going to do about (rising rents)," she said. "It's my hope we can learn from this conversation and apply it to people who are young adults because they too need a place to live." Daugherty shared one of her favorite quotes during the program. "Never doubt that a group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed i'ts the only thing that ever has." Watch 'Between the Lines' with Sue Daugherty at the Register's YouTube channel and sanduskyregister.com.