CHICAGO — Jeanette Taylor joined the city’s waitlists for affordable housing in 1993. Last month, her son — who wasn’t even alive when his mother first sought affordable housing — handed her a letter from the Chicago Housing Authority. It said Taylor’s family could finally apply for a Housing Choice Voucher.
“I sat on my bed for an hour. I’m like, ‘God, you got a sick sense of humor,’ ” said Taylor, who now represents the 20th Ward on the City Council.
She shared her story with a picture of the letter in a tweet that went viral last week. But Taylor says her experience isn’t unique and affordable housing activists agree. Thousands of Chicagoans struggle with decadeslong lulls on waitlists that keep affordable housing out of reach, they say.
