The meeting aimed to unify understanding of the housing issues.
WILMINGTON- Senator Elizabeth Lockman organized a meeting on Monday to address Wilmington’s housing crisis, involving elected officials from various levels of government,
Senator Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman who represents the Third Senate District, held the meeting which focused on housing issues in Wilmington.
The meeting was an idea Senator Lockman had for some time.
“It really was about bidding elected officials who serve the city of Wilmington, at all the levels, city, county, state, to come together and make sure that we have a solid sense of the scope of the issues that we’re facing,” Lockman said.
The panel included:
- Matthew Heckles: Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority and former regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Morgan B Cephas: Pennsylvania state representative
- Alex Horowitz: Housing policy researcher at Pew Charitable Trusts
- Sean O’Neal: Urban planning specialist at Mead and Hunt
“Bringing together elected officials who serve Wilmington and getting us all on the same page about what’s going on and what our options are,” she said.
The meeting aimed to unify understanding of the housing issues, including homelessness, tenant-landlord relations, and affordable housing, and to define roles and responsibilities to effectively resolve these issues.
“All of those basic elements of what it means to have a healthy housing landscape for our constituents,” she said.
Lockman expressed the need to have a strong sense of what everyone’s role and responsibilities should be.
“We’re all representing Wilmington together,” she said. “We can figure out the best ways to work together to resolve some of those issues, hopefully all of them.”
A second public event is planned to share findings and discuss opportunities and will be announced in the near future.
A housing crisis across Delaware
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLICH) Delaware faces a shortage of affordable rental homes for extremely low-income (ELI) households, earning 30% or less of the area median income. Many are severely cost-burdened, spending over half their income on housing, forcing them to cut back on essentials like food and healthcare and increasing their risk of eviction.
Claudia is a Philadelphia-based journalist and reporter passionate about storytelling that informs and engages the community. Claudia, a proud Temple University graduate, has built a career covering impactful stories and creating compelling content across digital and print media platforms. With a strong background in writing, editing, and research, Claudia has worked on various topics, from local news to in-depth features, always striving to deliver meaningful and accurate reporting.
Share this Post