CU-CitizenAccess.org (https://www.cu-citizenaccess.org/tag/housing/)
Since the beginning of the year, the Housing Authority of Champaign County removed nearly 190 names from their “no-trespass” list — the largest mass purging of the list in the past five years.
Still, about 540 names remain on the list, which is posted on the housing authority’s website.
An ongoing investigation by The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting has found the oversight of migrant housing is a fractured and ineffective system despite decades of reforms.
State inspection records highlight substandard conditions inside eight migrant farmworker housing sites.
Hundreds of migrant workers come to the United States from Mexico and other countries with special H-2A farm visas, but they make up only a fraction of the total number of migrant farmworkers.
The state and local agencies responsible for overseeing migrant farmworker housing vary from state to state. Here’s a detailed look at how oversight works in Missouri.
Last year Bell Sports in Rantoul had about $108,000 in unpaid property taxes.
The former Gateway Studios property in Champaign had about $104,800.
And Mennenga Construction Inc. in Urbana had about $84,200.
Cockroaches, mice feces, broken appliances and mold were among the most severe violations found during standard public housing inspections this past year in Champaign County.
City safety inspectors find hundreds of fire hazards and safety violations in fraternities and sororities at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign each year, yet it can take months before some violations are corrected, inspection documents show.
Illinois public housing authorities are responsible for providing affordable housing to low-income residents located within their district. Some authorities – such as the housing authority in Champaign – serve an entire county. Others – such as The East St. Louis Housing Authority – are charged with only serving a city.
Linda Tortorelli recently faced the challenge of finding affordable housing for her 23-year-old son, Patrick, in Champaign. Her task was complicated by the fact Patrick has Smith-Magenis syndrome, a rare chromosomal condition that causes behavioral disorders.
Because her son qualified for government assistance under a federal housing voucher program, Tortorelli called the Housing Authority of Champaign County to seek a voucher that would allow him to live in an apartment of his own.