Attainable Housing

Housing & Health

One of the most basic factors influencing health is access to safe, affordable housing.  Housing and where people live influence all aspects of life, including health and safety, access to opportunity, economic mobility, and quality of life.  A recent study, La Porte County Indiana Housing Analysis & Action Agenda, indicates that the City of La Porte needs at least 240 “affordable units” and 660 “workforce units.”  HFL has invested grant funds through Homeward Bound to support units in Michigan City and through Coaction for units in La Porte. The Foundation is also working with the City of La Porte on a comprehensive plan.

Housing Strategy for the City of
La Porte

In 2022, Health Foundation of La Porte joined forces with the City of La Porte to assess current and future housing needs in our community. HFL contracted SB Friedman, a real estate development advisory firm based in Chicago, to conduct an in-depth study and then prepare a detailed housing strategy for the City.  The study found that the City of La Porte is facing several housing–related challenges:

• Reduced supply of units in both the for-sale and the rental housing markets,
• Underproduction of new housing in recent years,
• An aging housing stock,
• And a limited supply of workforce and rent-restricted housing and housing for people with special housing needs.

Notre Dame Charrette

Building on the housing strategy, as well as the City of La Porte’s Heart of La Porte plan, HFL partnered with the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture’s Housing and Community Regeneration Initiative to conduct a Charrette, an intensive planning session where architects, citizens, and others collaborate to develop a design or vision for a project. Through the Charrette, a vision for the regeneration of downtown La Porte and potential action steps to implement the vision were developed.

This research, and the ideas it generated, has furthered HFL’s belief that affordable housing and home modifications and improvements to address health and safety concerns (home rehabilitation) are important topics to ensure that people are healthy and well in our community. This is an area of high interest for the Foundation as we determine how to best support groups working in affordable housing and supporting activities, such as home rehabilitation and financial education, through both capacity building and financial support.