Letter: Carol Barbe, et al
Editor: The thread that connects the undersigned is a desire to support opportunities for our neighbors to achieve their greatest potential.
We have been united by different efforts to strategically invest in services bolstering those opportunities within Loudoun County. Through these efforts, we have learned of the tremendous burden escalating housing prices have on families from different backgrounds and with varying levels of financial resources. Folks who hold down decently paying jobs are still having to make frequent and painful choices as they struggle to pay rent and still buy food, gas, clothing, prescription drugs, eyeglasses, dental care, etc.
From conversations with some of our county’s most dedicated and resourceful service providers, we know the housing crisis pushes people to seek help with a host of other basic needs.
Our groups’ donations help with pieces of this, and many more individuals make personal contributions, but a more sustainable path for financial stability needs to be created for the many Loudouners working hard every day to help support our larger community. Without their labor, our businesses, schools, and hospitals will suffer; we need to move now to ensure our county remains a place where workers can build their loves.
Philanthropy is an important part of supporting neighbors struggling to make ends meet. But when finding a home requires such great sacrifices as skipping dental care or limiting grocery shopping, we need to ask how much the workers on which we all rely can endure before they decide Loudoun isn’t the place for them.
We believe the time is now to recognize public investment in attainable housing to help retain a functioning workforce is critical to the solution.
Carol Barbe
Amy Bosserman
Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties
Joanna Dobson
Matt Durham
Alice Frazier
Judi Garlick
Leana Katz
Dorry Katz
Kristen Langhorne
Cate Magennis Wyatt
Lara Major
Lisa Maxwell
Mary McCall
Stacey Metcalfe
Stephanie Place
Pam Ray
Ellen Ruina
Bobbi Schaufeld
Karen Schaufeld
Cindy Schaufeld
Trish Skidmore
Tracy Stickley
Monica Tressler-Chandler
Kim Wagner
Teresa Wheeler
Jessica Wood
Kudos to the signers for making this bold public statement. Affordable housing is so important in Loudoun County. A few have cast aspersions on lower-income folks, claiming they’re just looking for handouts. That’s not true. Families from all walks of life deserve an opportunity to live in Loudoun County. After all, it’s the Land of Love. A big thank-you to all the signers for helping to make the American dream a reality.
If you want affordable housing, then get the BoS to allow mobile homes in the county and get the Leesburg Town Council to not destroy the mobile homes they have.
Neither will happen because the Democrats that control both bodies don’t actually care about people. They just say that they do, throw people a bone every now and then, and funnel money to their friends. Our local governments are rife with corruption.
This was an impressive exercise in bureaucrat-speak. Basically, some folks think the government should meddle in the housing market more to improve the problems that past government meddling created. Identify the players and follow the money. I’d be quite pleased if the government stopped “helping” us and just left us alone.
There already is a level of public investment (Loudoun County, State, and Federal) in affordable housing and tax breaks for the creation of such.