Mayor Kenney would like you to think that homelessness is a hard problem to solve, and that he's doing just the best he can.

We are here to air some of his dirty laundry.

How Mayor Kenney Spends Our Money:

• The Affordable Housing Trust Fund now supports for-profit developers and households making up to $105,000 per year (note that Kenney insisted that the funding come from the General Fund, not from a tax on the developers benefiting from the new expansion of how the funds could be spent... and made sure the expansion stayed in place).
• Almost half of Mayor Kenney's Affordable Housing Trust Fund is used as "seed money developers need to move projects forward. City funds also leverage private sector investment in affordable housing through Low Income Housing Tax Credits." The problem is Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects only need to have 20% of the units "affordable" and can be for people making up to $50k per year in Philadelphia. And LIHTC are costly, don't actually help make more affordable housing, are prone to corruption, and make more money for lawyers and accountants than for people who need it.
• Check out the LA Tenant's Union of "Affordable Housing" and one example right here in Philly.
• Mayor Kenney and PHA (whose Board he appoints) repeatedly sell off viable row-homes and replace them with credits to build new studio apartments and other less family-friendly developments. Learn more about RAD conversion in Philly.
• When Mayor Kenney claimed he couldn't afford to spend more money for affordable housing, it was because he wanted to spend the money on police, or tax cuts for non-residents.

Here are just some of the dirty results of Mayor Kenney's choices:

• A 46 year-old Puerto Rican man died in shelter because Mayor Kenney did not offer enough accessible, safe, non-congregate living during the Pandemic.
• Multiple people living with HIV have died waiting on Mayor's housing wait lists.
• “Affordable housing” units are typically 750-850 a month and Philadelphians need housing for 400-500 a month or subsidized units if on fixed income.
• Where is our rent control? People cannot afford to live here.