Last Updated 1 week by Amnon J. Jobi | Amnon Front Page

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Urban League CEO says the city needs to add an additional 30,000 additional affordable housing units to meet the demand the city faces. There’s one roadblock he says they face: the current permitting process.

Tony Mason is the president and CEO of the Urban League. He sees firsthand how a lack of access to affordable housing plagues the community and he believes making the city’s permitting process faster could make housing more accessible.

“If you have delays, if it’s a single-family housing unit you may be talking about, you know, at least, it takes at least a month or two to get through the permitting process,” Mason said.

Every month that passes is another month without a roof over someone’s head. Authorities most recently counted 1,701 people living without housing in the city.

“I mean, most people would not realize that prior to the pandemic, Indianapolis fell only to New York City,” Mason said. “And, we know that we’re still in maybe the top five in the nation.”

While Mason says homelessness happens to people of all backgrounds, he says the African American community feels it the most.

The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana found that home ownership among African Americans is at just 39% in Marion County.

“We are talking about generational wealth through property ownership,” Mason said. “It starts there for most families, most of us are not born into families where we inherit wealth. So, the easiest way is through the accumulation of property.”

Mason says that access to affordable housing and the chance to create generational wealth can only positively impact the community.

“When you have safe, quality housing that you can afford that’s the foundation or basis for being able to thrive,” Mason said.