Declaring May 2026 as Affordable Housing Month in the City of Philadelphia, and recognizing the need for stable, safe, accessible, and affordable housing for all residents.

Declaring May 2026 as Affordable Housing Month in the City of Philadelphia, and recognizing the need for stable, safe, accessible, and affordable housing for all residents. WHEREAS, Philadelphia and the entire country are experiencing record levels of housing unaffordability and homelessness; and WHEREAS, Affordable Housing Month is observed annually in May, serving as a nationwide call to action to raise awareness about the need for affordable housing, advocate for policies to ensure that everyone has access to stable, safe, and affordable housing, and highlight the challenges faced by low-income families and individuals who are looking for affordable housing; and WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines housing as affordable if its cost does not exceed 30 percent of a household’s income. Households that spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs are known as “cost burdened”, and households that spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing costs are “extremely cost burdened;” and WHEREAS, An affordable rent in Philadelphia for someone receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is just $298 per month; an affordable rent for someone working a full-time minimum wage job is just $362 per month; and an affordable rent for a three-person family living at the federal poverty line is just $648 per month; and WHEREAS, In 2026, more than 250,000 Philadelphia households were housing cost burdened, which is roughly 40 percent of a…