MEDIA RELEASE
Contact: Brandon Laster, Public Information Officer
(816) 759-6692

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Release No. 98-04-06
May 18, 1998

NEED FOR LANDLORDS SPARKS ORIENTATION MEETING

[ST. LOUIS, Missouri] -- A local community action agency and the state's housing commission have come together to target a shortage of affordable housing in the St. Charles, O'Fallon and Wentzville areas.

The Northeast Community Action Corporation and the Missouri Housing Development Commission will hold a meeting with landlords May 28 from 10 a.m. to noon at the All-Occasions Banquet Center at I-70 and Cave Springs to discuss how landlords and owners can help alleviate the shortage.

"Often when we talk about housing and rental assistance, some owners and landlords tend to shy away," said Charles Bryson from the Missouri Housing Development Commission's St. Louis offices. "These programs have been given a bad reputation. We hope landlords and owners will give us a chance to get rid of some of the misconceptions."

The meeting is designed to eliminate misconceptions regarding rental assistance and will clarify tenant responsibilities as part of the program.

"Most of the people we are talking about have jobs and are working, but they need something to stretch their income," said Bryson. "These people are all trying to make it on their own. We just try to give them a helping hand when they need it."

For more information about the meeting, please call either Karen Holmes of the Northeast Community Action Corporation (NECAC), 723-3470, or Charles Bryson, MHDC, 877-1304.

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MEDIA ADVISORY: MHDC is willing to set up interviews with present landlords or anyone else involved in the program. For electronic media, Charles Bryson and I will both be available in St. Louis this week to work details. Please call 877-1304 to set up interviews and events.