Why Walk to School

The Harambee Great Neighborhood plan places a high emphasis on housing as a strategy for turning the neighborhood around. "Why so much emphasis on housing, when education needs help too?" some have asked. In fact, many of the housing strategies will have positive impacts in other areas. For example, the plan contemplates the creation of a "Walk to School" program that assists parents, staff and faculty in purchasing a home within walking distance of the Harambee school where they work or are enrolled. True, this strategy will increase owner-occupancy in the neighborhood, and improve the market for homes here. But, to understand what difference that might make in the area of education, read on:

Homeownership may provide a platform for helping children do better in schools

A number of studies have shown that the children of homeowners do better in school. For example, one study found that, for children living in owned homes rather than rental units, math achievement scores are up to 9 percent higher, reading achievement is up to 7 percent higher and behavioral problems are 1 to 3 percent lower. Other studies have found that children of homeowners stay in school longer or have higher high-school graduation rates than their peers living in rented homes. It is possible that the benefits of homeownership are concentrated among certain types of households. For example, one study found a connection between homeownership and educational achievement among the children of households with incomes below 150 percent of the poverty line, but not for higher-income families. While the precise reason for these findings is not entirely clear, the benefit of homeownership for children may be due largely to the fact that homeowners tend to be more residentially stable than renters. To the extent that enhanced stability largely explains the impact of homeownership on education, it is possible that particularly stable forms of affordable rental housing may provide similar benefits. However, to the extent that a neighborhood has poor quality schools or other adverse conditions, homeownership and other forms of residentially stable housing in that neighborhood may have a negative effect by locking families into a poor-quality neighborhood.

from: The Positive Impacts of Affordable Housing
on Education: A Research Summary (full study at link)

Housing improvements can go a long way in improving the health of children in the neighborhood as well. That's why earlier on in the planning process, Harambee Ombudsman Project and Riverworks partnered with the Milwaukee Health Department and Friends of Housing to submit a $1.2 million application to HUD for a lead hazard elimination program focused on replacing windows in housing in the Harambee neighborhood. The houses will be rehabbed, residents will save money on heating costs, and children are healthier and will do better in school: a housing strategy that produces results in health, education, economic well-being, and environment.

What other ways can we leverage the Harambee Great Neighborhood plan to improve educational achievement, financial wellbeing or health among residents? If you have ideas and would like to share and collaborate to explore them, we want to hear them.