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Dear Members of the Village of Wilmette Board of Trustees:

On behalf of Joining Forces for Affordable Housing, we ask you to support the Village of Wilmette’s progress towards increasing community affordability by voting in favor of opting in to the minimum wage increases and sick leave ordinances established by Cook County.

At its meeting on April 10, the Village of Wilmette unanimously approved development of a 16-unit affordable building. This was a great step in making the Village a more livable place for a diverse and important group people with lower incomes, including workers, families with children, people with disabilities, and senior citizens.

At the same time, Wilmette is the only suburb along the lake front of north suburban Cook County that has opted out of the minimum wage and sick leave changes. Yet the human services agencies that serve our region are being overwhelmed with people who cannot afford the local housing because their wages are not high enough. People are coming to us, not only because of their housing crises, but also because of the impact that those crises are having on their physical and mental health, their ability to work, and their children’s progress in learning and developing.

Our members know, from working with Wilmette residents in need, that higher minimum wages are crucial to ensuring that every family in Wilmette can afford their housing and still have enough left over to thrive. Voting for the opt-in is a great way to keep the affordable housing fight going after the momentum that your vote in favor of Cleland Place created.
Wage issues are regional, as are housing issues, and we believe that Wilmette should not be an outlier in making this change that is needed so desperately across our region.

Thank you.