Taste of Evanston supports affordable housing and efforts to end homelessness.

Dear Evanston,

We're truly honored to be a media sponsor for this year's fifth annual Taste of Evanston that takes place on Sunday, July 14, sponsored by the Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club.

The majority of this year's proceeds will support two outstanding Evanston organizations: Connections for the Homeless, a nonprofit organization that helps individuals and families that are homeless or threatened with homelessness to achieve stable housing; and Reba Place Development Corp, which develops safe, decent, and affordable housing and demonstrates how the diverse racial and cultural groups in Evanston can thrive together.

Reba Place also sponsors and supports a range of affordable housing options--including modestly priced rental units, housing co-ops, and affordable condominiums.

Affordable housing and homelessness are serious issues in Evanston. Today, most poor renting families are spending more than half of their income on housing, many people, especially single mothers cannot find affordable housing, and eviction has become ordinary, again, especially for single mothers.

For those of us who are lucky enough to have a stable roof over our head and a place to lay our heads, we can often take for granted the centrality of home--without which nothing else is possible.

The event will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the east lawn of the Charles Gates Dawes House, home of the Evanston History Center, and will feature appetizers, entrees, and desserts from more than 40 of Evanston's restaurants, local breweries, and wine shops.

Over the next few weeks, Dear Evanston will feature news and information about housing and homelessness issues in Evanston and efforts to improve the situation in our city.

Please consider attending this wonderful event--support local eateries and caterers AND in doing so, support the critical work of Connections and Reba Place.

You can purchase your tickets here.

If you'd like to attend but aren't able to afford a ticket, Please email dearevanston@gmail.com and we'll make sure you can participate!

If you're interested in reading a powerful book about the issue of housing and homelessness, I highly recommend Evicted, by Matthew Desmond--which the Dear Evanston Racial Justice Book Group read last year.

Let's work to end homelessness--and figure out how to increase the availability of affordable housing in Evanston--together.