“When people had trouble paying the rent in the early 1900s, they might hold a party in their homes, with music and dancing, and sell tickets at the door,” reports Pam Fessler on Wednesday (1/27) at NPR. “Now, a nonprofit group is holding a modern-day version of the rent party to shine a light on the growing lack of affordable housing…. [At] the new parties … there’s no dancing, food or tickets. But there is music, as was the case recently in Annapolis, Md., where about 20 people gathered in Tom Wall’s small apartment to help him, and others like him, pay the rent…. Wall, 67, used to be a lawyer…. He had to quit when he had a stroke in 2011 [and] now lives on $2,300 a month from Social Security, but his $1,600-a-month rent eats up more than two-thirds…. He hosted a concert in his living room by classical violinist Tim Fain…. The nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners coordinated the concert as part of its campaign, called Make Room. The event is being filmed and will be posted online…. Fain … [said] that he appreciates how scary it is not knowing when the next check will arrive…. ‘Being a self-employed artist, nobody’s looking out for me really,’ Fain said…. Everyone in Wall’s apartment appeared captivated as Fain played. No one passed the hat. Instead, there’s an online fundraising campaign to help Wall and the others with their rent.”
Posted January 28, 2016
