From left, Maria Jones, Brent Sheldon, Vickye James, Todd Thomas and Josiah Lamp during the Jamestown City Council Housing Committee meeting Monday. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

A lack of affordable housing and an old housing stock are just a couple of the housing issues Chautauqua Opportunities is trying to improve in the county.

On Monday, Josiah Lamp, Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. housing and community development director, was an invited guest to speak about their programs during a Jamestown City Council Housing Committee meeting.

Lamp said Chautauqua County has the third oldest housing stock in the state and Jamestown’s has one of the oldest in the county. He said 94.7 percent of the houses in Jamestown were built before 1980, which leads to more health hazard concerns like lead paint. He added, because the housing stock is older, there is a higher cost to make repairs and utility payments are elevated as well.

Affordable housing is another issue, Lamp said. He said because of the lack of affordable housing it leads to more homelessness. He added that Jamestown doesn’t necessarily have the typical “street” homeless, but people who live in their car or find shelter with friends or family.

In the last year, Lamp said there have been 1,230 homeless people in the county, with 867 households receiving homelessness services. He said there are shelters like the UCAN City Mission and the Salvation Army’s domestic abuse Anew Center, but he said most homeless people are placed in motels, which is not a good environment for families.

Lamp said 69.6 percent of adults in the county are homeowners. However, he said only 45 percent of African Americans and 33 percent of Hispanics or Latinos own their own home. He added that Chautauqua Opportunities and Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation And Improvement Corp. have homeownership programs to assist people in purchasing their first home.

Unlike in most cities, Lamp said there are many quality opportunities for people to buy home in the city because property values are lower.

Lamp said Chautauqua Opportunities will continue their owner-occupied rehab program to try and preserve the housing stock in the city and throughout the county. He said they also offer foreclosure education for those going through the process. He added that Chautauqua Opportunities officials are working on improving how to market their programs so more people are aware of them being available.