Winnetka's Only Longtime Section 8 Voucher Recipient Passes Away

WINNETKA, IL - It’s extremely rare for a resident of Winnetka - one of Chicago’s most affluent suburbs - to receive a Section 8 voucher for residency.

For many years, Thomas Miranda was the only person living in the village to receive a Section 8 housing choice voucher. He found dead at his one-bedroom apartment on Elm Street earlier this month at the age of 47, according to the Winnetka Talk.

Miranda, who was the only voucher holder in town until a second moved in in 2014, told the Chicago Tribune in 2013 “it’s been a rocky road.”

“My life sometimes falls apart for health and sometime economic reasons,” he said.

But he found comfort in associating with others, selling newspapers outside of Starbucks and joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Wilmette.

The Winnetka Talk said Miranda has often been spotted around town with “a big coffee cup in one hand, a cigarette in the other, maybe sitting on a park bench. He liked going to the library and, in the summer, relaxing by the lake.”

Jeanne Rosser, a social worker for New Trier Township, remembers Miranda fondly.

“For whatever struggles he went through, I always felt there was a hopeful element to Tom,” she said. "There was a sweetness. There was a desire to reach out for help and there was a willingness to make a connection."

Miranda died of hypertensive and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, abetted by diabetes and obesity. He was found by authorities after a well-being check was made by someone who hadn’t seen him at church in awhile.

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