Category: Housing

March 4, 2020 Michael Jackson

Convening of the Housing Narrative Project: Re-centering the Conversation About Housing Around Love, Belonging, and Human Dignity

The year-long Housing Narrative Project is rooted in a bottom-up approach that listens to the voices of the most impacted and those working on the front lines of the housing […]

How the west was won–California leading the way on rent control

Sharisse Tracey

On the heels of learning that Southern California residents now need to earn over $100,000 a year to purchase a median two-bedroom home costing over half million dollars in Los […]

Welcome Home: Navigating the holidays without a home

Michael Jackson

“What are you and your son doing for the holidays?” This question, innocently asked, is an emotional minefield for me and families like mine across the country coping with homelessness. […]

Welcome Home: A Narrative Journey for Safe and Fair Housing for All

Michael Jackson

Today we introduce a new column on Change Wire: The Welcome Home series. As Community Change, its partners Race Forward and Policy Link and other front line housing and racial […]

“What’s not to love about Charleston? Or Santa Fe?”

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

What was I watching? A bright, chipper afternoon edition of The Today Show on NBC. For this segment, the TV hosts invited an editor from Travel and Leisure magazine to […]

Kindness can be America’s New Year’s Resolution

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

I look forward to every New Year because the annual trek symbolizes renewed hopes and dreams. But I have conflicted feelings over the winter months. I appreciate white Christmases, seeing […]

Underserved communities find no relief as water rates increase

Jiquanda Johnson

Tia Simpson stood in front of nearly 40 journalists pleading her case for clean and affordable water. The 34-year-old Flint resident endured the aftermath of being exposed to the city’s […]

The hourly reality of life on a ‘living wage’

Catherine Bugayong

I am one of the 7.6 million Americans who has to work multiple jobs. I work three jobs so that I can meet my living expenses, pay bills, have health […]

Floridians must come together in voting

Topacio Marrero

The 2018 elections are crucial and we are uniting communities of color to cast their ballot for equality for all. I decided to walk around my neighborhood asking people if […]

Justice for marginalized communities not a factor in filling SCOTUS seat; it’s up to us to vote, voice our concerns now

Alaina Beverly

Whether you care about voting rights, affirmative action, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights and especially a woman’s right to control her own body, filling retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s […]

Reno: Do we want to be the new Silicon Valley?

Cassandra Little

Last month, I went to San Francisco with a group of friends to see a musical. While the play was fantastic, and we had a great time, I left feeling […]

Report: Increasing Minimum Wage Saves Lives

Fred McKissack Jr.

Tuesday’s “Day of Disruption” walkout by thousands of low-income workers underscores that the Fight for $15 movement is undeterred by the change of administration. Earlier this month, voters approved minimum-wage […]

Saying Your House is Messy Because You Play With Your Kids is a Privilege

Stephanie Land

Originally published in the Washington Post. I grew up in what some would call an immaculately clean home. I hated my mom a little for it. I wasn’t allowed to […]

Out of Homelessness, A Mom Turns Advocate

Fred McKissack Jr.

Originally published on Rooflines, a Shelterforce blog. Jenean F. and her husband worked hard to achieve the increasingly elusive American Dream. She was a stay at home mom and he […]

My heart aches to see the struggle on Skid Row

Michael Anderson

This post was originally published on MomsRising.org. The Housing Trust Fund Project team spent much of the last week of June in Los Angeles and stayed at a hotel directly […]

Not same-sex marriage, not the Affordable Care Act, that OTHER Supreme Court ruling!

Olivia Chow

This has been a big week for the United States Supreme Court. Major decisions given over the past two days: to keep in place the Affordable Care Act’s current tax […]

Addressing San Francisco’s Housing Crisis Starts With Investing in Jobs

Mark Ortiz

This piece originally appeared in The Huffington Post. The first thing that struck me when I moved to the Bay Area three years ago was the extraordinary cost of rent. During […]

Engaging Direct Service Providers in Organizing: A Reflection

Katy Heins

As a member of the New Organizing Practices’ direct service and organizing committee, I have been reflecting on whether service providers have a stronger relationship with the folks who use […]

Housing Development Closes Doors On Poor Residents

Loryn Wilson

New York City developers are building a new luxury apartment that will apparently have a separate entrance for its affordable housing residents. Extell Development Company, who is behind the luxury […]

Majority of Americans Make Sacrifices to Cover High Cost of Housing

Michael Anderson

Whether taking on an additional job, cutting back on healthy food or health care, deferring retirement savings, amassing credit card debt, or moving to a neighborhood that is either unsafe […]

What to Do When the Rising Cost of Housing Outpaces Stagnant Wages

Michael Anderson

Simultaneous to the growing momentum to raise state and federal minimum wages, The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies released a sobering new report in December of 2013 documenting that […]

Housing Trust Funds: Protecting Affordable Living

Michael Anderson

One of the most difficult hardships facing low-income people in the United States is the lack of affordable housing due to the gross mismatch between income and housing costs. This recent […]

Building the Economic Strength of Women

Alesia Lucas

March 8th is International Women’s Day, and although it’s 2013, American women still lag behind men in paycheck fairness. Women still make a mere 64 cents for every dollar their […]

Working Women of Color and Wages

Alesia Lucas

Women are more likely than their male counterparts to pursue higher education (see graph on right); and yet they still don’t make more money. Latino women make 60 cents for […]

The Real Homeless Hotspots

Anton Conkle

The annual music festival, South by Southwest (SXSW) typically generates tons of publicity each year. Held in Austin, Texas, the 10-day festival includes news conferences on the latest technological trends, […]