Harold Simon
Harold Simon is the former executive director of the National Housing Institute and former publisher of Shelterforce.
Shelter Shorts
Housing Fund Gets HijackedHousing advocates should have been smiling when the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Oct. 26 to require Fannie Mae and...
Moving Toward the Market
Most of us work in nonprofit organizations; many in community development corporations. In our nonprofit world, our “customers” are rarely the ones who pay...
Planning for Success
In an essay last month, John Norquist, president of the Congress for the New Urbanism and former mayor of Milwaukee, asked, “Is Gentrification Really...
Learning Lessons
Two seemingly disparate events occurred in the past few weeks. In LA Antonio Villaraigosa just became the first Latino mayor of that city in...
Challenging Ourselves
Let’s start by saying what isn’t said often enough. Affordable housing and community development practitioners and advocates have done extraordinary work for many decades....
It’s the Mission, Stupid
For the past four years, the Bush administration has been working hard to turn HUD into the Cheshire Cat – all grin, no programs....
Restoring the Commonwealth
Public housing is not a gift to those who cannot find shelter: it is an obligation of the commonwealth that asserts no person living...
The Road to Power
This year, we’ve had to remove our blinders to the notion of “these united states” – a sentiment prescribed by our government since 9/11....
Human and Political Consequences
Not that long ago, Congress decided that, if times got tough financially, some hard decisions would have to be made. If a federal program...
Real Life
The latest variation in “reality” TV shows was announced this summer. Take a couple of privileged young women who are more familiar with charity...
HUD’s Exit Strategy?
“All of the truly needy will not get vouchers. I’ll say that in a minute,” the HUD secretary bluntly told editors of the Washington...
What Lies Ahead
Over the past year, we’ve had the opportunity to meet with many of our readers and colleagues – community builders, advocates, researchers and funders,...
Old Story – New Twist
Thankfully, it’s not 1991 all over again. Despite similarities and some setbacks, there are hopeful signs ahead. Most of our readers know that the...
Dispelling Myths, Offering Thanks, and Saying Goodbye
Although this issue’s focus is at the top of the news, we honestly didn’t know who would be in the White House today when...
Empowerment – From Rhetoric to Reality?
At its outset, the community development field was about resident empowerment. From the War on Poverty to the forging of the community development corporation...
Uniting the Poor and Working Class for Housing, Living Wages and Justice
Social Security is politically sacrosanct for two reasons. First, it serves the elderly, and the elderly vote. Second, even though Social Security (like Medicare)...
Everything Old is New Again
With this issue, we celebrate Shelterforce's 25th anniversary. Shelterforce has come far during this time, from a small quarterly newspaper to a glossy bi-monthly....
New Challenges for Community Builders
As we go to press, the federal budget, including the HUD budget for fiscal year 2001, has just been released. The HUD budget, while...
Hopeful Signs
We hate being bummed out at the end of a millennium. Makes it tough to enjoy those 00 years. But as we approach the...
Cardell Cooper
On August 11, 1999, HUD Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development and former mayor of East Orange, New Jersey, Cardell Cooper returned home...