Linda Ocasio

17 Posts

Linda Ocasio was an editor at Shelterforce from 2002 to 2004.

The Home Team

In a new book, Root Shock, Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove proposes that displacement is the problem that the 21st century must resolve. Her definition of root shock is “the traumatic […]

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Planning for More than Housing

Barry Meister has heard the rumors, and denies them emphatically: He has no plans to relocate Steel Craft, the small factory he owns in the Ironbound section of Newark, NJ, […]

More Than a Roof

It’s common for most people to make a distinction between “house” and “home.” One word defines a roof over one’s head, nothing more, nothing less; the other often signifies something […]

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One City: Newark, NJ

Newark’s children are more likely to fail in school and suffer from health problems than children living elsewhere in New Jersey.Photo courtesy of Kerrie Ocasio/ACNJ Every day Gerard Joab receives […]

One City

Visiting a big city for the first time can be overwhelming. Where to look first? And what experience is quintessential, without which you cannot say you truly were there? New […]

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Home Girls in the House

Girls participating in a WiCC-sponsored Summer Youth project making picnic tablesPhoto courtesy of WTHC Women in Construction at first attracted older women but soon the project drew interest from younger […]

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When CDCs Do “More”

For CDCs to stay alive and relevant they must diversify funding and activities, and keep a running dialogue with their communities, among other things. Bill Rohe, Rachel Bratt and Protip […]

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Building a Home and a Future

Elsie Robinson once worked as a cashier at a Salvation Army store during the day and as a stocker at the local Wal-Mart in the evening. It was a tiring […]

The Shrinking Heart of Government

Conservative economists call it starving the beast: cutting taxes to force belt-tightening, drastically reducing public spending and shrinking “big government.” In a recent article, Princeton economist Paul Krugman describes the […]

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 balls and fashion shows and drop […]

Fighting the Fight Again

When Paul Veneski broke into a Brooklyn firehouse and chained himself to a fire truck in May, he was following in his father’s footsteps. Almost 30 years ago, Adam Veneski […]

Staying With the Story

Drawing media attention to housing and other community concerns is difficult in the best of times – just ask the members of the Millennial Housing Commission. But when war dominates […]