Miriam Axel-Lute
Miriam Axel-Lute is editor of Shelterforce. She lives in Albany, New York, and is a proud small-city aficionado.
Why Do We Care About Health Equity?
The fight for health equity—for everyone to have a roughly equal shot at the potential and choice that good health offers—is of course, similar to the fight for economic justice and the work of community development.
Interview with Mark D. Constantine, president and CEO of Richmond Memorial Health Foundation
Mark Constantine gives us a view of one foundation’s attempt to learn to walk the walk and how that commitment can influence the work one organization does to create a culture of health in its community.
We’re All Enforcing “Separate But Unequal” Schools—An Interview With Nikole Hannah-Jones, a MacArthur “Genius”
Shelterforce spoke with MacArthur Foundation "Genius Award" recipient Nikole Hannah-Jones about her research into the persistence of racial segregation, and how without government intervention, average Americans have done an excellent job of enforcing "separate but unequal" schools.
Walking Warriors
When it comes to neighborhood-based health activity interventions, how they are carried out is often as important as what is offered.
Could Rent Control Come Back?
It was only two and a half years ago that Jake Blumgart opened his article, "In Defense of Rent Control," by saying: "Rent control...
How This Museum Supports Community Integration and Trauma Recovery
Using artistic expression to de-stigmatize and treat trauma.
Adding Housing Doesn’t Overcrowd Schools
Adding housing doesn't correlate with increased school enrollment, according to a new study. But will housing advocates be able to make use of this information?
Community Development Potpourri
This issue represents a great cross-section of what community development is. We have stories of organizing, housing, health, and arts. Stories of affordable housing challenges in strong and weak markets; we have pieces on policy, program, and resistance; and more.
“You’re Not Colored”: The Story of Two Civil Rights Activists of Japanese Descent
We heard about Ed Nakawatase and Tamio Wakayama's experiences as volunteers with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the American civil rights movement, and the extraordinariness of their witness to the history happening at the time compelled us to pursue a conversation.
How Organizing for Justice Helps Your Mental Health
How do social justice, organizing, and mental health interact? Shelterforce chats with clinical social worker Dawn Belkin Martinez to find out.
Tiny Homes for the Homeless—Would You Host a Village?
Imagine if hosting a transitional tiny home village became the norm for all suitable vacant land—dare I say even an expectation?
New York City Becomes a Hotbed of Community Land Trust Innovation
New York seems poised to move the concept of community land trusts in new and exciting directions.
Trickle Up Housing: Filtering Does Go Both Ways
Here's something we don't talk about enough: developing affordable housing in a tight, high-cost market also increases overall affordability through filtering! Just in the other direction—it trickles up.
Not If But When: A Disaster Preparedness Conversation
Against the back drop of 2017's California wildfires, a quickly organized session took place to discuss disaster response and recovery from the perspective of being a housing organization.
What to Do When ICE Comes to Your Buildings
If you own and/or manage affordable housing, do you know what to do if ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) shows up on your doorstep looking for someone? If you haven’t thought it through yet, now’s the time.
The Problem with “We Have to Do Something”
This summer, Eve Ewing, a sociologist of race and education at the University of Chicago, wrote an article called “The Chicago Negro and the...
Housing Justice Organizers March Against White Supremacy
Housing is on the radar of racial justice activists.
Editor’s Note: Racial Justice — Beyond Good Intentions
Race affects everything in American society. Working to fight racial injustice is a large part of what the community development field does. And yet, that doesn’t get us off the hook.
Who Will Lead Community Development Corporations?
Community development corporations are surprisingly short on executives of color. Why? And how can the field do better?
Roundtable: Policing and Community Development
Many people in the community development field are conflicted about the police presence where they work. We invited a group of practitioners to share their experiences and talk through this tension.