Community Development Field

In this webinar, we examine what a solidarity economy approach is, what its principles are, how these principles are being applied presently, and how they might be applied more broadly to support housing justice and transformative economic change.

In the 1970s, anti-redlining movements were in full swing and the idea that activists, lenders, and elected officials could share power to revitalize communities and advance homeownership felt like a reach. But that was exactly my charge.

In states across the South, coalitions that include housing justice advocates, tenant leaders, and legal service providers are coming together to oppose anti-tenant policies and advance tenant rights.

State-level processes for nominating tracts for opportunity zone designation are open. The next public process will not occur for another decade. Here is how to get involved.

Affordable housing has never been easy to finance. Now, with rising insurance, debt, and operating costs outpacing rents and subsidies, developers say it’s getting harder to make the math work.

Housing funding programs are notoriously fragmented. One way to make limited housing dollars go further is to improve the systems that distribute them.

To maintain older housing stock, aligning programs to address building deterioration before it is severe offers big payoffs, preserving both homes and housing affordability.​​

City redevelopment subsidies siphon tens of billions of dollars away from public services nationwide. Here are some ways, based on what has worked in Chicago, to fight back.

Portland’s REACH CDC recently offloaded a 23-unit legacy building and 66 scattered-site homes—not because the mission has changed, but because the math has. The industry veteran’s portfolio triage offers a bellwether look at how rising costs, rent arrears, and aging properties are forcing even well-run nonprofits to rethink what they can afford to own.

A project in Portland, Oregon, aims to turn aging rentals into affordable condos, offering lower price points and a path to ownership. But that affordability currently rests on temporary subsidies and market goodwill. For tenants who can’t buy—and future buyers looking for affordability—the risks are significant.

A poem about “caretakers and waymakers,” which emerged from interviews with 13 frontline community workers in Memphis.

A temporary window of flexible funds in the early 2020s allowed many queer- and trans-led organizations to achieve long-held dreams of owning their own buildings and housing their members.