History Shows that in Times of Crisis, Housing Activists Get Radical
A recent spate of vacant home occupations echo squatters campaigns of the past.
Ilhan Omar Proposes Bill to Cancel Rent, Mortgage Payments During Pandemic
A bill announced today by Rep. Ilhan Omar would release tenants and homeowners from housing payments until the national emergency is lifted, and would make up the losses to landlords and lenders through a federal fund.
We Need a Rural New Deal
COVID-19 is a combined health and economic crisis poised to further devastate rural communities already suffering severe economic stress. Already, rural health care systems are strained by the outbreak, and workers across the country...
Health Care and Community Development Partnerships in the Time of COVID-19
For health care institutions and community development organizations that focus on low-income communities’ social determinants of health, this year has been a doozy. The concept that a person’s health is deeply affected by their...
The Many Fronts of COVID-19 Related Housing Needs and Measures
Stable housing is crucial during a pandemic. Front-line providers and local governments are moving to address the impacts, but they need more federal funds
Social Housing: A Path to Housing for All?
How do we reduce the precariousness of housing so that a public health crisis or other disaster doesn’t snowball into displacement? Many people are calling for more social housing as part of that solution. What does that mean? What will it take to make it happen?
Flexibility Key to Vermont Nonprofit’s COVID-19 Homeless Housing Pivot
By mid-March, the state of Vermont and the Champlain Housing Trust were able to offer quarantine space for Burlington’s homeless population.
6 Ways to Prevent Post-COVID Vacancy
Local governments must explore ways to minimize commercial and residential property deterioration and subsequent vacancy.
Housing Justice Organizers Don’t Want to Return to ‘Normal’
As they organize for immediate relief for those whose housing was affected by the pandemic, tenant leaders are also building power to demand long-term changes.
How Nonprofits Are Adapting to Serve Immigrants During COVID
COVID-19 quickly exacerbated instability in housing, health care, and income for immigrant communities. How have CDCs stepped up to help?
Help for Small Businesses
What kinds of emergency measures are advocacy organizations proposing to make sure that when small businesses can open again, they’ll be financially able to do so?
Feeding People in a Pandemic
Across the country, community organizations and food-related businesses have found creative ways to provide meals and groceries to low-income people in need.
Crossing the Digital Divide During COVID
Flyers, phone calls, and podcasts, oh my! Organizations blend past and present strategies to stay in touch with community members.
Struggling Landlords Should Favor Rent Forgiveness
If we simply pay tenants’ rent indiscriminately, we have no way of knowing where the ultimate benefit goes.
Is the Pandemic Improving Affordable Housing Asset Management?
Resident services has long been the first to be cut in hard times—but for some housing providers that may be changing.
New York State Stiffs Nonprofits
Is New York the canary in the coal mine when it comes to a nonprofit funding collapse?
Protecting Domestic Violence Survivors From Eviction
COVID-19 has led to a surge in intimate partner violence. The Violence Against Women Act prohibits evictions of survivors simply because they have experienced violence in their homes, but such protections can be lacking in LIHTC-funded developments.
Pandemic Housing Market Is Not Like the Great Recession’s
The pandemic housing market may be a different beast from the recession market, but the outcomes could be eerily similar.
Expanding Housing Choice Vouchers Would Strengthen the Safety Net
It’s time to mend the housing safety net. The COVID-19 crisis has thrown light on the fragility of millions of American families for whom a missed paycheck forces a decision between paying rent and...
Real Estate Firms Take Federal Aid, Evict Tenants Anyway
When the pandemic hit, real estate firms gladly took government assistance to keep their businesses afloat as they faced financial hardships. Then they turned around and evicted scores of tenants enduring the same COVID-induced difficulties.