Gender

Kea Mathis organizes alongside tenants—mostly Black, women-led households—to create and support affordable, quality housing. “It is very hard . . . as a Black woman here, to be the one to try to ask the question first or stand up first,” says Mathis.

Niche groups on Facebook help the LGBTQ community find affordable housing with folks who share their values.

“Each and every person should have the opportunity to have safe, secure, adequate, and affordable housing. I wasn’t able to have it, but I can help others have it.”

March being Women’s History Month—an ideal time to celebrate the brave, bold, and thoughtful women who are influencing history—Shelterforce and Community Change have decided to continue the video series: Women of Color on the Front Lines.

Cynthia Wiggins was introduced to housing organizing earlier on in life and has been ceaseless in her efforts to help her community.

Idalia Rios began her organizing career advocating for her son, who has a speech delay. In the process, she learned that even when advocacy begins with your own family, you have to fight for the class, school, and larger community to achieve lasting change.

Once homeless, Donna Price persevered with unshakable strength, which landed her in a position she once couldn’t imagine.

There are countless women who are driven to turn up the volume of their voices when faced with unfair circumstances. As the publisher of Shelterforce, I am privileged to lead a publication that makes way for many of these voices to be heard.

LGBTQ seniors are more likely than peers their age to experience discrimination, leaving them more likely to be poor and have chronic health problems. What does it take to create affordable, LGBTQ-friendly senior housing?

Across the U.S., sexual harassment at the hands of landlords, property managers, and others in the housing industry can drive poor women and their children into homelessness. It is a problem badly understood and virtually unstudied.

Sexual harassment is a topic that’s not often addressed in the community development field, but it should be.

Today, most women have the autonomy and ability to take charge of our finances, but we don’t all do it.