Bridging Divides with Peer-to-Peer Strategies in Public Housing
Peer-to-peer strategies in public housing can keep residents engaged in programs offered within their respective communities by addressing cultural divides, trust issues, and employment barriers.
Smaller Cities Are Laboratories for Change
In smaller cities it is typically much easier to engage high levels of leadership, get traction for strategies that are more visible, engage the wider community, build trust, and scale solutions more quickly than in larger areas. Here are a few examples.
When a Renter with Disabilities Is Denied Housing
Renters with disabilities are often unable to meet the kinds of admission criteria that landlords establish for their properties.
Top 10 Shelterforce Articles of 2020
Eviction, tiny houses, hotel rooms for the homeless, and COVID-19—Shelterforce's 10 most-read articles of 2020.
Why Wealth Matters to Your Health: A Webinar
How did the racial wealth gap begin? And why has it been so hard to fix? Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute and others discuss these topics in a webinar hosted by County Health Rankings & Roadmaps.
Advocates for Healthy Housing
As public health and housing activists recognized a century ago when they fought for stronger sanitation and health codes, poorly maintained housing causes serious...
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.
Condemning Asthma, Not Homes in North Carolina
An apartment complex in North Carolina generated 120 times as many hospital visits as would have been expected for its population, until a creative coalition forced its sale and worked with the new owner to change things.
Tenant Organizing When Rising Rent Isn’t the (Main) Issue
Tenant organizing has been re-energized in coastal cities where housing costs are soaring. But tenants need a voice in the rest of the country too—and they are organizing to get one.
What’s Different When the Community Collects the Data?
When residents were recruited to conduct an annual study that examines community change and health in nine Massachusetts communities, they didn't just collect data—they changed how and what was collected.
Green Is Affordable
The affordable housing movement has not only accepted green building, but is making it integral to its work.
The Affordable Care Act: Implications for Community Development
Even if you have not tuned out of the long-running debate about the future of health care in the United States, you can be...
The Specter of Asbestos in Low-Income Housing
The cost of lead and asbestos abatement totals in the thousands of dollars, and private homes aren’t usually included in asbestos regulation, so its removal becomes less of a priority for landlords, and is much less likely to happen at all.
Where Were All the Sidewalks Built?
A health and community development partnership leads to a revelation for a city transportation department.
Entrepreneurship as a Path to Health?
New partnerships between health funders and small-business lenders highlight another possible way to influence health.
8 Ways to Connect with Your Public Health Department
Tips for community organizations looking to build relationships with local public health departments.
Vy Le—A Resident Services Manager in Washington State
Vy Le’s perseverance as an immigrant, unbeknownst to her, was preparation for a later fight to remove barriers for others facing similar challenges.
Common Sense Is Community Development’s Most Powerful Ally
The title of this post proved itself to be true for us in Duluth, when local organizations got together to address the growing need...
Housing Is Health: Ballot Initiatives in California Approved
A conversation with three county supervisors who were instrumental in moving affordable housing ballot measures forward in the California Bay Area by bringing in the health factor.
A Bad Mix: Utility Shut-Offs and Chronic Illnesses
In most states, a household can avoid or delay termination of its utility service due to overdue balances if the shut-off would significantly impact their health. But the process isn’t as simple as it may seem