The Latest

A young family of three seen from the back as they look at a house. From right: A light brown-skinned man with shaved head and chin whiskers in a blue chambray shirt and khakis points to the house, at something out of frame. His other arm is around a black-haired woman in a narrow-striped button-up white shirt over blue jeans. One of her arms is around the man's waist; with the other she holds a small dark-haired child in a pale blue top and black leggings and no shoes. The house is white with brown window trim, and a sold sign in one window.

Explore Articles in this Topic

Search & Filter Within this Topic

filter by Content Type

filter by Date Range

search by Keyword

Close up view of rock, scissors, and a sheet of white paper on a red table or desk. The rock is oval gray rock with a band of white quartz through it, the scissors have purple plastic grips and metal blades. The scissors are positioned such that they appear to have just cut the paper, and the rock is resting on the paper, half concealed by a portion of it.
Housing

Legitimate Debate or Short-Sighted Complaints? 5 Reasons Affordable Housing Is Expensive to Build

There’s no denying that affordable housing can be expensive to build. But we need to look at the long-term benefits of those investments to see the bigger picture.

View from the street of a bank built in 1917. From the photographer: The building features a red brick exterior with terra cotta trim, decorative panels with Sullivanesque detailing, Sullivanesque trim, a decorative mosaic in the tympanum below the arch above the front entrance with the word “Thrift” in gold lettering in the middle of an expanse of blue tile and decorative white, cream, green, purple, red, and orange tile accents, decorative metal lettering on the facade above the arch displaying the words “The People’s Federal Savings & Loan Assn." ... Gargoyles above the pilasters framing the front entrance, fixed glass windows at the corners, brass double doors.
Affordability

How the New CRA Rule Will Help, and Where It Falls Short

The assessments that evaluate a bank’s lending practices have improved, but there are several missed opportunities for reform. For one, the new rules won’t incorporate a racial analysis into lending examinations.

A sign on a brick wall advising drivers of a steep hill. The sign is all-caps black lettering on a white background.
Housing

How ‘Tenant Stewards’ Are Using TOPA to Form a Co-op

Organized by a pandemic-era mutual aid group, this housing cooperative is taking advantage of D.C.’s pioneering Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. But the pressure of paying back a loan with mounting interest could stymie the group’s plans to provide affordable housing.

A poster: Q: What Does "Community Benefit" Mean? A: This term means different things to people in the health sector and the community development or organizing sectors, which can get confusing. Two sections of text titled "Hospital Community Benefit Requirement" and "Community Benefits Agreements," with clip art to illustrate. Image links to PDF version
Housing

Q: What Does ‘Community Benefit’ Mean?

A: This term means different things to people in the health sector and the community development or organizing sectors, which can get confusing.

A large graffiti'd mural, painted in a cartoonish style, showing an apparently homeless family of three standing near a traffic light. The mother is handing a box or carton of stuff to the child, whose other hand is reaching to the father figure. He is holding up a sign that says "Help us." Facial features were not drawn on these figures, giving them a universal quality.
Affordability

What’s Driving Homelessness? It’s Not Immigration and It’s Not Opioids.

Homelessness rose by 12 percent between 2022 and 2023. Blaming drug use and immigration for the increase distracts us from the real causes.

A white, ranch-style home.
Housing

Instead of Demolishing, Hospital Lets Homeless Coalition Relocate Houses

When a Wisconsin health care system needed to clear space for a parking lot, it sold the homes for $1 and donated land to move them to.

A streetscape of a town on a partly cloudy day. Cars travel the main road toward and away from the camera. In the middle distance is a tall radio tower. Identifiable businesses include a laundromat and beauty supply store.
Housing

A Fifth of This Town’s Homes Were Saved from Demolition—And Kept Affordable

The decision to demolish Wellston’s public housing had already been made when residents and the mayor decided to fight for it, but persistence, luck, and a financing structure with some unusual twists brought them back from the brink.

Housing

Meet Me at the Intersection of Housing, with Guest Lisa Rice

The president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance talks with Shelterforce about new challenges in the affordable housing landscape, the role of AI in promoting fair housing, and powerful tools driving the fight for housing justice.

Q: What Are the Three Major Types of Community- or Resident-Controlled Housing and How Do they Work? Brief descriptions of cooperative, community land trust, and mutual housing association with clip art illustrations. Image links to PDF version.
Affordability

Q: What Are the Three Major Types of Community- or Resident-Controlled Housing and How Do They Work?

There’s a lot of momentum toward resident-controlled housing. Do you know the three major forms it takes?

A long three-story building, a former motel, painted in medium brown and blue wide verticals, seen from one end. A chain-link construction fence blocks access to the building from the sidewalk. Three cars are parked on the curb by it. There are no people in the photo.
Housing

Coastal Oregon County Tackles ‘Urban Scale’ Housing Issues

Tourist-dependent Clatsop County, population 41,000, has the highest rate of homelessness in Oregon. A project to convert a hotel into housing units for health care workers and the unhoused is a step in the right direction, leaders say.

A collage of photos from stories that appeared on Shelterforce, with 2023 etched in the center.
Community Development Field

Shelterforce’s Top 10 Stories of 2023

What were the biggest Shelterforce stories of the year? We count down the top 10 of 2023.

Concept bold thinking—individual red paper plane flies in different direction in contrast to crowd of ordinary white planes
LIHTC

How to Really Reform the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program

Adding more credits and making tweaks do not actually address some of the major weaknesses of the program. We should be bolder.