Changing the Way We Think About Poor Rural Communities
Rural communities are very different places—separated by climate, geography, and often race. But in many other ways, these communities are far more similar than different.
Behind the Scenes of NCRC’s Gentrification Report
A conversation with an NCRC senior research analyst about the organization's report on gentrification, what its findings show and don’t show, and what the policy implications might be.
Housing Vulnerability Analysis: A Discussion
A pilot study on housing vulnerability has identified over 50 different housing tenures, each with different degrees of legal protection, political and advocacy support, and with very different types of risk.
Racial Diversity in Community Development Leadership: A Roundtable Discussion on the Field’s Past, and...
Several national organizations in the community development field have experienced transitions from white leadership to people of color.
The Connection Between Water, Justice, and Health
Our talk with Radhika Fox, the CEO of the US Water Alliance, about water justice and ways to build stronger communities.
Closing the Divide Between Fair Housing and Affordable Housing
The Regional Affordable & Fair Housing Roundtable pulled off something that has often been elusive—building enough trust between fair housing advocates and place-based community developers to lead to their signing on to a joint agenda.
What We Don’t Know About Development and Displacement
The data on the relationship between new development, affordability, and displacement is not nearly as clear-cut as advocates (of all persuasions) often imply.
Expanding Community Benefits Agreements to Events
Shelterforce spoke with Race Forward’s Leslie Grant-Spann to find out what it means to have a community benefits agreement for an event, and why it’s important to think about the local impacts of large events.
A Year Later, Can the Grenfell Tower Fire Be a Catalyst for Reimagining Housing...
Glyn Robbins talks about what led him to view U.K. and U.S. housing policy as intertwined, how public protest stifled the Conservative Party’s 2016 Housing Act, and what’s changed in the wake of Grenfell Tower fire.
The Not-So Hidden Truths About the Segregation of America’s Housing
Our conversation with The Color of Law author Richard Rothstein on uncovering truths about our not-so distant history of federally mandated racial segregation in housing.
Preserving Affordability in San Francisco—A Look at the Housing Accelerator Fund’s First Year
An interview with Bob Annibale of Citi Community Development and Rebecca Foster of the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund, which aims to to preserve or develop 1,500 affordable housing units in its first five years.
It’s Time to Build New, Mixed-Income Public Housing
An interview with Ryan Cooper, co-author of the report (with Peter Gowan), Social Housing in the United States, about current approaches to government intervention in the rental market, the politics of home ownership, why public housing needs to be mixed-income, and envisioning a society that provides adequate, affordable housing to all of its citizens.
Interview with Michael Bodaken, retiring director of the National Housing Trust
Shelterforce took the occasion of Michael Bodaken's retiring from the National Housing Trust to speak with him about how he got into housing, some of his favorite projects, and his recommendations for the field going forward.
New Money on the Block: Funders for Housing and Opportunity
A new funding collaborative, Funders for Housing and Opportunity, has just launched. The collaborative, officially a project of the New Ventures Fund, involves (so far) nine large and well-known foundations.
Interview with Mark D. Constantine, president and CEO of Richmond Memorial Health Foundation
Mark Constantine gives us a view of one foundation’s attempt to learn to walk the walk and how that commitment can influence the work one organization does to create a culture of health in its community.
The “Who Put That There?” Test—An Interview with Damon Rich, a 2017 MacArthur “Genius”
Architect and urban planner Damon Rich on democratizing design, neighborhood change and displacement, and having the freedom to choose collaborators.
We’re All Enforcing “Separate But Unequal” Schools—An Interview With Nikole Hannah-Jones, a MacArthur “Genius”
Shelterforce spoke with MacArthur Foundation "Genius Award" recipient Nikole Hannah-Jones about her research into the persistence of racial segregation, and how without government intervention, average Americans have done an excellent job of enforcing "separate but unequal" schools.
“You’re Not Colored”: The Story of Two Civil Rights Activists of Japanese Descent
We heard about Ed Nakawatase and Tamio Wakayama's experiences as volunteers with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the American civil rights movement, and the extraordinariness of their witness to the history happening at the time compelled us to pursue a conversation.
How Organizing for Justice Helps Your Mental Health
How do social justice, organizing, and mental health interact? Shelterforce chats with clinical social worker Dawn Belkin Martinez to find out.
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.