Organizing

I’ve been working to address housing affordability since the late 1970s. There has never been this much media and public focus on the issue.

Standing on a truck in front of a group of several hundred protesters, Tom Gordon expressed a feeling shared often at the ONE Northside...

North Minneapolis residents fight to take control of their buildings after city administrator finds homes to be uninhabitable.

Practical lessons from long time community builders on promoting integration and interaction among residents of mixed income communities.

Rent control is one of the foremost demands of grassroots movements organizing around housing justice today. To activists across the country, from Los Angeles...

Just like a focus group or any mechanism intended to give us a voice, participatory budgeting can offer a glimpse of how a more civically engaged society might work. But it’s also a distraction from the actual mechanisms of power, and can reinforce or even worsen existing inequalities.

Unlike so many owners who are quickly selling their properties to the highest bidder amidst rising real estate values, an East Oakland landlord was intent on giving the existing tenants a fair shot to purchase the property.

A Cleveland neighborhood made famous as an epicenter of the foreclosure crisis works its way back to stability. Here’s how.

An organization embarks on a community-driven design process to transform two vacant row homes into a site for residents, artists, and law enforcement to collaborate on new public safety strategies rooted in care rather than control.

Methods from a successful organizing campaign from the past can inform the basis of a new electoral constituency around housing.

Community development corporations need to become more educated about hospital community benefits. This is what can be done to get the process started.

How do social justice, organizing, and mental health interact? Shelterforce chats with clinical social worker Dawn Belkin Martinez to find out.

One blessing of my job as CEO of the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) is being able to tap into the wealth of human...

For equitable development activists, Detroit’s Community Benefits Ordinance may seem like major progress. And it is—just not how they may imagine it to be.

At Texas Housers, we've confronted a series of natural disasters over the past decade that forced us to develop new approaches for our housing advocacy. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, we find ourselves back at it. Here are seven lessons we have learned.

“The string of victories in 2017 are a direct product of renters building power on the ground. Renters, faced with a historic housing crisis, are getting organized to change immediate conditions on the ground and build a movement to transform the way land and housing are treated in the country.”

Social scientists reviewed all the recent research on disaster recovery and tell us that before the coordinated help arrives, before the Red Cross and all the other recovery groups descend with legions of volunteers, there are neighbors.

This past week, renter advocacy groups staged coordinated demonstrations in over 45 states to disrupt business as usual, including stand-ins at the personal residences of corporate landlords, banner drops, neighborhood tours of the housing crisis, and creative actions at city halls. With the help of #RenterWeekofAction convener Right to the City, Shelterforce has compiled photos from several such demonstrations throughout the country to highlight their scope.

More than 60 Miami families, many undocumented, have been homeless since last week’s hurricane and were forcibly removed last night by local officials.

Three years ago, I posted a blog in which I wrestled with the question of whether community development is an “industry” or a “movement.”...

Four representatives of New York City organizations discuss their employment of art and artists to empower residents in the face of gentrification.

This is a time that calls for us to start thinking a little less like an “industry” and more like a movement.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) issued a white paper maintaining that the CFPB exceeded its mandate under Dodd-Frank. Full of rhetoric, the white paper makes a number of unfounded allegations about HMDA data and the CFPB final rule.

On May 4, we applauded Congress’ dismissal of the Trump administration’s request for $18 billion in cuts to non-defense discretionary programs. It firmly rejected the administration’s proposals and (finally) approved a bipartisan spending bill for 2017, funding the government through Sept. 30. The lights will stay on in the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year, and our worst fears that low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled might be literally left out in the cold are allayed … for now.

I wondered whether the Americans who suffered the injustice of our most recent Great Recession haven’t already been not only forgotten but abandoned by the White House and Congress, despite their votes. 

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a law that requires banks to serve the credit needs, consistent with safety and soundness, of all...

How to engage, inform, and fight back against falsehoods. ...

We recently published both an article and an Answer column that shows how one group in Philadelphia, WPRE/NR, is...

If, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, a “budget is a moral document,” then this budget is a reflection of the moralities of the boardroom, the eviction notice, the emergency ward, and the pink slip.

Once again, we hear rumblings that housing finance reform, the wind-down of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the...

Are children in foster care homeless? It might sound like semantics, but it really makes a big difference. ...

I was interviewed last month for a book on redlining that took me back to the ‘70s. Going through...

It seems like an overstatement, but data disclosure can help prevent the next financial crisis. ...

Eric’s family purchased a Habitat for Humanity home in the Florida farming community of Immokalee, Florida, which among many...

“In closed or structured societies, it is the marginal or ‘inferior’ person . . . who often comes to symbolize . . . ‘communitas.’” —Victor Turner

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If it seems like we're approaching a domestic policy pivot point, it might be because we are. Since November...

Amidst the chaos of the past couple weeks there has been at least one positive change—a lot more people...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) appears to be plowing ahead with its proposal to allow...

For anyone who organizes and advocates for worker justice, the last months of...

People have been asking me what I think about Ben Carson as the nominee to be Secretary of the...

A nonprofit forgoes the typical community meeting for a "living charrette," which leads to greater neighborhood feedback about a proposed 24-acre development in Austin, Texas.

I prebooked my post-election group therapy by getting a ticket to hear Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org, speak...

On Nov, 8, voters across the country heard the affordable housing call and approved numerous state and local housing...

For the most part, progressive organizations have been on the offensive for the past eight years, but now it is time to switch to playing defense. And, like any sport, that means pulling some players off the field and changing tactics.

Bank regulatory agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and others...

CBAs can be extremely difficult to implement and enforce, which is why a detailed agreement in the early stages of the community-developer relationship is so important.

Something astonishing happened when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked the public for comments on its proposed rule to curb high-cost and abusive...

In an effort to undercut future public investment in the nation’s infrastructure, Phil Gramm, former chair of the Senate...

During the dog days of summer this July, the federal bank agencies decided to quietly bunt instead of swing...

How far does the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) denial about leaded drinking water go? This week, I was having...

I don't need to revisit the hundreds of police killings around this country over the past few years (not...

Technology is enticing. It's fun. It can make life easier. With a click of a button, consumers can purchase...

A couple months ago here on Rooflines, I wrote about the value of addressing housing challenges that many former...

“A worker earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour would need to work 2.8...

When consumers shop for new cars or other major products, they often like to consult with Consumer Reports or...

It’s rare when a major new national housing program comes along. The National Housing...

On April 10, 1968, New York state officials scheduled a public hearing to discuss their plans for an expressway...

Jenean F. and her husband worked hard to achieve the increasingly elusive American Dream. She was a stay at...

When practitioners in the affordable housing and community development field think about the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), they think...

Electricity and water are indispensable for day to day living, and low income households pay a disproportionate share of...

Environmentalists have succeeded in making fracking, renewable energy, safe water, and climate change part of the presidential campaign. Hillary...

I've been reading Ruth Berta and Amanda Leonard Pohl's book, Building Power, Changing Lives, about Virginia Organizing. It's a...

In the face of widespread school choice, some D.C. residents are advocating for an equitable system of neighborhood schools. But what's the chance that will become a reality?

Gordon Chin started San Francisco Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC), a longstanding CDC well-known in the field, in the mid-1970s. In June 2015, he released Building Community, Chinatown Style, a book about his professional life, the founding and evolution of CCDC, and the future of community development. Josh Ishimatsu, director of Research and Capacity Building at the National Coalition for Asian-Pacific American Community Development, and a regular Shelterforce contributor, spoke with Chin about where community development is going, and where it should go.

Like the water itself, the situation in Flint, Mich., should be crystal clear: elected and appointed officials, at the state and federal levels, have done...

In 1977, Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and required the federal banking agencies to assess a bank’s record of helping to meet...

Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in 1968 while in Memphis supporting striking sanitation workers. Up until that time, he'd spoken about the dignity...

Over the last few years, slowly but surely, the reality of the lived experience of black American women has continued to come to light....

As we near the end of the year, I find myself in reflective mode—is the work I'm doing having...

In my last life, I worked at a large public housing authority, where one of my tasks was to...

It’s probably the worst Superfund site in the U.S.: a smoldering fire in a mismanaged landfill is less than...

Rick Cohen, a Shelterforce contributor, passed away suddenly on November 17. Known for his prolific writing focused on nonprofits and...

I learned about the history of the Tenderloin, San Francisco’s maligned neighborhood, through walks in it with my Great Uncle, Milton Hendrick, and listening...

Not surprisingly, last Friday's headlines focused on the announcement that the Obama administration had rejected the proposal to build...

In September, I attended the Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA) annual conference in Denver, Colorado. At the closing session, Tamra Ryan voiced a key conference...

I write from Wisconsin, now in its fifth year of rule by an entrenched right-wing government that the voters...

We live in interesting times.Two years ago, immigrant leaders from across the country camped out on the National Mall...

The EPA is making news lately.  Unfortunately, it’s not for protecting the environment or victims of pollution. Activist groups,...

. Two years ago, New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio captivated voters with his “tale of two cities” narrative summarizing...

Tomorrow is the 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, leading to all sorts of reflections on how far the city has...

For generations, Americans from across the nation, the demographic spectrum and the income strata have strived for homeownership, working...

Lack of identification hurts many different groups in different ways—from the homeless to immigrants, and they all need to be considered in the fight for an alternative.

Q&A with Kitzia Esteva-Martinez, Causa Justa/Just Cause

Last month I had the pleasure of hearing activist, teacher, and author Angela Davis as she addressed an audience...

Over the last few years, communities have witnessed the latest iteration of Wall Street predation—the purchase in bulk of distressed single-family mortgages and foreclosed homes (REOs) with the intent to rent them—so called REO to Rental.

In recent months, the once very under-the-radar debate about manufactured home financing has gotten much more attention than is...

Shelterforce began, 40 years ago, as a newspaper for tenant organizers. They were legal aid lawyers and similar rabble...

Articulating a vision from the hopes and dreams of diverse community members is like piecing together a 250 piece...

 President Obama is doing more than speaking out for criminal justice reform, he is taking action.Earlier this week, President...

Last Tuesday Scott Brown and Henry Cisneros, who serve on the executive committee of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation...

Housing and community development issues do not get the attention they deserve in the national media, but our field is having a moment. Last...

How a box of felt pieces helps organizers help New York communities advocate for their real affordable housing needs 

Ai-Jen Poo has been organizing with domestic workers for over 15 years, helping in New York to win some of the first statewide labor protections for occupations often exempt from labor laws, and expanding this campaign to a nationwide vision for a strong caregiving workforce and infrastructure for elder care. In 2014 she became a MacArthur Fellow, but this was hardly her first award.

Relocation or reinvestment? This longstanding debate has been reignited by recent events in Baltimore, Ferguson and many other cities, and the release of a...

You may have seen my prior post on why the nonprofit sector is so tech averse. If you haven't...

How might a municipality leverage its resources and influence to better support its families?Hawai'i County, specifically the Office of...

It’s not every year (or even every decade) that community developers and housers see themselves represented in the ranks of the coveted MacArthur Fellows (or “genius grant” recipients). That in and of itself would be sufficiently exciting, but when Shelterforce staff sat down to talk to John Henneberger of the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service, one of the 2014 MacArthur geniuses, we certainly found ourselves impressed and excited. Driven by a sense of justice since college, he has been on the frontlines of the fight for equality and equity since those years. Henneberger has extensive knowledge of the field, an ability to clearly relate many of our most basic concerns to each other, and a clear-eyed focus on end goals above interim measures. In this two part interview, he talks about expansive definitions of “fair housing,” exciting organizing work in Texas that the rest of the country should keep an eye on, the role of a state-level advocacy organization, and much more.

Its gratifying when you’re recognized by your colleagues for hard work, and that happened this past weekend when The...

As most people's opinion of Congress as a do-nothing body continues to grow, some members, like Senators Orrin Hatch...