From the Field

Shelterforce has always been driven by the voices of the people in the housing field. From the Field pieces are neither reported journalism nor standard opinion pieces, but articles that share knowledge, insight, lessons learned, or examples from people who work, organize, or volunteer in the field.

The Latest

Two men sit on the front steps of a National Association of Real Estate Boards building, holding signs that read "This realtor discriminates" and "CORE: Congress of Racial Equality." A policeman standing off to the left talks with a man holding a protest sign.

How HUD Is Seeking to Make Fighting Housing Discrimination Even Harder

Fair housing law has never been easy to enforce. But HUD's proposal to eliminate the use of disparate impact analysis will remove another crucial tool for doing so.

Search & Filter Within this Topic

filter by Content Type

filter by Date Range

search by Keyword

On a bulletin board or thick cardboard backing are taped 11 clippings of news headlines, cartoons, and newsletter covers, all about the tenant organizing movement of the 1970s and '80s.
From the Field

The Rise and Fall of the National Tenants Union

The National Tenants Union fought for tenant rights in the 1970s and early 1980s. One of the union’s founders reflects on the organization and what we might learn from those times.

From the Field

Corporate Landlords Profit from Segregation, at Cost of Black Homeownership and Wealth

As more and more affordable homes are gobbled up by corporate landlords, prospective Black homebuyers are seeing opportunities for homeownership dry up.

From the Field

The Cost of Not Going Co-op

Buying your mobile home park could save you money: Residents fare better when they cooperatively own their parks.

Opinion

Press ‘Record’ To Catch Fair Housing Violators—If You Can

Fair housing testers often go undercover to expose discriminatory housing practices, but laws prohibiting recording conversations hamper investigations

Opinion

A Way for Investors to Save Affordable Housing, Not Harm It

Investors have helped preserve more than 1,700 affordable housing units in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

Opinion

Tenant Screening Companies Profit from Eviction Records, Driving Housing Insecurity

Sealing eviction records at the point of filing is an urgent step toward dismantling harmful tenant screening practices.

A construction worker cuts a piece of wood in front of a house.
From the Field

Leaky Roof? A USDA Home Repair Option

One USDA program has given out over a billion dollars in rural home repair grants since its inception, and could be inspiration for similar programs in urban and suburban communities as well.

From the Field

How Tax Assessments are Racist

Between biased property appraisals that undervalue Black-owned properties and biased tax assessments that levy an unfair burden, homeowners of color are flanked by a double-whammy of racism.

Opinion

Making Affordable Housing Easier to Find

We talk a lot about needing more affordable housing—but the affordable units that do exist can be very hard to locate, which hampers fair housing.

From the Field

Property Tax Relief Programs Don’t Reach Many Homeowners of Color

Property tax relief programs can be essential for helping older and lower-income homeowners keep their homes. But access to them isn’t universal, or equitable.

Businessman running follow tempting reward dollar sign, Motivation and incentive to motivate employee
From the Field

Wealth Building Won’t Work While Wealth Extraction Continues

Typical approaches to closing the racial wealth gap focus on ways to help Black households build wealth. But for that to stick, we must also stop siphoning their wealth away.

From the Field

Doing “The Right Thing” Won’t Close the Racial Wealth Gap

Solutions to address racial wealth inequality have often focused on behavioral changes and individual choices, minimizing efforts to dismantle structural barriers to wealth accumulation for Black Americans.