Contributed by Joan Clement
The need for affordable housing is everywhere, and the solutions begin with real people in your local area.
Local Area Housing Support:
- Serve Unhoused People and Local Housing Organizations:
To help a homeless person find housing help:
https://www.usich.gov/how-to-get-help
https://nationalhomeless.org/finding-help/
Volunteer with local homeless organizations in your area.
Learn about ways to advocate for affordable housing: https://www.habitat.org/stories/6-ways-advocate-affordable-housing#:~:text=Start%20small.,higher%20up%20on%20their%20agenda.
Speak directly with unhoused people, learn about their needs, give what you can, and assist them in finding other local resources.
If someone with housing issues is a vet, go to: https://www.va.gov/homeless/, or for immediate assistance: https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/
- Find out about other local and regional resources:
https://www.habitat.org/volunteer/near-you/find-your-local-habitat
- Advocate to Decriminalize Houseless (Unsheltered) People: The historic and worsening pattern of criminalizing people who are unsheltered requires our immediate concern and attention. Having a vision of what the ultimate solution will help with taking on this deeply immoral systemic condition, for example recent homeless encampment sweeps and limitations (e.g. by insurance companies) on allowing people to park overnight on your property, etc.
- Provide financial support of any amount, including becoming an affordable housing investor: Donate Stock to non-profit housing organizations: https://donatestock.com/. Become a “Houser” (?? – Ann Olivia mentioned it at the recent NAEH conference in LA)
- Create and advocate for new truly affordable housing options and solutions:
- Open legally allowable very low-income housing in your area, e.g. a home share program, group home, room and board home, etc.
- Support projects that reuse closed churches and other public buildings, allow affordable housing to be built on church land, and other creative public/private partnerships.
- Advocate for zoning exceptions, e.g. to allow starting a tiny home community.
- Challenge local building codes and zoning codes that limit access to housing that people can truly afford.
- Learn from examples of creative projects providing permanent housing to previously unhoused people:
- Community First (Mobile Loaves and Fishes), near Austin, TX
- Armistead Catholic Worker House of Hospitality, Baltimore, MD: Provides basic shelter for houseless people in Baltimore, MD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxnGAHwTIMA
- _________________, Baltimore, MD
- Research local historical and current discriminatory practices Native Americans, African Americans and other marginalized groups have been historically denied access to safe and affordable housing. Learn about your local Native American tribes, redlining policies, urban renewal projects that targeted poor communities, and other discriminatory housing initiatives. Work to end current discriminatory practices, heal wounds, return land, repair harms done and start anew.
State Level Housing Support:
- Locate state level groups in your area and participate, including State Interagency Homeless Councils:
https://www.usich.gov/local-assistance/state-interagency-councils
- Track homeless statistics by state:
https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness/
National Level Housing Support:
- Work with National Housing Advocacy Groups:
- National Coalition for the Homeless: https://nationalhomeless.org/
- National Alliance to End Homelessness: https://endhomelessness.org/
- National Low Income Housing Coalition: https://nlihc.org/
- S. Interagency Council on Homelessness: https://www.usich.gov/
- Habitat for Humanity: https://www.habitat.org/costofhome
- National Fair Housing Alliance: https://nationalfairhousing.org/
- National Homelessness Law Center: https://homelesslaw.org/
- Work with Congress, Federal Agencies and the Courts:
Bigger Picture Study, Solutions and Actions:
- Define and address the underlying moral, ethical and other issues which have caused the housing crisis.
Help create a vision for sustainable, community-oriented housing for all.
- Study Housing Research:
Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/, https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/research
Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative: https://www.pdx.edu/homelessness/
- Follow affordable housing news reporting
- Promote Social Housing, Non-Profit and Cooperative Housing, Co-Housing, Cooperative, “B Corporation” and other Socially Responsible Housing Alternatives:
We need to move away from for-profit housing, convert existing housing stock into socially responsible corporate and non-profit alternatives, and develop new housing that meets both human and Earth needs for sustainable, beautiful, community oriented and economically and socially integrated housing.
https://www.housinginternational.coop/cooperative-housing-models/
https://www.socialhousingcenter.org/
Track solutions oriented creative housing legislation. Here is one example of a “social housing” bill that was introduced in 2021 in the Maryland State Legislature: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/cmte_testimony/2021/ent/1VtxC2NrJldGSdoqo2Rx2sUN9_l_ZYLLo.pdf