In the most recent (April 24) call for the National HoUSed Campaign, we discussed state housing finance agency screening policies for people with conviction histories; heard about a grassroots housing justice tour led by community leaders; received an update on how the affordable housing crisis is affecting people in Colorado; learned about initiatives to support Arizonans; discussed House Republicans’ debt ceiling proposal and its potentially devastating effects; and shared how advocates can take action.
John Bae of the Vera Institute for Justice shared findings from his recent report, Opening Doors to Affordable Housing: The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program and People with Conviction Histories. Released as part of Vera’s Opening Doors to Housing Initiative, the report highlights screening policies enacted by state housing finance agencies (HFAs) for people with conviction histories. The study found that 34 HFAs have no guidance on the use of criminal backgrounds in tenant screenings, while seven have policies permitting the use of conviction histories to deny people admission to housing.
Access to housing is fundamental to successful reentry, but due to barriers to housing for people with conviction histories, those who have been previously incarcerated are more likely to be unhoused, highlighting the cyclical relationship between homelessness and incarceration. Bae also announced that Vera will be launching technical assistance training to HFAs across the country in the coming months to provide assistance as they change their policies to support this population.
Kayla Gilchrist and Jennifer Cossyleon from Community Change discussed an effort led by community leaders to bring attention to efforts to decriminalize homelessness, support low-income renters, and hold landlords accountable. Called the Grassroots Housing Justice Tour, the effort calls on community leaders to create narrative changes around homelessness and housing justice, with the goal of furthering care for those experiencing homelessness, upholding health and safety standards in all HUD subsidized housing, and uplifting and extending the right to organize, with an emphasis on racial justice. After the tour, the community leaders will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge and other HUD decision makers to advance their policy goals.
Cathy Alderman of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless joined the call to discuss the housing crisis in Colorado. On any given night in the state, between 10,000 and 53,000 people experience homelessness, a number that has been increasing. While people with the lowest incomes are most impacted, Alderman noted that this housing crisis is hurting people across the housing spectrum, exacerbating the state’s rural and urban divide, and increasing the number of elderly people losing their housing.
Next, Joanna Carr of the Arizona Housing Coalition provided an update on the worsening affordable housing crisis in Arizona. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified housing needs across the state, increasing the number of unhoused people, and rural communities in Arizona have seen an increase the number of people experiencing visible homelessness. Carr stressed the negative impacts of the proposed federal budget cuts to a system already spread thin to accommodate the heightened number of people experiencing housing instability. Advocates in the state have utilized a storytelling approach in advocacy with their congressional representatives, which has been effective in conveying the seriousness of the issue and amplifying community members’ experiences.
NLIHC Senior Vice President of Policy and Field Organizing Sarah Saadian warned listeners of the impact of House Republicans’ proposal to slash domestic spending in fiscal year (FY) 2024 in exchange for increasing the federal debt ceiling. Known as the “Limit, Save, and Grow Act” – or the “Default on America Act,” as some Democrats have called it – the bill would lift the debt ceiling until March 31, 2024, or until the ceiling reaches another $1.5 trillion, whichever comes first, in exchange for capping FY24 spending at FY22 levels and limiting federal spending on domestic programs to 1% per year for 10 years. In a letter to the House Committee on Appropriations, HUD Secretary Fudge estimated that 1 million people would lose housing assistance if the harmful bill were enacted.
In response to the threat of spending cuts, Brooke Schipporeit, NLIHC’s manager of field organizing, shared an upcoming opportunity for advocates to contact their members of Congress about the devastating harms the proposed budget cuts would create. NLIHC’s Spring into Action Week (May 8-19) will provide a chance for advocates to creatively weigh-in with members of Congress by writing poems, creating artwork, and otherwise creatively expressing the importance of federal housing and homelessness resources. Participants are encouraged to share their art on social media, tagging their members of Congress and using the hashtags #CutsHurt and #SpringIntoAction.
National calls take place every other week. The next call will be held on May 8 at 2:30 pm ET. Register for the call at: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan