NLIHC hosted a national HoUSed campaign call on May 22. Siobhan Kelly, associate director of the Office of Multifamily Analytics and Policy at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), spoke about an upcoming opportunity to weigh in with FHFA on tenant protections needed in FHFA-financed properties. Peggy Bailey of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), Steve Berg of the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), and NLIHC’s Sarah Saadian discussed the urgent threats to affordable housing and homelessness assistance funding posed by the ongoing fight over the nation’s debt ceiling. Amanda Jack of the Legal Aid Society of New York joined the call to share a recent letter from New York City’s public defenders responding to Mayor Eric Adams’s comment calling for increased criminalization and forced hospitalization of people experiencing homelessness. We also received field updates from Staci Berger of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey and Kendra Knighten of the Idaho Asset Building Network. Finally, NLIHC’s Kim Johnson shared how advocates can take action to oppose deep budget cuts and urge Congress to invest in affordable housing and homelessness programs at the scale needed.
A recording of the call, as well as the presentation slides, are now available.
Join NLIHC’s biweekly national HoUSed campaign call every other Monday at 2:30 pm ET to learn more about advancing long-term solutions to end the housing crisis and achieve housing justice. The next national call will be held June 5 from 2:30 to 4 pm ET. Register for the call at: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan
The following resources were discussed on the 5/22 call:
- FHFA’s Upcoming Request for Input on Renter Protections – Siobhan Kelly, FHFA
- Urgent Threats to HUD’s Affordable Housing and Homelessness Funding – Sarah Saadian, NLIHC; Peggy Bailey, CBPP; Steve Berg, NAEH
- Office of Management and Budget Memo (May 16); HUD analysis on capping FY24 spending at FY22 levels
- CBPP Roundup: Analyzing House Republicans’ Harmful Debt-Ceiling-and-Cuts Bill
- Columbia University Policy Brief: The Costs of Cutting Cash Assistance to Children and Families: Changing TANF Work Requirements Could Cost Society Up to $30 Billion Per Year
- NYC Public Defenders Letter Responding to Call for Increased Criminalization of Homelessness – Amanda Jack, The Legal Aid Society of NY
- Field Update – Kendra Knighten, Idaho Asset Building Network
- S.B.1039: Article about the bill in the Idaho Capital Sun
- Field Update – Staci Berger, Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey
- Policy Updates – Kim Johnson, NLIHC
- Email your members of Congress today and urge them to increase – not cut – resources for affordable housing and homelessness in FY24 and to support NLIHC’s top appropriations priorities!
- Use NLIHC’s advocacy toolkit, “Oppose Dramatic Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing,” for talking points, sample social media messages, and ideas about other ways to get involved!
- Sign your organization on to the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding’s (CHCDF) annual budget letter.