In our most recent (February 7) national call for the “HoUSed: Universal, Stable, and Affordable Housing” campaign, we received updates about developments on Capitol Hill, heard about new research on mayors’ perceptions of homelessness in their cities, learned about a database focused on housing covered by the CARES Act 30-day eviction notice requirement, received news from the field, and more. You can view a recording of the call at: tinyurl.com/2p8f7rjr
NLIHC Senior Vice President of Public Policy Sarah Saadian kicked off the call by providing the latest news from Capitol Hill concerning “Build Back Better Act” negotiations and the fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations bill. Next, Katherine Levine Einstein of Boston University and Charley Willison of Cornell University presented their research on mayors’ perceptions of homelessness in their cities. Their findings show that local governments are key partners in addressing homelessness but too often lack the resources and staffing necessary to help unhoused community members and thus tend to rely on policing instead. Levine Einstein and Willison noted that mayors identified intergovernmental coordination as a challenge but one that could be solved with better data and clearer measures of success.
NLIHC Vice President for Research Andrew Aurand then shared an updated database focused on multifamily and affordable housing covered by the CARES Act 30-day eviction notice requirement. The database includes about 160,000 properties, accounting for at least 10 million apartment units. Emma Foley, research analyst at NLIHC, then presented updated numbers on emergency rental assistance (ERA) spending. According to Foley, the U.S. Department of the Treasury reports that 62.2% of ERA1 funds have been spent and 17.7% of ERA2 funds have been distributed. Find ERA program status updates at: https://nlihc.org/rental-assistance
Next, Cara Tratner, housing assistance manager at the Philadelphia-based supportive housing agency SELF, discussed their organization’s rapid rehousing model for the LGBTQ+ community. Chloe Shiras, a program manager at the refugee-aid nonprofit HIAS, gave an overview of the organization’s approach to finding temporary and immediate housing for refugees and explained the need for permanent solutions for refugee housing. Anne Mavity of Minnesota Housing Partnership concluded the call by discussing her organization’s messaging campaign, “Yes to Invest in Housing,” which was designed to convince the Minnesota legislature to invest $2 billion in housing in 2022.
NLIHC hosts national calls every week. Our next call will be held today, February 14, at 2:30 pm ET. Register for the call at: tinyurl.com/ru73qan
Watch a recording of the February 7 call at: tinyurl.com/2p8f7rjr
View presentation slides from the February 7 call at: tinyurl.com/2p8hhek6