More Affordable Housing: Here’s How
Leaders in Canada and the United States are working on strategies to add to their country's supply of affordable housing. This post is about two of those strategies.
These leaders...
Broadening The Path Out Of Homelessness
Queer veterans in the United States are on the point of opening a transitional housing project in Seattle called Q'mmunity House.
In the United States, the Department of Veterans Affairs...
Homelessness – A Long Term Issue In A Quick Fix World
Recently, Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario, invited Ontario's mayors to request that he invoke the Notwithstanding ClauseThe Notwithstanding Clause refers to a provision in Canada's constitution, which allows...
Building A Housing Path For A Diverse Gang of Folks
Arlene Hache been homeless in the Northwest Territories in Canada. She has also led an urban support centre for families with low incomes for 30 years. For these and...
Reforming NYC’s Tax System To Protect Affordable Housing
This is a story about a change in regulations that hasn't got a lot of attention in the mainstream media. The change should make a big difference for people...
America’s HUD Demonstrates How To. . . ? Kiss Free Enterprise Ass . . .?
Some while back, the American agency responsible for government-guaranteed affordable housing launched a housing 'demonstration' program. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed that deteriorating public housing...
House-Rich Prince Of Wales Helping The Unhoused? How Dare He!
If you didn't recently see one or both of the following articles about homelessness, you've missed an example of how self-important housing activists can be. Wrapped up in the...
Cops + Homeless = Poor Bedmates. Yet There They Are Anyway.
Let's set aside convenient fallacies that all cops are sadistic brutes. And that all the unhoused are crazoid drug fiends.
Let's take a much broader view of the participants in...
Primary Care, Not Emergency Care: First Stop For Individual Community Health
Does Canada, with a substantially different "social" health system, have anything to offer the U.S. with its largely private-enterprise driven health care?
Possibly.
Certain aspects of publicly and privately funded health...
A Gem Of A Study In Google Scholar
On any given day, a search on Google Scholar for articles about homelessness can bury you with results. With so many studies to choose from, why select an undergraduate...
Social Entrepreneurship: Empty Presumption Or A Belly Full Of Living?
The term "social entrepreneurship" seems to flirt with contradictions, given that "entrepreneurship" is a generally associated with individual self-improvement, while "social" suggests that many may be involved.
So what does...
A Municipal Planner With A Different Take On NIMBY
The City of Calgary in Alberta is growing, but not in the right places. The City's plan calls for adding population in parts of the city that are already...
Urban Development: Inclusive And Affordable, Else Unsustainable
It began as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). Actually, that's not quite correct. In 1990 it began as an organization called the Local Governments for Sustainability, a...
UK Social Housing Health & Safety: Who Pays The Politician Piper?
Some outside the United Kingdom are aware of a young dragon-slayer who materialized on that national stage in 2022. He was close enough to penniless, but enjoyed photography. And...
Two Architects Taking Design To Where It Is Needed
Students enter architecture programs for different reasons. This post reports on the work of two people, Adi Kumar and Wanda Dalla Costa, who are steering the profession of architecture...
Health Leadership Central To Ending Homelessness
In London, Ontario, a homeless woman died 10 days before she was due to move into her home. Her death triggered a hunger strike. A short time later, the...
Practising Architecture In A Global Community
Fernanda Canales is an internationally celebrated architect from Mexico.
In an interview with Erin Tallman of Archiexpo, Canales describes the effect of achieving international recognition, including gaining status as an...
Dear Resident: Yes, We Do Want To Hear From You
These days, if ‘unknown caller’ appears on your phone, no amount of curiousity is likely to overcome the risks of answering. It’s bound to be a scam of some...
When Your Parent Dies in Social Housing, Be Ready For Eviction
For those unfamiliar with Kwajo Tweneboa, (likely because you reside outside the United Kingdom), this young man has committed another act of social heroism, relating once again a story...
Outer Space To Inner Peace: Religions Tackle The Affordable Housing Crisis
Morning constitutionals at affordablehousingaction.org occur often and usually take place among houses in a leafy neighbourhood. A fair number of churches dapple this leafy neighbourhood, and many have not...
Rusting Money: Can Banking Coffers Become Brownfields?
The concept of brownfields is useful. The idea of an industrial landscape that has outlived its usefulness deserves a name. Brownfields, with its suggestion of rusting metal fills the...
Sleeping Pods and Shower Trailers? Your Local Homeless Should Be So Lucky
It would be nice to always snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but sometimes we just have to make the most of grabbing a useful defeat from what...
When The Housing Doesn’t Fit — Tales of Housing Innovation
In 2022, people at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) had an epiphany. Their signature annual publication, The State of the Nation's Housing, was issuing a consistent...
A Royal Intervention To End Homelessness In The UK
More than year ago, the UK's Prince of Wales discussed his special interest in ending homelessnessTry: Prince William: The Next Proud Meddler In United Kingdom Politics? . His Homewards...
Shoalhaven’s ‘Salt Care’ = Helping Out. In Praise of ‘Growing Like Topsy’
Topsy was a pre-teen orphan, a slave girl, who featured in Harriet Beecher Stowe's book Uncle Tom's Cabin. When asked where she came from, she insisted that she didn't...
Bringing Housing Rights To Cape Town, South Africa
Apartheid in South Africa officially ended 30 years ago. Even though the country's constitution confirms that all citizens have a right to adequate housing, cities are still physically divided...
The Housing Crisis – A Complex Reporting Challenge
Shelterforce is a U.S. based publication that began in 1975 as a way for tenant organizers to work together and learn from each other. The mandate has broadened, but...
“We Can’t Just Keep Saying Move On, Move On. Instead, Welcome Here.”
Perth, the largest city in Western Australia, acts professionally toward people who are homeless. There is no grab by the scruff of the neck and transport to the city...
Future Social Housing: Why Beauty Should Bite The Beast
The demands and destruction of World War II led to a postwar social housing era that placed expediency and affordability ahead of graceful architectural objectives. The result: massive postwar...
Caring For Homeless Australians By Caring For Their Pets
Recent good news for the comfortably housed in Singapore, with its world class housing care for its population. After 35 years(!) of trying, residents will be allowed to house...
Health Issues Inspire Local Governments To Expand Housing Supply
Research in the United States has been connecting safe, stable affordable housing with health care. This post is the final in a short series about how the research is...
Academics Stepping Up To The Challenge Of Homelessness
Research in the United States has been connecting safe, stable affordable housing with health care. This post is the second in a short series about how the research is...
Building An Invitation To Direct Housing Policy In Ontario, Canada
A collection of residents in Ontario, Canada, have been meeting to discuss how public policies and programs could end homelessness and make housing more affordable. The group includes people...
Businesses Improving Housing For People Overlooked By Public Policy
In the 1990's, Aileen McDonnell graduated with a Master's Degree in Housing Management and Construction. She was the only woman in her class, but that wasn't the only way...
Living In Glasgow’s Council Housing: Mothers’ Perspectives
Council housing estates in the United Kingdom have been portrayed in the media as dangerous and unlawful spaces. On the strength of this picture, government leaders have approved the...
Best Community Support For The Unhoused? How-To From The Experts
So how does a local government become an expert in managing homelessness, a problem that has been ignored for too long?
Invest in salesmanship that something is being done when...
Once Young, Homeless, Queer: A Writer Shares Lessons From A Challenging Lived Life
What helpful advice could you give to a young black adult who had experienced homelessness when young, been raised in a difficult relationship by a single mother, while his...
Inclusionary Zoning In New Jersey: A Long Time Coming
When it comes to building affordable housing, People at New Jersey's Fair Share Housing Center (the Center) are feeling fairly confident that New Jersey is a state to emulate.
The...
A Lyrical Housing Protest In Ireland
Standing in front of parliament buildings and singing is not usual response to an eviction notice. But that's what Martin Leahy did.
Leahy plays guitar, sings and composes. When he...
Health Without Housing: An Ever-Increasing Necessity In America And Elsewhere
Some, many, American citizens are sorry they cannot give their fellow citizens a precious gift of housing. The U.S. Constitution, alas, did not sanction such an honour for all...
Never Underestimate The Power Of One Person
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation reckons that 3.8 million people in the United Kingdom face destitution. Universal Credit, the country's social safety net, doesn't provide enough to cover basic needs....
Memphis Pulls Pennies Together To Repair Aging Dwellings
Memphis Tennessee has figured out a nifty way to help their residents with low incomes pay for essential home repairs. All monthly power bills are rounded up to the...
Small Gift, Big Heart: A Home Community Where The Sneaker Fits
Folklore makes 'sneakers' into American running shoes. It can take considerably more than a few steps in a pair to make an immigrant into an American citizen.
Part of that...
What Does Cost-Benefit Analysis Offer Us?
The third in three-post series explores how we as humans come to grips with social issues. The series started in Australia, where cost-benefit analysis has been applied to two...
Retrospective: How Australia Decided To Make New Buildings Accessible
The second in three-post series explores how we as humans come to grips with social issues. The series starts in Australia, where cost-benefit analysis has been applied to two...
Turning The Tables On Voucher Discrimination
When a real estate agent applied for a job as a housing advocate at Neighbors Together, a community non-profit in Brooklyn, alarm bells went off.
Many of the people who...
Keeping Up Appearances: How Much Does That Matter To the Unhoused?
Where to find answers the question posed in the headline above? If we were to depend on a 'scientific' approach to the answer, we might be waiting a long...
An Invitation To See The Faces Of People Who Are Unhoused: Kelly And Ron
Meet Ron and Kelly. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve's portraits come with notes:
'Ron and Kelly were sitting...
An Invitation To See The Faces Of People Who Are Unhoused: John
Meet John and his cat. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve's portraits come with notes:
I've met John before....
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin: A Case Study In Saving Homes To Build Community
Hospitals have discovered that there is more to the cost of demolishing houses than the demolition and disposal feeTry: Urban Redevelopment: A Case Of Failing To See Who’s There...
An Invitation To See The Faces Of People Who Are Unhoused: Rod
Meet Rod. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve's portraits come with notes:
"I met Rod just south of Wacker...
An Invitation To See The Faces Of People Who Are Unhoused. Willie
Meet Willie. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve's portraits come with notes:
Steve: '"Can I please have a blessing?"...
Growing Racial Diversity Powers Social Housing Leadership In England
The Housing Diversity Network was founded in 2002 with a mission of supporting racial diversity. The Network supports organizations in England that want their board and staff teams to...
An Invitation To See The Faces Of People Who Are Unhoused. Ronnie
Meet Ronnie. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve's portraits come with notes:
"Ronnie was on Michigan Avenue near Nordstrom's,...
An Invitation To See The Faces Of People Who Are Unhoused: Wakili
Meet Wakili. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve's portraits come with notes:
"Wakili is a gentle soul who reminded...
An Invitation To See The Faces Of People Who Are Unhoused: Jessica
Meet Jessica. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve's portraits come with notes:
"Jessica was walking near the northeast corner...
An Invitation To See The Faces Of People Who Are Unhoused: Calvin
Meet Calvin. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve's portraits come with notes:
'Calvin was on the southwest corner of...
Young and Unhoused. No One Has Fewer Resources To Survive And Prosper
Surely, the problem is beyond managing! We're talking about the growing number of older teenagers and young adults who are unhoused in the United States.
Some no longer have family...
Helping America’s Unhoused Clean Up Their Act
Daily living is challenging for people who are unhoused:
Where will I sleep tonight?
Where can I get something to eat?
Where can I get a shower?
Is...
An Invitation To See The Faces Of People Who Are Unhoused: Michelle
Meet Michelle. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve's portraits come with notes:
'Michelle was on Wacker, near Madison Street....
An Invitation To See The Faces Of People Who Are Unhoused: Albert
Meet Albert. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve's portraits come with notes:
"Albert rolled up in his wheelchair and...
Irrational Fears About Homeless Werewolves That Prowl A Nation’s Streets
The unhoused! Would you be more accepting of them if they weren't so horrible? But then, perhaps you should pat yourself on the back. You are already cool, calm...
Dipping From The Well of Knowledge About The Right To Adequate Housing
We're Canadian and have published posts about Canadian Leilani Farha during the time she held the position of Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing. As such, we've...
New Tools To Add Housing That Meets Local Needs
The Fair Housing Alliance (the Alliance) recently published a statement that identifies holes in the housing supply in Ontario, Canada. In round numbers, 640,000 homes are missing in the...
A New Home In Nunavut – A Sign Of Something Bigger?
Nunavut Territory is in the far north of Canada. It is home to about 10,000 households, according to the last census. And its housing stock is in need of...
Receivership: A Tool That Could Serve Communities Better?
In Chicago, property owners are responsible to maintain their properties in liveable condition. When a building develops a leaky roof or its foundation is damaged, or the plumbing backs...
U.S. Public Housing: A Century of Barren Landscape? Or Rich Culture?
Pardon us if affordablehousingaction.org has displayed a particular fascination with the U.S. National Public Housing Museum.
Public Housing in America was born to fail. Not of course in its earliest...
How To Get The Press To Notice The Unhoused? Become The Press
Outside The United Kingdom, you've quite likely not heard of the newspaper called The Big Issue. Why should you even bother? One explanation comes courtesy of The Big Issue...
Universal Basic Income: Opportunities For Recipients And The Community?
Wales is in the middle of a pilot project that aims to help young adults who have been wards of the crown to avoid homelessness. Guaranteeing a basic income...
Gavin Turns The Other Cheek — Repeatedly — For Xmas Charity Dinners
The news that UK actor Tom WilkinsonTom Wilkinson: The Full Monty actor dies at 75 recently died has, for affordablehousingaction.org, provided not only a sadness that, but also prodded...
Chef: Just A Modest Local Ambition? Not If You Are Ebru Baybara Demir
'Food is a tool for change': that is an opinion, as well as a concept that frames the life experience of Turkish chef Ebru Baybara Demir.
Demir grew up in...
The Hurricane Is Over But The Emergency Has Just Begun
We're all familiar with the damage that a hurricane can leave in its wake. People with damaged properties scramble to get temporary accommodation. Repairing and cleaning a property can...
Social Housing Architecture Apostles: Why Nix It When You Can Fix It?
Do you remember Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, who in 2021 won what's considered to be the 'Nobel Prize For Architecture' — the 2021 Pritzker PrizeTry: Public Housing, “Reverence...
Where Canada Needs To Go Next On Its Journey To The Right To Adequate Housing
Last month, we shared the work of FRAPRU, a organization made up of 80+ national, regional and local organizations active in the Province of QuebecFRAPRU aligns with the organization's...
Responses To Housing Emergencies That Put Housing Access In Local Hands
This post is about two remarkable women who are reframing how we think about housing emergencies. Yasmeen Lari and Marie McGregor Pitawanakwat are from different parts of the world....
Who’s Standing Up As UN Right To Adequate Housing Falls Flat In Canada?
North America's growing rental housing housing crisis can be found expressed in its three major languages, English, Spanish and French. The third language, French, is prevalent in the province...
A Christmas Song Honouring Prince William’s Support For The Unhoused
The Christian celebration of Christmas has long involved music. But over years, decades, centuries, that music has evolved beyond hymns of praise to the birth of a Lord. Nowadays,...
NIMBY? Lower Sackville Nova Scotia Neighbours Promote Pure YIMBY Towards The Homeless
An event is taking place in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, which is quite extraordinary in North America. That community is largely one of single family homes — a suburb...
NYC Homeless Shelter in Trouble After 40 Years. The West Coast Wants A More Permanent Fix
Many countries have looked to America as a world leader. Not surprising then that people expect the United States, as the wealthiest country in the world, would be the...
Housing Discussion Forums – Opening Pandora’s Box?
If you are looking for ways to hold discussions about housing issues, you might want to check out the Housing Hangouts that are hosted by the University of North...
Feed The Homeless? Whenever You Say, God.
God, it seems, may have no sense of timing, at least as far as humans might assess the situation. Could this be a problem? Actually, it can be quite...
Hamilton Churches: Picking Up The Pace Of Housing Advocacy In Canada
How do you get people on board with a program to build more housing for people who aren’t being well served by the private market? This question led the...
US Architect Stepping Up To Build Deeply Affordable Housing
We recently reported an interview with UK architect Peter Barber. In it, Barber speaks directly about the need for much more housing for people with very low incomes. Try:...
Borrowed UK Perspectives: Helpful In Redefining New World Affordable Housing?
Here's a post based on material originally aimed at a United Kingdom market, but with most certainly a relevance elsewhere, particularly struggling North America.
A winner of the UK's Neave...
Roma: Indigenous Peoples Needing Specialized Human Rights?
Roma are often linked in the English language to wanderers in the British Isles and Ireland, described as 'gypsies', 'travellers', or 'tinkers.' Are they Europe's indigenous people? It's a...
Raising The Flag For Public Housing Tenants And Their Homes
In the article linked below, Nasteho Said brings to life the experience of living in public housing in the US, UK and Australia. Said weaves three events together:
...
John Wheatley Cigarette Card: Never Hit A Home Run, Only Created Social Housing
Have you got a cigarette card of John Wheatley like the one above? Collecting cigarette cards of British politicians probably never had the the attraction of owning baseball cards...
Making More Homes More Accessible To People With Disabilities
Two of the links below are about housing projects that are under construction in America. A non-profit called The Kelsey is behind both of them.
The Kelsey is dedicated to...
The Origins Of The Modern Kitchen
Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky is not a household name. And yet, she was a vital presence in housing design for most of the 20th century.
Following World War I, Schütte-Lihotzky was commissioned...
Kwajo Tweneboa: Housing Activist Found Worthy Of A Medal, But Gave It A “No Thanks”
The United Kingdom housing activist, Kwajo Tweneboa, has apparently had his fifteen minutes of fame. But he has not quite retired into the fond obscurity that Google and the...
A Veterinarian Pioneers Trauma-Informed Care For Homeless Pets
Trauma-informed care takes account of the possibility that a person who is seeking services has experienced trauma. For people who are homeless, the possibility of experiencing trauma is much...
A Promising Case For Tenants With Section 8 Vouchers In Los Angeles
After a long search to rent a home in Los Angeles using a Section 8 VoucherSection 8 refers to a rental subsidy program in the United States, where qualifying...
Technology Stirs The Homeless/Child Welfare Soup Pot. Too Bad It’s Just Full of Water
Four researchers from Trent University in Peterborough Ontario, kick off a report on the benefits of technology with a warning published a century ago. Even that far back, some...
Western University Experiments With In-Shelter Medical Team For Homeless People
This post is about medical residentsResidents are fully qualified doctors who are completing post-graduate training. in Windsor, Ontario, who are rotating through a one month posting to a clinic...
Film Celebrates How Determined Housing Activists Triumphed Against New York City
Would you take on one of the world's most powerful mayors of one of the world's most powerful city councils, while it played ball with powerful building developers dead...
Changing The Conversation About Poverty In A Wealthy Country
An eviction can change your life. It certainly changed Matt Desmond's. He witnessed sheriffs evicting a group of siblings who had been orphaned when their mother died unexpectedly. Desmond...
Speaking Up For People Who Are Waiting For Social Housing In Toronto
Some people who are living in social housingThis is housing where rent is geared to income. in the Toronto area feel they should move out in order to...
A New Pipeline For Incarcerated People – It’s Not What You Think
Pipelines are a popular image these days where people get directed to a specific outcome, regardless of what they might want. There's the public-housing-to-prison pipeline and the prison-to-homelessness pipeline....
Churches Roll Out The Housing Carpet
Churches have a history of speaking up for people who are oppressed in society. Faith based organizations have charitable arms that provide services and supports. Religious instruction also directs...
Perspectives On Housing Rights In Canada – Experts Weigh In
Today's post is about housing rights in Canada, where the United Nations' right to adequate housing was affirmed in law in 2019Going forward, this means that Canada's definition of...
