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Upcoming Joining Forces meetings
Joining Forces Monthly Member Meeting 1st Monday of the Month, 1-3PM Register for Monthly Meeting Here If you would like us to run a Affordable Housing 101 session for your group, please let us know at joiningforces@connect2home.org. Action Alerts
Watch this Last Week Tonight Video with John Oliver video about Rent In this video, John Oliver discusses why rent has become increasingly unaffordable, and what we can do to combat a system that is stacked against tenants. You can access this YouTube video here. Read "America's Race Gap Between Black and White Homeowners"
This BBC article addresses how the history of redlining, the denial of mortages or loans to people of color out of suspicion of financial risk, continues to be a reality today even when it comes to wealthy African Americans who are looking to buy homes. It explains how the gap between white and black homeownership rates in the US is at its widest within the past 120 years, with roughly 44% of black Americans owning homes today compared to 75% of white people, which can be the result of historic systems that have prevented African Americans from building credit. A proposed solution to this long-held, systemic issue is the use of "Bank Black," which are black-owned, black-run financial institutions that are more likely to grant property loans to black households than traditional banks. Read more here. Read "Four Options to Support Vulnerable Renters as Emergency Measures End" This Urban Institute article gets into how as of May of this year, out of 31 cities that the Eviction Lab tracks, 11 had filing above 100% of the historical average, and 7 of these had closed their emergency rental assitance (ERA) programs as quarantine and COVID relief began phasing out. Solutions to prevent homelessness from skyrocketing as the US moves away from programs that helped people throughout the pandemic include: continuing ERA funding, expanding housing choice vouchers, providing federal tax credits to renters, and launching universal basic rent programs. Read more here. hot topics and blog posts
Joining Forces' Equitable Zoning Project
In August of 2020, Joining Forces for Affordable Housing reviewed Evanston’s Zoning Code and concluded that “both Evanston and the surrounding communities should overhaul their municipal codes to accomplish the following:
Advocacy Spotlight: Nathaniel's End of Service
For this spotlight, we’re focusing on none other than Joining Forces’ own Nathaniel Hagemaster as his year-long term of AmeriCorps VISTA service that brought him to Connections ends! Read more here. The Effect of Universities on Housing Costs Joining Forces for Affordable Housing researched the question of how our anchor institutions--our largest employers--can participate in solving the shortage of affordable housing in Evanston. We started with Northwestern University, looking at what other top universities are doing about housing their communities. You can read our report here. Next up in this project--looking at what our other largest employers--the hospitals--can do. Read more here. WHATS HAPPENING
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Looking at the City Code Through an Equity--and Affordability Lens
Joining Forces has identified changes the City of Evanston should make to its City Code to erase all traces of red-lining and increase affordability. We think surrounding municipalities should do revisions as well. Learn more here. in illinois
Information from our state partners: across the nation
Information from our national partners: housing in the news
Evergreen Plans Renovation of Historic Cleveland Building - From Affordable Housing Finance Going Green a Win-Win for Affordable Housing - From Affordable Housing Finance Prioritization in Emergency Rental Assistance Programs; A Framework of Strategies, Policies, and Procedures to Better Serve Priority Populations - From the National Low Income Housing Coalition Build Modular Housing Factories Near Areas with High Housing Costs - From Shelterforce What the US Can Learn from Rental Housing Markets across the Globe - From The Brookings Institute Bills to Increase Affordable Housing Resources Introduced in the House and Senate - From the National Low Income Housing Coalition How Biden Hopes to Fix the Thorniest Problem in Housing - From Politico Amy Klobuchar Has a Plan to Build More Housing - From Vox media Why Are Zoning Laws Defining What Constitutes a Family? - From Bloomberg CityLab Affordable Housing Forever- From The New York Times Study Examines Complexity of Financing LIHTC Developments- From Affordable Housing Finance |
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