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Creating Affordable Housing Opportunities Means Talking Equity

Stanford Social Innovation Review
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
Click here for more.
Affordable-housing-means-talking-equity
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Giving Compass’ Take:

• Tiffany Manuel and Nat Kendall-Taylor talk about how to fight against misperceptions around affordable housing and help raise the urgency level.

• SSIR raises the language issue (let’s not use “opportunity for all,” implying that affordable housing is something earned rather than a right), but reframing the discussion is just a start. Action must be taken.

• Affordable housing initiatives also need to be realistic. Here’s why.


Housing insecurity is not evenly distributed across the population; it disproportionately affects people of color, older people, and those living on low incomes. As rents continue to rise and wages continue to stagnate, more and more working families are finding it harder to find high-quality, affordable homes. By 2025, the number of families that spend at least half of their income on rent will reach 13 million—an increase of 11 percent over 2015 levels, according to recent projections.

Housing and community development advocates understand that high-quality, stable housing is central to the health and wellbeing of all families. It helps foster relationships and opportunities in communities, limits chronic stress, and allows families to support positive child development. Research shows that substandard housing, on the other hand, contributes to injury and illness, such as asthma, heart and lung disease, and cancer, while poor neighborhood conditions can make it harder to play and exercise outdoors, buy healthy food, and access good jobs, schools, and transportation. Ultimately, if we hope to address inequity, whether by race, class, or age, we must address America’s affordable housing shortage.

And yet, the lack of affordable housing doesn’t rank high on public perceptions of pressing national problems, and lawmakers have failed to adequately address it. To gain traction, catalyze stronger investments in community-led solutions, and scale-up programs that work, we need to spark a different conversation.

Read the full article about affordable housing and talking equity by Tiffany Manuel and Nat Kendall-Taylor at Stanford Social Innovation Review.

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Homeless and Housing is a complex topic, and others found these selections from the Impact Giving archive from Giving Compass to be good resources.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    The Push For Zero: Real Change Starts At The Micro Level

    Giving Compass' Take: • In an excerpt from Dan Heath's book Upstream, the author explains the "push for zero," a strategy for change-makers to eliminate issues entirely, starting at the micro level. • How can we learn from others' successes to eliminate societal issues in our communities? How can we apply the "push for zero" to our coronavirus response efforts? • Learn about Mutual Accountability for Social Change, another innovative approach to philanthropy. In 2014, Larry Morrissey, then mayor of Rockford was asked to join the Mayor’s Challenge, a campaign promoted by the federal government with the goal of ending veteran homelessness in communities around the nation. Less than a year later—on December 15, 2015—Rockford became the first city in the United States to have effectively ended veteran homelessness. The city changed its approach in many ways, and it began with a mental shift: They were not going to “deal with” homelessness anymore, or “work on it” or “combat it.” They resolved to end it. Jennifer Jaeger, Rockford’s community services director, and one of the key leaders in the work on homelessness, called it her “I believe in fairies moment.” In my new book Upstream, I analyze the work of leaders such as Jaeger and Morrissey who have escaped the cycle of reaction that so often characterizes our work: putting out fires, responding to emergencies, “taking care” of problems. These leaders were determined to push upstream to prevent those problems from happening. One of the most surprising patterns I discovered in this upstream work was the push for “zero”—the desire not just to mitigate problems but to eliminate them. I found groups all over the country who aspired to zero: An effort in Detroit to eliminate suicides. The Vision Zero network, which aspires to eliminate all traffic fatalities. And the Built for Zero network, a methodology and movement for ending homelessness—and one that played a major role in Rockford’s success. The lesson for upstream leaders is clear: You can’t help a thousand people, or a million, until you understand how to help one. Read the full article about the push for zero by Dan Heath at Stanford Social Innovation Review.


Are you ready to give?

In addition to learning and connecting with others, taking action is a key step towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact for Homeless and Housing take a look at these Giving Funds, Charitable Organizations or Projects.

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