Funding opportunity for new construction and rehabilitation housing projects! 

Housing Alaskans: A Public-Private Partnership (HAPPP) is accepting grant applications for “top-off” funding of up to $150,000 for new construction and rehabilitation housing projects. The grant funding is for a limited solicitation of a narrow scope of projects. It is intended to deploy funding quickly for housing projects ready to break ground or to be completed in 2023. This initial “top-off” investment opportunity is completely independent of all future HAPPP funding opportunities. The application deadline is Sunday, June 4, 2023, at 11:59 PM.

What is an effective emergency shelter?

Food Insecurity is on the rise

St. Francis House Food Pantry is serving unprecedented numbers of new clients. These clients are younger, dipping into resources at CSS for the first time, and possibly indicative of a future surge in greater needs. This could signal something significant is happening in our community. It speaks to a cliff, a lack of resources, the cost of living, etc. Over 1000 households were new to SFH in the first 3 months of 2023. This rise, coupled with the ending of Covid-era TEFAP support, is creating more strain on people and pantries.

To support, please drop off food to St. Francis House Food Pantry at 3710 E 20^th Avenue, Monday through Friday, 9am – 4pm.

Creating effective homeless response systems 

In the United States, Built for Zero is now a movement of 105 communities committed to measurably and equitably ending homelessness. More than 70 million people— about a fifth of the U.S. population — live in these communities. Together, their leaders are building a new reality where homelessness is rare and brief, if it ever occurs.
 

There are seven features of local housing/homelessness response systems that can effectively reduce and end homelessness:

1. A shared aim and belief that homelessness is solvable
2. A collaborative, community-wide team that is accountable for reducing and ending homelessness
3. High-quality data that support a culture of continuous improvement
4. An aligned system wherein all providers:
   1. Allocate housing and services through a single process and according to shared protocols (also known as a coordinated entry system) and
   2. Participate in recurring, collective problem-solving efforts to remove barriers to housing (also known as case conferencing)
5. Establishment of a racially equitable homeless response system
6. Policy mechanisms to clear structural and administrative barriers to ending homelessness
7. Strategic, data-driven investments to reduce homelessness long-term and flexible financial resources to clear immediate barriers to housing

Communities in Built for Zero focus on reaching functional zero for target populations as steps on the way to achieving functional zero for all populations. A study by the Urban Institute found that reaching functional zero for one population sets up the community to make progress for subsequent populations.

Podcast
Finding Your Place: How unaffordable housing drives homelessness

If there's been a defining trend in American cities thus far in the 21st century, it's been the rise of housing prices to astronomical levels. That's also meant a huge increase in the number of people who aren't able to afford a place to live, according to Gregg Colburn, a professor at the University of Washington who co-authored the book “Homelessness Is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns."

Housing for LGBTQ+ Older People

Because of entrenched transphobic and homophobic biases that pervade our society, many LGBTQ+ elders often experience discrimination — by property managers, staff, other residents, or service providers — when seeking rental and senior housing. According to an Equal Rights Center report, 48 percent of older same-sex couples applying for senior housing were subjected to discrimination. On top of that, 50 percent of single LGBTQ+ older people believe they will have to work well beyond the retirement age, compared to 27 percent of their single, non-LGBTQ+ peers, and 51% of LGBTQ+ elders are very or extremely concerned about having enough money to live on, compared to 36 percent of non-LGBTQ+ peers.

Transgender and nonbinary (TGNB) elders and older people of color – particularly Black elders – face even more formidable barriers to housing. Home ownership rates are an important metric for assessing housing security among a given population. TGNB people have been found to be less likely than other members of the LGBTQ+ community to own a home. According to the 2022 AARP Dignity Survey, 71 percent of respondents over the age of 65 owned a home. However, only 43 percent of TGNB respondents indicated being homeowners. In this same survey, Black and Latino respondents were found to own homes at rate of 42 percent and 54 percent, respectively. These figures were well below the 62 percent survey-wide homeownership rate.

NLIHC Releases New Brief on State-Level Tenant Protections Enacted Since Pandemic

NLIHC released a brief highlighting the efforts of state-level lawmakers to pass tenant protections that keep renters stably housed and prevent unjust discrimination and harassment. The brief, “The State of Statewide Protections,” provides in-depth summaries of common tenant protections, details the challenges faced by lawmakers enacting protections, and offers recommendations for developing and implementing laws aiming to protect renters over the long term.

Tenant protections are laws and policies meant to ensure that renter households are able to maintain safe, affordable, and accessible housing and live free from the threat of eviction. Though many types of protections exist, the brief focuses on five protections that aim to divert evictions: (1) the civil right to counsel; (2) measures prohibiting source-of-income discrimination; (3) eviction record sealing and expungement legislation; (4) rent stabilization and anti-rent gouging legislation; and (5) “just cause”eviction laws.