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Spotlight

Join Us for the #BuildBackforJustice Day of Action on April 25

After centuries of racial turmoil and a global pandemic that made economic and health disparities go from bad to worse, the time to build back for justice is now.  Recently, there has been a resurgence around last year’s stalled Build Back Better Act – President Biden's landmark domestic economic spending plan. As the Senate takes up this legislative package, we are mobilizing to ensure the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) and federal funding for housing remain centerpieces of this plan as essential pillars to advance racial economic justice.

We invite you to partner with us in our #BuildBackForJustice campaign and join us in calling for key investments that get us closer to racial economic justice and a future where all Americans can prosper, build wealth, and thrive. We believe that the first step towards this goal is to invest in basic resources like the CTC and affordable and accessible housing.

To get involved, please fill out this Google form [[link removed]] by Friday, April 15. Also, mark Monday, April 25, on your calendars for our #BuildBackForJustice Day of Action to collectively urge Congress to #BuildBackForJustice. Look out for a toolkit with talking points, sample social media messages, graphics and more!

If you have any questions about this campaign, please reach out to Vanna Cure ( [[email protected]]), Yumhee Park ( [[email protected]]) or Alejandra Montoya-Boyer ( [[email protected]]).

Policy Updates

HousingNola Releases the 2022 Housing for All Plan

This February, HousingNola [[link removed]] released its 2022 Housing for All Plan [[link removed]] to expand affordable housing and community development in New Orleans. Nearly 100,000 African American families and households left New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and have been unable to return. A cycle of natural disasters, coupled with systemic underinvestment and a lack of jobs has only intensified the economic struggle for Black communities. HousingNola’s proposal focuses on equitable community development to expand affordable housing and combat displacement arising from the rising cost of living and a lack of adequate housing. The plan also calls for capital investment in New Orleans’s low-income communities to develop reliable infrastructure and support resilient housing.

Funding for Affordable Housing Would Expand in Biden’s FY23 Budget

The Biden Administration's proposed 2023 fiscal budget would include $50 billion to increase affordable housing and address the country’s growing housing crisis [[link removed]]. The rising costs of both buying a home and renting have increased the financial burden on families throughout the country, leading to higher rates of eviction and homelessness. Under the proposed budget, the Administration would designate more funding for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program [[link removed]] and fund additional low-income housing tax credits.

The PAVE Task Force Seeks to Root Out Bias in Home Appraisals

The Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) task force, an interagency task force hosted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [[link removed]] (HUD), published a new action plan to [[link removed]] advance property appraisal and valuation equity. The action plan will evaluate the role that racism and historical discrimination has played in property appraisals and valuations, examine the appearance of bias in residential home valuations, and provide recommendations to key stakeholders regarding equitable practices that can increase homeownership in Black and Brown communities. Disparities in valuation and appraisal bias continue to be drivers of the racial wealth gap and must be addressed to ensure all communities can build wealth through homeownership.

Introducing the Citizen Participation & Equitable Engagement Toolkit

HUD has created a new resource, The Citizen Participation & Equitable Engagement (CPEE) Toolkit, [[link removed]] to support Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grantees. The toolkit is intended to “provide grantees with tools and strategies to assist residents—especially low- and moderate-income (LMI) persons, vulnerable populations, protected classes under fair housing and civil rights laws, and underserved communities impacted by a disaster.”

Civil Survival and Rep. Tara Simmons Secure a Housing Win For Formerly Incarcerated People

When formerly incarcerated people are released, they face hardships including barriers to housing, employment, and education. Civil Survival [[link removed]], a Washington State nonprofit led by and for formerly incarcerated people, alongside Washington State Representative Tarra Simmons recently moved the needle on housing policy at the state level by advocating for HB 1818: Promoting Successful Reentry and Rehabilitation of Persons Convicted of Criminal Offenses [[link removed]], which was signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee in March 2022. The bill provides housing vouchers for six months after a person is released from the Department of Correction’s custody and will be effective July 1, 2022. The overwhelming majority of legislators in both the House and Senate voted in favor of HB 1818 was a great show of bipartisanship and highlights the potential growth of emphasizing successful re-entry policy for formerly incarcerated people as well as the communities they represent. For more information on the barriers to affordable and adequate housing for formerly incarcerated people, please read our brief Prioritizing Housing Options and Opportunities for Returning Citizens [[link removed]].

In the News

Celebrating Fair Housing Month

April is Fair Housing Month [[link removed]] in recognition of the Fair Housing Act, which was passed on April 11, 1968. The legislation was passed to protect all citizens from discrimination in the housing market, particularly Black and Brown communities who had been historically excluded from certain neighborhoods and homeownership opportunities. The legislation was passed quickly in response to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was tragically killed in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4th, 1968.

Milwaukee Launches New Plan to Address Racial Disparities in Homeownership

To address widespread racial disparities in homeownership, the city of Milwaukee has developed a new strategic plan to expand affordable housing. [[link removed]] The plan involves stakeholders in both the public and private sectors and includes homebuyer counseling, an acquisition fund to ensure that Black and Brown communities can purchase homes in their own neighborhoods, as well as strategies to limit foreclosures and help Black and Hispanic homeowners retain their homes. Proponents of the plan believe expanding ownership will increase financial security for Black and Brown households, offering more opportunities to build equity and assets.

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