Downtown Women's Center’s Post

Watch CEO Karen Lee talk with Trae Holiday on Converge Media about the value of renewing the Seattle Housing Levy and its significance for Black voters. With the Seattle Housing Levy, voters have a chance to directly impact the outcome of homelessness in Seattle.   Karen spoke about the staggering impact of homelessness on the Black community, where 7% of King County is Black but almost 35% of the homeless population is Black—a result of structural racism preventing access to wealth and education. Instead of blaming the individual for complex societal factors, voters have a chance to say yes to renew the Seattle Housing levy and provide funding for affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, and emergency/shelter housing. Watch the full Converge Media video here: https://lnkd.in/gNMAuwwC

LA’s CCA/CCEA & CD14 got so corrupted for so long they were able to build 20k units in a decade with <3% “affordable”, and 0 affordable to households paying only 30% of a GR check ($2/day or $60/month). Politicians went to prison over it, but not a single unit was clawed back to affordability. CCA also lobbied against several pieces of legislation assigning basic civil rights to homeless people (nothing extreme, unless you view affirming our basic constitutional protections as extreme, which you might) and hiring the best legal strategists in the country like Gibson & Dunn to conspire against HF from within our Homelessness sector while arguing against us to SCOTUS. Yes, Theane Evangelis, the woman attorney who argued orally to SCOTUS FOR Grant’s Pass, Oregon belongs to the DTLA office of Gibson & Dunn, and is a member of CCA. Evangelis also held one of eight seats on the LA County Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness. WITH ADVOCATES LIKE EVANGELIS, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?! Shutting down the most affordable housing in the City (Skid Row Housing Trust aka The Trust, RIP) was another huge blow to Housing First. Also, there is no enforcement or funding for 20k protected RHO units and Airbnb took to 1000s of houses/apts off the LT rental market.

Hello! We're Our Time To Act. As of today, we've changed our name from Our Time to Act United to Our Time to Act. 💙 Why the name change? Our new name brings a fresh breath of clarity—it’s shorter and easier to remember. Additionally, the new name reflects the strategic shift of our organization. For the past few years, we focused on putting our name out there, building a network, and fostering a community. With these foundations in place, it’s our time to take the next step to collectively take action. Unity is still within us and our mission, and now it’s time for our brand to more closely mirror our narrowed focus: our work of acting on the housing crisis. 💙 Why the housing crisis? We believe housing is a fundamental cornerstone of our society, rooted in many other social justice issues. For example, urban sprawl and a lack of affordable housing contribute to homelessness, exacerbate poverty due to high rents, and foster reliance on private transportation, thereby exacerbating climate change. Additionally, housing justice is integral to the well-being of youth. With that said, we look forward to the future as we have big plans ahead! In community, Our Time To Act

In Iowa, over 21,000 evictions were filed last year alone. That's enough eviction to evict the entire city of Coralville and that doesn't take into consideration that many of those evictions include more than one person, many of whom are children. In 2023, 51% of eviction filings were dismissed. In Iowa, we have no way of getting ~10,500 evictions off of peoples' records, making deposits more expensive and ultimately, more difficult for people to rent. In a time when rent is skyrocketing, we need to do everything possible to help innocent individuals access safe and affordable housing. For more information on eviction expungement in Iowa, including our talking points and to sign up for our Action Alerts, please visit https://lnkd.in/gJfFEWB3

Tell Congress we need affordable housing today and in the future. Recently, our current Executive Branch urged Congress to pass legislation so that all Americans can live in a safe, affordable home. Whether renting or owning, living in a home you can afford and in a neighborhood with opportunities is the foundation for our lives, our children's lives, and the lives of future generations. Our youth are our future, and at Covenant House Florida, we are committed to working toward ending youth homelessness. By providing young people with relentless support, absolute respect, and unconditional love in a safe and nurturing environment, they have the opportunity to thrive and support others. This is the foundation for our communities to flourish and grow. Our youth are also some of the most vulnerable members of our communities and we must not sit back and let affordable housing go further beyond their reach. We need our federal legislators to work together to address the increase in homelessness as living costs continue to climb. Now, we need Congress to see this through by passing urgent affordable housing legislation. How can you help? Simply CLICK BELOW to add your name to our list of supporters. We’re hoping to get every member of our community to sign so we can show members of Congress how critical this issue is to Americans. https://lnkd.in/gdD_dJHM Through the strength of our community, we can make our collective voice heard — and make housing more accessible for all. #housing #affordablehousing #Congress #legislation #petition #useyourvoice #relentlesssupport #absoluterespect #unconditionallove #endyouthhomelessness

https://lnkd.in/gX92K-St This is such a detailed resource that includes many personal stories of people experiencing homelessness and what trying to get assistance is like. This study particularly pertains to north Minneapolis, but these struggles are universal throughout the country. I work in housing assistance and I can tell you that these stories are accurate and housing assistance needs much improvement. Improvement is easier said then done. I think more people are starting to realize this, but for effective change to take place, people's homeless/housing assistance lived experiences and the experience of front line support workers need to guide the decisions of legislative representatives and people who sit on funding boards. Otherwise, the rate of homelessness for Americans will continue to rise. This in turn will negatively effect almost every American (anyone not considered wealthy), as an increased population of people experiencing homelessness negatively effects the overall local economy.

Coloradans need to make $37.47/hr to afford a 2-bedroom apartment; that's a *17% increase* from just last year!!🚨🤯 🏘 More people are being squeezed out of housing & into homelessness, and this trend will continue if the public sector doesn't make an incredibly fast shift back to the meaningful involvement in building & maintaining affordable housing that housed veterans after WWII. 🛠 We know what works because we have done it before. I've talked to people throughout the development continuum and what everyone from builders to lenders say is the same: it is simply not feasible to build affordable housing to meet community need while only being driven by the profit motive. Crunch the numbers; it can't be done. ⚖ We need community & political will to try a multipronged *publicly led approach* - from legalizing upzoning to increasing tax credits and vouchers to expanding the kinds of services that medicaid is able to cover - but at the end of the day, we need to ultimately understand that public needs cannot be completely commodified for private profit if we ever want to solve homelessness or poverty at large - and start designing our public resources accordingly. // Check out the National Low Income Housing Coalition's Out of Reach report released today for deeper dives and comparisons across the country (including breakdowns of each major metropolitan area; you need $46/hr in Denver 😱): https://nlihc.org/oor

Two years ago, I met Ludia, who had been living in and out of shelters with her grandsons for months, unable to find an apartment where her housing voucher could be accepted. Recent research shows that nearly half of California’s homeless population is over 50 years old, and metro-specific homelessness rates are driven overwhelmingly by the scarcity of affordable housing supply. As I've urged in my online book, Congress must streamline tax credit financing of housing, and eliminate current statutory barriers to using federal vouchers in more innovative, less costly housing projects, such as the prefabricated, quick-build projects we see in Mountain View, Redwood City, and San Jose. Local communities need a more nimble federal partner to help older Americans, like Ludia, age in dignity. samliccardo.com/plan/

🏠 The Housing Navigation and Maintenance Program is on the chopping block, jeopardizing vital support for 1,300 foster youth with federal housing vouchers. These vouchers have made a significant impact. 💡 Before this program, federal vouchers were underutilized in California due to a lack of public funding for essential supportive services. Since its creation, there's been a 54% increase in vouchers, bringing $22 million in federal investment annually. 🛑 If this program is eliminated, it could halt this effective state/federal partnership, putting 1,300 youth at risk of homelessness. Let's advocate for continued support and prevent vulnerable youth from facing this crisis! https://buff.ly/49inhoo

🏠 The Housing Navigation & Maintenance Program is on the chopping block, jeopardizing vital support for 1,300 foster youth with federal housing vouchers. These vouchers have made a significant impact. 💡 Before this program, federal vouchers were underutilized in California due to a lack of public funding for essential supportive services. Since its creation, there's been a 54% increase in vouchers, bringing $22 million in federal investment annually. 🛑 If this program is eliminated, it could halt this effective state/federal partnership, putting 1,300 youth at risk of homelessness. Let's advocate for continued support and prevent vulnerable youth from facing this crisis! Take action: Using these links,  https://lnkd.in/gWmzh8Mz, & https://jbay.org/advocate/