In July, leaders of the Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good approached the Portland Housing Advisory Commission (PHAC) to increase the amount of Portland's Tax-Increment Financing (TIF) set-aside money reserved for affordable housing from 30% to 50%. "We are in a crisis and people are being dispossessed from their homes and their neighborhoods….It's bad and it's going to get worse if we don't do something," said MACG leader Bob Brown.

On September 1st 97 MACG leaders packed the scheduled PHAC review hearing. The Director of the Portland Development Commission argued that increasing financing for affordable housing would necessarily involve reducing support for other services. A key MACG ally and former senior housing policy manager for the Portland Development Commission found $55 million in the budget currently not in use, that could be used for affordable housing. According to her, "credit should go to MACG for organizing and understanding that investing in affordable housing supports their goals of creating a healthy economy."

Read more

In the second of three steps to secure funding for workforce development and affordable housing, PCIC leaders testified before Pima County Supervisors, persuading them to support (4-1) an expanded bond package which includes a building for workforce development program JobPath ($1M), affordable housing ($20M), neighborhood reinvestment ($25M) and open space / environment ($80M).

Randy Mayer, the pastor of Good Shepherd UCC, argued that this bond was an opportunity to leave the County in better shape than they found it. He also pledged the support of PCIC and Southern Arizona Interfaith to help pass the propositions this November -- the final step towards victory.

Mississippi was one of only three states in the country without a housing trust fund. 'Working Together Jackson' changed that.

Read more

For over 30 years, Sr. Christine Stephens and co-director Ernie Cortes have trained lead organizers for organizations like Austin Interfaith, "an eclectic mix of 40 dues-paying partner organizations that include labor unions, churches, mosques, synagogues and non-profits.... The mission of her organization...is to identify and train people like Malone to solve problems for themselves.

'You find people who . . . if put into relationship with one another and taught how to organize, can do just incredible things,' she explains."

Read more

Asserting that 9 out of 10 apartment owners indiscriminately ban Section 8 voucher users, Austin Interfaith clergy and lay leaders applauded the city council for introducing a proposal to prohibit apartment managers and owners from discriminating against Section 8 users. They described the resolution, introduced and passed on a Holy Day shared by Jewish and Christian traditions, an example of how the public can better protect the poor and most vulnerable.

Council Approves Housing Voucher Ordinance, KVUE-ABC

Read more

Koreena Malone, an accounting graduate of Capital IDEA, was confronted with the threat of losing her home when a developer's plans involved razing her apartment and replacing it with a higher cost unit. In collaboration with Austin Interfaith she formed a tenant's association and negotiated a new deal on the redevelopment with Travis Heights Elementary School, the neighborhood association, her tenants' association, and the developer.

"'I strongly believe that the redevelopment of Oak Creek Village won't just lead us to a better community but a model for the city of Austin,' Malone said.

Read more

"The Austin City Council did away with the CURE zoning process at its last meeting, but the zoning entitlement program didn't go quietly. The public hearing before the Council's vote was characterized by a heated exchange between Mayor Lee Leffingwelland Interfaith Austin's Kurt Cadena-Mitchell.

Read more

"If Oak Creek doesn't remain affordable housing, will have to move in with her mother in Bastrop. Principal Robertson says continuity is key for low-income families.

'Constant change is not a friend for Title One families,' Robertson says. 'Nor is it for students to jump from school to school. That upheaval — some of our most successful families will be thrown into I don't know what kind of abyss.'

Read more

"Austin leaders think they can champion the push for affordable housing once again. Three members of Austin City Council are sponsoring a resolution that calls upon the city manager to explore ways of returning the issue to the ballot….'For our folks who are living on the street, there is not a pathway for them to get into any kind of home,' clergy John Elford said...."

City Leaders Hope to Reintroduce Affordable Housing, YNN

Read more

After the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Jeremiah Group leaders found new focus as they heard stories about rent doubling and tripling in the recovering city. When leaders discovered that renters had been all but forgotten in the rebuilding process, they crafted a plan: "soft second mortgages" designed to help families with low incomes transform themselves from renters into buyers.

Read more