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.

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"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.

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"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.'

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"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

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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.

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