How a national funder collaborative is empowering communities, expanding access to housing in BIPOC neighborhoods, and changing policies, narratives, and systems that perpetuate racial injustice.

Is the future of philanthropy a more collaborative one? The leaders of Funders for Housing and Opportunity share lessons to help the field learn—and evolve—in real time.

Three social change leaders discuss how to move the narrative about housing away from a focus on individual actions toward values, racial justice, and the well-being of all.

Two housing justice advocates discuss different approaches to policy change and the importance of centering the voices of people most affected by systemic barriers and inequities in housing.

Local initiatives are breaking new ground to make access to housing and opportunity more affordable and equitable and to increase the resources dedicated to housing justice.

In 2020 we launched a dedicated effort to learn more about legal issues surrounding unaccompanied minors experiencing homelessness.

Zoning rules dictate more than just how we can use and build on land. They also shape our communities and our lives. Land use laws determine where we can find housing, schools, and parks—and who has access to them.

Last month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to dedicate $5 million to preventing housing discrimination and to develop an ordinance to protect housing choice voucher holders from source of income discrimination.

As a result of decades of legalized discrimination in the housing industry, huge racial disparities in homeownership still exist today. This is not acceptable in a country founded on equal opportunity.

Despite that consensus, the digital divide is about to get worse, and current policies will exacerbate it. We need to replace those policies with a coordinated approach that provides appropriate incentives for all stakeholders to bridge widening gaps.

We can imagine a future where everyone can find and afford a quality home. Where every neighborhood offers a diversity of housing options. And where people up and down the income ladder can enjoy housing security and build wealth through ownership.

The map focuses on four critical areas of policy: protections against source-of-income discrimination, the regulation of short-term rentals, inclusionary housing programs, and rent control.

Affordable housing campaigns are not new, of course, but what is unprecedented and transformative about Opportunity Starts at Home is the scope and diversity of the partners that are joining forces to advocate for more robust and equitable federal housing policies.

Homeownership often translates to wealth accumulation, and wealth grows generationally. As a result, the wealth gap between white and black families has grown over the past 50 years. In 2016, white wealth was seven times greater than black wealth.

When we refer to people who are, or have been, in contact with the criminal justice system as “felons,” “offenders,” “inmates,” or “convicts,” we define them by the worst act of their lives, creating a stigma that lingers long after they’ve paid their debt to society.

More than 50 years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, what would it take to meaningfully reduce residential segregation and/or to mitigate its negative consequences in the United States?

On September 20, 2018, a panel of researchers and practitioners discussed new research and ongoing challenges associated with the HCV program at HUD’s Quarterly Update from the Office of Policy Development and Research.