housing-insecurity

In November, Colorado voters passed Prop 123, which will allow 0.1% of the state income tax rate to be used to increase the affordable housing stock among other provisions to help the unhoused. This man, who was living in an encampment in Boulder last year, said he had been on a housing wait list for a long time. (Derek Miles for Colorado Newsline)

Voters embraced affordable housing initiatives. Advocates say Congress should do the same.

BY: - January 1, 2023

'It's a structural problem with the housing market, where housing prices keep going up, costs of construction have increased, and incomes haven't necessarily kept up with that part of the market,' an expert said.

One of Pittsburghs famed yellow bridges (Brookings Institution image).

‘Someone spit on me’: These are the barriers to stable housing for Pgh’s homeless community

BY: - December 8, 2022

For many people experiencing homelessness, being without stable housing compounds every other problem.

Volunteers with Habitat for Humanity of Washington stand in front of a new house. 

Habitat for Humanity in SWPA recovering after pandemic’s one-two punch | Helping the Helpers

BY: - December 1, 2022

'The pandemic had – and to some degree still has – a profound effect on our operations,' Mark Twyford, of Habitat for Humanity of Washington, said.

In Passaic, a two-bedroom apartment costs on average about $1,700 a month — amounting to 103 hours of work a week at minimum wage to avoid being cost-burdened. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor)

Low-income renters and tenants of color in N.J. bear brunt of housing crisis, study finds

BY: - October 12, 2022

The Garden State needs a 'visionary housing policy' to protect families from displacement, according to an advocacy group.

PGH officials dedicate new low-barrier homeless shelter with wraparound services

BY: - October 1, 2022

The shelter, set to open in mid-October, will have 95 year-round beds, with a possibility of 42 more in the winter.

Homeless camping bans are spreading. This group shaped the bills

BY: - August 10, 2022

The Cicero Institute is pushing a model with residency limits, bans on permanent encampments, and penalties for cities that refuse to remove them.

App aims to connect Pennsylvanians experiencing homelessness with resources

BY: - July 26, 2022

The app, known as Finding Your Way in PA, allows users to “search for and request assistance with services and resources in their current location, local communities, and throughout Pennsylvania to connect them with helpful supports,” according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. 

For unhoused students, transportation issues mean new schools and unfamiliar classrooms

BY: - April 3, 2022

The lack of transportation means a number of homeless students have been forced to switch enrollment to the school districts where their temporary housing is located, a move long known to be disruptive to their education.

COMMENTARY

Affordable housing is harder to find, leaving renters asking: Where do we go? | Opinion

BY: - March 23, 2022

Workers have faced stagnant wages for the past 40 years. Yet rent has steadily increased during that time.

Homelessness, unemployment remain issues for transgender Philadelphians

BY: - November 21, 2021

'Being unstable in housing makes a lot of things unsustainable,' one community member said. 'Like just remaining employable, not knowing where your next meals are coming from, not even knowing if you’re going to have clean clothes for the next day.'

States, cities face deadline for proving how quickly they’ve helped renters in crisis

BY: - November 14, 2021

The process for sorting out which states and cities may receive more federal rental aid money and which may see reductions begins Monday.

‘Housing is not infrastructure. Housing is housing,’ Pa.’s Toomey says as mayors plead for help to alleviate housing crisis

BY: - June 16, 2021

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said that he was concerned that affordable housing is becoming out of reach for families.