Opportunity Starts at Home is a long-term, multi-sector campaign to meet the rental housing needs of the nation’s low-income people.
Housing affordability is central to other national priorities, like health care, food security, education and more. Yet the gap between rents and incomes is growing, and this is compounded by unprecedented threats to federal housing assistance. Proven solutions to ending homelessness and housing instability exist – what’s missing is the political will to provide resources that will put these solutions into practice in communities across the nation.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition launched the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign together with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Children’s HealthWatch, Make Room, and the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and with a steering committee of partners including Catholic Charities USA, the Children’s Defense Fund, Community Catalyst, the Food Research and Action Center, NAACP, National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Association of Community Health Centers, the National Education Association, the National League of Cities and UnidosUS.
Campaign Goals
The goals of the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign are to advance federal housing solutions that:
- Bridge the growing gap between renter incomes and rising housing costs
- Provide aid to people experiencing job losses or other economic shocks to avert housing instability or homelessness
- Expand the affordable housing stock for low-income renters
- Defend existing rental assistance and other targeted housing resources from harmful cuts