In our most recent (March 28) national call for the “HoUSed: Universal, Stable, and Affordable Housing” campaign, we discussed President Biden’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2023 and its implications for affordable housing, learned about new research on the impact of California’s Project Homekey, received an update on NLIHC’s Our Homes, Our Votes campaign, and heard news from the field from advocates in Oregon, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C.
NLIHC’s Sarah Saadian provided an overview of the housing provisions in President Biden’s FY23 budget request. The proposal would fund HUD programs at $71.9 billion, an increase of $6.2 billion over FY22 enacted levels, and would provide substantial investments in affordable housing and housing assistance for households with the greatest needs.
David Garcia and Ryan Finnigan from the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California – Berkeley presented findings from their new report, “California’s Homekey Program: Unlocking Housing Opportunities for People Experiencing Homelessness.” Project Homekey was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to quickly move people experiencing homelessness into hotel and motel rooms. The researchers found that the project successfully converted approximately 6,000 rooms into permanent supportive housing units, although long-term funding is needed to maintain the operation and maintenance of these units.
NLIHC’s Courtney Cooperman discussed the relaunch of NLIHC’s Our Homes, Our Votes website. Our Homes, Our Votes is a non-partisan campaign to increase voter engagement and registration among low-income tenants. The website was recently updated with supplemental resources for voter engagement, registration, and more in preparation for the 2022 midterm elections.
Andrea Bell of Oregon Housing and Community Services provided an End Rental Arrears to Stop Evictions (ERASE) project update, emphasizing the importance of culturally specific programs and trauma-informed care when administering emergency rental assistance funds. Zack Eichten from Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, Brit Ruffin from the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, and Beth Mellen from the Legal Aid Society of DC provided field updates.
National calls will now take place every other week. Our next call will be April 11 at 2:30 pm ET. Register for the call at: tinyurl.com/ru73qan
Watch a recording of the March 28 call at: tinyurl.com/munf5sm5
View presentation slides from the March 28 call at: tinyurl.com/jvbemsa8