Past Events
Housing Now's 25th Anniversary EventOn October 27, 2014 the National Coalition for the Homeless hosted a panel discussion at the Center for Community Change in Washington D.C. to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Housing Now march. The experts who spoke on poverty and housing included:
- Mary Lassen - Managing Director, Center for Community Change
- Jerry Jones - Former Executive Director, National Coalition for the Homeless
- Donna Brazile - Contributor to CNN and ABC News
- Sheila Crowley - President & CEO, National Low Income Housing Coalition
- T. Sanders - National Leader, Faces of Homelessness Speakers' Bureau
- Peter Edelman - Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
- John Parvensky - President, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
In the fall of 1989, 150,000 advocates marched on Washington to demand Housing Now! This event was the culmination of grassroots housing organizing that gathered momentum in the 1980s, winning many of the federal programs that are currently in place. In recognition of Housing Now's 25th anniversary, experts met to discuss how we can build a movement strong enough to convince Washington to respond to the current housing crisis.The full program is available on YouTube.
Donna BrazileSheila Crowley
T. Sanders
Peter Edelman
Mary Lassen
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Today, 8 million extremely low-income households are paying more on rent than they can afford. Meanwhile, waiting lists for programs like public housing and federal vouchers are frozen and housing costs continue to rise. Individuals with minimum wage jobs have to work maximum hours to try to keep their homes.
The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program allows families to pay a reasonable 30% of their income on housing, leaving them with resources to cover all of the other mounting costs of living, and covers the rest of what is due to landlords. While this program can prevent people from ending up on the streets, Congress seems to have lost confidence and is pulling back funding, without developing any alternative forms of assistance for the millions of Americans who need it.
Join our campaign to RESTORE HOUSING VOUCHER FUNDING
Do some reading:
- Joint Center on Housing Studies of Harvard University - Research & Working Papers
- National Low-Income Housing Coalition - Out of Reach Annual Report
- National Coalition for the Homeless - Advocate for Housing
- Center on Budget & Policy Priorities - State-by-State Federal Rental Assistance Fact Sheets
Share your knowledge:
In no state can a full-time minimum wage worker afford a one-bedroom or a two-bedroom rental unit at Fair Market Rent. #FundHUD #OutOfReach
Most waiting lists for rental assistance are closed and have been for years. We need to expand these programs not restrict them! #FundHUD
Help Us Learn:
We are looking for some volunteers to work with us to gather local data. If you are interested in assisting, we encourage you to email us.