Holladay showed our Blank Street Boys around his neighborhood in downtown Newport News. They shared two days with Holladay and he was willing to sit down over lunch and tell his story.
Holladay from Blank Street on Vimeo.
Governor McDonnell made an announcement this morning that is good news for our most vulnerable brothers and sisters. The press release states that he will form an advisory committee to craft a comprehensive statewide housing policy. In conversations about development and transportation during this administration, affordable housing and ending homelessness will be included.
It is encouraging to hear his statement that
“affordable and safe housing is a fundamental component of healthy and prosperous communities.”
I couldn’t agree more. Individuals and families experiencing homelessness, people with disabilities, seniors and teachers, police officers, and nurses should and will be considered part of our prosperous and thriving communities. This issue touches the lives of all Virginia residents. With cost of living rising faster than incomes for the past several decades, affordable housing is harder and harder to find. When people have to move further away from where they work to find an affordable place to live, problems with transportation and pollution are exacerbated, too.
Would you believe that in this decade, black applicants for rental housing were discriminated against* 66% of the time as compared to white applicants? Matched-pair testing done by Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) revealed this to be true in Hampton Roads during their 2008 audit of rental properties. Members of the Virginia Housing Commission at the General Assembly who heard this in the fall of 2009 said it was “shocking” that this still occurs. Virginia passed its Fair Housing Act in 1972; shouldn’t equality of opportunity be here by now?
Read more…
A review of the “Communities of Opportunity Tax Credit” being debated in the General Assembly
Ideally, when a landlord considers an applicant for housing, he or she should not consider the source of an applicant’s income, just whether the income is sufficient. The reality is that families with Housing Choice Vouchers (formerly called Section 8 vouchers) are disproportionately affected by income discrimination when landlords refuse to accept voucher-holders.
By Lauren Mooney, Housing Policy Fellow
Not In My Back Yard: HB 1280 Will Help Remove Barriers to Affordable Housing Development.
Have you ever volunteered with Habitat for Humanity? Or Better Housing Coalition? Across the U.S. and in the Commonwealth, organizations like these are crucial to developing affordable housing for our seniors, police officers, teachers, and low-income neighbors.
Read more…
HB103 will disallow small property owners to discriminate in ways that are illegal for larger property owners.
When Virginia passed its state Fair Housing Law in 1972, they made a political compromise to exempt small landlords and property owners from being held accountable for discrimination. Nearly 40 years have passed since these laws were enacted, and it’s time for change.
By: Lauren Mooney, Housing Policy Fellow
“A group of kids basically woke me up with an aluminum bat, beat me all over, cracked one of my teeth and, you know, called me names, and I’m pretty sure they broke a rib.”
~David Pirtle, formerly homeless man in Washington, DC
Legislation submitted by Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) proposes adding another protection to hate crime legislation – status as a homeless person. This kind of legislation is gaining momentum across the country as attacks against people living on the streets have gained attention, partially due to the production of Bumfights videos and the ubiquity of YouTube. The first Bumfights videos were produced as early as 2001, but legislation to add homeless status to hate crime legislation has been slow to catch up.
GUEST AUTHOR: Lauren Mooney, Housing Policy Fellow
The debate over public housing has been going on for decades. Since the government first built housing projects to revitalize slums in the 1930’s, controversy has surrounded the communities.
In the City of Richmond, Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) is tasked with managing the existing housing projects, voucher program and redeveloping neighborhoods according to its strategic plan.
A great piece in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the “Truth in Lending” bill that the Virginia Interfaith Center supports. This bill will reform the law around mortgage brokers to make it harder for them to cheat buyers.
CLICK HERE to read the full article at the RTD website.
This bill is referred to as the “Truth in Lending” bill. It has been filed as HB 1776 introduced by Del. Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond). Visit the “Housing/Homelessness” under the “Issues” tab to read more about the housing policy supported by the Virginia Interfaith Center.
