Cross-posted from Habitat for Humanity International. Original post available at habitat.org.
Richard Rothstein, a leading expert on U.S. housing policy and author of The Color of Law explains the need for the Fair Housing Act, its context, and the consequences of barriers to equal and affordable housing.
I had just turned 10 in April 1968 and though not very aware of the world beyond my segregated suburban Washington, D.C. neighborhood, I remember hearing of the assassination of Dr. King and feeling, somehow, it was a major loss for humanity.
Years later, after much study of the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. and on Dr. King in particular, I consider him to be one of all-time great Christian leaders—understanding as well as anyone—the cost of discipleship and how to live a life for others.
April 11, 2018, marks the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. The act was passed by Congress in 1968, just days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We are pleasantly surprised that the recently passed FY18 federal budget includes significant additional resources for affordable housing. Frankly, we weren’t expecting this and are grateful that Congress is seeing a need for additional resources to address housing affordability across the country.
See the media release from Habitat for Humanity International:
At Habitat Wake, we are always up for a challenge and that’s a good thing since providing homeownership to families earning less than 60% of the area median income is quite a feat in itself. However, lately the news from Washington begs the question, “Can you make it any harder?”
Here’s just a few recent proposals that make the task of providing affordable housing that much harder:
The White House eliminates all funding programs that Habitat for Humanity utilizes in its’ FY19 budget proposal.
In 2016, we launched a new mortgage lending platform that was designed to significantly expand the number of families we serve through our home ownership program. Thanks to the generosity of our Community Lending Partners, this new approach has worked! We are on track to provide 70 homes for home ownership this year compared with 40 in 2015. At a time when the need for affordable housing continues to rise, we are proud that Habitat Wake can respond in such a substantial way!
Earlier this month, the White House released the President's budget request for 2019, which details the Administration's vision for funding federal agencies.
Today, we are excited to welcome former WNCN-TV news anchor, Sean Maroney, to the Habitat Wake staff. Sean’s position as our first-ever Major Gifts Officer is part of our growing commitment to our community. We want to do more as an organization to meet the enormous housing need in Wake County. We want to build more safe, affordable homes for hardworking families to buy. (Our goal is to grow from 57 to 70 new homes this year.) We want to be a more impactful voice for those in our community who need safe, affordable housing.
Today, the duality between poverty and uncertainty is on my mind. Does uncertainty cause poverty? Does poverty cause uncertainty? The unreliability of systems that provide an efficient delivery of goods and services and investment definitely leads to poverty-ridden communities. On a personal level, lack of material resources contributes to uncertainty—especially in the housing arena where families relocate frequently from tenuous rental situations. Add on layers of injustice, and you have a recipe for long-term sustained poverty that is difficult to escape.