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The Wrong People Are Paying to Fight Homelessness

Tuesday, October 17, 2017
In This Issue: Poverty Is a Choice—Says the House Budget ● Policing and Community Development ● The Wrong People Are Paying to Fight Homelessness ● Also: Events You Said It! ● In Case You Missed It ● Jobs ● More
There is considerable disagreement as to whether or not the White House’s nine-page framing document on taxes actually clarified much of anything. Trump and his various surrogates have done an awful lot of lying in the meantime—about who benefits, who doesn’t, and by how much—and no one seems to know how, exactly, the Congressional majority intends to pay for the trillions of dollars in tax cuts for which they’re calling. It seems to involve a fair amount of magical thinking. Well, magical thinking, and shanking the poor. That much was clarified: The poor will, of course, be shanked.

Tax brackets, tax breaks, and just how much more rich the rich will become are all important details, no doubt, but . . .
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Many people in the community development field are conflicted about the police presence where they work. While they often collaborate with law enforcement to respond to concerns about crime in their neighborhoods or their properties, many community development leaders are also aware that the residents they serve are often mistreated by police and are wary of supporting overpolicing or increased incarceration.

Miriam Axel-Lute: What do you think is the relationship between the community development field and law enforcement?

Erika Anthony: Cleveland Neighborhood Progress intersects with law enforcement in a couple different ways, one being . . .
Maya Brennan, Mary Cunningham, and Meg Massey, Urban Institute
Most people think of shelters as an inexpensive response to homelessness, but they are actually an expensive band-aid: preventing homelessness in the first place, or cutting it short by providing housing vouchers, can improve families’ lives and may even generate net fiscal savings.

An investment in a housing voucher buys fewer incidents of domestic violence, child protective services involvement, and food insecurity today, while putting children on a path to improved earnings and lower risk of incarceration over the long run. When the housing voucher buys access to a lower-poverty neighborhood, children experience additional improvements in long-term education and employment outcomes. Not only are these outcomes good for the families and their communities, they can also result in tangible savings for social services agencies.

In other words, when families have stable housing, the benefits are widespread. And perhaps that has been the problem.
Events
Oct. 24, 3:00 p.m. ET • When the Facts Don't Fit the Frame • While housing advocates have been increasingly able to draw on new data about the positive impacts of affordable housing, attempts to present this information often backfire. When faced with the latest research, many people are unconvinced because the data does not conform to the way they already see the issue. Building public will requires better evidence and context about the benefits of new solutions. This webinar, presented by Enterprise Community Partners, will show some ways to achieve this.
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You Said It!

I’m a volunteer firefighter in Mendocino County, where we are currently facing devastating wildfires. This article gets to the heart of why I volunteer in the community I live in. I’d like to add about ICS that . . . —Angela DeWitt, more


I agree with your assessment but did I miss your suggestion for a term referring to that “missing middle” housing that is 80-120% AMI? —Jeff Hosea, more


Great, provocative article, particularly the section on gentrification and the use of non-neutral language in mainstream discussions . . . To the two commenters, please read the article again. Look at the premises evident in how you set up the choices you’ve faced, the context, the history. We’ve seen how “historic preservation” in urban neighborhoods has often been initiated by and almost always co-opted and commodified by those who seek to profit from . . . —Bob Brehm, more

From a governance standpoint at the federal level attempting and striving for fairness to any and all immigrants to our country, how do you justify allowing a particular class of undocumented over everyone else in the world simply because they . . . —Fernando Centeno, more
In Case You Missed It
Jobs
Director of New Projects
This senior-level leadership position drives new housing development with a focus on supportive housing. Working with the Executive Director, the person in this role will help position Beacon Interfaith as a thought leader in supportive housing in Minnesota and nationally . . . Read Full Listing
Senior Policy & Research Associate
The person in this role will serve as an integral part of the CNYCN Policy and Research Team, which works to further affordable homeownership in NY by advocating for city, state, and federal policy reform, identifying trends, researching needs, and developing solutions. Section 3 residents are . . . Read Full Listing
Executive Director
The National NeighborWorks Association seeks a strategic ED with superior relationship-building skills to further NNA’s work with a diverse network of NeighborWorks organizations, NeighborWorks America, and key national policymakers to promote the community development field . . . Read Full Listing
Executive Director
The ideal candidate for this position will be passionate about NeighborWorks’ mission of developing affordable housing and helping improve the livability of Great Falls neighborhoods. The ED will be responsible for the overall management, strategic direction, fundraising, accountability . . . Read Full Listing
Project Manager, Homebuilding and Stabilization
The person in this role is responsible for leading all single-family real estate development activities for Develop Detroit. This position requires a breadth and depth of real estate experience and a genuine commitment to the mission of building and preserving quality housing and . . . Read Full Listing
Associate Director
The person in this position has major duties including development of permanently affordable housing projects, working to compete for necessary grants, working with staff and board of directors to strengthen our community-based organization, leading stewardship of preserving inventory of . . . Read Full Listing
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Featured Bloggers
Bob Annibale, Citi ● Laura Barrett, Interfaith Worker Justice ● Murtaza Baxamusa, Sol Price School of Public Policy, USC ● Michael Bodaken, National Housing Trust ● Bill Bynum, HOPE Credit Union ● Steve DubbJamaal Green, Portland State University ● John Henneberger, Texas Low Income Housing Information Service ● David Holtzman, newspaper reporter and former planner ● Josh Ishimatsu, National CAPACD ● Rick Jacobus, Street Level Advisors ● Daniel Kravetz, freelance writer ● Alan Mallach, Center for Community Progress ● Jonathan Reckford, Habitat for Humanity ● Doug Ryan, Prosperity Now ● Josh Silver, NCRC ● James Tracy, San Francisco Community Land Trust ● Eva Wingren, Baltimore Community Foundation