Housing News of the Week 1.15.20
Check out the recent news below to see what is happening this week in Housing News.
HUD seeks to roll back Obama rule on housing desegregation
Associated Press
The Trump administration took steps Tuesday to roll back an Obama-era rule intended to ensure that communities confront and address racial segregation in housing, saying local governments have been overburdened by the requirements. (to read more, click the link above)
Why The Housing Crisis Is A Problem For Everyone — Even Wealthy Homeowners
American University Radio
“Why is it considered a right to be able to afford to live in Arlington?” That’s what a listener named George emailed to WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show during a recent segment on Amazon and high home prices in Northern Virginia. In a recent Washington Post article about D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s goal to produce more affordable housing in the city, Chevy Chase homeowner named Santiago was quoted saying, “I would love to live in Beverly Hills, but I haven’t earned enough money to do so. I’m not asking anyone to give me a voucher or a way in.” (to read more, click the link above)
One of the wealthiest counties in Pennsylvania says it’s finally close to ending homelessness
Philadelphia Inquirer
After a relationship ended three years ago, Michael Thomas had to move out. He found himself homeless for the first time in his life. Although he worked for a caterer, the work was seasonal and the income inconsistent. He bounced around friends’ homes, slept at a shelter in West Chester and warming centers in his native Phoenixville, stayed outside or in ATM alcoves for months, and lived at hotels when he could pull together enough money.
‘It breaks our hearts’: 14 homeless people who died on Pittsburgh streets honored at vigil
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
At a candle-lit vigil beneath a busy Downtown overpass in 2017, a man recovering from homelessness and addiction prayed for his departed friends, asking a higher power that homelessness be “rare, brief and nonrecurring.” His name was Roberto Kinderlehrer, and on Saturday more than 100 people gathered at this year’s vigil to honor his life and the lives of more than a dozen other homeless individuals who died on Pittsburgh’s streets in 2019. (to read more, click the link above)
Memorial service recognizes area’s homeless population
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader
Surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Saturday’s downtown nightscape, roughly 50 people stood solemnly in a circle, taking turns reading the names of more than 100 individuals before blowing out a handheld candle and ending in prayer. The scene has been taking place at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church for years during the annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial. The event has long been a collaboration between the Volunteers of America and the church, according to Ruth’s Place program director and Volunteers of America Wilkes-Barre programming co-director Crystal Kotlowski. (to read more, click the link above)
Supreme Court won’t consider efforts to criminalize homeless for sleeping outside
Philadelphia Inquirer
For Katie Dougherty, who lived homeless for about four years in Center City and Kensington, the idea of arresting people for sleeping on the streets is “insane.” So, she was gratified to learn that the U.S. Supreme Court last Monday declined to hear a case that would, in effect, criminalize being homeless. The decision (or more accurately, non-decision) leaves in place the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, which struck down laws prohibiting homeless people from sleeping on the streets of Boise, Idaho, according to the New York Times. (to read more, click the link above)