Shelterforce

In North Carolina, Duke has raised its lowest wage to $20 an hour. Community advocates say that's a start, and they are calling for the university and health system to do more to help workers afford housing in an increasingly expensive city. Rebekah Barber reports for Shelterforce.

A federal grant helped an Arkansas housing authority install storm-resistant roofs on 91 homes. The work should protect residents and reduce losses. Whether it brings lower premiums or better coverage is another question—and, increasingly, it’s a matter for lawmakers. Shelterforce's Shelby R. King reports. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/10/23/you-made-your-building-safer-will-insu...

The department proposed centralizing major public housing, voucher, fair housing, legal, and grant functions after losing nearly 35 percent of its staff. Then it withdrew the notice without explanation. What does that mean for the plan? Shelterforce's Shelby R. King reports. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/09/16/hud-floated-then-pulled-a-reorganization-plan-will-it-return/ Music by...

Property insurance rates are falling nationally, but affordable housing providers remain largely shut out of the recovery. When conventional insurers decline them, the alternatives can cost more, cover less, and leave owners and the public carrying more risk. Shelterforce's Shelby King reports. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/10/22/property-insurance-is-getting-less-expensive-affor...

Street medicine offers healthcare for unsheltered homeless people. When cities remove encampments or restrict aid, providers must scramble to keep that care coming. Hope Davis reports for Shelterforce. Music by ℗ ComaStudio

Housing First has been the U.S.'s main homelessness policy since the Bush administration. Experts says it works—and that the Trump administration's alternative doesn't measure up. Franklin Schneider reports for Shelterforce. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/10/14/homelessness-experts-want-housing-without-strings-attached/ Music by ℗ ComaStudio

These are challenging times for fighting homelessness. Who's doing the work, and what's holding back their progress? Shelterforce's Lara Heard explains what you can expect in our new Under the Lens series, Shifting Ground. Read Lara's editor's note here: https://shelterforce.org/2026/10/13/homelessness-in-an-age-of-criminalization/ Music by ℗ ComaStudio

Public housing authorities and other affordable housing landlords are turning to tech meant for short-term rentals to enforce smoke bans and noise rules—but a new lawsuit has evidence they are also constantly tracking tenants' movements. Sean Keenan reports for Shelterforce. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/10/07/public-housing-tenants-sue-over-use-of-invasive-monitoring-devices/ Mu...

In Evanston, Illinois, and Minneapolis, tenants organized against the same private-equity-backed landlord. In Evanston, the city provided financial support for tenant organizing while Minneapolis did not. Might this explain the difference in tenant outcomes? Re'Dreyona Walker reports for Shelterforce. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/10/08/how-city-funded-organizing-helped-evan...

The affordable housing nonprofit acknowledged its power over the for-profit commercial mortgage lender subsidiary after Shelterforce pressed it about questionable loans the lender was making to corporate buyers of manufactured home parks. Now Enterprise says the sale will seed an endowment. Shelterforce's Shelby R. King reports. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/09/25/enterprise-is-s...

In the ROAD to Housing bill, passed in July, Congress included a section ensuring long-term disaster recovery support for the first time, a vital response to growing climate-related disasters. Now comes the challenge of implementation. Noah Patton, director of disaster recovery at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, explains. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/10/07/how-will-th...

A proposal from two federal banking regulators would reduce both the scale and scope of federal Community Reinvestment Act oversight. Jesse Van Tol, the president and CEO of NCRC, explains what could change and how communities can respond. Comments are due Oct. 13. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/09/17/whats-at-risk-under-the-cra-proposal-and-how-communities-can-respond/ Music by ℗...

The law was designed to boost the nation's supply of housing. But delivering on its promises will depend on at least three things: Congress funding it, a hollowed-out HUD implementing it, and private developers building. Reporting by Roshan Abraham, a freelance reporter; read by John Ludas, a freelance audio producer. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/10/01/will-the-road-to-housing-a...

Longer lifespans, evolving household structures, and growing care demands are changing people’s housing needs. In this webinar, moderated by Shelterforce's Steve Dubb, panelists highlight policies and practices that can support housing and community in an aging society. Watch the video and read the transcript here: https://shelterforce.org/2026/10/02/building-homes-and-communities-for-when-we-age-...

HUD’s recent efforts to gut Housing First have sought to apply the logic from the addiction recovery industry to homelessness funding. Applying Housing First’s autonomy-centered logic to addiction recovery could be far more effective. Daniel Bahman Shad, the founder and executive director of A Beautiful You, explains. Read the piece at https://shelterforce.org/2026/09/30/control-isnt-care-why-reco...

New community ownership tools, although still nascent, are gaining in prominence. Whether structured as diversified funds or direct ownership of retail space, they share a common thread of using local ownership to build wealth and shape local development. Listen as Steve Dubb reads his article, "New Models Emerge to Facilitate Community Land Ownership." Read the full article at: https://shelterfor...

In Los Angeles, as people organized in response to wildfires and ICE raids, a new group of tenant supporters—The Rent Brigade—emerged. But can its energy, born in crisis, be sustained for the long haul? Listen as Emily Phillips reads her article, “From Emergency Response to Building Power: The Story of LA’s Rent Brigade," co-authored with Antara Murshed. Read full article at: https://shelterforce....

Tenants in Cleveland's Shaker Square neighborhood, along with many other allies, fought their neglectful corporate landlord, and won. However, it took so long, half the residents were displaced. Listen as Nick Downer reads "What Cleveland’s Fight Reveals About Challenging Extractive Ownership," which Downer co-authored with Sarah Wean. Read the full story at: https://shelterforce.org/2026/09/23/wh...

People experiencing homelessness are often forced to choose between shelter and their pet. But it doesn't have to be that way. Jesse Casement explains how their organization runs a pet-friendly shelter. Music by ℗ ComaStudio

As more older adults face housing instability, aging and homelessness service providers are building partnerships to fill the gaps between two systems that have long operated separately. Frances Nguyen, Shelterforce's housing fellow, reports. Read the story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/09/11/how-aging-and-homeless-services-can-meet-in-the-middle/ Music by ℗ ComaStudio

An aging rural U.S. must do more to keep people healthy in their homes. Rural housing advocates need to ask hard questions and design better systems to make healthier housing possible. Jim King, CEO of Fahe, a regional membership and financial intermediary in Appalachia, explains. Read Jim's piece at https://shelterforce.org/2026/09/10/to-speed-up-rural-housing-delivery-stop-making-partnerships-ab...

In recent years, Los Angeles and Seattle voters have approved major taxes to boost affordable housing using a “social housing” approach. But they offer two very different visions of what that means. Shelterforce's Steve Dubb reports. Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2026/08/31/can-social-housing-deliver-los-angeles-and-seattle-pursue-two-distinct-paths/ Music by ℗ ComaStudio

An Ithaca landlord argued that source-of-income discrimination laws force them to consent to government searches, and courts agreed twice. The reasoning has since surfaced in a dozen cases across the country. Reporting by Roshan Abraham; read by John Ludas. Read the full story at shelterforce.org/2026/09/03/will-new-yorks-source-of-income-protections-survive-legal-challenges/

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens's $5 billion-plus Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative aims to reduce inequity between the city's neighborhoods, and even has a proactive anti-displacement plan. But its financing method might not get the needed buy-in. Sean Keenan reports for Shelterforce. Music by ℗ ComaStudio

The federal housing bill passed in July marks a major step forward in federal recognition of and support for community land trusts and other forms of shared-equity housing. But implementing these provisions is critical if the promised benefits are to be realized. Tiana Patterson reads the piece, which Patterson co-authored with Doug Ryan. Read it at: https://shelterforce.org/2026/09/04/housing-bil...