At Home dives into our latest research and expert insights on housing, communities, and asset building. Enjoy this issue and check out more on our website.
The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) is providing unprecedented funding to help low- and middle-income families during the pandemic. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded three separate grants to Abt, Princeton and Rutgers Universities, and the Universities of Pennsylvania and California-Berkeley to understand ERAP’s role in improving housing stability and to inform future policy recommendations.
How are policymakers and local leaders responding to the rise of homeless encampments in Los Angeles? Our new policy brief for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation illuminates the complexity of the issue, and the resources that LA City and County are employing to address this escalating crisis. “If we want everyone to have housing,” said Project Director Lauren Dunton, “we need to address underlying socio-economic causes—notably housing affordability, structural racism, and gaps in the social safety net.”
#Resources
Having celebrated National Fair Housing Month in April, we know that housing is a critical component of health and wellbeing, which means every month needs to be Fair Housing month. Abt—under contract to HUD—developed several new resources that provide best practices for implementing fair housing and civil rights policies and programs. The tools also serve to educate housing practitioners and the public on the barriers to fair housing—and how we can overcome them. These products include the FHEO Table Talk Video Series, the LGBTQIA+ Toolkit, and several Fair Housing tools on assistance animals,families, and obligations for housing providers. Abt co-leads a series of virtual office hours during which HUD program participants can ask questions related to fair housing planning and learn about conducting effective community engagement, using and analyzing data, and setting goals to overcome impediments to fair housing.
A warm welcome to Eduardo Castellon, our new Vice President for Housing and Asset Building. He brings more than 20 years of experience working for the federal government, including HUD, USPS, USAID and other agencies. In the private sector he focused on helping clients develop and deploy innovative AI/data solutions across supply chains while supporting the implementation of operational and digital transformation efforts.
Meet some of our housing and asset building staff from across the U.S.! They bring a wealth of experiences and expertise to our work, and help clients address their toughest challenges. Learn more about Zoya Aleem, Dee Balliet, Lisa Brooks, Naganika Sanga, Adam Travis, and Spencer Williams.
How can we ensure local infrastructure investments support both housing and transportation for disadvantaged communities? We're providing technical assistance to help local governments meet affordable housing needs through HUD's Thriving Communities Technical Assistance program.
How can communities address rising income inequality, even among those who are working? That's the question that Alexandria, VA aims to answer through ARISE, their two-year guaranteed income pilot program that provides select residents who earn less than 50% of the area median income with $500 a month. Learn more about our program evaluation.
