Episode 70: Our biggest stories (and some you might have missed) from 2024 – In a supersized episode, we leave 2024 with a bang. Michael Depland speaks with the staff of Texas Housers to reflect on this past year, to talk about what we were most proud of this year, and a brief look forward into the new year. Here are a few stories we spoke about on this episode.
Episode 71: Back to the Capitol for the 89th Texas Legislature – Our first episode of 2025 is a running start right into the 89th Session of the Texas Legislature and there is much ground to cover.
On this episode, research director Ben Martin joins the show to talk about Texas Housers’ major focuses for housing this session, what bills are grabbing our attention right away, and how you can get involved as well.
For more information on what Texas Housers is tracking, you can visit texashousers.org/lege25 for everything on housing at the 89th Texas Legislature.
Episode 72: Diving into the massive eviction hub of Houston – Our community navigator Taylor Laredo joins A Little Louder to talk about his deep dive into Houston’s eviction problem – the Harris County Eviction Mapping Tool – and his takeaways from the project, including what we can do to vastly improve the issue.
Episode 73: Breaking down HB 32 and SB 38 (aka the Eviction Bills) – Mark Melton from the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center joins A Little Louder to detail exactly what this bill proposes. We also get into how this bill was erronously marketed as a “squatter” bill, and how everyday people can learn more about active legislation and act accordingly.
Episode 74: How aging Texans face issues with affordable housing – On this episode, Kathy Green from AARP Texas joins the show to talk about how affordable and low-income housing issues are an underreported problem for older Texans. We discuss how older Texans factor into many critical programs to aid with housing, food, and eliminating poverty and dispel myths about this growing population.
We also talk about what AARP Texas has on their legislative agenda, and housing is at the top of the list!
Episode 75: Houston’s potential catastrophe around disaster recovery dollars – Hurricane Beryl and the May 2024 derecho showed the powerful and long lasting effects that a wide range of weather events can have. The federal government assessed $229 million in unmet need for home repair and personal property loss. Yet the City of Houston released its Action Plan in May, and there are $0 allocated to housing of any kind.
On this episode of A Little Louder, we’re joined by Maddie Sloan, Director of the Disaster Recovery and Fair Housing Project at Texas Appleseed. We discuss what is missing from this plan, and we hear directly from tenants who gave their feedback on the plan and what they want to see.
Episode 76: Wrapping Up The 2025 Texas Legislature – We’ve come to the end of the 89th Session of the Texas Legislature and we’re joined by Texas Housers’ research director Ben Martin to take a tally on what happened. In this long and winding session, there was much that was discovered, including some new champions for housing!
It’s time to review the housing-related bills that passed, failed, and those that should have had a chance. We’ve come to the end of the 89th Session of the Texas Legislature and we’re joined by Texas Housers’ research director Ben Martin to take a tally on what happened. In this long and winding session, there was much that was discovered, including some new champions for housing! It’s time to review the housing-related bills that passed, failed, and those that should have had a chance.
Episode 77: What Texas’ largest cities tell us about evictions and affordability – Texas Housers’ top researchers Erin Hahn and Sidney Beaty join A Little Louder to talk about their new interactive projects. The track the costs of renting, who lives where, and challenges that tenants in San Antonio face. The investigates and maps where and how evictions happen, who is affected by them and who is most frequently ordering them.
Both Hahn and Beaty break down what they are seeing in large metros like San Antonio and Houston, and explore what it will take to create real change for low-income tenants.
Episode 78: In depth with our new Executive Director, Quiana Fisher – Texas Housers has a new leader in Quiana Fisher, and we sit down with her to go into detail about why she chose this work, what she identifies as our biggest challenges in fighting for low-income households, and what is inspiring her to see that we have the power right now to achieve housing justice.
Episode 79: 7 questions for low-income housing that need answers in 2026 – As we enter 2026, our state leaders will begin laying the tracks for legislative reforms that they will pursue in the next legislative session in early 2027. That means that it is important for us to take stock of the big picture of low-income housing in Texas right now.
Texas Housers’ research director Ben Martin joins the show to talk about his recent write-up on our website that asks the 7 most critical questions needed to improve low-income housing in our state.