The Dallas-based Inclusive Communities Project (ICP) has filed suit in federal district court against one of Texas’ largest property management…
Category: Subsidized Housing
All posts related to subsidized housing, be it public housing, tax credits, Section 8 housing, and more, can be found under this category.
Texas Senate committee report addresses key fair housing issues
The Intergovernmental Relations Committee (IGR) is one of the most influential in the Texas Senate, dealing with the administration of…
Sweeping federal investigation finds City of Houston’s housing segregation violates Civil Rights Act
Racial housing segregation in Houston is no accident. It is not voluntary on the part of Houstonians of color. It is…
Listen: Previewing housing issues at the Texas Legislature
The Texas Legislature kicked off its 2017 session on January 10, with plenty of housing-related bills already filed, proposed or…
IRS indicates fair housing issues with Texas political influence on tax credits
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued a bulletin that reprimands a thinly-veiled “Agency” in “State X” for its reliance on local support…
How City actions perpetuate Houston’s housing segregation and violate civil rights
Every neighborhood in Houston deserves quality affordable housing, including the community of Independence Heights. But affordable housing should not only be…
Video: 10 ways to invest in the forgotten America and rebuild rural communities post-election
I gave this speech at the Housing Assistance Council Rural Housing Conference in Washington, D.C. on November 30. Watch the full…
Texas’ 2017 tax credit allocation plan presents fair housing issues
On November 10, after months of roundtables, discussions and compromises, the board of the Texas Department of Housing and…
Announcing the 2016 Texas Houser Awards
On November 9, Texas Low Income Housing Information Service will honor three outstanding community groups at the 2016 Texas Houser Awards. The…
Fair housing case produces lasting changes for Texas and nation
This piece originally ran on Shelterforce Magazine’s Rooflines blog. The Inclusive Communities project has now filed a motion and brief…
Video: Visualizing Houston’s housing segregation
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched a fair housing investigation after the City…
How state legislators can improve fair housing compliance in Texas
Texas Housers fair housing planner Charlie Duncan and University of Texas professor Heather Way were among the speakers at a…
State interference threatens Galveston’s promise of equitable disaster recovery
Eight years ago, Galveston was devastated by Hurricane Ike. Four years ago, at the urging of the Texas General Land…
Where you live matters: Assessing unequal access to healthy environments
[The following is adapted from a presentation to the National Fair Housing Alliance‘s national conference on June 27, 2016.] Where…
A call to confront segregation in colonias: Addressing development and civil rights
[The following remarks were delivered on June 22, 2016 at a conference, Southwest Border Colonias: Housing and Sustainable Development in…
Proposed program change would provide voucher holders with greater choice, opportunity
A proposed rule change for the use of federal Housing Choice Vouchers would greatly improve the chance that housing vouchers will do what they…
Federal report calls out political influence on affordable housing locations in Texas
A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) identifies fair housing concerns with the way the State of Texas…
More of the same: Houston risks fair housing progress, adds to segregation
There have been some recent signs that Houston is slowly accepting the need to practice fair housing and treat all…
Advocates: Let’s get the National Housing Trust Fund details right from the beginning
This piece originally ran on Shelterforce Magazine’s Rooflines blog. It’s rare when a major new national housing program comes along.…
Austin’s proposed development codes and building the inclusive community
I live today just outside Clarksville, where three decades ago low income African-American families, aided by a handful of supporters, waged a landmark…
Making the most of the National Housing Trust Fund in Texas
The National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) is the first dedicated source of funding for extremely low income households in decades. Its…
#ReentryWeek: Sunnyside residents have a vision for fair chances at housing
The U.S. Justice Department has declared this week “National Reentry Week” to shed light on the challenges faced by formerly…
Report: Texas childhood poverty largely divided by place and race
African-American and Hispanic children in Texas are around three times likelier to live in poverty than white children. That’s one of…
Video: Anger over proposed public housing in high opportunity Houston neighborhood
The public meeting on the Houston Housing Authority’s (HHA) proposal to build the Fountain View Apartments, a mixed-income apartment complex in…
TxLIHIS Houston co-director Chrishelle Palay named to Next City Vanguard “40 under 40”
Our Houston co-director Chrishelle Palay has been selected as one of America’s top 40 urban innovators aged 40 or younger for this…
Houston Chronicle editorial supports Fountain View proposal and fair housing
On February 25, the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle defended a proposed affordable housing development which has become the target of organized…
The opportunity blueprint: Our plan for a united, diverse Houston
Houston is at a crossroads. The city is growing and the economy is booming – but only for some. Despite…
Houstonians should be angry about public housing – because of segregation
Note: A version of this post ran in the Gray Matters section of the Houston Chronicle on March 30. Our piece on…
What’s behind the opposition to public housing in a high opportunity area in Houston?
(Update: After receiving a great deal of feedback on this post – see the comment section below – we posted…
A focus on community revitalization at first 2016 state housing tax credit plan roundtable
Community revitalization, as a concept, is fairly straightforward. But how does it actually happen, and how can its progress be…