Housing Week of Action Recap

Affordable housing provides a foundation for residents to access opportunities, including better education, accessible healthcare, jobs, and supportive services. The third annual Housing Week of Action, which took place from May 30-June 5, 2019, highlighted these critical connections. NHT’s email series: More Than A Home, explored these connections using personal stories of residents from the Where Will We Live campaign.  Thank you to all who participated in the series via social media.

If you missed the series, read below to catch up on it now!

Issue #1 - Health Care: Living in a stable and affordable home enables families to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Where you live has major repercussions for your health and well-being. The need for resources and innovative policy solutions that link health care and housing has grown, and it is time to advocate for both. <<READ MORE>>

Issue #2 - Education: Living in a stable and affordable home enables students to succeed at school. A home environment that encourages learning is more important to student achievement than is income, educational level or cultural background. Investments and policies that improve schools in low-income neighborhoods can result in greater residential stability, while more safe and affordable housing enables greater student stability and school performance. <<READ MORE>>

Issue #3 - Sustainability: Increasing the energy efficiency of rental housing saves energy, improves residents’ health and comfort, and maintains housing affordability. Implementing energy retrofits in multifamily housing helps to counteract the high cost of energy and the significant financial burden it places on low- and middle-income families. <<READ MORE>>

Issue #4 - Senior Living: According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, about 4.9 million older adults pay more than 50 percent of their incomes for housing. For the lowest income seniors, this results in 70 percent less being spent on health care and 53 percent less on food than their non-housing cost burdened peers. By adequately funding HUD housing assistance programs, we can make housing affordable and accessible for seniors and enable them to live in dignity. <<READ MORE>>

Issue #5 – Opportunity: A safe, stable, and affordable home is the foundation for a successful life and enables families to take advantage of opportunities that enable financial independence and improve living standards. Safe and affordable housing has become unattainable for tens of millions of Americans as wages have stagnated and housing costs continue to rise. Low-income families that have access to good jobs can become economically self-sufficient, eventually no longer needing housing assistance. <<READ MORE>>

Please continue to use the resident stories captured for Where Will We Live as a resource to advocate for low-income residents everywhere. For more information on Where Will We Live, visit wherewillwelive.org or contact NHT Communications and Fundraising Manager Halley Henry.