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The Perks of Roommates With a 50-Year Age Difference

Daniel J McGraw

July 10, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Intergenerational home sharing is a mutually beneficial option for seniors and young people. There are about 60 programs, run by cities, nonprofits, and platforms in the style of Airbnb, that connect seniors and young people for cohabitation. Seniors benefit by being able to stay in their homes, collect income, and have someone to help with social isolation and household chores. Young people benefit from access to affordable housing options in high-cost areas and engaging in rich relationship building. Home sharing services are facing legal challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic made cohabiting more risky.

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Renters are rising up to unionise and take on dodgy landlords

Andrew Kersley

July 09, 2020 |

Wired |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Renters' unions in the United Kingdom have provided more aide recently because the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated problems facing renters. The Association of Community Organisations for Reform Now is one of the largest renters’ unions in the UK and has been helping members fight illegal evictions and stop landlords from breaking lockdown rules. The group fears a “glut of evictions” when the government lifts restrictions. There are many renters’ unions in the UK, which might dilute their effectiveness, and the combined membership in the thousands is just a small fraction of Britain’s 4.5 million renters.

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Why Singapore Has One of the Highest Home Ownership Rates

Adam Majendie

July 08, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Singapore

Affordable housing in Singapore has resulted in one of the highest rates of home ownership in the world. In 1964 the government embraced a "Home Ownership for the People Scheme" in which it gave lower and middle-income citizens access to affordable home ownership. Subsidized apartments were sold at low prices and were not to be sold for at least five years after which the real estate value had risen significantly. Apartments sold in 2009, for example, gained almost half a million dollars in value by 2020. New subsidized apartments are under construction and 16,000 have already been sold in the past year.

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This New York Program Is Getting Ahead of Homelessness

Agostino Petroni

July 02, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

A program that aims to help New Yorkers who are at risk of losing their homes has proven effective in keeping people housed. Studies have shown that it is difficult to transition out of homelessness so its goal is to prevent it entirely. The group operates in all five boroughs of NYC and has helped almost 30,000 people on its budget of $53 million. The program provides both cash and services: money for rent, utilities, legal aid to fight evictions and settle landlord disputes, in addition to job training.

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The housing policy that's turning back gentrification

Nick Bowlin

June 30, 2020 |

High Country News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

A "right-to-purchase" policy has enabled nonprofits to purchase residential buildings in gentrified neighborhoods in order to prevent the displacement of those relying on rent-controlled housing. Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) is a Bay Area nonprofit leading the cause to counter gentrification and prevent developers from purchasing residential buildings that house low and moderate-income households. MEDA has purchased and managed 32 buildings and is one of fewer than 10 nonprofits in the area that exercise the "right-to-purchase" policy.

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To reach vulnerable populations, Berkeley goes on the road to offer COVID-19 testing

Frances Dinkelspiel

June 25, 2020 |

Berkeleyside |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Berkeley, California

City officials in Berkeley have recently implemented a mobile testing site for Covid-19 to better reach vulnerable populations throughout the region. Although the physical testing site will remain as the central point for testing, the mobile option has helped test those in senior homes and nursing facilities, as well as their caretakers.

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For Survivors of Violence and Their Kids, a Push to Prioritize Housing

Claudia Boyd-Barrett

June 25, 2020 |

California Health Report |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Since 2016, California's Domestic Violence Housing First program has grown to 65 organizations that give victims the financial help they need to stay housed after leaving an abusive spouse. Financial and housing instability are major reasons victims stay with their abusers, and domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness. The program spends more than $20 million per year, or an average of $3,000 per victim, to help them and their children with rent, moving costs, utilities, and other needs. Typical domestic violence shelters usually lack the resources to help victims move to permanent housing.

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Helping Tenants and Landlords Resolve Issues — Before Going to Court

Jared Brey

May 19, 2020 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The city of Philadelphia piloted a mediation program that showed how landlord-tenant disputes could be resolved short of an eviction lawsuit. Though the program only lasted two months and heard just a handful of cases, it demonstrated that landlords will participate voluntarily in a system that can equalize a power imbalance and resolve disputes in ways that prove less damaging to both parties. Demand for the mediation program could ramp up if an expected wave of evictions hits because of the pandemic's effects on the economy.

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How Louisiana cities are using the CARES Act to save small businesses, keep people in homes

Christiaan Mader

May 19, 2020 |

The Current (Louisiana) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Louisiana

The Cares Act is a federal program providing $46.6 million dollars of emergency aid which cities in Louisiana are spending on a combination of a mortgage and rent relief or on the needs of small businesses. For most cities throughout the state, the first priority is keeping residents in their homes as the stay on evictions approaches, at which point landlords will expect rent as well as backpay. Louisiana faces the triple threat of a pandemic, the economic fallout from it, and a series of tornados. Keeping people in their homes has been the foremost priority to stop the spread of the virus.

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Co-Op City Succeeds With Census While Much of NYC Struggles. What's Its Secret?

Gabriel Sandoval

May 19, 2020 |

The City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

In New York City, where the average census response rate is only 49 percent, the city's largest co-operative housing complex achieved over a 70 percent response rate, well above the 40 percent rate typical in the co-op's neighborhood of the Bronx. Co-op City, as it is known, has a strong sense of community and promoted the census through its internal TV station, robo-calls, and community newspaper.

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