February 24, 2022

In Phoenix, Arizona, private-equity landlords are buying starter homes and charging high rents to tenants who otherwise could have opted to buy. Progress Residential, one of the biggest Wall Street landlords in the country, argues they are offering a valuable alternative to buying for families who aren’t ready for that step. Critics believe these landlords are mass evictors and are denying many wealth-building opportunities.

Del Norte, a rural county in California, had limited resources for people experiencing homelessness before the pandemic. In October 2020, the state awarded it $2.4 million to buy a 30-room motel and convert it into affordable housing through Project Homekey, a statewide initiative. The county’s director of health and human services, Heather Snow, says there’s now enough space to accommodate about 17 percent of Del Norte County’s residents and families experiencing homelessness.  

In Bangor, Maine, would-be first-time homeowners are being shut out of a housing market that saw a spike in sales and sale prices last year. Maine’s lack of inventory, a housing shortage of around 25,000 units, and recent competition have driven up home prices. Although construction has picked up over the past two years, it has not been fast enough to address Maine’s housing shortage.

The University of Michigan found that students who have experienced homelessness were twice as likely to be suspended or expelled as the statewide average. This has spurred legislative bills aimed at reforming the state’s disciplinary systems. “When we’re starting to suspend and expel one in 10 children who have ever experienced homelessness in their life up to that point, we’re not helping those kids who’ve experienced trauma and have some real challenges,” says Jennifer Erb-Downward, a senior research associate at Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.