July 01, 2022

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced funding specifically for people who are unsheltered. The package includes $43 million for housing choice vouchers and $322 million in Continuum of Care homelessness grants. “Communities will have the resources to scale up coordinated efforts to humanely and effectively move people from encampments into homes by linking homeless outreach with health care, treatment and housing,” said HUD secretary Marcia Fudge.

A new study published by Harvard University found that nearly half of Maine tenants can’t afford rent. The analysis found 41.1 percent of renters are cost burdened, and 20 percent are severely cost burdened. “Housing is sort of like a big ecosystem—you need to have affordable housing at different levels to make it work,” said Erik Jorgensen, senior director of government relations and communications for the Maine State Housing Authority.

In Minneapolis, tenants of homes owned by Pretium Partners, a private equity group, are protesting their landlords’ negligence by putting their rent in escrow and holding rallies. These renters are the only group of single-family-home tenants who have coordinated such a campaign. They’re organizing at a time when the number of homes owned by corporate landlords has increased considerably and many are disillusioned by how much disrepair goes unaddressed while rents rise.

In response to housing affordability issues present in its home city, Amazon announced it’s providing $23 million dollars for the construction and preservation of affordable housing in Seattle. The company will partner with minority-led organizations on housing projects targeting south Seattle communities at risk of gentrification. “When our city’s businesses and private partners step up,” said Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell, “we can accelerate progress addressing difficult challenges like housing affordability.”