How to Solve the Housing Crisis: More Lawyers Posted on April 8, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone in Bloomberg In the overheated U.S. housing market, just complaining about a leaky ceiling can land you on the street. Randy Dillard was living with five kids in a four-bedroom house in the Bronx when he informed his landlord of a persistent drip. Dillard rented his $1,800 ..Read More
Today’s Read: So Little to Ask For: A Home Posted on April 7, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone Children are the often-unseen victims of the homelessness crisis, with nearly 24,000 boys and girls bedding down in New York City shelters tonight. The instability of homelessness has significant long-term ramifications for these young people, who are more lik ..Read More
NYC Nursing Homes Forcing Residents into Homeless Shelters Posted on April 4, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone in City & State Robert Negron, 60, has been shuttled between more nursing homes than he can remember – at least six and perhaps as many as 20 – before landing in his current bed at Beth Abraham Health Services in the Bronx. The instability has been wearing on Negron, a Cr ..Read More
So Little to Ask For: A Home Posted on April 7, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone in The New York Times One of the people I greatly admire is Khadijah Williams, a young woman who was homeless for much of her childhood. Khadijah bounced from home to home, shelter to shelter, from the time she was 6. “I can’t count how many times I’ve been forced to move,” ..Read More
The End of Welfare as We Know It Posted on April 3, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone in Crain's New York Business Shanta Owens was back in one of the many job-training sessions she’s been forced to attend in the 15 years she’s been on welfare. Only this time, instead of handing out job listings, the instructor gave her a piece of chocolate. “Sometimes in ..Read More
Federal Housing Officials Warn Against Blanket Bans of Ex-Offenders Posted on April 4, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone in The New York Times Private landlords who have blanket bans on renting to people with criminal records are in violation of the Fair Housing Act and can be sued and face penalties for discrimination, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development said. Julián Castro, the ..Read More
New York Budget Deal With Higher Minimum Wage is Reached Posted on March 31, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone in The New York Times Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and state legislative leaders announced on Thursday that they had reached a budget agreement that would raise the minimum wage in New York City to $15 by the end of 2018, but initiate slower increases elsewhere, even in the city’s wealth ..Read More
Wary of Gentrification, East Harlem Braces for Rapid Change Posted on April 1, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone in Gotham Gazette Pearl Barkley moved to East Harlem in the 1950s, when she was six years old. Her family lived in the Jefferson Houses on 115th Street, where she lives today and works as an organizer with Community Voices Heard, an economic justice advocacy non-profit. “Many ..Read More
Congresswoman Proposes Spending $13 Billion to End Homelessness Posted on March 29, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone in Think Progress With homelessness surging and rent prices skyrocketing nationwide, one congresswoman is urging her colleagues to rapidly increase federal funding for affordable housing in hopes of stemming the tide. Congress would add about $13 billion to the fight against ho ..Read More
