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A new solution to the student housing crisis: retiree roommates?

Felicia Mello

February 06, 2019 |

CalMatters |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Berkeley, California

In a hot housing market like Berkeley, CA, it can be hard for students to find affordable apartments. At the same time, spare rooms often sit unoccupied in the nearby homes of retired UC Berkeley faculty and affiliates. As one possible solution, a pilot program is testing out intergenerational living, pairing students with retirees who are willing to open up their homes at a discounted rate.

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Black Lives Matter Is Making Single Moms Homeowners

Zenobia Jeffries

February 05, 2019 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Louisville

In West Louisville, the local Black Lives Matter is working and crowdfunding to buy homes for low-income single mothers and and transient families - and offering homeowner, where the only expense is taxes and utilities, to those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to own their homes. The organization hopes to address the the historical and institutionalized racism that has made homeownership a distant dream for many African Americans in the highly segregated city.

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Why Technology Hasn't Fixed the Housing Crisis

Emily Badger

January 29, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Berkeley, California

Affordable housing organizations and ventures learn from failures in the tech industry to understand why affordable housing hasn't been solved by the influx of resources from the start-up community. While many tech companies dance around the issue of affordable housing, organizations are learning that, to combat high rent and real estate rates, individuals need more money in their pockets or to spend less on housing each month.

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The Art of Humanizing Social Systems

David Bornstein

January 24, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

For social service agencies, prioritizing well-being requires new procedures and a framework for understanding holistic wellness. The Full Frame Initiative has partnered with agencies in the states of Massachusetts and Missouri in an effort to bring categories of well-being into their purview. The Initiative uses five metrics—safety, mastery, social connectedness, and access to resources— to help align social systems, ranging from courts and juvenile corrections to homeless housing services, with social needs so that agencies can better assist their communities.

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'Shared equity' model for U.S. housing boosts home ownership for poorer families

Gregory Scruggs

January 21, 2019 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

A community land trust in North Carolina uses a "shared equity" model to help minority and low income people obtain access to affordable housing. The trust owns the land underneath the house, therefore holding onto the majority of the wealth of the property and allowing homes to be sold below market value.

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Rent-a-sister: Coaxing Japan's young men out of their rooms

Amelia Martyn-Hemphill

January 18, 2019 |

BBC |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Japan, Tokyo

In Japan, an organization called New Start employs women that help men who are withdrawn from society. These men, called hikikomori, are often experiencing mental health issues, and cannot leave their homes. That’s where New Start’s rent-a-sister program comes in. These women spend months, sometimes years, with these men, building trust, giving advice, and adjust to society. The organization also provide halfway houses for these men, with 80% successfully re-entering society as independent individuals.

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How This Southern City Is Making Tech Work for People

Audrey F. Henderson

January 09, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Birmingham, Alabama

Successful public private collaborations promote civic innovations that add value to communities. Programs that bring together nonprofits, tech start-ups, universities, and city leaders are helping Birmingham, Alabama, emerge as a model city for tech innovation in the region. Initiatives such as Innovate Brigham and the NHabitBham housing database use grants from the city and federal government, and donations from other partners to fund collaborations. While empowering residents by gathering and providing access to data on the wellbeing of Birmingham’s communities, these programs also add value to the city.

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U.S. Faith Communities Are Tackling the Housing Crisis

Charlotte West

January 08, 2019 |

Medium |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

In cities like Denver, Seattle, and Chicago, faith-based communities use their land to aid in the affordable housing crisis. Because many communities of faith sit on large expanses of valuable land within city limits, they've begun using their land to offer housing for low-income families and other underserved community members.

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Dutch eco initiative halves energy bills in first UK homes

Adam Vaughan

January 07, 2019 |

The Guardian |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, Nottingham, England

By piloting a Dutch initiative to make homes more energy efficient with new windows and solar panels in the United Kingdom, tenants are seeing their monthly energy bills decrease by almost half. More than 150 social housing homes in Nottingham are testing the “Energiesprong” approach, which has already seen success in the Netherlands.

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Athens' Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Addresses Resident Needs

Kristen Adaway

January 06, 2019 |

Grady Newsource |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Athens, Georgia

In Athens, Georgia, an ombudsman program for long-term care residents at senior and nursing homes is holding institutions accountable and ensuring that residents' complaints are heard. The program comes from a requirement in the amended Older Americans Act and encompasses anything from complaints about food to hygiene to being treated with dignity.

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