Housing Rights and Affordability
America has a housing crisis, with high costs fueling economic insecurity and homelessness. This crunch exacerbates inequality and its negative effects, including pessimism about the future and cynicism about government. A range of organizations are working to address this problem by increasing housing affordability and protecting tenant rights. Below, we explain why donors should prioritize housing, along with the best ways to support work on affordable housing and tips for getting started with giving.
Why Donating for Housing is Important
The lack of affordable housing is a driving force behind a plethora of societal problems. High housing costs make life harder on everyone, eating up a huge share of income for many households and producing widespread economic hardship. Rising costs are also disruptive to families and communities, fueling record eviction rates and driving those with moderate incomes to seek out cheaper neighborhoods, where costs then also rise and push out lower-income people to areas that are typically further from their jobs and more dangerous. Meanwhile, homelessness has risen to crisis levels in many places, leading to growing deaths among unhoused people, degrading public spaces and raising questions about the capacity of government to solve major problems. Along with the need for higher wages and affordable healthcare, reducing housing costs is one of the core goals of economic justice work today.
Where to Donate for Housing
Organizations focused on building housing, controlling costs and subsidizing affordable housing. In many cities, the affordable housing supply is simply far too low and the cost to build housing is too high. Many of these cities and towns have zoned a huge percentage of their residential land for single-family units, which limits housing supply and narrows options for developers. A growing constellation of organizations and activists are part of an increasingly influential YIMBY (“yes in my back yard”) movement, named for its opposition to the notorious “not in my back yard” stance taken by many wealthy residents to prevent further development in their cities and neighborhoods. YIMBY Action is a national network with local chapters around the country. More established groups working on these issues include National Alliance to End Homelessness, Smart Growth and Habitat for Humanity. Donors can also seek out local organizations pushing to build more affordable housing. Charity Navigator offers a comprehensive directory of nonprofits nationwide.
Organizations advocating for greater investment in affordable housing. While increasing housing supply is an important goal, lowering housing costs will also require public and nonprofit action to guarantee affordable living regardless of the free market. Organizations like Mercy Housing and EAH Housing buy, build, develop, finance and/or manage affordable housing. Some municipalities and states have begun actively reinvesting in public or social housing projects that would otherwise go unpursued by for-profit real estate developers. At the federal level, congress can expand or create programs to develop affordable housing. A top national group focused in this area is the National Low Income Housing Coalition, as well as Habitat for Humanity.
Groups advocating for housing rights and providing material aid to those in need. One of the most pressing material issues for the homeless and housing insecure is lack of proper legal support, especially those facing eviction or foreclosure. The National Housing Law Project is a leading organization in this area, while many cities have local groups dedicated to protecting tenants and fighting evictions, which donors can find by searching Charity Navigator. In addition, many progressive groups advocate for housing rights as part of a broader power-building agenda.
For Donors Getting Started
Learn more about housing. Donors can learn more about housing on many of the organization websites we’ve linked to, as well as through resources at the National Housing Conference and those from funder affinity groups like Funders Together to End Homelessness and Funders for Housing and Opportunity. You can also read Inside Philanthropy’s white paper “Giving for Housing and Homelessness.”
Think about your giving in the bigger picture. Donors should avoid the temptation to see housing as a niche issue. Winning the fight for affordable housing is essential to reducing economic hardship and creating a more equitable America where people feel more secure and optimistic about the future.