07 May

Dozens of congregations around the Midlands address social issues at event

Posted by in Affordable Housing, MORE Justice, Public Education Improvement

May 7, 2019. WIS News.

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – 30 congregations of various faiths across the Midlands were in downtown Columbia tonight to try and improve social issues in our state. The group is called MORE Justice which stands for The Midlands Organized Response for Equity and Justice.

Tonight, they held their 2nd annual Nehemiah Action Assembly.

The group wanted to focus again on being proactive, and asking elected officials for their support.

“The people in our communities are not expendable,” one speaker at the event said.

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06 May

Interfaith group BREAD seeks more focus on housing crisis

Posted by in Affordable Housing, BREAD, Economic Opportunity, Minority Rights, Public Education Improvement

May 6, 2019. The Columbus Dispatch.

Ali Miller is an AmeriCorps VISTA worker who spends half of her paycheck on housing here in Columbus.

The job doesn’t pay much, she said — about $12,000 a year. That gives her no money for a car, or alcohol. She gets no money from her parents.

And a local social justice group says there are thousands more like Miller who can’t pay the escalating rents in a growing Columbus and central Ohio.

“We want affordable housing too,” said Miller, not new places with $1,000-a-month rents with granite countertops and fancy exercise rooms.

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06 May

Elected officials commit to transportation, affordable housing plans at annual CAJM rally

Posted by in Affordable Housing, CAJM, Minority Rights, Public Transportation

May 6, 2019. The Post and Courier.

While a bus rapid transit system aimed at providing adequate transportation is projected for 2025 in Charleston region, elected officials said they won’t wait that long to work on efforts to make public transportation more efficient and affordable.

The Charleston Area Justice Ministry held its seventh annual Nehemiah Action Rally Monday at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, drawing nearly 2,000 guests as policy members were challenged to commit to practices that would address the region’s transportation and housing problems.

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03 May

Housing in Southwest Florida: Can this nonprofit build apartments costing $600 a month?

Posted by in Affordable Housing, LIFE

May 3, 2019. Naples Daily News.

Rain tapped lightly on the tin trailer as Amalia Mejia and her sister-in-law Bernabela Gonzalez forked tortillas from the skillet to the children’s plates for dinner. 

“When I lived in company housing, we were four people to a room, unrelated adults,” Mejia said in Spanish. “In that kind of housing the crew leaders have keys and can come whenever they want.”

Mejia’s crew leader came often, harassing her with sexually aggressive behavior until she and her husband then found a rental – a tiny house behind the owner’s residence for $1,300 a month.

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02 May

Hundreds gather in Richmond demanding more affordable housing

Posted by in Affordable Housing, RISC

May 2, 2019. NBC12

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) – There was a massive response Thursday night to Richmond’s ranking of being one of the worst cities in the nation for kicking people out of their homes.

Hundreds of people gathered on the Northside pledging to hold city leaders accountable in their goal of reducing the city’s staggering eviction rates. After reports of Richmond being second in the nation for evictions surfaced, Mayor Levar Stoney vowed to take action.

Many are applauding that move, but they say it can’t stop there.

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