Housing Is Initiative


 
CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative helps build a future where systems work together to improve life outcomes for low-income people.

Housing Is helps broaden and deepen efforts to align housing, education, and health organizations to produce positive long-term outcomes for those experiencing poverty. Collaboration across systems and sectors—through shared goals, focused resources, and coordinated efforts—strengthens our collective ability to serve the needs of low-income individuals and families effectively and efficiently.

Public housing offers many low-income children, families, and seniors critical stability, but fragmented service delivery systems and siloed policymaking often fail to address social determinants of low-income individuals and families holistically. This often results in stagnant effectiveness and costly inefficiencies.

CLPHA leads the affordable housing industry as a convener of partners across sectors who are committed to aligning different systems and developing interdisciplinary programs to address a variety of essential needs in communities across the country. From promoting data sharing and shared accountability to encouraging cross-sector training and evidence-based interventions, our work fosters improved, sustained alignment and collaboration.

Our Work
Housing Is Education:

CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative recognizes the key role public housing authorities can play in a variety of educational efforts benefiting both low-income children and adults. Research has shown that housing stability has a significant impact on children’s school performance and long-term outcomes, such as graduation rates and post-secondary activities. Housing authorities are actively exploring how they can align with and add value to local approaches that aim to improve educational outcomes.

 

Learn more about our education initiatives. 

 

Housing Is Health:

Public housing residents are not only economically disenfranchised, but also experience higher rates of chronic conditions and diagnoses such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and anxiety/depression. PHAs and their health partners can improve low-income people’s health and wellbeing by enhancing built environments, providing preventative health resources, and increasing access to healthcare services.

 

Learn more about our health initiatives.

 

Housing Is Digital Equity:

As our world’s reliance on technology continues to grow, achieving digital equity and bridging the digital divide for disadvantaged populations becomes more and more critical. The digital divide disproportionately affects low-income households and contributes to racial inequities that have long plagued Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) communities. PHAs are uniquely well-positioned to help advance digital equity given that they house and provide services to some of our nation’s lowest-income and most disconnected families. 

 

Learn more about our digital equity initiatives.

Housing Is-Related News
7.11.19
From the New Haven Independent: Yaleija Jackson recently had a bad experience with a dentist. When he pulled her tooth, it hurt. A lot. That has only increased her career aspiration to be a dentist, and a good one. The quest begins with her entering Howard University in the fall majoring in health sciences. Yaleija shared her story Tuesday afternoon at the Housing...
7.11.19
From UrbanMilwaukee: The National Center for Housing Management (NCHM), a national non-profit organization, has announced a $100,000 grant in support of the Save the Soldiers Home project on the grounds of the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center overlooking Miller Park. When completed, the project will restore six historic buildings, some dating back to the 1860s, and create 101 supportive...
7.11.19
After 36 years as a trusted community leader in the core areas of housing, community development, and economic development, the Community Development Commission/Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (CDC/HACoLA) has rebranded as the Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA).
7.11.19
On June 28 and 29, youth from the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet up with District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) youth for an educational field trip about Negro League Baseball and African American history and cultur
6.28.19
From the Chicago Sun-Times: "When she was a little kid, Niesha Chism would sometimes pack a suitcase, heave it over the next-door neighbor’s fence and “run away” from home. Some two decades later, Chism, now 33, sees her 2-year-old son head in the opposite direction — to the South Chicago home where she grew up. That’s because Chism recently moved into the two-story brick...
6.28.19
From BISNOW Seattle: "Last fall, Kōz Development founder and owner Cathy Reines jumped at the chance to partner with Tacoma Housing Authority to build affordable housing for University of Washington Tacoma students. The project gives students more housing stability as they shape their futures.
Partner with Us

If you and your organization would like to learn how to join CLPHA in their cross-system efforts, please reach out to us at housingis@clpha.org, and join the Housing Is Clearinghouse at housingis.org.

Special Thanks

The Housing Is Initiative is thankful to our foundation partners who make this cross-system work possible. 

Click here to learn more about our funders.

Learn more about the Housing Is Initiative at housingis.org

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