The Federal Reserve Board recently published a new Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2014. The report provides a snapshot of the financial and economic well-being of U.S. households and the issues they face.
The percentage of rural veterans who are women has more than doubled since the First Gulf War, and rural female veterans tend to be younger than the men, according to the Economic Revenue Service.
Ensuring that veterans have access to safe, secure housing is critical, and President Obama and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have made a significant push to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015. Data shows declines in the homeless veteran population across the country, including in Rural America. However, in rural areas where accurate homeless counts are more difficult, this data may not tell the whole story. Read HAC’s latest post on the Rooflines blog to learn why.
Photo: Stormi Greener
Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that nonmetro counties lost 330,000 jobs from January 2014 to January 2015, according to The Daily Yonder. Year-to-year changes in rural employment consistently showed improvements in 2014.
A custom three-bedroom house for $69,000? Welcome to the new model for disaster relief. A Public Radio International (PRI) segment features RAPIDO, an innovative housing for hurricane affected families in Texas’s border colonias.
TAC has released a new report on creating integrated PSH opportunities for extremely low income and disability households. The report highlights important innovations in affordable housing financing policy designed to benefit these households.
Lending and business practices at the nation’s largest manufactured home retailer investigated. The Seattle Times, in conjunction with the Center for Public Integrity, published an in-depth article on Clayton Homes and its Fortune 500 backer.
For the fourth year in a row the smallest rural counties have generally lost population according to The Daily Yonder’s analysis of USDA ERS data. Population in counties with no cities of 10,000 residents and up dropped of half a percent.
As the economy rebounds, the federal government still plays a role in the mortgage business. NPR’s Planet Money investigates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s recent activity within the context of conservatorship.
Difficulty accessing affordable transportation, child care and housing are all magnified in a rural place like Vermont. The Unique Challenges Facing Vermont’s Rural Homeless Population is the subject of a Vermont Public Radio feature.
Vermont deploys a range of services provided by organizations throughout the state, but is also committed to a Housing First model for addressing homelessness. Paul Dragon, Director of Vermont’s Office of Economic Opportunity, said, “It’s hard to work on many of the other issues, particularly finding employment or getting someone’s diabetes or hypertension under check, or getting them to counseling for substance or mental health, if they don’t have a home … So that is a big component of Housing First. Let’s get people stabilized, get them in a home, and then we can work on these other issues.”