News Archives

RAPIDO Housing

April 11, 2015/in Announcements

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.

Report Highlights Innovation in Affordable Housing Financing Policy

April 9, 2015/in Announcements

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.

Manufactured Home Retailer Investigated

April 9, 2015/in Announcements

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.

Rural counties continue to lose population

April 7, 2015/in Announcements

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 Economy Rebounds, Government Still Plays Role In Mortgage Business

March 25, 2015/in Announcements

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.

The Unique Challenges Facing Vermont's Homeless Population

March 19, 2015/in Announcements

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.”

Rural Water Facilities Are in Need of Funding

March 18, 2015/in News

According to Agri-Pulse, a new GAO report found that rural communities will need $140 billion worth of drinking water and wastewater system upgrades in coming decades. There are seven federal agencies which provide rural communities with needed funding and technical assistance for their utilities. However, these agencies are facing more than $1 billion in reduced spending in fiscal year 2015. For rural communities that rely on these funds to provide clean water to citizens, these cuts can be devastating.

Stories of Poverty in Rural Appalachia

March 12, 2015/in Announcements

In the second installment of his series on “America’s Poorest Towns” for www.thinkprogress.org, Scott Rodd writes a series of essays profiling people trying to cope with persistent poverty in Beattyville, KY.

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Rodd interviews several residents of Beattyville in an effort to identify the root cause of the town’s continued poverty and economic struggles. These stories help to illustrate the depth and breadth of challenges a persistently poor rural community faces.

Read the first story in the series, which profiles Campti, LA.

Affordable Housing Gap Continues to Grow

March 10, 2015/in Announcements

The Low-Income Housing Coalition’s latest issue of its Housing Spotlight examines the gap between the supply and demand for affordable rental units at the national and state level. The report, Affordable Housing is Nowhere to be Found for Millions, provides a detailed look at the housing needs of low-income renter households across the country. According to the report, there are only 31 affordable and available rental units for every 100 extremely low-income renter households. The report highlights a variety of factors that have contributed to this growing issue and notes that without government intervention at the federal, state, and local level, the gap will only continue growing.

HUD Releases Worst Case Housing Report Summary

February 18, 2015/in Announcements

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development released the executive summary to their 2015 Worse Case Housing Needs Report to Congress. The report found that the unmet need for decent, safe, and affordable rental housing continues to outpace the ability of federal, state, and local governments to supply housing assistance. Although worst case housing needs have decreased since 2013, the shortage of affordable rental housing is still problematic. In 2015, 6 of 10 extremely low-income renters and 3 of 10 very low-income renters still did not have access to affordable and available housing units.