There are often complaints that the public sector is not innovative enough or is far behind the private sector. While there is truth in that statement, there are still hundreds of housing authorities around the world trying out and experimenting with new ideas to help the citizens and residents of their communities. Here are a… Read More 5 Brilliant Public Housing Innovations
Early in my public housing career, I had the chance to work with the Family Self Sufficiency Program (FSS). I loved the idea from the first time I heard of it. Any program that would encourage our residents to acquire and develop the skills necessary to realize the dreams they have sounds like a winner. … Read More Time to Blow Up the Family Self Sufficiency Program
Chili is known as a beautiful South American country that receives interest from tourists from around the world. However; in recent years the provision of social and affordable housing has roared back to the forefront. The history of affordable housing in Chili is actually long and quite interesting. The programs in comparison to other countries in… Read More Chili is Leading the Affordable Housing Movement in South America.
A major problem in the US and throughout the world is affordable housing for elderly and disabled households. There are plenty of excellent housing developments in the USA that are attempting to bridge the gap. Funding enough affordable housing for the elderly and disabled is a major struggle. I do not know the answer to this question. There are good people… Read More Social Housing and Loneliness, is Coffee the Answer?
As project leader of the European Safe at Home Project, that includes social housing providers in tackling Domestic Abuse, I’ve learned how important the role of social housing providers can – and should- be. But I have to admit that I never fully realized how challenging the task of social housing providers is. The inspiring… Read More Tackling domestic abuse with ‘Safe at Home’
By Diane Anastos Anyone who has ever volunteered with a community council, a nonprofit board or a nonprofit organization is familiar with turnover; the complaint that it’s always the same people doing all of the work and the personality conflict that crop up. As the Resident Initiatives Coordinator for the St. Paul Public Housing Agency in… Read More Public Housing Resident Councils: How to Encourage Resident Participation
The European Federation for Living (EFL) just wrapped up its annual autumn conference located this year in Gent, Belgium. Over sixty participants from across Europe attended the conference, ranging from social and public housing associations, universities and research institutes, and private businesses working in the housing sector. Tenant engagement and cooperative and collaborative housing… Read More Collaboration, Cooperation and Tenant Engagement: The Future of Social Housing
Working in housing and homelessness the last 10 years has allowed me to meet amazing and inspiring people. I have met people selling homeless newspapers in Hannover, Germany, leaders in Portland, Oregon, real estate developers in Arizona, advocates in Scotland. Every day, I meet people who give their life’s to helping those who have the… Read More The Saint for the Homeless of St. Petersburg Russia: Igor Antonov-
One of the most interesting things I found about Nochlezhka and their organization was the night bus. As the annual report said, “ Going back from the street to a stable life requires a lot of effort. To start homeless people need to eat, otherwise they simply will have no energy to get their papers… Read More Homeless in Russia: Saving Life’s with the Night Bus:
Article: The Finnish Homeless Strategy Summarized by Josh Crites Overview Finland recently completed a second phase of a national program intended to dramatically reduce homelessness. What is different with the Finnish approach is the country came together to create a national strategy with a total effort on using the Housing First model. The summary report… Read More Strategic Planning and Homelessness: Finland, the UK, the USA and Sweden
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