Campaign Joins Housing Action Illinois Webinar on Social Media and Housing Advocacy
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| The campaign joined the “Making Your Own Spotlight – Lessons from the Field” webinar on January 22, hosted by Housing Action Illinois, a campaign state partner. The webinar explored how housing advocates can use digital storytelling on their own platforms to raise awareness, shift narratives, and mobilize support.
Kristin Ginger, Director of Communications and Development at Housing Action Illinois, opened the webinar and introduced Horacio Mendez, President and CEO, and Rob Mayo, Communications Associate, of the Woodstock Institute. Mendez and Mayo discussed how posting long-form content on LinkedIn helps them reach a targeted audience interested in affordable housing policy. They emphasized the value of leveraging personal connections and professional networks on LinkedIn to build credibility, deepen engagement, and spark meaningful conversations around housing justice.
Nick Dodson, Continuum of Care Housing Navigator at Heartland HOUSED, shared his experiences creating short-form video content on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Drawing from his own work in housing navigation, Dodson highlighted how authenticity, consistency, and clear, actionable messaging help him connect with viewers and mobilize social media users and community members around specific housing goals.
Julie Walker, campaign Project Manager, provided an overview of the campaign and podcast. She outlined the campaign’s mission to build a broad housing coalition and highlighted how the podcast has been used to engage experts from multiple sectors in conversations about the intersectionality of housing. Walker discussed how the podcast helps the campaign reach new audiences, build relationships, and contribute to narrative change in housing advocacy, including through notable episodes such as the five-part podcast series with the American Institute of Architects Right to Housing Working Group.
The webinar concluded with Dawn Broers, Founder and Executive Director of Fortitude Community Outreach, who discussed how Fortitude has used Facebook and their Blind Spot podcast series to share stories with their community. Broers emphasized the importance of intentional storytelling, visibility, and amplifying lived experiences as key components of effective advocacy. |
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Podcast Episode 51 Reflects on 2025 Building Effective and Robust Cross-Sector Partnerships
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| The campaign released a new podcast episode featuring a recording of the campaign’s December 2 Roundtable event, “OSAH: Building Effective and Robust Cross-Sector Partnerships.” Listen to the episode here.
In the episode, NLIHC President and CEO Renee M. Willis opens the event by thanking Roundtable members for their commitment to cross-sector housing advocacy and emphasizing the essential role of multi-sector partnerships in achieving safe, affordable housing for all. Chantelle Wilkinson, NLIHC Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Campaigns, provides a recap of campaign achievements in 2025, including congressional briefings, new podcast episodes, and the addition of ten new roundtable members.
May Louis-Juste, NLIHC Project Manager of Strategic Partnerships, highlights efforts to expand the visibility of housing advocacy and engage younger audiences through initiatives such as the new “The Common Ground” podcast. Julie Walker, campaign Project Manager, provides State Partner updates, spotlighting the work of Prosperity Indiana, Virginia Housing Alliance, Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, and North Carolina Housing Coalition.
Meghan Mertyris, NLIHC Disaster Recovery Policy Analyst, presents the work of the Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) and current bills that the DHRC supports addressing the intersection of disaster response and housing.
In total, the campaign has released 51 podcast episodes since its launch in 2018. The OSAH podcast takes a deep look at how housing shapes opportunities across the nation. Campaign staff interview research experts, advocates, and policymakers to explore the intersections between housing and other issue areas.
Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple, and Soundcloud |
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Journal of Housing Economics Publishes Article on Assisted Housing and Child Development
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| The Journal of Housing Economics recently published an article, “Assisted housing and healthy child development,” examining how assisted housing influences children’s developmental outcomes. Focusing on children ages 0–17, the study links measures of children’s cognitive achievement with HUD administrative data to assess the role of assisted housing in child development. The authors identify and evaluate the impacts of three core aspects of assisted housing: affordability, housing quality, and neighborhood conditions.
The study drew data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics-Assisted Housing Database (PSID-AHD) and PSID’s Child Development supplement. The study included 1,440 children who either lived in assisted housing or had never lived in assisted housing, but whose families were income-eligible for at least half of the childhood years observed during the analysis from 1985-2007.
Among these core qualities, affordability was found to have the largest impact on children’s healthy development. Housing quality and neighborhood conditions were not significantly affected by assisted housing, though both remain important contributors to child development. The study finds that children who spend at least part of their childhood in assisted housing demonstrate higher cognitive achievement and better overall health compared to children living in unassisted housing. These results are consistent across major assisted housing programs—including public housing, multifamily housing, and housing vouchers—highlighting the central role of affordability in promoting positive child outcomes. Additionally, the authors suggest that improved affordability enhances parenting quality, which in turn directly benefits children’s well-being.
The article concludes by emphasizing housing affordability as a key driver of positive child development outcomes. This finding reinforces policy arguments for strengthening assisted housing programs and ensuring that low-income families can access affordable housing that reduces cost burdens, thereby potentially enhancing children’s cognitive skills, overall health, and emotional well-being. |
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Housing Studies Publishes an Article on the Impact of Eviction Filings for Tenants and Families
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| Housing Studies, an international journal that shares research developments in the housing field, recently published an article, “Record costs: examining the impact of eviction filings for tenants and their families,” examining the short- and long-term consequences of eviction filings regardless of court outcomes. Using survey data and qualitative mapping from Pennsylvania tenants who had an eviction case filed against them between 2019 and 2023, received legal aid and support, and had their cases resolved neutrally or favorably, the study finds that eviction filings alone trigger widespread and lasting harm to tenants’ housing stability, health, relationships, and financial security.
The article reveals that eviction-related harms occur even without a formal eviction judgment or court-ordered displacement. Eviction threats are associated with mental health challenges, parental stress, and increased risk of COVID-19 infection and death. Many study participants reported feeling forced to move after their cases due to unresolved maintenance issues, steep rent increases, or prolonged harassment and hostile landlord relationships that made their homes feel unsafe. Eviction filings also created long-term barriers to future housing access, quality, and stability. Tenants who moved after a filing often struggled to secure housing because of the record, incurring repeated application fees and additional costs that exacerbated financial hardship. Nearly half of those who moved experienced a subsequent period of homelessness, and some accepted substandard or unsafe housing to secure a degree of stability. Among tenants who continued renting after a filing, rents increased, and three-quarters of this group faced unaffordable rent burdens.
The authors argue that eviction should be understood not as an isolated event but as a prolonged, extractive, and often cyclical process that extends beyond the courtroom. The findings show that eviction filing and tenant screening practices intensify the rental housing crisis and further restrict access to safe and affordable housing for low- and middle-income renters. The article concludes by calling for broader definitions of forced displacement that include repair-induced moves, stronger tenant protections through improved code enforcement and anti-retaliation measures, and legislation to seal eviction records. |
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JAMA Network Open Publishes Article on LGB+ Veterans and Social Health Needs
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| This article uses “LGB+” to refer to the primary care patients interviewed in this study based on their identification as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other sexual orientations. Participants were not asked to report their gender identity. While this study focused on sexual orientation, transgender and nonbinary veterans also face housing insecurity and discrimination. More information can be found in this 2022 analysis from The Center for American Progress.
Jama Network Open recently published a new article, “Health-Related Social Needs Among LGB+ Veterans.” The article utilizes a cross-sectional study of primary care patients served by the Veterans Health Administration to identify the health-related social needs of veterans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, additional orientations, or not sure (LGB+). The authors find that LGB+ veterans have an increased need for support around housing and discriminatory experiences.
Data was gathered from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients program and included a sample of 6,296 primary care patients served by the Veterans Health Administration. Patients completed a social-needs questionnaire, which was analyzed to determine their social needs across 13 domains, including housing, basic needs, employment, social isolation, and experiences of discrimination. LGB+ veterans had a significantly higher prevalence of need for support in managing discrimination and obtaining or maintaining stable housing.
The study found that nearly one in four LGB+ veterans reported needing support for discrimination, compared with one in ten heterosexual veterans. Additionally, a higher proportion of LGB+ respondents reported needing support in finding and maintaining stable housing. The authors note that prior research aligns with these findings, including analyses of housing-instability screenings in Veterans Health Administration encounters showing that LGB+ veterans are nearly twice as likely to experience recent homelessness and housing instability compared with heterosexual veterans.
The article concludes by underscoring the need for targeted and responsive systems to support LGB+ veterans, particularly with respect to housing. The authors emphasize the importance of strengthened interventions at both national and local levels to adequately address the social needs of LGB+ veterans. |
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Register for NLIHC’s 2026 Housing Policy Forum!
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| Join us at this year’s NLIHC Housing Policy Forum! Held in Washington D.C., the Forum will feature an array of breakout sessions in which attendees can engage with and learn from thought leaders, policy experts, researchers, tenant advocates, and affordable housing practitioners.
The campaign’s breakout session, “Immigrant Advocates are Housing Advocates: The State of Immigration Rights and Housing Justice” will explore the ways that immigration impacts the state of affordable housing, best practices for prioritizing safety in political advocacy, messaging to counter anti-immigrant sentiments, and strategies for advocates to further safe, accessible, and affordable housing for all. |
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| Are you a part of a national organization interested in cross-sector partnership? Join representatives from over 130 multi-sector organizations, including housing, education, healthcare, civil rights, anti-poverty, seniors, faith-based, anti-hunger, veterans, LGBTQIA+, and more on the campaign’s Roundtable. If you are interested in the Roundtable, please fill out our interest form and and feel free to share it with other national organizations that may want to get involved. |
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