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Congressional Briefing on Aging Adults and Homelessness
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| The campaign hosted a congressional briefing on June 25, in partnership with the National Alliance to End Homelessness, to discuss the rising number of older Americans experiencing homelessness. The event featured a screening of the acclaimed documentary No Place to Grow Old, which follows the lives of older adults navigating the harsh realities of housing instability. The screening was followed by a panel discussion about the affordable housing crisis for aging adults and how health challenges, unfortunate unforeseen circumstances, and rising housing costs converge to create this urgent issue. The briefing concluded with remarks from Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). Read the full briefing recap here.
Briefing speakers included:
- Remarks, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)
- Opening Remarks, Kim Johnson, Senior Director of Policy, NLIHC
- Remarks, Michael Larson, Founder, Humans for Housing
- Davey Schaupp, Director of No Place to Grow Old
- Yolanda Stevens, PhD, Program and Policy Analyst-Older Adults and Healthcare at the National Alliance to End Homelessness
- Bronwyn Carver, Film Participant and Advocate
- Dr. Jennifer Molinsky, Director, Housing an Aging Society Program at Harvard University and Film Expert
- Jennifer Kye, Senior Attorney, Justice In Aging
- Moderator, Chantelle Wilkinson, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships & Campaigns, NLIHC
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| Watch the trailer for No Place to Grow Old and learn more about hosting a screening here. |
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Join 7/8 SchoolHouse Connection Webinar on How School and Housing Systems Can Partner to Solve Family Homelessness
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SchoolHouse Connection, a campaign Roundtable member, is hosting a webinar, “Solving School-Age Homelessness Through School-Housing Partnerships” on Tuesday, July 8 at 2 pm ET. The webinar will showcase an innovative example of cross-sector work between school systems and housing partners to provide housing to families experiencing homelessness. The webinar will explore how the city, county, housing authority, homeless coalition, and school district came together in Hamilton County, Tennessee to launch a pilot program that provides both housing and case management to families identified by the school system. Attendees will learn about the key components of the program, its early impact, challenges faced during implementation, and strategies for adapting and replicating this model in other communities.
Sample Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and other practical resources will be shared.
This webinar is designed for both school liaisons and housing partners. If you work in a school, bring your housing counterpart. If you’re in housing, invite your local liaison.
Speakers include:
- Lori Carmack, LMSW, LSSW, Coordinator of School Social Work, Hamilton County Schools
- Laura Grier, M.S. Ed., Former Homeless Liaison, Hamilton County Schools
- Mackenzie Kelly, Executive Director, Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition
- Barbara Duffield, Executive Director, SchoolHouse Connection
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New Report from SchoolHouse Connection on Infant and Toddler Homelessness
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| SchoolHouse Connection released a new report, Infant and Toddler Homelessness Across 50 States, presenting the estimated incidence of homelessness and enrollment in early childhood development programs among infants and toddlers at the national and state levels during the 2022-2023 program year. The report also recommends actions at the federal, state, and local levels to increase access to housing and early childhood development programs. A child’s brain develops faster than at any other time between birth and age three, and the report finds that an increasing number of infants and toddlers spend these critical years without a safe and stable home, negatively impacting their development, health, and future economic security. The report emphasizes the need for collaboration and alignment across housing, homelessness, early childhood, health, and other sectors to prevent and address infant and toddler homelessness. |
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| The report finds that homelessness among infants and toddlers is increasing, and those experiencing homelessness are receiving fewer developmental supports through early childhood programs. During the 2022-2023 program year, approximately 446,996 infants and toddlers (ages birth through 3) experienced homelessness across the U.S. This is a 23% increase from 2021, and an increase in homelessness is seen in 48 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. To mitigate the impacts of homelessness, it is important that infants and toddlers have access to high-quality early childhood development opportunities. However, families experiencing homelessness face barriers to access, including lack of documentation, lack of transportation, and lack of understanding among providers and families about eligibility. Only 10% of infants and toddlers experiencing homelessness were enrolled in a Home-based, Early Head Start, or Local Educational Agency-funded program during the 2022-2023 program year. Since 2021, the percentage of infants and toddlers experiencing homelessness and enrolled in an early childhood development program decreased from 11.5% to 10%.
Programs for babies and expectant parents, including Head Start/Early Head Start, Early Intervention, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are currently facing significant threats, and the authors urge legislators to reject cuts to these programs and highlight how cuts could increase and prolong homelessness for those experiencing it. Federal and state lawmakers should instead remove barriers and increase support to address infant and toddler homelessness. The report includes six priority areas for policy reform, including increased investments in the supply of affordable housing for families with infants and toddlers, such as targeted housing vouchers and rental subsidies. |
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National Women’s Law Center Releases Report on Impact of Key Programs on the Well-Being of Women, LGBTQI+ People, and Their Families
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| The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), a campaign Steering Committee member, released a report, By the Numbers: Data on Key Programs for the Well-Being of Women, LGBTQI+ People, and their Families, detailing how proposed cuts to housing assistance, Medicaid, food assistance, and other essential social programs would disproportionately harm women—particularly Black, Latina, and Native women and LGBTQI+ individuals. The report features data about each program’s anti-poverty impacts and participation rates. Federal housing assistance and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) are featured in the report, with women heading 74% of HUD assisted households in 2024 and 67% of households receiving ERAP in 2023. In 2023, federal housing assistance lifted over 2.8 million people out of poverty, including 1.2 million women. The report concludes by emphasizing that programs like housing assistance that help households meet their basic needs especially benefit women, particularly women of color, immigrant women, women with disabilities, and LGBTQI+ individuals. At the same time, all individuals benefit when everyone in a community can afford essential needs.
The report reveals how women, LGBTQI+ people, and their families are facing disproportionate economic hardship amid rising costs and limited public supports. Historically, this population has been more likely to experience poverty and hardship due to discrimination and structural inequities across systems, including housing, along with their relative likelihood of being responsible for unpaid caregiving work. NWLC’s report includes data on the anti-poverty impacts and participation rates of key programs in housing assistance, health care, nutrition assistance, educational opportunity, refundable tax credits, and social insurance programs. For housing assistance, chronic underfunding has led to demand that far outpaces the assistance available. Women of color in particular experience high rates of severe housing cost-burden (spending more than 50% of household income on housing costs), which puts this population at increased risk having an unexpected expense lead to eviction. Over the past few years, ERAP funding helped mitigate the rising threat of evictions, and its impact demonstrates that housing assistance is critical to keeping people housed as eviction rates continue to rise.
Read the campaign fact sheets to learn more about the connections between gender equity, LGBTQIA+ equity, and housing here. |
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National Council on Teacher Quality Highlights Growing Gap Between Teacher Pay and Housing Cost
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| The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) released an issue brief, “Priced out: The growing challenge of teacher pay and housing costs” last month highlighting the housing affordability challenges facing educators across the country. Increases in teacher salaries alone cannot keep up with the housing market in many school districts, making it unaffordable for teachers to live in the communities they serve. The brief also highlights examples of school districts partnering with housing agencies to provide affordable housing for teachers while emphasizing that a national response to the affordable housing crisis is necessary to ensure that educators can afford to live where they teach and schools can retain their workforce.
In a study examining 72 large, urban school districts, NCTQ found that housing costs between 2019 and 2025 have outpaced teachers’ salary growth, with rental costs increasing by 51% on average and teachers’ salaries only growing by about 24%. The analysis also found that new teachers cannot afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment in half of the districts sampled, regardless of whether they have a master’s degree. In 2019, 18 districts were unaffordable for teachers with bachelor’s degrees and 11 for those with master’s degrees. In 2025, 39 of the 72 districts sampled are unaffordable for early career teachers with bachelor’s degrees, and 34 are unaffordable to those with master’s degrees. Further, the rental cost for a one-bedroom unit in 10 of the districts sampled is more than 40% of the beginning bachelor’s degree holding teacher salaries, and four districts surpassed 45%. These numbers reveal a concerning trend of growing financial instability among educators, which contributes to challenges for school districts in attracting and retaining a diverse and high-quality teacher workforce. While some districts have been able to respond to the crisis by increasing teacher salaries to keep pace with the housing market, less-resourced districts have responded by partnering with affordable housing programs to provide housing to income-eligible teachers.
The subject of this brief, the disparity between wages and rising housing costs, is the focus of NLIHC’s annual Out of Reach report. The 2025 report found that 14 of the 20 largest occupations pay median wages less than the one-or two-bedroom housing wage, which is an estimate of the hourly wage a full-time worker needs to earn to afford a modest rental home at HUD’s Fair Market Rent (FMR) without spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Several of these occupations, including secretaries and administrative assistants, office and administrative support workers, building cleaning and pest control workers, and cooks and food preparation workers, are also essential to the success of any school district workforce. While the issue brief from NCTQ focuses on educator pay, school staff at every income level must be able to afford stable and accessible housing in the communities they serve. |
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Take Action! Urge Congress to Support Robust Housing Solutions
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| The campaign recently shared a new advocacy opportunity to call on Congress to enact the campaign’s Bipartisan Housing Policy Package. The nation’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis demands urgent action, and it is critical that Congress work to find common ground to enact legislation to help improve the lives of the nation’s lowest-income and most marginalized households. The set of key bipartisan legislation outlined by the campaign is necessary to address the affordable housing crisis and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to thrive. Contact your Members of Congress today to urge them to support the campaign’s bipartisan bill package. |
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Protect Federal Housing and Homelessness Funding in FY26
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| Despite having yet to reach a topline funding agreement for the 12 fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations bills, known as “302(b)” allocations, members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are moving forward with drafting their FY26 spending bills.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) are reportedly making progress on 302(b) funding levels and plan to begin reviewing draft legislation in the committee (a process called “markup”) after the July 4 holiday. In the House, Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) scheduled a subcommittee markup for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill, which funds HUD’s vital programs, for July 14, with a markup before the full House Appropriations Committee slated for July 17. Both the House and Senate will need to release the text of their THUD spending proposals in advance of markup.
Congress has until October 1, the beginning of the federal fiscal year, to draft, negotiate, and pass final FY26 spending bills. Without a final spending agreement, Congress will need to enact a short-term funding patch known as a continuing resolution (CR) to maintain funding for federal programs and avoid a partial federal government shutdown. While Republicans control both the House and the Senate, any spending bill needs at least 60 votes to pass the Senate, so final appropriations bills will need bipartisan support to be enacted.
Communities around the country rely on funding from HUD and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support critical affordable housing, homelessness services, and community development projects. Despite the importance of these resources, HUD and USDA programs have been dramatically underfunded for decades, with HUD programs and staff facing unprecedented cuts this year. At current funding levels, only one out of every four households that qualifies for rental assistance receives assistance, leaving millions of renters struggling to afford housing and a record number of people experiencing homelessness. Contact your Members of Congress today and urge them to expand, not cut, investments in HUD programs in the FY26 spending bill. |
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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. We’ve created an interest form that organizations can complete to let us know how they would like to engage with the campaign. Participation is flexible and can range from receiving our monthly newsletter, to attending bi-monthly meetings, to participating in joint events and to joining our efforts to advance housing solutions.
Participating in Roundtable dialogue does not represent an endorsement of the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign’s policy goals. Roundtable participation only indicates an interest in cross-sector engagement.
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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Fact of the Month: Lower-income renters have experienced a sharp drop in household residual incomes — the amount left over after paying for housing and utilities.
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