Housing

January 27 2021

Housing@100% Innovation 10 – Developing the City Dept of Housing

Housing@100%: Innovation 10

Developing the City Dept of Housing

EYE ON RESULTS

The projects presented in the ten innovations areas are all designed to address barriers to vital services. Action teams should review all projects and prioritize those that have the best chance of addressing the barriers identified in the 100% New Mexico countywide survey. Your collaborative and result-focused local work is nothing less than heroic.

8 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “County/City Partnership that funds the Department of Housing” project

The “convene your fellow housing support advocates and enhance your skills in public speaking, committee briefing and how to get to a lawmaker” project

The “know your stuff before you meet the mayor” project

The “create a bold vision and strategic plan” project

Project: Housing.10.1

Project 1: The “County/City Partnership that funds the Department of Housing” project

Elevator pitch: When Eric was born, his mom should have been able to scan city hall’s website to find all sorts of housing support programs. She should have been able to see a clearly defined menu item called “Housing Options” right next to Police, Fire and Parks. It should not be buried deep in the bowels of the website, because it’s a vital stand-alone department (or should be) and deserves to be treated as such.

Why is this so important? After all, various local housing support programs are often funded in part by county entities, city entities, foundations, nonprofit organizations or multi-county coalitions. In smaller areas, nonprofits are the hub for all housing supports. We are not asking this proposed department to be in charge of putting all housing support in place. It should at the very least regularly evaluate the housing support needs of its constituents, determine if they are adequate and regularly research innovations. This job will look very different depending on the town: for example, it may just take a part-time city manager a few hours per year in the smallest of hamlets. But it’s important work, and it needs to be done by someone who reports to a person who regularly stands for election. Potential partners could include: mayors, city councilors, county commissioners, advocates for affordable housing, mental health professionals, public education professionals and socially-engaged housing industry leaders.

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Housing@100% Innovation 10 – Developing the City Dept of Housing

Project: Housing.10.2

Project 2: The “convene your fellow housing support advocates and enhance your skills in public speaking, committee briefing and how to get to a lawmaker” project

This project is a crash course that you develop with local experts about how to contact local and state leaders, give an elevator pitch on your projects, and the protocol for committee hearings that can lead to funding.

Deliverables:

Find an accomplished colleague with good public speaking skills along with a professional with experience lobbying/networking with elected leaders. Together, discuss how a workshop for the entire 100% New Mexico team could be created to enhance skills. Assess interest with teams, make a workshop plan, deliver and evaluate. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Housing.10.3

Project 3: The “know your stuff before you meet the mayor” project

Innovation #10, in some ways, is putting it all together. By this we mean that, by the time your action team becomes familiar with all ten innovation areas and their projects, you will be prepared to meet with elected officials and stakeholders to discuss a city strengthening its support of housing security in all its many enriching forms.

Deliverables:

Identify at least one colleague to join you in reviewing every innovation project in this chapter. This means diving into all the research that you can get your hands on, starting with our links to support your project. Conduct an assessment of all 100% New Mexico team members to identify which projects are of interest and in development. From here, present your global overview of project development with the entire 100% New Mexico team for feedback. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Housing.10.4

Project 4: The “create a bold vision and strategic plan” project

It’s time to create a detailed plan for this new (or improved) local Department of Housing. With previous projects, you will have learned its strengths and weaknesses, potential funding sources and who the players are. You’ll be in a great position to document what’s great, and needs to be kept as it is or expanded, and what needs to change.

Deliverables:

After an assessment of housing (see Innovation #1) and a survey of all 100% New Mexico team members to identify which projects are of interest and in development, develop a draft outline of a strategic plan for a Department of Housing. From here, present the draft plan to the entire 100% New Mexico team for feedback. (Suggested time frame: 3–6 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

LET'S INNOVATE

January 27 2021

Housing@100% Innovation 9 – Strengthening Local Services

Institute StaffHousing

Housing@100%: Innovation 9

Strengthening Local Services

EYE ON RESULTS

4 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “know your state and federal housing options” project

The “we need a state coalition to make great things happen” project

Project: Housing.9.1

Project 1: The “know your state and federal housing options” project

Rare is the urban or rural housing support program or agency that doesn’t get by without a lot of help and guidance from the state or federal government (or both). Knowing a bit about those relationships will be great background and possibly aid you with your own relationship to empower funding for local housing solutions.

Continuum of Care (CoC) Program: https://aae.how/49
HUD Resource Center: https://aae.how/50

Deliverables:

Research as much as you can about the national picture and then research how that translates to the local level. A few informational interviews will help here. Compile your insights and hopefully some evaluation data, and share with the 100% New Mexico team.

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Housing@100% Innovation 9 – Strengthening Local Services

Project: Housing.9.2

Project 2: The “we need a state coalition to make great things happen” project

If we convene the right players at the county level and get to the point where 100% of children and their parents have access to safe, affordable housing, then the next step is to take that project statewide. So that’s the not-so-easy task: create a statewide network of advocates who believe that safe, stable and affordable housing is not a luxury, just what civilized governments ensure. A coalition will allow you to have the stron gest voice possible. You may find that local lawmakers, while sympathetic, do not see addressing housing disparities as the role of county or city government. Coalitions can counter this.

Your county and state network can educate local lawmakers about a new role for government: ensuring no child, student or parent is marginalized because they can’t afford stable housing that is close to vital services, schools and work. This coalition can work to elect candidates who will prioritize access to affordable housing. Also, technology can be used to connect everyone in the network with a shared vision, including goals, activities, data, communication and messaging, and evaluation processes.

Deliverables:

Find some passionate change agents and conduct informational interviews with sector stakeholders to assess interest in a county or state coalition. Assess the data-driven and result-focused quality of current coalitions. Create a one-pager to present to your 100% New Mexico team and countywide network of shelter and housing support agencies on your initial findings. (Suggested time frame: 3–6 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

LET'S INNOVATE

January 27 2021

Housing@100% Innovation 8 – Supporting Cities and Counties

Institute StaffHousing

Housing@100%: Innovation 8

Supporting Cities and Counties

EYE ON RESULTS

2 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “get acquainted with land use law” project

Project: Housing.8.1

Project 1: The “get acquainted with land use law” project

The prices of homes, like every other consumer good, is dictated by supply and demand. Often, cities use zoning regulations to constrain the supply. Their chief tool is something called the single family zone, a restriction assigned to vast swaths of many neighborhoods that says only one house and one family can live on one piece of property. No duplexes, no mother-in-law units and definitely no apartments.

The single family zone has the effect of minimizing the density of neighborhoods and keeping out apartment buildings, which many homeowners dislike along with the people who rent them. (“Renter” is a bit of a four-letter word in many entrenched neighborhood circles.) In some cities, regulations effectively hand veto rights over to neighborhood residents when it comes to apartment complex construction, even when they’re allowed in the given zone.

This is a long way of illustrating the point that small regulations that you may have never considered can have a big impact on how many housing units are available in the first place, and thus their price. Walling off entire neighborhoods to anyone except those who can pay ever-increasing prices, effectively shunts low income people to the city limits where commutes are long and transit is sparse. But the land use picture is much more complicated than even this illustration, which leads us to… homework.

San Jose ADU policy: https://aae.how/48

Deliverables:

Find a land use expert and pick his or her brain. It might be a lawyer who specializes in this area, a city or county planner who knows the regulations, a city councilor who has been around the block a few times, or even a developer. Ask what is standing between the city and the construction of, say, a thousand modest housing units located in easy striking distance of the city center. Are enough units being built to keep prices flat or even make them go down? If not, what could fix that? Then write up your findings and present them to the group. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Housing@100% Innovation 8 – Supporting Cities and Counties

LET'S INNOVATE

January 27 2021

Housing@100% Innovation 7 – Engaging Higher Education

Institute StaffHousing

Housing@100%: Innovation 7

Engaging Higher Education

EYE ON RESULTS

2 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “House U” project

Project: Housing.7.1

Project 1: The “House U” project

Just like with the K–12 students, colleges and universities are important places for housing support programs, including research. While not all higher ed institutions are set up to do this, it’s worth asking whether the local college or university devotes any time, research or other resources to making sure that their students and staff have secure housing situations. And what do they do to support their students who don’t? You will want to read up on the College Housing Assistance Program in Tacoma, WA and a program for community college students in Massachusetts.

College Housing Assistance Program (CHAP): https://aae.how/46
Massachusetts: pilot free housing for college students: https://aae.how/47

Deliverables:

Research as much as you can nationally online and through informational interviews at your local higher education institutions to see what they’re doing to help and what they’re not doing that their counterpart institutions have already figured out. Compile your insights, and hopefully some evaluation data, then share with the 100% New Mexico team. (Suggested time frame: 4 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Housing@100% Innovation 7 – Engaging Higher Education

LET'S INNOVATE

two-hispanic-children-using-laptop-at-home

January 27 2021

Housing@100% Innovation 6 – Connecting the Education System

Institute StaffHousing

Housing@100%: Innovation 6

Connecting the Education System

EYE ON RESULTS

2 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “rapid-rehousing of homeless students” project

Project: Housing.6.1

Project 1: The “rapid-rehousing of homeless students” project

There are something upwards of 1 million homeless students in the United States, roughly equivalent to all of the students in the state of Virginia. The first step in tackling this problem in your community is to figure out what local schools or the school district do with their homeless students. (Sadly, the answer may be “nothing.”) But if they do something, what form does that action take? Do they see themselves as a coach/ fixer that make referrals to other resources, or do they provide direct services themselves? Are their numbers going up or down? What metrics can they provide about cases they’ve closed? What prevents them from doing more? Some schools in Washington State are spending new money on extra after-school tutoring for these students, along with providing clothing and books. School districts can also work to make sure that students who change addresses frequently don’t likewise have to change schools all the time. Is this being done in your area?

Homeless Students: https://aae.how/45
State of Washington Homeless Students Program: https://aae.how/199

Deliverables:

Research as much as you can about these questions, both online and through in-person interviews, and present your findings to the 100% New Mexico team. (Suggested time frame: 4 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Housing@100% Innovation 6 – Connecting the Education System

LET'S INNOVATE

top-view-of-resident-videocall-sitting-on-desk

January 27 2021

Housing@100% Innovation 5 – Generating Public Awareness

Institute StaffHousing

Housing@100%: Innovation 5

Generating Public Awareness

EYE ON RESULTS

6 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “create the Housing@100% user-friendly website” project

The “be patient and focused” project

The “email Housing@100% often” project

Project: Housing.5.1

Project 1: The “create the Housing@100% user-friendly website” project

This is where you design and launch your own family-friendly website for the public to post vital housing information. As mentioned earlier, websites don’t just pop up easily, but there are free services online to help with design.

Deliverables:

Research housing support websites across your county and state. You might even find great ideas across the nation and globe. Present your findings on the user-friendliness of existing local websites to the 100% New Mexico team. After feedback, network with local housing support folks (along with a web designer and graphic designer) to improve the user-friendliness of housing agency support websites with easy-to-understand information. You can also include information on your Housing@100% action team and how you are working to improve local housing options. (Suggested time frame: 3–6 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Housing@100% Innovation 5 – Generating Public Awareness

Project: Housing.5.2

Project 2: The “be patient and focused” project

Even completing a few of these projects will place you among the best-educated one percent when it comes to housing security and supports in your area. One way you could put that know-how to good use is by serving on an advisory board or commission. Many, but not all, city and county agencies have generic housing support or homelessness advisory boards or advisory panels often hurting for members. This is your opportunity to ensure alignment of services becomes a reality.

Deliverables:

Attend at least a quarter’s worth of meetings, then present to the 100% New Mexico team your analysis of current committee/task force working groups — including how data-driven and result-focused they appear to be. Present to your group opportunities for alignment and mutual support. (Suggested time frame: 4 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Project: Housing.5.3

Project 3: The “email Housing@100% often” project

Outreach via email and social marketing are good tools. Social marketing strategies, just like website development, can be challenging. Yet there are “how to” websites that can help facilitate this process. You should work to reach all stakeholders who have the concerns of families (and all residents) on their radar. You can send updates on all the work of your action teams to raise awareness and garner support.

Populations to target:

Youth-serving groups
Family-serving groups
Faith-based groups
Cultural groups
Social justice groups
Housing industry
Elected officials

Deliverables:

Identify the most tech-savvy in your network, then create a countywide list of stakeholders to email. Create a rough message and graphic identity for your messaging. Test it out with the 100% New Mexico team and housing equity folks and shelter providers, tweak and off you go. If you used a mailing service that can track your email’s performance, check open rates after three months to assess responses. If you simply emailed your network directly, gauge how many of the messages received a reply or initiated action. (Suggested time frame: 4 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

LET'S INNOVATE

close-up-of-businesswomen-using-mobile-phones-in-modern-office

January 27 2021

Housing@100% Innovation 4 – Harnessing Technology

Institute StaffHousing

Housing@100%: Innovation 4

Harnessing Technology

EYE ON RESULTS

2 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “plain language for existing websites” project

Project: Housing.4.1

Project 1: The “plain language for existing websites” project

In some city and county systems, thoughtful professionals spend a great deal of time and effort trying to design great websites that spell out how to get help paying rent, how to avoid defaulting on your mortgage, where to find housing vouchers and where to find help getting yourself or someone you know out of homelessness.

Your mission is to figure out whether your county and city websites are taking this opportunity to simply and efficiently explain all aspects of housing security and how to improve prospects for securing safe and stable housing. The question to be answered on a website is, “What’s out there and accessible?” Is information also available in hard copy as well? Is helpful information available in all relevant languages?

Deliverables:

Research all private and public housing support agency sites and local government sites. Identify what types of services are currently available, how clearly fees and accessibility are presented and whether there’s a master document available that lists and links to everything. Present your findings to the 100% New Mexico team and local stakeholders in housing support. After feedback, network with local housing advocates and others to improve the user-friendliness of existing websites. (Suggested time frame: 3–6 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Housing@100% Innovation 4 – Harnessing Technology

LET'S INNOVATE

apprentice-building-furniture-in-carpentry

January 27 2021

Housing@100% Innovation 3 – Engaging the Private Sector

Institute StaffHousing

Housing@100%: Innovation 3

Engaging the Private Sector

EYE ON RESULTS

2 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “can we do public-private solutions?” project

Project: Housing.3.1

Project 1: The “can we do public-private solutions?” project

Developers are always trying to make money, yet some folks in the industry are also socially-engaged and aware of housing insecurity. See if you can’t convene a few of these powerful innovators and see what they think can be done.

Extraordinary Structures: https://aae.how/44

Deliverables:

Do your darndest to convene some socially-engaged thinkers (to include local contractors, home designers, county commissioners, etc.) to discuss ending housing disparities. Share notes in the form of a one-page document on the informational interviews with the 100% New Mexico team. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Housing@100% Innovation 3 – Engaging the Private Sector

LET'S INNOVATE

teenager-girl-shows-an-adult-mexican-woman-her-cell-phone-in-slow-motion

January 27 2021

Housing@100% Innovation 2 – Ensuring Full Support

Institute StaffHousing

Housing@100%: Innovation 2

Ensuring Full Support

EYE ON RESULTS

4 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “who’s working on this?” project

The “are we spending enough?” project

Project: Housing.2.1

Project 1: The “who’s working on this?” project

Federal housing vouchers cover the whole country (and Habitat for Humanity is pretty ubiquitous as well), but often local communities are home to various programs and activist groups that also work on the issue. Maybe it’s a nonprofit land trust that builds homes, or a private charity that helps out with rent emergencies, or a group that lobbies against single family zoning. Your mission here is to make an inventory of those organizations and figure out what they’re doing. You may find the Family Promise program of interest as well.

Family Promise to End Homelessness: https://aae.how/43
Federal housing vouchers: https://aae.how/200

Deliverables:

Create a short summary of financial support needs for those housing programs that are serving our most vulnerable populations and present to the entire 100% New Mexico team and stakeholders. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Housing@100% Innovation 2 – Ensuring Full Support

Project: Housing.2.2

Project 2: The “are we spending enough?” project

By now, you should have a pretty good idea of how your housing support system is doing and which areas may require improvement. Sometimes, it may be a matter of using existing budgets differently. More often, you will discover that the funding simply isn’t there to do a decent job so people don’t have to wait five months to be accepted into a subsidized housing program.

Deliverables:

Make a plan to explore evaluations of the programs that are currently funded locally to end housing insecurity. This will mean a lot of important and possibly very dry evaluation reports. Dive in and report back to the 100% New Mexico team with a one page overview. (Suggested time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

LET'S INNOVATE

diverse-hands-with-pencils-discussing-and-working

January 27 2021

Housing@100% Innovation 1 – Tracking Supply and Demand

Institute StaffHousing

Housing@100%: Innovation 1

Tracking Supply and Demand

EYE ON RESULTS

2 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

Project Quick Links

The “all-important food supports analysis” project

Project: Housing.1.1

Project 1: The “all-important housing access analysis” project

Unlike other services like transport, no single number will give you a reasonably complete picture of the housing access situation. But, by gathering multiple data sources and tracking them over time, you should be able to get an idea of how much housing insecurity there is in your community. Here’s your list:

Population Data: The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development funds “point in time” counts of the homeless population. Find the data for your local jurisdiction.
Usage Data: Homeless shelters and soup kitchens generally keep close track of how many shelter bed nights and meals they provide. Unlike the government, they’re not necessarily obligated to give you the data, but they probably will.
Rent Prices: Find out rent prices. There may be some local or regional website that tracks this, but you could also hop on Zillow or Craigslist on a regular basis and figure it out. Maybe take snapshot once per month and track over time what rental units cost and how many are available.
American Community Survey: The ACS is an ongoing survey that provides vital information on a yearly basis about the United States and its people. Information from the survey generates data that help determine how more than $675 billion in federal and state funds are distributed each year. Find out income data from the American Community Survey. If you compare those findings against rental prices, you’ll know how affordable your community is.

As mentioned, this won’t be as simple an assessment as the transportation situation, but if you get these numbers, you should at least be able to tell if the situation in your community is going in a good or bad direction.

Deliverables:

Create a one page overview/update on the status of shelters and housing to present to the 100% New Mexico team and stakeholders. (Rough time frame: 3 months)

NEXT STEPS

Send this project to your action team and advocates.

Post and discuss in the 100% New Mexico group.

Visit

Explore the Lab for project support and ideas.

Housing@100% Innovation 1 – Tracking Supply and Demand

LET'S INNOVATE

January 15 2021

Housing@100%

Institute StaffHousing

Center for

Housing@100%

Housing@100% means all county residents have a safe and secure place to call home.

Center for

Housing
@100%

Housing@100% means all county residents have a safe and secure place to call home.

Ensuring housing security services for 100% of county residents. The 100% New Mexico housing action team identifies challenges, researches solutions and supports organizations in improving housing security services. The long-term goal is creating a countywide system of housing security programs with collaboration and coordination with all city government, county government and non-governmental organizations within the county’s borders.

The 100% New Mexico housing action team collects and analyzes data then identifies gaps in housing security program services. The 100% Community survey data, including informational interviews with residents of all communities within the county’s borders, reveal which populations and communities lack easy access to housing security program services. The survey also reveals why housing security services may be difficult to access. Difficulties may include a lack of awareness of programs, lack of transport to housing security programs, costs related to housing, lack of easy-to-access housing security services.

The 100% New Mexico housing action team focuses on identifying which organizations currently need capacity-building in order to meet the need. The team identifies partnerships to improve services. This can be done through a process of continuous quality improvement (the data-driven “assess-plan-act-evaluate” process).

The 100% New Mexico housing action team focuses on identifying which private sector businesses can help address housing insecurity throughout the county. The team works to create partnerships between businesses and housing security systems and programs.

The 100% New Mexico housing action team focuses on identifying how to use technology, including websites and apps, to increase awareness of housing insecurity, increase resources to provide services, and increase alignment of housing security services across all cities and communities within the county’s borders. The team also works to address the digital divide to increase access for all county residents to mobile devices and the Internet through community access points.

The 100% New Mexico housing action team focuses on reaching all county residents in order to mobilize community teams to address housing insecurity. The team works to engage all county residents who have free time (retirees, college students, etc.) to support housing security efforts. The team also works to create opportunities for all county residents to share their ideas for problem solving.

The 100% housing action team focuses on strengthening the capacity of all schools to increase their capacity to address student housing insecurity and homelessness issues. The team focuses on how to fund schools to adopt the “community school” model with staff who can focus on ensuring housing security options for all students and their families.

The 100% New Mexico housing action team focuses on identifying which individuals and programs working with local higher education can support housing security efforts. This includes identifying support for surveying, data analysis, researching solutions, and creating campus-based housing security options, along with engaging students and staff in housing security efforts.

The 100% New Mexico housing action team focuses on identifying the capacity of city and county government to strengthen their current housing security efforts and expand them to meet the need. This includes a special focus on meeting the needs of the county’s most vulnerable residents. Teams will recommend to local government the most up-to-date methods and software to accurately track housing security program effectiveness.

The 100% New Mexico housing action team focuses on identifying which programs the federal and state government offer to support countywide housing security. This process includes networking, advocating and grant writing.

The 100% New Mexico housing action team focuses on the long-term goal of creating a county-city “Department of Housing Options” to focus on addressing housing challenges. This includes surveying residents on their access to housing options, their need for the programs and why they might be difficult to access. This proposed department could also support ongoing research in housing security programs and support local efforts to ensure timely and safe housing across the county.

EYE ON INNOVATION

Inside The Center

11 min.
Read

Here’s a quick overview of what you will find below.

What Families Face

Short stories from families facing challenges, illustrating the need to address barriers to vital services.

10 Innovations Await

The sidebar menu takes you to ten innovations areas, each one providing projects action team members are implementing to remove barriers to services.

The Root Causes

We provide an overview of why families struggle to access vital services in what we might call “normal times” and in times of public health or economic crisis.

A Pandemic’s Impact on services

A brief review of how the pandemic impacts each county across the state.

Where on Earth

How solutions exist today.

The Center’s Mission

Housing for 100%

Welcome to the Center for Housing@100%, the nation’s first center to provide county and city stakeholders with research, data-driven strategies, insights and support to end housing security disparities on a countywide scale, ensuring all resident’s housing needs are met. Housing disparities, lack of timely access to stable, safe and affordable housing, has been with us for as long as we have been building villages and housing humans on the planet. In the last few decades societies of all sizes have found ways to provide accessible housing for all residents.

In modern societies the cause of housing insecurity can often be tracked down to lack of investment in the human capital and resources to secure the right supply of affordable housing. In the USA, a country with vast amounts of wealth and resources, we have all the technology and know how to make housing insecurity history.

One quick online search will overwhelm you with solutions to the housing disparities problem. The enormous number of results shows that there are many people searching for answers, interested in understanding the root causes of housing insecurities and how to solve it.

When we begin to “Google it” for results:
The root cause of homelessness: 1,590,000
How do teens become homeless: 25,300,000
How to build affordable housing: 147,000,000
Affordable housing grants for nonprofits: 11,100,000
Software focused on designing affordable housing: 64,700,000

“Housing insecurity and homelessness is a man-made problem, not an act of nature, requiring human ingenuity to solve.”
— From the book Housing@100%: How we ensure all county residents can access safe and affordable housing

Within an internet full of valuable research, inspiring insights and distracting clutter, solutions await you here in the Center for Housing@100%. Your introduction to the issues here in the “Center’s Main Hall” will guide you to what we call our ten “Innovation Areas” where action team projects await your review and engagement.

What the Center for Housing@100% provides you with are the strategies to ensure, county by county, that systems of affordable housing are working effectively to serve all residents. We live in a time of vast knowledge regarding innovations in sustainable, green, affordable and safe housing and neighborhood planning where the only reason for a family (or any resident) going without easy access to affordable housing in your locality is manmade. The human ingenuity you discover here can ensure that 100% survive and thrive.

Ensuring safe and stable homes is key to creating a secure, stable and healthy community for all. Sudden crises and financial strains associated with housing disparities often lead to unstable and unsafe housing that can, in turn, lead to a series of challenges that range from childhood trauma to domestic violence. We all need a stable base to engage in learning, job readiness and steady work. So much of today’s housing is not just expensive but more expensive than it needs to be. And, it’s even more costly in the neighborhoods where the nicer schools, clinics and community centers exist. Add to this that we know some people require assisted-living (see Behavioral Care Health@100%), and this means designing living spaces to address a variety of medical and mental health care needs.

In the Center for Housing@100% we take on a very complicated system with numerous challenges. We provide an overview of housing, housing systems, shelters and assisted living, with all their solvable challenges. Get ready to be inspired. We will guide you through all the steps to put ideas for enhancing services to reduce housing insecurity into action.

What Families Face

*These are fictionalized profiles based on real New Mexican residents.

Eric's Story

A few years ago there was a fight between Eric and his dad that led to a visit from the police and child welfare. It unsettled the entire family, none more so than Eric’s caring mom, Noel. She wasn’t sure what to do. She might have been thinking, “This entire situation is not working, but where on earth could I go with my kids?” She knew a cooling-off period was vital but with few resources, where could anyone go for a respite? Eric had not been taken into custody, but he was fuming and wanted out of the house. Being barely a teenager, he had no idea where to go. A friend’s house? His grandmother’s in another city? This was a household in crisis and lack of short-term housing options was making it worse.

Jen and Marie's Story

Jen still has an essential job with the government so she is getting paid and therefore can pay her rent. But she has neighbors and friends who have lost work and are struggling with rent and mortgages. Jen has learned to direct people to the local hotlines and websites to get answers and options related to addressing housing insecurity. They are also discussing turning their spare bedroom into a room to rent for a graduate student who is currently doing an internship at Jen’s work. Jen is happy that she could provide housing to someone who needs it, and take in the extra monthly income.

Time for action

You and your action team can, with one innovation, make vital services more accessible and improve the quality of services.

10 Innovations Await

It’s Time For Heroic Acts

You are about to review approximately twenty projects within 10 innovation areas that can, if done successfully, improve the quality and accessibility of current services. The long-term goal of these innovations and projects is to ensure that 100% of county residents have access to this vital service. Your task is to review all projects, individually and as part of an action team, to identify which one you wish to implement. In the time it takes to enjoy a latte, you can give our menu of innovations a quick read, starting with Innovation #1: Tracking Supply and Demand and ending with Innovation #10: Developing the City Dept. of Housing. These include projects initiated by action teams focused on a county and all the communities within its borders.

Housing insecurity has a very long history

Housing insecurity is impacting our most vulnerable children, students and families with consequences for education, job readiness and public trust of government..

Why Homelessness?

Housing Disparities Face Us All

STABLE HOUSING HAS EVERYTHING to do with our quality of life. If we can access safe, affordable housing (and if in an emergency rapid-rehousing in a timely manner), we function better and we are healthier. If our access to stable housing is threatened, we are in serious trouble.

Every county has residents experiencing housing insecurity and some have segments of the population reporting extreme difficulty accessing housing security programs. In times of crisis like a pandemic, access to stable housing becomes even more critical.

With literally millions of people reading articles on ending housing disparities and thousands of foundations, governmental and non-governmental organizations focusing for decades on ending homelessness in the United States, why is access to affordable housing still so prevalent across fifty states? Why are school districts staffing homeless student departments and students arriving at school with problems related to lack of stable and safe homes? Why do parents working full time not have enough money for a safe place to raise a child? Why do housing security programs have long waiting lists and how do cities literally run out of assisted housing for their most vulnerable residents? In a pandemic, can we afford to have any child or adult without a healthy place to live?

We don’t mean to question our good-hearted leaders in political, academic and philanthropic circles, but there appears to be a complete disconnect between those who claim to have answers and the actual implementation of solutions to ensure 100% of our residents are able to access stable housing. What are our morals, ethics and values that allow housing security and homelessness to exist amid so much abundance?

What kind of society would allow a policy of benign neglect to doom entire zip codes to housing insecurity? Why should our most vulnerable children and families ever endure anxiety and trauma because safe housing is out of reach? If we ever needed a public and private sector solution to housing insecurity, this is the moment.

Truly, why are we all not asking in loud public forums, “What is the root cause of housing insecurity impacting our children, students and parents in the US?”

“Can’t all people just figure out how to rent or buy a place?”

Housing needs to be accessible, affordable and safe. In a country this wealthy there is no good reason for anyone to be homeless and no reason we can’t invest in housing assistance programs for those with physical and emotional challenges. It’s been done successfully in some cities, so why not yours? There are many different strategies for making that happen, but this much is clear: if we make that dream a reality, we’ll have healthier and safer kids and far more stable families.

Housing is a survival issue for children and adults. In our 100% New Mexico initiative, we brand housing as one of our survival services. Simply put, problems related to housing insecurity can drag down school performance, strain relationships and generally stand in the way of a good life for kids, parents and anybody else. Neglect, the main reason parents have their children taken into child protective services’ custody, may be the result of parents not being able to secure safe and stable housing.

Our best bet for addressing a host of health challenges related to housing insecurity is ensuring easy access to quality, comprehensive housing at an affordable price or with subsidies for our most vulnerable residents with health challenges.

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Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney – Co-author <em>100% Community</em> </div>
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Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney – Co-author 100% Community

We don’t have to guess about the barriers to housing security program. Our survey of parents across a county reveal the reasons include: I was told I did not qualify for help, wait list is too long, I don’t know where to get this service, I don’t have reliable transport to get this services and too far to travel to access this service. This information is key, as data on gaps and barriers to services can guide local stakeholders to designing solutions.

Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney – Co-author 100% Community

What We Know

Our county survey will tell you why families and all residents may struggle to access affordable housing programs. Reasons include lack of programs, cost, no transport to programs, unaware of programs and unfriendly hours.

Who Lacks Housing?

Housing insecurity has many causes

With state-of-the-art technology designing green, sustainable and affordable models for housing, it seems inconceivable that kids or adults in our country should suffer from lack of affordable housing.

In fact, the reality on the ground has been, up to now, difficult to gauge when it comes to specifically measuring housing insecurities in communities. Are lots of people ill and slowly dying on the streets, due to homlessness? This is an important question, but the real question is, “What does housing insecurity look like?” A mom and her two toddlers sitting on a park bench may not conjure up images of housing insecurity. However, we don’t know how safe their home is or if they can afford it for long. We have no idea what type of stresses they are under if due to domestic violence their housing situation is traumatizing. We don’t know if that mom was just laid off and is trying to find a new way to pay the rent.

What percentage of people lacking access to safe housing is acceptable to you and your elected leaders? How does a pandemic impact the question of how difficult access to affordable housing may be in both rural and urban communities? Would you be okay being told your appointment for a housing security program, that might be able to help, is going to be taking weeks or months to access? Should any child, anywhere in your county, face barriers to secure housing?

We ask: what are the root causes of housing insecurity?

The list covers a range of causes and solutions.

A health catastrophe: People lose their houses for medical reasons all the time. Maybe the bills pile up and bankruptcy is the only way out. Maybe they pay their bills but then there’s no money for rent. Maybe an illness knocks out their income stream. Maybe a mental health breakdown does the same thing, or just gets them evicted.
A relationship catastrophe: Breakups and divorce can throw people into an unstable housing situation, especially if one partner was financially dependent on the other. It could also take the shape of parents disowning an LGBT child, or a child running away for some reason.
Not enough money: Having secure housing is often just a matter of having the right figures on your bank statement. Often, a relationship or health catastrophe leads to a financial catastrophe, but it could also just be a landlord raising the rent or an adjustable rate mortgage adjusting the wrong way.
Safety concerns: A teen has to escape from a very unsafe home situation where neglect or abuse is the norm. These young people won’t, most likely, have the resources to find housing.

Data Guide Us

With data from the 100% New Mexico survey and other sources, you have a good idea about where the need for housing support may exist in your county and why it’s difficult to access — for both parents and youth. While global, national and state data on housing support is very interesting and instructive, the real data that informs your work is generated by your 100% New Mexico initiative and deep dives into local neighborhoods. Then again, you may be surprised by your survey results and learn that a challenge is far bigger or smaller or more localized than originally thought.

Ensuring Services: A Local Challenge

People face different levels of hardship and risk during a pandemic directly related to their level of access to the 10 vital services for surviving and thriving. Inaccessible medical care, a lack of housing and food programs, and greatly increased joblessness during the associated economic downturn take a tremendous toll on families. It doesn’t have to be this way.

A Pandemic’s Impact on Services

Vital Questions Require Answers

In so-called “normal” times before the COVID-19 pandemic, health disparities were a fixture of our society. The pandemic has only increased the stresses on the health care systems as well as created more urgency for people to have timely access to prevention and treatment. The most pressing questions for your city, county and state elected leaders and stakeholders include:

How do we collect, analyze and publish the most timely data to guide prevention strategies?
How do we ensure enough COVID-19 tests and testing sites?
How do we ensure providers have the protective equipment required to be safe?
How do we ensure enough contact tracing?
How do we prevent homelessness and hunger if people in lock down or quarantine lose their job?
How do we strengthen mask-wearing and social distancing?
How do we ensure treatment, both hospital beds and providers?
How do we distribute the vaccine with buy-in from the public?
How do we address depression and trauma by ensuring access to behavioral health care?
How are vital family services for surviving and thriving made accessible to 100% of residents?

As you can see, question #10 places access to ten vital services into a comprehensive state and local strategy to prevent the pandemic. The 100% New Mexico initiative’s framework for ending barriers to services is vital and our work is urgently needed in each county. New Mexico State Senator Bill Soules, PhD, wrote in his Op-ed in the Las Cruces Sun News, “100% New Mexico: A model for COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment”:

“…an effective response to the pandemic goes beyond the medical sector. The countywide response required ten accessible services, allowing families to keep stabilized, supported, fed and housed, in order to comply with the state’s public health guidelines and to endure quarantining, isolating, social distancing and mask-wearing.”

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Matt Probst, Medical Director, PA-C, El Centro Family Health, NM </div>
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Matt Probst, Medical Director, PA-C, El Centro Family Health, NM

100% Community is a comprehensive guide to big picture systems change, one we have been needing for decades to address health disparities. With my initiative’s county team empowered by the book, we’ve been empowered to mobilize all family-serving service sector leaders and elected officials, united in creating a system of care across the entire county that I believe will serve as a model for the country. We embrace the opportunity to design the new systems of care and safety we urgently need.

Matt Probst, Medical Director, PA-C, El Centro Family Health, NM

Solutions Abound

We can happily report that many localities across the nation and globe have successfully prevented housing insecurity by ensuring robust housing security programs which may include a public sector solution or a combination of public and private sector solutions.

Where on earth?

Where has this challenge been fixed?

Housing@100% is looking at tested housing solutions, focused on innovations, projects, policies and programs implemented in large and small cities around the world.

If you have come this far, you know that ending housing disparities in your community starts with knowing the magnitude of the problem, where precisely activities that indicate challenges (homelessness, public substance misuse, community violence and arrest, etc.) are experienced and why children, youth and adults can’t access affordable housing in safe neighborhoods to address the problems.

We present a challenge to you, your local business people and government leaders: create a seamless countywide system of housing programs to make homeless and housing insecurity history so every child, student and family member gets the stable housing they need to thrive.

As you will see below, we have offered only a sliver of what’s out there in terms of innovations that have been shown to reduce housing disparities and to empower individuals of all ages to find a path to secure housing. Some models have been with us for decades and are tried, true and evaluated strategies. Some are quite new and merit experimentation and their own evaluation. We do not lack solutions, just the political will to implement them.

Three important frameworks

As we say in 100% Community, we want to reference the data-driven framework called Continuous Quality Improvement and its four phases: assessment, planning, action and evaluation (100% Community, Chapter 29). This four-step process will guide your development of innovations in the arena of medical and dental care. And, as a reminder, you will want to use Collective Impact (100% Community, Chapter 31) to organize your project and Adaptive Leadership (100% Community, Chapter 30) to determine if the particular challenge you seek to solve is technical, with established protocols for moving forward, or adaptive, where you are entering new uncharted territory without a clear path.

Designing a Countywide System

The past: How did we get to this point of needing family-friendly housing programs? Who exactly needs services to be “family-friendly” anyway? What are the problems the system is supposed to solve? Why don’t people just figure out the systems on their own? Can’t everyone access care in a timely manner?

The present (action agenda): Within this subject, we’ve identified ten strategies — called innovation areas — that can be used to tackle the affordable housing access problem. Within those we suggest about twenty 100% New Mexico initiative projects that you (yes, you) can take on, thus propelling your community towards accessible housing in its many forms.

The future (goals): With enough work on these innovations/projects, we’ll get to the point where Innovation #10 — the creation of a City/County Department of Housing — becomes a reality. With a state-of-the-art system of care in place, 100% of our county’s families could report excellent support and service.

Since we are currently in the present creating the future, your commitment to innovation is most eagerly sought and needed.

Partnerships and teamwork

At the heart of innovation are change agents implementing data-driven projects shown to fix barriers to services.

10 INNOVATIONS TO EXPLORE

CHANGE AGENTS NEEDED NOW

The following innovations represent strategies that have the capacity to increase access to affordable housing and housing security programs to ensure our children and families are healthy, safe and successful.

As you will see as you explore Innovations #1–#10, a countywide system of housing security programs engages all stakeholders within the county’s borders that include data specialists, the private sector, technology experts, public awareness specialists, educators, city planners, housing builders, housing advocates, city mayors, council members and county commissioners. Your work will be groundbreaking as it unites leaders in all sectors to achieve one goal: Housing for 100%.

Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney – Co-author 100% Community

Among the 20+ innovations in this Center, you will find that some are key to implementing the “7 Steps to Success” in your county. Innovation #1: Tracking Supply and Demand will provide valuable data to add to what your county collects with the 100% New Mexico survey.

Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney – Co-author 100% Community

Gregory Sherrow – Technology Advisor, 100% Community

If you join a tech company, you get the latest and greatest hardware plopped on your desk, connected to the fastest internet connection in the world. There is nothing standing between you and getting the job done. We need to ensure that everyone in the public sector and all residents have access to the tech and wifi that supports delivery of services, education and information. We can help you work around the technology obstacles you face in addition to ending the digital divide in your county. Visit Innovation #4: Harnessing Technology to explore how to use the power of tech to increase access to vital services in all ten inter-connected service areas.

Gregory Sherrow – Technology Advisor, 100% Community

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Dominic Cappello – Co-author 100% Community

The 100% New Mexico initiative isn’t just focused on problems, it’s about opportunities. The project comes with realistic, ready-to-go solutions housed here in the EYE. The only missing ingredient is you–the local change agent. To support the “7 Steps to Success,” preview Innovation #5: Generating Public Awareness offers Project 5.1, which focuses on creating a web-based and up-to-date county resource directory. Innovation 10: Developing the City Dept is where you think “big picture” and work to create sustainable services within local government so 100% can thrive.

Dominic Cappello – Co-author 100% Community

LET'S INNOVATE

Housing

Developing the City Dept of Housing

Project Quick Links

Project 1: The “County/City Partnership that funds the Department of Housing” project

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Project 2: The “convene your fellow housing support advocates and enhance your skills in public speaking, committee briefing and how to get to a lawmaker” project

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Project 3: The “know your stuff before you meet the mayor” project

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Project 4: The “create a bold vision and strategic plan” project

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Strengthening Local Services

Project Quick Links

Project 1: The “know your state and federal housing options” project

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Project 2: The “we need a state coalition to make great things happen” project

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Supporting Cities and Counties

Project Quick Links

Project 1: The “get acquainted with land use law” project

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Engaging Higher Education

Project Quick Links

Project 1: The “House U” project

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Connecting the Education System

Project Quick Links

Project 1: The “rapid-rehousing of homeless students” project

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Generating Public Awareness

Project Quick Links

Project 1: The “create the Housing@100% user-friendly website” project

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