Kelly and Ron photo by Steve McKenzie is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 Deed Meet Ron and Kelly. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve’s portraits come with notes: ‘Ron and Kelly were sitting on the northwest corner of Clark and Madison. They’ve been out here since April 2019. Ron was in a wheelchair, due to cellulitis in his legs. “I’m a tall guy, so I’m used to standing and walking around”. His condition has gotten worse, so they’re going to get him treatment soon. They were storing some of their items ..read more

This scene was created by affordablehousingaction.org and is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication We'd honor Pogo, the astute cartoon opossum, if we could. But we must unfortunately make do with a more realistic animal philosopher-king. One of the most powerful images expressed by a newpaper cartoon came in the 1950’s from Pogo, a socially aware cartoon opossum. He reported on impending warfare with a collection of creatures identified as ‘the enemy’. But Pogo, supported by his creator, the American cartoonist Walt Kelly1, had achieved a vital revelation: “The enemy? It ..read more

John and his Cat photo by Steve McKenzie is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 Deed Meet John and his cat. Affordablehousingaction.org can make this introduction thanks to the fine work of Steve McKenzie, a portrait photographer. Steve’s portraits come with notes: I’ve met John before. He’s usually on the northwest corner of Lake and Michigan. He’s been out here a year and a half. A pretty mellow guy. His constant companion is “Lazy”, the cat. “I found her on Lower Wacker”, he said, “someone was mistreating her and he was really skinny”. John, on the other hand treats her like a queen. Lazy had a c ..read more

Bird's eye view of Fort Atkinson, Jefferson County, Wisconsin 1870 photo by [Ruger, A.]; Merchant'S Lithographing Company; Ruger & Stoner is licensed under the Public Domain Fort Atkinson Wisconsin, circa 1870. These days it faces a big city issue: homelessness. Hospitals have discovered that there is more to the cost of demolishing houses than the demolition and disposal fee1. Demolition and disposal contributes to the climate crisis by releasing embodied carbon, but there’s more. People who live close by don’t like to see the homes of their neighbours coming down. So, when Fort Memoria ..read more

This scene was created by affordablehousingaction.org and is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication For better or worse, America’s legal protections for its citizens are currently trapped in an ‘originalist’ time warp. The results are based on the belief that when the American nation was born, its laws were codified by a group of people with a unique, essentially angelic, association with a Supreme Being. That Being’s otherworldly guidance made it possible for the original lawmakers to create a Constitution of The United States that was nothing less than perfect for all ti ..read more

photo by HM Treasury is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Canada's Finance Minister Freeland hobnobs with the financial heavyweights of the world at the G7. Enough for a self-satisfied country to believe that, when it comes to women's rights, it's status is 'teacher', not 'learner'? For many decades, women from developed countries have provided guidance and support to their counterparts in the developing world. Idealists, young and old, have travelled far and wide to act as guides and leaders providing guidance and training in fields such as management, education, health care and agriculture in ..read more

This scene was created by affordablehousingaction.org and is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication A sunny day for old eyes to read city loitering tickets that they'll never have the money to pay. A U.S. report from National Public Radio explains that new local laws, which criminalize people who are unhoused, are supported by local law enforcement in Northern Nevada. The public perception, based on such stories, would seem to suggest that local law enforcement has evaluated the benefit of criminalizing the unhoused occupying public and found it not only legal but suitably ..read more

Bernie & AOC photo by Senate Democrats is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Deed Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders, speaking for the green new deal in 2018. In 2024, their green new deal is about public housing. Welcome to the Brave New World of a “Green New Deal’ for housing. Over the last thirty-odd years two major English language nations have demonstrated effective ways to slowly squeeze the life out of housing for those too poor to realize national dreams of ‘home ownership for all.’ In the United Kingdom, the Conservative government in 1980 passed legislation ..read more

Downtown Grants Pass, Oregon photo by Ken Lund is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 The United States Supreme Court will be starting a hearing this week to consider the rights of people who are homeless. The media is absolutely humming in anticipation. To mark this historic event, affordablehousingaction.org is offering five posts this week. Three are about the case itself and two are about the people who will be directly affected by the outcome. As early as 2013, the citizens of Grants Pass, Oregon were dreaming up ways to run the riff-raff out of town. Hats off to those brave, unknown pioneers a ..read more

This scene was created by affordablehousingaction.org and is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication Bottom line: are women simply foolish and careless when it comes to money? Bankrate has published a longish article about the barriers that face women who want to buy a home in the United States. Until 1900, women were not considered to be persons and therefore not allowed to own property. Today’s world has changed, to the extent that a woman can own property on her own and borrow the money to purchase it. That said, women are generally treated as high risk borrowers, which ..read more