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These tenants are organizing to restore safety in their Nanaimo complex

Lauren Kaljur

May 07, 2021 |

The Discourse |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Residents at a subsidized nonprofit family housing complex organized to address safety and drug-use issues that began with the pandemic. Residents use a Facebook chat to communicate and will often warn each other of suspicious activity. They also record every incident in writing, pictures, and video, -- which are shared with the landlord, building manager, the police, and the media – and they maintain a visible presence to ensure visitors know they are seen. As a result, the nonprofit has provided more onsite security and better lighting and two of the four most disruptive tenants at have been evicted.

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Energiesprong wants every home to be net-zero

Willem Marx

April 20, 2021 |

Hothouse Solutions |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: France, Hem

Inspired by the Dutch concept of “Energiesprong,” or “energy jump,” a developer in France retrofitted a group of townhouses for social housing to be more environmentally friendly. They installed polyurethane facades to avoid heat loss and solar panels on the roof. Upgrading the units to be more green cost more than a conventional retrofit, but over time, energy bills were cut in half. These green retrofits are being implemented in towns around the world and could be a model for developers that want to reduce their carbon footprints.

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The secret ingredient in Paris' green public housing

Colin Kinniburgh

March 30, 2021 |

Grist |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: France, Paris

Paris Habitat, the city’s main social housing agency, used hempcrete — a concrete-like mixture of hemp, lime, and water — as insulation in one of its apartment complexes. This material helps maintain temperature and reduces a building’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The cost of using hempcrete can be expensive but making the material is more environmentally friendly, and has shown that it can be implemented for affordable housing and not just for those who already have the means to pay for it.

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California job seekers found new careers with help from a rent relief program. Here's how

Jeong Park

March 09, 2021 |

Sacramento Bee |

Multi-Media |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Stockton, California

Rent relief payments in California are helping public housing residents pursue full-time employment. The Jobs-Plus initiative provides payments that are conditional on enrolling in job training and placement programs. An increased income often disqualifies public housing residents from benefits and subsidies such as food stamps, childcare, and discounted rent rates which can negate the increased income from higher wages or more hours. Rent relief empowers residents to build a security net for themselves in addition to pursing full-time employment without the strain of losing much-needed benefits.

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An Architecture Firm's Push to Build Net-Zero Apartments—on a Budget

Russell Gold

February 05, 2021 |

Wall Street Journal |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Apartments at Front Flats, a new residential building in Philadelphia, is powered by 492 solar panels that are wrapped around the building. The point: to demonstrate that developers can design buildings that are energy-efficient and be built at an affordable cost. It’s not clear yet if the building is “net zero” in terms of producing as much energy as it consumes, but residents are paying only $40 a month for utilities.

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A Tiny Public Housing Authority Offered Residents the Vaccine. Could Others Follow Suit?

Jared Brey

January 12, 2021 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Central Falls, Rhode Island

A small public housing authority in Rhode Island took the initiative to develop a methodology to administer the COVID-19 vaccine once the city began to offer the vaccine publicly. While a significant number of the residents had signed up to receive the vaccine, this number increased after the mayor and mayor-elect were publicly vaccinated at the site.

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Two cities tried to fix homelessness, only one succeeded

Audrey Jensen Jill Ryan Chloe Jones Madeline Ackley

December 14, 2020 |

Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

Houston's effort to significantly decrease homelessness was successful due to the overhaul of its previous system which was disjointed, had too many services gaps, and often duplicated services. The new system provides concerted and seamless services in line with the Housing First principles. San Diego's lack of a cohesive plan to carry out the Housing First strategy has left it a lot less effective.

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The Country Where Diversity Is Enforced by Law

Keshia Naurana Badalge

October 22, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Singapore

Singapore's Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) has prevented ethnic enclaves in the city-state through the use of quotas. The four recognized ethnicities cannot surpass the set quotas in public residential buildings, which are inhabited by 80 percent of Singaporeans, resulting in diverse apartment complexes where residents regularly interact with people from different races. Racial dynamics are regulated through government policies for the purpose of "harmonious coexistence."

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What legislators can learn from a Boston public housing development

Jasmine Nicole Olivier

October 02, 2020 |

The Boston Globe |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Over the four decades that a major Boston public housing development was run by a tenant management corporation (TMC), residents' safety and relations with police improved in ways that serve as lessons today as gun violence in neighborhoods with high poverty rates has prompted debates over reimagining public safety. As the first of many TMCs in the nation, the one at the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments lowered crime by changing the dynamic between residents and police, through greater community control. The TMC, with its own police department, was disbanded in 2012. Crime since has gone up there.

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How South African activists hope to integrate cities built to divide

Ryan Lenora Brown

September 11, 2020 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: South Africa, Johannesburg

The South African government has provided free apartments to millions of people since the end of apartheid, in part as a way to address structural inequalities rooted in apartheid. The program has been a lifeline for many but has also exacerbated segregation because the housing is built just outside of cities, where Black, Asian, and mixed-race South Africans were once legally required to live. This creates new structural inequalities because it makes it harder to access good jobs, which tend to be in the city center. Advocates are now petitioning the government to build housing in the city center.

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