New national advocacy campaign will attempt to influence policy and system changes at the federal, state and local levels
VANCOUVER — Nearly 19 million households across the United States are spending at least half of their income on a place to live, often forgoing basic necessities such as food and health care to make ends meet. In Clark County, 50 percent of very low-income families pay more than 50 percent of their income on housing. The stability that housing should bring continues to remain out of reach for many people.
On Wednesday (June 12), Evergreen Habitat for Humanity joined Habitat organizations across the country to launch a new national advocacy campaign aimed at improving home affordability for 10 million people in the U.S. over the next five years.
Marking significant growth in Habitat’s commitment to ensuring that everyone has a safe and decent place to call home, the Cost of Home campaign seeks to identify and improve policies and systems through coordinated advocacy efforts at the local, state and federal levels.
Cost of Home focuses on improving housing affordability across the housing continuum in four specific policy areas: increasing supply and preservation of affordable homes, equitably increasing access to credit, optimizing land use for affordable homes, and ensuring access to and development of communities of opportunity.
“We see families in our community every day who struggle to make ends meet due to housing costs,” says Josh Townsley, Executive Director at Evergreen Habitat for Humanity. “We know that our families deserve better. Our community deserves better. That’s why we’re excited to launch the Cost of Home campaign that will influence policies and systems focused on housing supply and preservation, land use, access to credit, and communities of opportunities.”
More details about Habitat’s Cost of Home policy platform and campaign activation are available at ehfh.org/2019/06/cost-of-home/. For more information or to speak to Evergreen Habitat for Humanity about the campaign, contact Heather Cochrun at volunteer@ehfh.org or (360) 737-1759.
