The housing crisis in Philadelphia is not new. The racial inequities in the distribution of housing and resources are not new. But with COVID-19 causing unprecedented levels of unemployment, they have become a pressing emergency.
PolicyLink’s new report, The Case for Housing Justice in Philadelphia by James A. Crowder Jr., provides a roadmap with concrete policy recommendations to address the issue. The report illustrates that we must act now to reimagine housing as a basic right extended to all people, such as expanding resources available for affordable housing, building assets and expanding wealth in communities of color, and curbing displacement of low-income Philadelphians of color.
The concrete policy suggestions outlined in the report highlight that policies impacting housing and community development are never “race neutral,” and that we must understand the direct and indirect impacts of the changes we advocate for on Black and Brown communities. RHLS is working to make this central to the advocacy we do every day.
RHLS Associate Director Rachel Blake contributed her time and perspectives to this report. Click here to read this new report from PolicyLink on the drivers of housing inequity in Philadelphia and how to create a housing justice policy agenda. You can also learn more by checking out the October 28 webinar, Facing History to Advance Housing Justice.