Affordable Housing

Dec 11 2012

New affordable housing, student housing, grocery store and more

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A $1.1 billion, 20-year development project near USC—the largest building project in South Los Angeles history—was approved by the City Council today.

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Nov 15 2012

Counting the Cost

After we savor the feeling of sweet success that comes from President Barack Obama’s re-election, there is work to do. Most of us got the outcome that we both worked and hoped for, but we have to resist the temptation to exhale and get on with our work. Before the president takes the oath of office for a second time, African Americans should mobilize around these issues:

Nov 8 2012

AEG commits $15 million to affordable housing

A coalition of housing and environmental justice activists agreed to drop an active lawsuit and pending litigation against the state and city of Los Angeles over the proposed $1.2 billion Farmers Field NFL football stadium downtown.

The Play Fair at Farmers Field Coalition and Anschutz Entertainment Group came to an agreement over the group’s concerns that the developer and the city had not addressed potential negative effects of the project on the low-income neighborhoods of Pico Union, downtown and neighborhoods in South L.A.

Jul 28 2011

Vouchers will aid in health

More than $5 million has been awarded to public housing agencies in California to supply permanent housing and case management for the state’s 2 million veterans, said Eric K. Shinseki, secretary of veterans affairs. The announcement was made recently.

“This initiative will strengthen our ongoing efforts to eliminate veteran homelessness by 2015 and improve quality of life for veterans,” Shinseki said.

Mar 30 2011

Bad policy

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A Los Angeles County supervisor argued that funding for housing the homeless in downtown's Skid Row area was bad policy, especially for women.

Though Supervisor Gloria Molina ultimately voted with her colleagues to allocate $10.3 million to seven developments to create affordable housing or supportive, permanent residences for the homeless or mentally ill, she said she was disappointed that some of the money was going to a neighborhood where the concentration of homeless people makes it unsafe for women.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.