Often the church's efforts addressing poverty involve performing acts of service for or to the poor. These acts are sometimes motivated more by one's own needs or self-interest than by a genuine concern for the poor. Tina Carter and Mindy Johnson-Hicks invite readers to take a different approach. In The Wealth of Poverty they invite readers to develop mutual relationships with persons of different economic groups and to foster a deeper understanding of the culture of poverty and the surprising wealth found there. - Rev. Adam Hamilton, founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.

For much of the twentieth century, discrimination by private real estate agents and rental property owners helped establish and sustain stark patterns of housing and neighbourhood inequality. Beginning in the late 1970s, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has rigorously monitored trends in racial and ethnic discrimination in both rental and sales markets. This book presents findings from the fourth such study, which applied paired-testing methodology in 28 metropolitan areas to measure the incidence and forms of discrimination experienced by black, Hispanic, and Asian renters and home buyers.

Public housing projects were the original form of government supported housing for low-income residents. Over the last fifty years many projects have struggled with high crime rates and numerous social problems. One solution proposed to address these ongoing issues is granting residents decision-making power within their community by converting into a co-operative. Building a Co-operative Community in Public Housing follows the journey of a Toronto public housing complex as it was converted into a resident-operated co-operative, a first in Canada.

Jorge Sousa traces the story of Alexandra Park, which became the Atkinson Housing Co-operative in 2003 after a ten-year conversion process. Sousa, who himself was raised in the community, provides an empirical account of the contributing factors that influenced its decision to pursue community-based control, as well as the experiences of both residents and government officials engaged in this process. Finally, Building a Co-operative Community in Public Housing offers a framework for other communities facing similar circumstances who want to learn how to go about undertaking this process.

All royalties from this book will be contributed to the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto Charitable Fund.

Public housing was an integral part of the New Deal, as the federal government funded public works to generate economic activity and offer material support to families made destitute by the Great Depression, and it remained a major element of urban policy in subsequent decades. As chronicled in New Deal Ruins, however, housing policy since the 1990s has turned to the demolition of public housing in favor of subsidized units in mixed-income communities and the use of tenant-based vouchers rather than direct housing subsidies. While these policies, articulated in the HOPE VI program begun in 1992, aimed to improve the social and economic conditions of urban residents, the results have been quite different. As Edward G. Goetz shows, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and there has been a loss of more than 250,000 permanently affordable residential units. Goetz offers a critical analysis of the nationwide effort to dismantle public housing by focusing on the impact of policy changes in three cities: Atlanta, Chicago, and New Orleans.

Goetz shows how this transformation is related to pressures of gentrification and the enduring influence of race in American cities. African Americans have been disproportionately affected by this policy shift; it is the cities in which public housing is most closely identified with minorities that have been the most aggressive in removing units. Goetz convincingly refutes myths about the supposed failure of public housing. He offers an evidence-based argument for renewed investment in public housing to accompany housing choice initiatives as a model for innovative and equitable housing policy.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the nation's approximately 130 million housing units account for about 23 percent of total energy consumption in the United States. Approximately 2 million of these housing units are manufactured homes (i.e., mobile homes) that were built prior to 1976, when new standards for energy efficient construction became effective. These older manufactured homes are generally considered to have some of the poorest energy efficiency of all housing units. Many of the occupants of these homes qualify for federal assistance to help pay for their energy bills through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). This book examines whether improving the energy efficiency of older manufactured homes or replacing them with newer, more energy-efficient models would save the federal government money by reducing LIHEAP costs.

A reverse mortgage is a special type of home loan for older homeowners that requires no monthly mortgage payments. Borrowers are still responsible for property taxes and homeowner's insurance. Reverse mortgages allow seniors to access the equity they have built up in their homes now, and defer payments of the loan until they die, sell, or move out of the home. The original purpose envisioned for reverse mortgages was to convert home equity into cash that borrowers could use to help meet expenses in retirement. Borrowers could choose between an income stream for everyday expenses, a line of credit for major expenses (such as home repairs and medical expenses), or a combination of the two. This book examines the changes that have taken place in the marketplace and in the consumers who use reverse mortgages, with a focus on consumer protection concerns.

Public housing was an integral part of the New Deal, as the federal government funded public works to generate economic activity and offer material support to families made destitute by the Great Depression, and it remained a major element of urban policy in subsequent decades. As chronicled in New Deal Ruins, however, housing policy since the 1990s has turned to the demolition of public housing in favor of subsidized units in mixed-income communities and the use of tenant-based vouchers rather than direct housing subsidies. While these policies, articulated in the HOPE VI program begun in 1992, aimed to improve the social and economic conditions of urban residents, the results have been quite different. As Edward G. Goetz shows, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and there has been a loss of more than 250,000 permanently affordable residential units. Goetz offers a critical analysis of the nationwide effort to dismantle public housing by focusing on the impact of policy changes in three cities: Atlanta, Chicago, and New Orleans.

Goetz shows how this transformation is related to pressures of gentrification and the enduring influence of race in American cities. African Americans have been disproportionately affected by this policy shift; it is the cities in which public housing is most closely identified with minorities that have been the most aggressive in removing units. Goetz convincingly refutes myths about the supposed failure of public housing. He offers an evidence-based argument for renewed investment in public housing to accompany housing choice initiatives as a model for innovative and equitable housing policy.

The Moving to Work (MTW) demonstration program was created by Congress to give the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) the flexibility to test alternative policies for providing housing assistance through the nation's two largest housing assistance programs: the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program and the public housing program. The alternative policies are meant to increase the cost-effectiveness of assisted housing programs, promote the self-sufficiency of assisted families, and increase housing choices for low-income families. This book provides an overview of the history and purpose of the MTW demonstration program, followed by a description of some of the policies adopted by participating PHAs, and policy options for the future.

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program is the federal government's largest needs-based housing assistance program, in terms of both the number of families served and the cost to the federal budget. Under the program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides funds to local public housing authorities (PHAs), which, in turn, provide subsidies to low-income households to use to rent private market apartments. Although the basic structure of the program is governed by federal law and regulations, PHAs have discretion to determine many important elements. This book discusses the key drivers of cost growth in the voucher program and the actions taken to control this growth and analyses various options to cut costs or create efficiencies.

During the 1890s many people in upper- and middle-class society were unaware of the dangerous conditions in the slums among poor immigrants. Jacob Riis, a Danish immigrant who himself could not originally find much work, hoped to expose the squalor of the 19th-century Lower East Side of Manhattan. After a successful career as a police reporter, he decided to publish a photojournal documenting these conditions using graphic descriptions, sketches, photographs, and statistics. Riis blamed the apathy of the monied class for the condition of the New York slums, and assumed that as people were made more aware of these conditions they would be motivated to help eradicate them.

In Housing the New Russia, Jane R. Zavisca examines Russia's attempts to transition from a socialist vision of housing, in which the government promised a separate, state-owned apartment for every family, to a market-based and mortgage-dependent model of home ownership. In 1992, the post-Soviet Russian government signed an agreement with the United States to create the Russian housing market. The vision of an American-style market guided housing policy over the next two decades. Privatization gave socialist housing to existing occupants, creating a nation of homeowners overnight. New financial institutions, modeled on the American mortgage system, laid the foundation for a market. Next the state tried to stimulate mortgages and reverse the declining birth rate, another major concern by subsidizing loans for young families.

Imported housing institutions, however, failed to resonate with local conceptions of ownership, property, and rights. Most Russians reject mortgages, which they call "debt bondage," as an unjust "overpayment" for a good they consider to be a basic right. Instead of stimulating homeownership, privatization, combined with high prices and limited credit, created a system of property without markets. Frustrated aspirations and unjustified inequality led most Russians to call for a government-controlled housing market. Under the Soviet system, residents retained lifelong tenancy rights, perceiving the apartments they inhabited as their own. In the wake of privatization, young Russians can no longer count on the state to provide their house, nor can they afford to buy a home with wages, forcing many to live with extended family well into adulthood. Zavisca shows that the contradictions of housing policy are a significant factor in Russia's falling birth rates and the apparent failure of its pronatalist policies. These consequences further stack the deck against the likelihood that an affordable housing market will take off in the near future."

In Housing the New Russia, Jane R. Zavisca examines Russia's attempts to transition from a socialist vision of housing, in which the government promised a separate, state-owned apartment for every family, to a market-based and mortgage-dependent model of home ownership. In 1992, the post-Soviet Russian government signed an agreement with the United States to create the Russian housing market. The vision of an American-style market guided housing policy over the next two decades. Privatization gave socialist housing to existing occupants, creating a nation of homeowners overnight. New financial institutions, modeled on the American mortgage system, laid the foundation for a market. Next the state tried to stimulate mortgages and reverse the declining birth rate, another major concern by subsidizing loans for young families.

Imported housing institutions, however, failed to resonate with local conceptions of ownership, property, and rights. Most Russians reject mortgages, which they call "debt bondage," as an unjust "overpayment" for a good they consider to be a basic right. Instead of stimulating homeownership, privatization, combined with high prices and limited credit, created a system of property without markets. Frustrated aspirations and unjustified inequality led most Russians to call for a government-controlled housing market. Under the Soviet system, residents retained lifelong tenancy rights, perceiving the apartments they inhabited as their own. In the wake of privatization, young Russians can no longer count on the state to provide their house, nor can they afford to buy a home with wages, forcing many to live with extended family well into adulthood. Zavisca shows that the contradictions of housing policy are a significant factor in Russia's falling birth rates and the apparent failure of its pronatalist policies. These consequences further stack the deck against the likelihood that an affordable housing market will take off in the near future."

Despite Western society's preoccupation with safety and protection, its most vulnerable members still lack access to the level of security that many of us take for granted. In this trailblazing study, Laura Huey illustrates the issue of a 'security gap' faced by increasing homeless populations: while they are among the most likely victims of crime, they are also among the least served by existing forms of state and private security.

Invisible Victims presents the first comprehensive, integrated study of the risks faced by homeless people and their attempts to find safety and security in often dangerous environments. Huey draws not only on current debates on security within criminology, but also on a decade's worth of her own field research on the victimization and policing of the homeless. A theoretically and empirically informed examination of the myriad issues affecting the homeless, Invisible Victims makes a compelling case for society to provide necessary services and, above all, a basic level of security for this population.

People leaving prison; refugees; victims of abuse and prostitution. All struggle to find a home, to build relationships, to get back on their feet. The root cause of homelessness is relational: the homeless suffer not just the lack of a roof, but a lack of love. But what if someone could provide not only a home, but also a network? Real people, who knew what they were doing, and who cared? In 2007 Ed Walker published with Monarch Books a book called Reflections from the Scorched Earth. It described his nine years of living and working in six distinct war zones - notably in Darfur - as a Christian humanitarian aid worker with Tearfund. Returning to the UK, Ed worked for the YMCA for three years. But before long Ed and Rachel felt the call to start a genuinely Christian charity working with ex-offenders and the homeless. The private rental sector was out of reach for many, and government provision was horribly inadequate. Both problems have grown massively in the subsequent years. Scraping together every penny they could find, in 2010 the young couple set up a charity, Hope into Action, invested GBP30,000 in a house and bought the first home for the homeless in partnership with their church. This charity has now grown to 51 homes across fifteen towns and cities. Hope into Action have won numerous awards both secular and Christian (they won the Guardian's Public Service Award in 2017, and an award from the Centre for Social Justice). The vision is simple, but devastatingly effective. It provides a vehicle for Christians with money to invest in housing stock, with a modest but guaranteed return. Once funds in a locality are available, and in partnership with a local church, HiA will select a suitable house, which is refurbished as necessary. Together with the local church, the members of which will receive training from HiA in befriending and providing guidance, HiA will select suitable tenants. HiA provide case workers to monitor, smooth understanding, provide support and impose discipline. The churches offer friendship and local contacts. The underlying vision is not simply to help the marginalised, but to enable churches. Tenants come from a variety of backgrounds. Some are men coming out of prison and stuck in hostels. Some are recommended by social services, others by refugee agencies. In the last year HiA have provided homes for refugees fleeing from Sudan and Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Syria, and Iran. The results to date have been impressive, bearing in mind that many of those helped have multiple personal challenges. In the annual statement for 2017 Hope into Action report that 87% of tenants succeeded in maintaining their tenancies; 89% of those who had been in custody refrained from crime; 81% of those with addictions reduced or ceased their drug use; 82% reported improved relations with their families; 47% were involved in volunteering, education or training; and 23% had found a job. There is no requirement upon tenants to have any kind of faith (and many clients are Muslim refugees) but many do become believers. There have been endless teething problems. Relationships have broken down. Tenants who seemed well on the way to recovery and stability have gone completely off the rails. Money has been tight. Most notably however, Ed and his small team have seen God move and provide in amazing, multiple ways. "We have seen miracles, healings, conversions, churches transformed," Ed comments. "I have also gone through some major heart-breaks and dangerous situations, but through it all God has been faithful." Hope into Action tells Ed's story of faith and struggle as he and his wife saw the need, felt the call and stepped out in faith, developed a new theology of sharing and saw both tragic and wonderful results. It explains how we meet and grow in Christ as we interact with those in the shadows and those hidden in darkness.

Record unemployment and rampant corporate avarice, empty houses but homeless families, dwindling opportunities in an increasingly paralyzed nation--these are the realities of 21st-century America, land of the free and home of the new middle class poor. Award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West, one of the nation's leading democratic intellectuals, co-hosts of Public Radio's "Smiley & West," now take on the "P" word--poverty."The Rich and the Rest of Us" is the next step in the journey that began with "The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience." Smiley and West's 18-city bus tour gave voice to the plight of impoverished Americans of all races, colors, and creeds. With 150 million Americans persistently poor or near poor, the highest numbers in over five decades, Smiley and West argue that now is the time to confront the underlying conditions of systemic poverty in America before it's too late.By placing the eradication of poverty in the context of the nation's greatest moments of social transformation-- such as the abolition of slavery, woman's suffrage, and the labor and civil rights movements--ending poverty is sure to emerge as America's 21st -century civil rights struggle.As the middle class disappears and the safety net is shredded, Smiley and West, building on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., ask us to confront our fear and complacency with 12 poverty changing ideas. They challenge us to re-examine our assumptions about poverty in America--what it really is and how to eliminate it now.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have brought renewed attention to the needs of veterans, including the needs of homeless veterans. Preventing and ending homelessness among Veterans in five years is a key priority for the White House as well as the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and its member agencies. This book addresses this need in showcasing novel analyses that use data currently available from administrative records to provide detailed information about the prevalence of Veterans within the homeless population; the prevalence of homelessness among Veterans; and the differential risks for homelessness among Veteran, age, race, poverty, and sex subgroups.

The idea of a federal public housing program began taking shape in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Its purpose was intended to be twofold: the housing created would respond to a lack of sanitary housing available at a low cost to families who had fallen on hard times, and the construction of the housing would lead to the creation of jobs and economic growth. However, the idea of the federal government providing housing proved to be controversial. This book examines the history of the federal housing program; current policy issues; how it is administered and funded and the characteristics of public housing properties and the households they serve.

The term "assisted housing preservation" refers to public policy efforts to maintain the affordability of rental properties financed or subsidised by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), but owned by private for-profit or non-profit organisations. Beginning in the late 1950s, HUD extended mortgage and/or rental assistance to owners in exchange for which the owners agreed to make their units affordable to low- and, in some cases, moderate-income tenants. This book introduces the concept of assisted housing preservation, provides background information, and discusses current public policy issues and proposed legislation corresponding to the preservation of HUD-assisted housing..

This book describes the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, also known as LIHEAP, with a focus on funding, program rules and eligibility. LIHEAP was established in 1981 as part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, and is a block grant program under which the federal government makes annual grants to states, tribes, and territories to operate home energy assistance programs for low-income households. States may use LIHEAP funds to help households pay for heating and cooling costs, for crisis assistance, weatherization assistance, and services (such as counseling) to reduce the need for energy assistance.

Benedict Giamo has published widely on the condition of historical and contemporary homelessness in America. In "Homeless Come Home: An Advocate, the Riverbank, and Murder in Topeka, Kansas, " Giamo offers a deeply sympathetic yet critical look at the life of homeless advocate David Owen, who was tortured and killed in 2006 by some of those he intended to help. Part chronicle, part social analysis, part investigative journalism, and part true-crime book, "Homeless Come Home "examines why and how David Owen contributed to his own gruesome death.

David Owen defined his single-minded mission of touch Christian love, which he called "Homeless Come Home," in terms of his belief that all homeless persons could and should be reunited with their families. He demanded that the homeless reenter society via telephone cards, cell phones, and their parents' front doors. Owen, who himself was disabled and had a history of legal and mental problems, would not take no for an answer. Many with whom he came in contact--pastors, social workers, legislators, police--feared that his fanatical dedication and aggressive approach ultimately would be his downfall. After police discovered his corpse on the bank of the Kansas River, four homeless persons who had been living in a nearby tent camp were charged with his kidnapping and felony murder.

Giamo explores Owen's actions and motives, the homeless community in Topeka, the social services available to hem, and the separate trials of the co-defendants charged in his death. In doing so, he conveys the contention between social order and disorder and raises broader concerns regarding inequality, advocacy, and justice. The story is both fascinating and cautionary, a modern tragedy in which no one person can be identified as its cause.

Since 2006, the percentage of mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent, including defaulted loans and foreclosures in inventory, has risen. One option for resolving a mortgage default is foreclosure. Foreclosure, however, is costly for borrowers that lose what might be the largest asset in their portfolios; for lenders that may not be able to recoup the outstanding loan amount, legal fees, lost revenue and maintenance costs until the distressed property is sold. This book provides an overview of servicing and a summary of the typical array of loss mitigation that servicers may offer distressed borrowers. Also discussed are regional house price movements and unemployment trends which are important drivers of mortgage repayment problems and loss mitigation outcomes.

Disrupting Homelessness unmasks the futile assumptions of our present approaches to homelessness and suggests ways in which Christians and Christian communities can create a prophetic social movement to end poverty and homelessness. The American dream, as conveyed by the media, includes owning a home. Increasingly, people are homeless or precariously housed because of joblessness, foreclosure, or dislocation. Ecclesial responses to homelessness and housing vary. Some Christian organizations focus on fixing the person and the behaviors that contribute to homelessness. Others promote home ownership for low-income households. Employing a disruptive Christian ethics, Laura Stivers criticizes both approaches, outlines an advocacy approach for churches to address the multiple causes of homelessness, and calls us to make a home for all in God's just and compassionate community.

2010 Reprint of 1918 Edition. The Social Gospel movement was a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially social justice, inequality, liquor, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, weak labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war. Theologically, the Social Gospel leaders were overwhelmingly post-millennialist in the sense that they believed the Second Coming could not happen until humankind had rid itself of social evils by human effort. Social Gospel leaders were predominantly associated with the Progressive Movement and most were theologically liberal, although they were typically more conservative when it came to their views on social issues. Walter Rauschenbusch was one of the leaders of this important Christian movement.

This is a powerful and inspiring study of the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter: the only student-run shelter in the United States. Every winter night the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter brings together society's most privileged and marginalized groups under one roof: Harvard students and the homeless. What makes the shelter unique is that it is operated entirely by Harvard College students. It is the only student-run homeless shelter in the United States. Shelter demonstrates how the juxtaposition of privilege and poverty inside the Harvard Square Shelter proves transformative for the homeless men and women taking shelter there, the Harvard students volunteering there, and the wider society into which both groups emerge each morning. In so doing, Shelter makes the case for the replication of this student-run model in major cities across the United States. Inspiring and energizing, Shelter offers a unique window into the lives of America's poorest and most privileged citizens as well as a testament to the powerful effects that can result when members of these opposing groups come together.

"How the Other Half Lives" by Jacob Riis sheds fascinating light on how our immigrants in the 1800's lived in New York City. A must-read for Americans whose family has been in the U.S. for only a few generations, this book tells what it was really like in the slums. Whether Irish, Italian, Jewish, Chinese or Polish, German, Russian, hordes of refugees ended up in New York on the promise of a better life. Entrepreneurs lured poor people from Eastern Europe and contracted out their labor in sweat shops in the US. The laborers lived in tenements, which were dark, unventilated cages in blocks of buildings that rented for a surprising high rent to people who died by the thousands in the unsanitary conditions. The conditions described by Jacob Riis in this classic are heart-rending, especially the part about foundling babies (abandoned newborns). A cradle was put outside a Catholic Church and instead of a baby each night, racks of babies appeared. The Church had to establish foundling hospitals run by nuns, who persuaded the unwed or impoverished mothers to nurse the baby they gave up, plus another baby. The child mortality rate, especially in the "back tenements" or buildings built on to the back of others (dark and airless) was incredible. Riis also provides interesting information about the gangs of New York in "How the Other Half Lived."