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For our latest episode of A Little Louder, John and Christina experiment with a unique format. They discuss what they're reading, lift up the work of some great Housers, calling out stuff that "ain't right," and providing brief history lessons in the housing world. We also give a preview of the 2020 Houser Awards on Nov. 10.

Every year, Texas receives millions of dollars in tax credits to help developers build affordable housing. It's big money and a highly competitive process. The formula that decides who gets the federal subsidies in Texas is called the Qualified Allocation Plan, which is drafted by our state housing agency, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. We speak with Texas Houser Elizabeth Roehm to break down what's new in the 2021 proposed QAP and challenge some new proposed rules that could curb opportunity for Texas tenants. 

Hello Housers,  We are back for a new season of A Little Louder! This week, John and Christina are joined by University of Texas Law professor Heather Way to learn about how Public Facility Corporations (PFCs) can purport themselves as affordable housing, but have been used as a loophole for big tax breaks while leaving low-income renters in the dust. We also discuss a new addition to the Housers family. Links: Heather Way's report - Public Facility Corporations and the Section 303.042(f) Tax Break for Apartment Developments

The news cycle under COVID-19 has operated at a breakneck pace. For many, it's been difficult to track what the rules are and what the government is doing to help those who are in need. Thankfully, at least in regard to housing, we can provide a little clarity for those who may need it. John and Christina are joined on this week's episode of A Little Louder by Shamus Roller, Executive Director of the National Housing Law Project to help sort through what moratoriums on evictions mean and what in that $2 trillion stimulus goes to housing. We are also joined by our community navigator Ericka Bowman, as she tells us what low-income families in Houston and Galveston are experiencing with the coronavirus limiting everyday necessities like transportation, groceries, and work opportunities. We are still recording remotely, practicing what Christina calls "physical distancing but social connection." Please continue to stay safe, fellow Housers! You can follow Shamus on Twitter at @ShamusRoller and the National Housing Law Project at @NHLP.

John and Christina were joined this week by Andrew Aurand, Vice President for Research at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, to discuss their 2020 edition of the Gap Report. This deep study into the shortage for rental units for extremely low-income renters exposes some harsh realities for us here in the Lone Star State, including that Texas is far below the national average in affordable and available homes for extremely low-income renters. Aurand also offered what solutions are needed to help shorten this gap, including exercising local, state, and federal power to help our most vulnerable community members. Our two panelists exchanged their thoughts on the matter all while social distancing in their respective homes. Stay safe, fellow Housers! You can follow Andrew on Twitter at @AGAurand and the National Low Income Housing Commission at @NLIHC.

For decades, federal, state and local officials knew that the fish in Donna Lake in the Rio Grande Valley carried a dangerous level of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). And for decades, residents in the surrounding community fished in the lake and often ate or sold the fish. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted the lake Superfund status in 1993 after a study found that the fish in the lake were toxic and linked to birth defects in infants. Still little was done until recently, when the EPA and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality began remediation and clean up in January. Texas Housers talks to Josué Ramirez who helped lead a local campaign in the Valley to amplify the voices and concerns of residents and demand action that was long overdue. 

Nearly half of the city of San Antonio's residents are renters. With the cost of housing rising and wages mostly stagnant, too many renters with low incomes are often at risk of enduring shoddy housing conditions or displacement because of a shortage of places they can afford and few legal protections. "We're sometimes at the mercy of the landlord," one tenant said. A city council member has proposed creating a commission of renters to advise the city on tenant issues and housing policy in order to provide a forum for tenants to voice their concerns and be represented in their city's decision-making processes. Texas Housers talks to council member Roberto Treviño, tenant and organizer Kayla Miranda, and Cynthia Merla Spielman, a landlord and founding member of the Tier One Neighborhood Coalition.

In Texas, and across the country disability rights activists have demanded, worked for, and won improved transportation services, the right to choose where to live, and access to housing that suits their needs. But there are still many more strides to take toward more inclusive, accessible communities. In episode 24, Texas Housers talks to disability rights advocate and organizer Stephanie Thomas, with ADAPT of Texas. Thomas discusses how the fight for equitable public transportation in Texas led to a greater struggle for civil rights, community inclusion, and decent, accessible housing.  Learn more  about ADAPT at http://adaptoftexas.org/ and disability organizing at http://freeourpeople.net/disabilityorganizing101andbeyond/. 

In its new proposed rule, HUD is redefining a key provision of the 1968 Fair Housing Act and loosening requirements on local jurisdictions receiving federal grants. This would allow more than 1,200 localities charged with addressing patterns of racial segregation to further entrench the legacy of government-sponsored discrimination. We talk to fair housing expert, civil rights attorney, and former HUD official Betsy Julian about how the mandate to affirmatively further fair housing has historically been ignored and how advocates have risen up to make sure the vision of an integrated, inclusive America is not forgotten. 

The Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens areas of Houston are historic Black neighborhoods where families have proudly planted roots for generations. Unfortunately for many community members there, industry also took root nearby and brought toxic creosote with it. Recently, the State of Texas conducted a study and, at last, determined what many in these neighborhoods had long felt was true: a cancer cluster exists in the Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens community. In this episode, we speak with many of the people who have been working to fight for acknowledgment of the health impacts of toxic industry, including Rodrigo Cantú of Lone Star Legal Aid, Sandra Small of Impact 5th Greater Ward, environmental scientist Dr. Jacqueline Smith, and our own research associate in Houston, Sophie Dulberg.

Housing inequality can often manifest in ways that many do not think of and some take for granted. For example, the simple task of washing your hands or using the restroom are far more complex for low-income families in situations with sewage backups.  On this episode of A Little Louder, we spoke with our advocacy co-director Lauren Loney about the recent consent decree filed by City of Houston, EPA, and the TCEQ addressing Clean Water Act violations in the City’s waste water infrastructure, as well as our own public comments and pushback on the slow walk to environmental justice. Kristen Schlemmer from Bayou City Waterkeeper also joins the podcast to talk about what she's learned with these sewage backups, and the groundswell to address these issues. Transcription of Episode 21

In 2012, Congress authorized some public housing agencies to convert units from their original federally-funded public housing  to project-based Section 8 contracts. Since then, more than 100,000 public housing units have been shifted from public control into private control. In Episode 20 of A Little Louder, we talk to a resident about how the long process of RAD conversion at a Fort Worth apartment complex has worked for her and discuss the context of RAD conversion and what the shift from public housing to privatized housing means for our housing safety net. Other interviews include Texas Housers Northwest Texas co-director Caleb Roberts and Legal Aid of Northwest Texas paralegal Guillermo Gomez.  Transcript of Episode 20

When a disaster hits, flooding and fires might not discriminate, but the systems and funding intended to rebuild our communities do, and in fact the plans public officials put in place often create worse versions of the policies and practices that happen all the time that put people of color and people with few resources at a disadvantage. Texas Housers researcher Amelia Adams discusses patterns that put renters at a disadvantage in hurricane recovery compared with homeowners. We also talk to Texas RioGrande Legal Aid attorney Rachel Zummo about a lawsuit filed by TRLA on behalf of renters who describe the inequitable system of recovery a fair housing issue. With many of the renters unable to recover being people of color, legal aid and the plaintiffs are calling on the state to directly address this inequality. We also talk to plaintiff Brenda Jones from Aransas Pass about her experience after Hurricane Harvey.  Transcript of Episode 19

More than one-third of households in Texas are renters, and in Austin, more than half of residents rent their homes. With those kinds of numbers, it's a wonder why the Texas Legislature has failed to strengthen tenant protections. As a result, too many Texans live in dangerous apartments that some landlords have failed to maintain or repair. A shortage of affordable housing leaves tenants to endure poor living conditions, and worse, too many Texans face eviction and displacement because of a lack of housing protection. For episode 18, Texas Housers talked to tenants in Austin who are demanding that landlords, city officials, and fellow Texans pay attention to the power of renters and support a movement that centers human dignity in all housing. Interviews with Austin tenants include Divina, Jeff and Jeanne. Additional interviews include Austin City Council Member Greg Casar and BASTA project director Shoshana Krieger.  Transcript of Episode 18

In 1915, Independence Heights was the first town incorporated by African Americans in the state of Texas. For more than a decade, it was a self-sufficient town that could control its own destiny. When the City of Houston annexed the town in 1929, so began the threat of erasure of the historic neighborhood. Over the decades, Independence Heights was cut off from the rest of Houston by highways, which both segregated the area and destroyed some of its footprint. Today, another threat is imminent. TxDOT is proposing an expansion to Interstate 45. But Independence Heights will not stand for its value, legacy, and residents to be overlooked yet again. Texas Housers interviewed Tanya Debose, executive director of the Independence Heights Redevelopment Council, and the neighborhoods attorney Amy Dinn, Managing Attorney on the Environmental Justice Team at Lone Star Legal Aid, and historians Aimee VonBokel at Lone Star Legal Aid and Kyle Shelton of the Kinder Institute.  Read the complaint by Lone Star Legal Aid: https://lonestarlegal.blog/2019/06/07/txdots-historical-resources-report-omits-houstons-independence-heights/ Transcript of Episode 17

When the U.S. government designed postwar housing policy and subsidized massive developments and suburbs, it created a strong middle class. The American dream became synonymous with homeownership. But the U.S. government deliberately left out Black Americans, systematizing racist ideals into U.S. housing policy that has left too many people behind. Giorgio Angelini, director of the film Owned: A Tale of Two Americas, explores these themes and how the commodification of housing has distorted communities and the American ideals of opportunity and integration. Texas Housers sat down for an interview with Angelini after his film screening in Austin, Texas. Check out Owned here. Transcript of Episode 16

If you want to change law and policy, you have to change people's minds. And to change people's minds, you have to change how they feel. Arts and music can evoke, inspire, and move people to action in ways that even the best lectures, policy briefs, and compelling facts and statistics can't. Episode 15 is about how a community came together to write and produce a conjunto music album called Sonido del Agua, rooted in their experiences with deluge, drainage, and fighting to get the infrastructure to protect them from the next flood. Find the full album here: https://soundcloud.com/bcworkshop Transcript of Episode 15

This is a story about drainage infrastructure in the Rio Grande Valley. But really, it's about injustice, inequality, and a community's fight to get what they deserve: protection from dangerous flooding. Episode 14 of A Little Louder takes a deep dive into the multi-year drainage campaign that improved infrastructure for multiple colonias in the Rio Grande Valley. Texas Housers interviews community leaders Alberta Ramirez and Ana Maria Gonzalez, former Texas Houser Josué Ramirez, and LUPE organizing coordinator Martha Sanchez.  Transcript of Episode 14

More than two dozen people have put their hat in the ring and declared their candidacy for the presidency. With so many candidates, there's a spectrum of domestic and international policy proposals. On this podcast, we take a look at what each candidate has said about their stances on affordable housing, homeownership, tenant protections, fair housing and addressing homelessness. (Note: This is our last episode of season 1 of A Little Louder)  Transcript for Episode 13

Juneteenth is soon approaching in a few days, and in honor of the holiday, we spoke about the preservation of Black neighborhoods which date back more than a century ago. Joining us on Episode 12 is Dr. Andrea Roberts of the Texas Freedom Colonies Project. She spoke with us about the often missed distinction between freedman's towns and freedom colonies, the history of these neighborhoods, what needs to be done to ensure they thrive, and much more. To learn more in person about Texas Freedom Colonies, you can attend the “Aya” Symposium featuring a special training session, “Education – THE Foundation for Civil Rights in Texas Freedom Colonies”   on June 19 at Prairie View A&M University, or you can visit the Texas Purple Hull Pea Festival in Shankleville, TX, a historic freedom colony, on June 29. http://shankleville.org/txphpfest/ Transcript of Episode 12