Policies

Community Development Block Grant

Part of the Housing and Community Development Act that went into effect in January 1975, the CDBG program is a key funding source for neighborhood revitalization in the most vulnerable communities. The formula-based grants are issued to over 1,200 state and local governments.

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act

HMDA requires banks to disclose demographic data on home purchasing and lending and was a key win in the community reinvestment fight. HMDA has been expanded several times over the years, most recently in 2010, when the Dodd-Frank financial reform act extended HMDA to include predatory lending indicators.

Mount Laurel

New Jersey’s currently beleaguered inclusionary zoning law, which requires towns to produce their “fair share” of low- and moderate-income housing, stems from a 1975 New Jersey Supreme Court case, which ruled that a zoning ordinance in Mount Laurel Township was exclusionary.

Organizations

Astella Development Corporation

A Coney Island-based organization committed to revitalizing the neighborhood’s famous amusement park, creating mixed use neighborhoods, and increasing affordable housing.

Community Housing Partners

A Christiansburg, Virginia-based developer of affordable, green, sustainable housing for a wide range of vulnerable, low-income and low-wealth populations the Southeast.

East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation

Growing out of an Asian resource center, now an organization that promotes and develops sustainable communities, healthy neighborhoods, and affordable housing in California’s East Bay Area.

Elder Cooperative Housing Options

A Cambridge, Mass., organization that develops and manages affordable housing for the elderly and disabled adults.

Hispanic Housing Development Corporation

An affordable housing developer first created to focus on Chicago’s Latino neighborhoods and now operating citywide.

Homes in Partnership

A sweat equity program in rural Florida that purchases land and allows qualifying low- and very low-income applicants to construct about 65 percent of their own homes under supervision.

Koreatown Youth and Community Center

A community center providing a range of resources for newly immigrated and economically disadvantaged families in Los Angeles.

Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation

A California-based affordable housing developer that has expanded into self-help housing and property management.

Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority

A CDC whose portfolio includes senior services, affordable housing development, economic development, and community outreach programs.

St. Nicks Alliance

A prominent church-based CDC in Brooklyn, N.Y., formerly known as the St. Nicholas Preservation Corporation.

Urban Homesteading Assistance Board

A New York City-wide group that develops, trains leaders of, and supports low-income limited-equity co-ops.

WhyHunger

A national anti-hunger, anti-poverty advocacy organization whose flagship programs include the National Hunger Hotline, the Grassroots Action Network, and Artists Against Hunger & Poverty.

Your Organization?

Was your organization also founded in 1975? Add your name to the birthday list in the comments below, with a link to your organization’s website, and we’ll send you an original piece of Shelterforce history (while supplies last).