Tools

The Gap - A Shortage of Affordable Homes

No State Has an Adequate Supply of Affordable Rental Housing for the Lowest-Income Renters

BUILDING A BETTER AFFORDABLE HOUSING FUTURE

How States Can Integrate Health, Energy Efficiency, Working Conditions, and Racial Equity in Their Qualified Allocation Plans

Global Greater Boston: Immigrants in a Changing Region

For as long as it’s been a city, immigrants have been central to Boston’s identity. For this new report Boston Indicators partnered with Immigration Research Initiative to analyze who makes up immigrant communities in Greater Boston, quantify what they contribute to our regional economy, and detail the immigration pathways they take to get here.

Advocates' Guide 2024!

Every year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition publishes the Advocates’ Guide to educate advocates of all kinds about the programs and policies that make housing affordable to low-income people across America.

Slides for Webinar: DHCD Sustainability, Resiliency, and Healthy Homes 4.19.23

Gregory Abbe, DHCD
Come learn about ways that Public Housing Residents, DHCD, and Housing Authorities can work together to create healthier, more resilient buildings that emit fewer greenhouse gasses.

Webinar: DHCD Sustainability, Resiliency, and Healthy Homes 4.19.23

Slides for Webinar: Understanding Who's Who - DHCD, the LHA Board, and the Local Tenant Organization 2.8.23

Sarah O'Leary and Bill Halfpenny, DHCD
For Residents and LHA Board Members Join this webinar with DHCD and the Mel King Institute to understand the different powers of the Local Tenant Organization, the LHA Board, and DHCD. Residents will learn more about the "chain of command" for resolving individual problems, the expansive powers of their local Board, and the limits of DHCD's authority.

Webinar: Understanding Who's Who - DHCD, the LHA Board, and the Local Tenant Organization 2.8.23

Local Housing Authority (LHA) Fiscal Year Ends

LHA Fiscal Year Ends

Slides for Running Community Meetings Webinar 2.8.23

Gillian Mason
Join MKI Trainer Gillian Mason for a discussion about how your LTO can run a good community meeting. We speak about reasons for holding meetings, the role meetings play in an effective tenant association, and share some sample meeting agendas. We also speak about balancing participation and handling tough participants.

Running Community Meetings Webinar 2.8.23

RLA Tenant Participation Regulations - Trivia Answer Key

Resident Leadership Academy Tenant Participation Regulation Trivia Answer Key

Slides for Webinar: Performance Management Reviews (PMR) with DHCD 12.7.22

Lisa Taylor and Robert Garrett, DHCD
Local Housing Authorities participate in a Performance Management Review (PMR) in the areas of finance/management, capital, maintenance, and CHAMP as established by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). In this presentation, DHCD will give an overview of PMR criteria and will specifically focus on the new CHAMP and maintenance PMR criteria.

Webinar: Performance Management Reviews (PMR) with DHCD 12.7.22

Slides for Capital Project Implementation Process, Featuring DHCD 10.18.22

Stefanie Brynen, DHCD
Join this webinar with DHCD (The Department of Housing and Community Development) to learn more about implementing capital improvements at your Local Housing Authority. We discuss how residents and board members are involved in this process.

Fifty Years Of “The People v. HUD”

Poverty & Race research Action Council (PRRAC)
HUD has benefited enormously from strong civil rights advocacy, and many of HUD’s most important regulatory guidelines have emerged from this advocacy. We offer this selected timeline as a tribute to this ongoing history and, we hope, an inspiration to a new generation of civil rights and tenant activists.

The Boston Foundation Racial Equity Capacity Builders Directory

The Boston Foundation
As part of its continued work to support nonprofits as it centers and advances racial equity within its organizations, the Boston Foundation worked with partners to develop a directory of racial equity capacity builders currently serving Greater Boston nonprofit organizations. The directory lists 80 individuals and organizations providing racial equity capacity building services. Please use this as a resource for organizational racial equity goals.

Cambridge College Resource Library for Business Development Program

Cambridge College
The Business Resource Library connects Consultants, Technical Assistance Providers and students to a variety of learning tools, including sample documents and industry trend topics. This library can quickly provide comprehensive information you may need to assist small businesses during their start-up, stabilization and growth phases. These materials can be downloaded from the links below. This library was built with the collaboration of Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC), Mel King Institute, Lawyers for Civil Rights, and Technical Assistance providers.

COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard

Eviction Lab
Safe, stable, and decent housing has always been central to ensuring health and stability. Today, with the United States focused on containing the COVID-19 pandemic, the broader and longstanding issue of income and housing insecurity has quickly become paramount to the health of an entire nation.To better understand the steps states have taken to prevent homelessness during and after the pandemic, the Eviction Lab and Columbia Law School’s Professor Emily Benfer have developed a policy scorecard for each state, distilling the contents of thousands of newly-released emergency orders, declarations, and legislation into a clear set of critical measures included in, and left out of, state-level pandemic responses related to eviction and housing.

Arts & Planning Toolkit

MAPC
The Arts and Planning Toolkit has been given a reboot to become better aligned with the needs of municipal planners who are doing arts and culture-related work. Each page now follows a consistent outline of tools, resources, and examples to show how ideas may be put into action.

Storytelling Toolkit: Lessons Learned from NHT's "Where Will We Live"

National Housing Trust
This toolkit is a guide for advocates to replicate the National Housing Trust’s efforts and successfully employ digital, visual and audio storytelling strategies within their advocacy tactics.

Opportunity360 Community Dashboard

Enterprise
Opportunity360 Community Dashboards provide the information necessary to determine where action is most needed and where established programs and policies have been most successful in any neighborhood in the country. These dashboards now allow data comparison for up to three census tracts, anywhere in the US. In the free Opportunity360 Community Dashboards, you will find over 150 indicators from 27 sources.

Public Policy Resources

BestColleges.com
This guide includes links to free public policy online resources that will help one get a better sense of the entire field.

Public Policy Career Outlook

BestColleges.com
This guide provides you with in-depth information on degree planning including program structures, concentrations, and skill development and application for a Public Policy career.

Earning a Public Policy Master’s Degree

BestColleges.com
This resource will help you learn about the common Master's in Public Policy admission requirements, coursework, and jobs available for graduates.

Honor Native Land: A Guide and Call to Acknowledgement

Sponsored by: U.S. Department of Arts and Culture
Created in partnership with Native allies and organizations, the Guide offers context about the practice of acknowledgment, gives step-by-step instructions for how to begin wherever you are, and provides tips for moving beyond acknowledgment into action.

Vision, Values, and Voice: A Communications Toolkit

The Opportunity Agenda
This toolkit focuses on the broader goal of identifying universal themes and values that tie together a range of issues.

Rights for Renters Messaging

Public Will Initiative with Topos
This tool reiterates focusing on the positives instead of the negatives when it comes to messaging. Even though the series is called Rights for Renters, it isn’t actually limited to renter issue areas—such as the Critiquing Without Undermining Government brief.

A Progressive’s Style Guide

Hanna Thomas (SumOfUs.org); Anna Hirsch (ActivistEditor.com)
A Progressive’s Style Guide is explicitly multi-voiced and is created with the following commitments. 1) We combat discriminatory language. 2) We seek advice or more information when we’re unsure. 3) When writing, speaking, or using images, we aim to use examples that reflect a broad range of identities and perspectives.

Housing Matters

Urban Institute
Housing Matters is an online resource for the most rigorous research and practical information on how a quality, stable, affordable home in a vibrant community contributes to individual and community success.

The Move

Ceasar McDowell, Founder; Ayushi Roy, Podcast co-host; Misael Galdamez, Website Author; Julia Curbera, Website Author
The Move is a movement to rebuild our public’s muscle for democracy. This movement aims to bring together people of all backgrounds who are seeking to facilitate real civic engagement in today’s democracies. The Move rebuilds our public muscle in three ways: We will partner in the design and implementation of at least one civic engagement project each year. We will provide a collaborative learning and knowledge exchange platform on TheMove.MIT.edu and it’s adjacent social media channels for cities, institutions, and community organizations. We will advance learning, experimentation, and innovation in civic design using eight design principles.

Massachusetts Defense For Eviction (MADE): Self-Guided Eviction Help

Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS)
This completely free guided interview is for Massachusetts tenants who are being evicted. It is estimated to take between 25 and 90 minutes for a typical tenant to use on their own. It will help you make sure that you respond to your landlord's eviction case correctly.

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