July 2, 2020
“The result of our current deeply inequitable and broken housing system was made painfully clear in the 2008 foreclosure crisis. It wiped out trillions of dollars of generational wealth, particularly in Black and Latinx communities, and pushed thousands of families out of their homes,” said Peter Cohen, co-director of the Council of Community Housing Organizations in San Francisco.
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May 21, 2020
“Unless we’re going to be able to forgive these rents, we’re going to be adding to the racial disparities that already exist.”
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May 6, 2020
On the other hand, the influx of highly paid tech workers into the Bay Area accelerated housing unaffordability, said Peter Cohen, co-director at the Council of Community Housing Organizations, a San Francisco nonprofit.
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May 5, 2020
We have seen our state and local leaders recognize this through eviction moratoria, mortgage relief, and other critical short-term measures that will keep people housed today. But the long-term choices will be just as critical, especially for communities of color that are bearing the brunt of both the health and displacement impacts. We have the opportunity to not only survive this crisis, but emerge with a more equitable system for all our communities.
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May 4, 2020
Nonprofit housing development and acquisition “still requires rent, even if set for low incomes,” says Peter Cohen, co-director on the Council of Community Housing Organizations. “It requires having cash flow, reserves, insurance, property management, and tenant relations, etc. That’s what our community housing nonprofits have learned and evolved over the many years. If our north star is a decommodified housing system, effectively social housing in a whole variety of different forms, we want to be responsible about how we maintain and sustain that housing system at scale so it will work in practice. So when our movement puts forth proposals like this, it is important that we differentiate based on how and by whom housing is owned, distinguishing nonprofit from private entities, so we don’t harm our own collective pathway to that north star.”
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April 27, 2020
“We are not aware of concerns by our Council of Community Housing Organizations member organizations about long-term financial impacts from rent drops,” says Maya Chupkov, communications director of Council of Community Housing Organizations, a member organization based in San Francisco.
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April 1, 2020
“The reality we have to face for so many millions of folks across the country is that they are living almost paycheck to paycheck,” says Peter Cohen, co-director of the affordable-housing organization Council of Community Housing Organizations. “They’re kind of at the margins. We’ve all seen the data of how many Americans are ‘rent-burdened’—they’re paying more of their income than they should be—in order to leave enough money for food and medication and other things.”
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March 9, 2020
“In suburban low-density areas there is basically not the same intense development happening, it's a lot quieter in those places. All the market development activity is for the most part happening in urban core areas, and it's happening on adrenaline — too much too fast — in a lot of urban communities across the state but it's also quite concentrated in gentrifying neighborhoods, which is why we have the displacement crisis.”
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March 2, 2020
“There’s little pots of money to do this so the ingredients are starting to line up,” Cohen said. “I think the question is how do we get it started? And one church community or two church communities could really show the way.”
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February 29, 2020
Housing and tenant groups like the Council of Community Housing Organizations, San Francisco Tenants Union and the Affordable Housing Alliance back the measure.
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February 26, 2020
With the backing of a coalition of progressive affordable housing developers and advocacy groups, including the Council of Community Housing Organizations and the San Francisco Tenants Union, Todco has raised about $407,000 in support of Proposition E.
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February 17, 2020
“We’re continuing to see the very, very bottom of the economic spectrum get worse,” says Cohen, whose four-person outfit, which represents 24 member organizations, wields tremendous power over San Francisco housing policy.
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February 12, 2020
Imperial had a warm reception at last week’s Rules Committee hearing on her appointment from several anti-displacement groups like South of Market Community Action Network and Council of Community Housing Organizations.
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February 10, 2020
“Perhaps as significant as those policy changes, the Moms4Housing campaign elevated the shifting conversation about housing preservation and commodified real estate markets to national headlines.”
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February 3, 2020
Groups backing her also included Chinatown Community Development Center and a coalition of affordable housing developers, The Council of Community Housing Organizations, known as “Choo Choo.”
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January 28, 2020
“No matter where you are in the state or what size the project is, there should be some affordability requirement above what may already be required.”
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January 25, 2020
Churches in San Francisco looking to build affordable housing will benefit from Proposition E, which rezoned large lots and public sites to allow for 100% affordable housing.
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January 16, 2020
“Through the collaboration of District Staff, United Educators, the Council of Community Housing Organizations, Housing Accelerator Fund and Mayor's Office, we were able to create a policy that can become a model for how we develop Educator Housing moving forward.”
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January 15, 2020
The resolution, the result of collaboration between the district, the mayor’s office, the union, the Council of Community Housing Organizations and an affordable housing fund, stems from the voters’ approval of two propositions last year.
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January 8, 2020
San Francisco passed a business tax measure for homeless housing and services, which included a similar rent subsidy. The funding source isn’t available yet because the measure is stuck in litigation, said Fernando Marti, co-director of the Council of Community Housing Organizations.
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