No family should have to choose between buying groceries or making rent to stay in their home. Yet America’s affordable housing shortage runs nearly 7 million homes deep – for every 100 families who need them most, only 37 affordable homes are available.
To families struggling, the shortage of affordable rental homes isn’t a headline. It’s an everyday reality. Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) continue to bear the brunt of the crisis due to systemic racism.
The production – the new construction – of affordable homes is essential. Yet we can’t only build our way out of the housing crisis. That’s where preservation comes in. It means making sure the affordable homes we do have remain affordable.