Making Housing and Community Happen

Great new! “Housing Justice and Community Organizing: Theological and Practical Perspectives” will be offered at Azusa Pacific University in their Social Work Master’s programs!   (on Tuesday evenings Jan 19 to May 3). I will co-teach this timely course with Alexia Salvatierra, who is the national expert on faith-rooted organizing and has written a book by that title.

The housing crisis is growing daily, yet no Presidential candidates are talking about it. We need to educate ourselves, our leaders and the faith community about solutions that know work, if we apply them. This course is designed to provide both a theological and practical framework to address this urgent crisis. A recent study indicated that about 13,000 people on public assistance tumble into homelessness every month in Los Angeles County. This is unacceptable. We can and must do more.

Please read the attached course flyer “Housing Justice and Community Organizing APU Course.. ” and consider registering. If you do not live in the area, perhaps you know of others in the LA area who may be interested. The course is half price for those who audit.

I have also attached the application and intent forms needed to apply to be a non-degree seeking student at APU. You would pay a $45 application fee and submit your transcripts. It take a few days. Contact Steve Syverson, M.Div. | Senior Director Graduate and Professional Admissions | Azusa Pacific University, P: (626) 815-4579 with any questions. Once approved you can register for the course.

Non Degree Application process at APU.

To apply for non-degree is fairly simple and we do have an admissions Program Representative who is point for all non-degree applicants.  His job is to assist them through the process.  Here is what they need to do.

1. Fill out a Graduate Application form and select non-degree for their program.  (attached)
2. Pay the $45 application fee.
3. Fill out the non-degree intent form that explains that they’re here for personal enrichment or professional development.  (attached)
4. Provide a sealed official copy of the Bachelor’s degree transcript.

Once these items are submitted to the Graduate and Professional Admissions office, I usually have them admitted in 1-2 days at the most.  Again, if they get stuck or have any questions with these steps, my team is here to help.

Thanks,

Steve Syverson

“Despite a 48 percent decline in the homeless population in Pasadena since 2011, complaints of panhandling and aggressive behavior over the past year have risen, according to the Pasadena Police Department.” The city has been discussing strengthening laws, such as confiscating objects left unattended on public property, in order to address these complaints. Yet when I went to a Homeless Forum sponsored by the City of Pasadena last week, the first three panelists all agreed that the solution to homelessness is providing more housing that is affordable with “wrap-around” services.  Wrap-around services means providing housing with case management in order to keep the homeless housed. Out of $100 million allocated to address homelessness in Los Angeles, $88 million was for the police. It is my opinion that most of the money should have been spent on homes, rather than so much on the police. What is your opinion?

Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/social-affairs/20151025/complaints-about-homeless-behavior-on-the-rise-in-pasadena

“Linkage fees — which already exist in San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago and Boston — are a relatively arcane but potentially lucrative source of affordable-housing funds. The fees usually are charged based on the size of a development, by unit or by square foot.”

Read more:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-garcetti-affordable-housing-development-fee-20151023-story.html

For example, a dress shop hires 5 low income workers. Where would these workers live? In order to help these workers obtain close-by housing that they can afford, the dress shop would pay a linkage fee. These fees have the potential to produce up to $100 million a year for affordable housing.

Considering that funding for affordable housing is drying up around the nation, I personally think linkage fees are a great idea. Do you have linkage fees in your jurisdictions, and if so, how are they working?

Jill and I were impressed with the Steve Lopez’ article on Assembly Bill 1335, which could help ease the housing crunch in California. Yesterday Jill attended a block party for State Assemblyman Chris Holden and spoke to him about this bill, which he supports and which has met with fierce opposition from real estate interests. The bill, which mandates a $75 recording fee which you sell or refinance your property, requires a two-thirds majority to pass. Please contact your elected official and let him or her know that you support this bill, which would generate $300-500 million per year to help fund and rehabilitate affordable housing.

Legislator says she has an answer to state’s housing crunch

by Steve Lopez

You can’t pass an apartment building or drive through a neighborhood here without hearing a story from Toni Atkins about what she calls the “foundation for every piece of our lives.”

The places we call home.

“This here is called Ten Fifty B,” the Democratic speaker of the California Assembly said as we pulled over to take in a 220-unit downtown high-rise.

I thought it looked like a sleek condo project for professionals and urban hipsters, and initially, that’s what it was going to be. But the deal fell apart and the building was reconstituted as an apartment house for low-income families, some of whom are able to walk to jobs at hotels and restaurants.

“Why shouldn’t they be able to live right here?” Atkins asked, and avoid a long commute that makes traffic all the worse for everyone?”
The problem is that when a building like that opens its doors, as this one did five years ago, there’s nowhere near enough room at the inn to handle the clamor.

“You can have up to 10 times as many applicants as you have slots,” said Jennifer LeSar, an affordable-housing developer who is Atkins’ spouse.

But it’s not just low-income families that are locked out of adequate housing in California, where rental rates and home prices continue to rise even as income remains flat or even dip for millions of working folks, there’s nowhere near enough room at the inn to handle the clamor.

For the rest of article, see

Steve Lopez on Toni Atkin’s bill to ease housing crunch

This article  by my husband Anthony describes an event sponsored by the North Fair Oaks Empowerment Project that took place at Greater New Guide Baptist Church. We are both delighted that his article appeared in “a locally owned and operated independent African American newspaper” that has served our community well for many years. Kudos to all who made this remarkable event a success, especially the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance,Pastor Sterling Brown, Pastor John Bledsoe, and our team of dedicated community residents and leaders.

Black Scholar Dr. Jamal-Dominique Hopkins Speaks About the Dead Sea Scrolls and Africans in the Bible, Supports Community Development Initiative

“I am the only African American scholar to have done doctoral work on the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Dr. Jamal-Dominique Hopkins told his audience on July 24, 2015, when he spoke at Greater New Guide Baptist Church in Altadena, a small but Spirit-filled church led by Pastor Sterling Brown.

“I had no idea what I was getting into when we invited him,” said Pastor Brown. “But I’m really glad we did. Dr. Hopkins took me back to my days in seminary in Nashville, and I was so intrigued I want to get together with him and find out more. Greg Ellis, a member of my congregation, felt the same way.”

Dr. Hopkins’ talk was sponsored by the North Fair Oaks Empowerment Initiative, which is supported by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA), the oldest association of African American pastors in Pasadena.

A nationally known scholar and public intellectual, Dr. Hopkins not only earned his Ph.D. from the University of Manchester, he also started a non-profit think tank, the Institute for Advanced African American Christian Thought, and is the author of Ten Things Every Christian Should Know and Thinking Out Loud: Reflections on Life, Faith, Culture and Crisis.

“Without an African consciousness,” Dr. Hopkins explained, “one cannot fully and accurately read the Bible.”

To read more, go to Black scholar talks about the Dead Sea Scrolls and Africans in the Bible

This article by Greg Morrow appeared in the LA Times (July 24, 2015) and explains why we shouldn’t be afraid of higher density: that’s the smartest way to make our city more affordable and livable.

“There is no easy answer for the housing affordability crisis in Los Angeles. But embracing growth rather than fighting it can create a city for everyone, not just the most fortunate among us.

“For much of the last 40 years, planning in Los Angeles has been guided by the idea that growth is bad, that more people mean more congestion, pollution and social ills. The city has emphasized “downzoning” — reducing the number of units allowed to be built on properties — to actively curb growth.

“It hasn’t worked. According to the city’s 35 separate Community Plans and census data, since 1970, half a million more people have moved to Los Angeles than were planned for. Housing supply simply has not kept pace with growth, so it should be no surprise that L.A. has become the least affordable city in the country — a city booming in gentrification (the rich displacing the poor) and busting in affordability (for everyone except the very well-off)” For the rest of the article see How to make Los Angeles more affordable and livable

Last year I took part in the “Action Tank” on housing policy, sponsored by the Christian Community Development Association, which Jill helped to organize. This year’s Action Tank will focus on fair housing, dealing with housing discrimination, specifically a new supreme court ruling that is strengthening the  Fair Housing Act with a provision called “disparate impact.” This provision of this new ruling allows the government to file a discrimination claim when segregation is clearly evident, even if the government can’t prove intent. That’s why the recent Supreme Court ruling described in Jamelle Bouelle’s Op Ed piece is so important: it can be used to justify requiring all white suburbs to allow, or even require, affordable housing for low income people.

Racially and ethnically segregated housing is still a big issue in the USA, even if it isn’t no longer abetted by laws such as racial covenants and red lining, Last month Jill was asked to give a presentation on affordable housing in Broomfield, CO, because it was designated one of the “10 most racially segregated cities in the US.” Religious leaders there were embarrassed and decided that focusing on affordable housing could help their community become more diverse. That’s why Jill was invited to provide a practical and biblical perspective on housing justice..The following article explains how this Supreme Court decision will make it easier to desegregate predominantly white neighborhoods.

America’s fair housing backlash 

by Jamelle Bouie (LA Times, July 22, 2015)

.If you’ve read conservative blogs or magazines in the last month, you’ve probably seen something like this headline from Townhall — “HUD’s ‘Disparate Impact’ War on Suburban America” — or this one from National Review — “Attention America’s Suburbs: You Have Just Been Annexed.”

Behind this dramatic language, not to say fear-mongering, are recent decisions from the Supreme Court and the Department of Housing and Urban Development that take aim at residential segregation.

In June, a 5-4 Supreme Court majority upheld a central tool of the 1968 Fair Housing Act — disparate impact — which allows the government to file claims to end racial disparities in housing access, even if they aren’t linked to outright discrimination. See America’s Fair Housing Backlash

You are invited to an event on Friday, July 24, that will help support the North Fair Oaks Empowerment Project. (See North Fair Oaks Empowerment Project). Please share this post with your friends here in Pasadena! You can download this flyer The Dead Sea Scrolls Africans in the Bible

Jamal-Dominique Hopkins (Ph.D., University of Manchester) is President/C.E.O. of the non-profit Christian think-tank, the Institute for Advanced African American Christian Thought Inc., and Founder and Director of J.D. Institute, a public intellectual institute engaged in social and cultural thought from a biblical perspective. He currently resides in Altadena with his family.Rev. Sterling Brown is founder and pastor of the Greater New Guide Baptist Church  and a member of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA)

Donations will be matched and go to the North Fair Oaks Empowerment Project, an initiative of churches, businesses and
individuals committed to improving this neglected section of Pasadena.

“Rev. Dr. Jamal-Dominique Hopkins is an important voice in the 21st-century Black Evangelical ‘schoolof the prophets.’ He speaks uniquely if not singularly to the Black academic excellence of scholarship in the Dead Sea Scrolls.”—National Black Evangelical Association, Chicago, IL