Opportunity Starts at Home

Our guest architects Karen Kubey and Casius Pealer share their experiences and insights on how thoughtful design can address both immediate needs and long-term community benefits. Discover how innovative architectural approaches can create sustainable, inclusive, and vibrant neighborhoods and support residents’ human rights.

Guests:

Karen Kubey, Convener, American Institute of Architects Right to Housing Working Group

https://www.karenkubey.net/

Casius Pealer, Senior Professor of Practice in Real Estate at Tulane University

https://architecture.tulane.edu/people/casius-pealer

To learn more about the AIA Housing & Community Development Knowledge Community, visit www.aia.org/hcd

AIA Right to Housing Working Group Members:

Tara Bray, AIA, Modus Studio, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Yanitza Brongers-Marrero, FAIA, Moody Nolan, Columbus, Ohio

Kathleen A. Dorgan, FAIA, Dorgan Architecture & Planning, Storrs, Connecticut

Ismar Enriquez, AIA, Practice, Pasadena, California

Alexis Gregory, AIA, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi

Sabrina Herrell, LOGIK Legal LLC, Chicago, Illinois

Iza Khan, Urban Idea Lab, Boston, Massachusetts

Karen Kubey, University of Toronto, New York, New York / Toronto, Ontario

Alix Ogilvie, AIA, LDA Architects, Cleveland, Ohio

Etty Padmodipoetro, AIA, Urban Idea Lab, Boston, Massachusetts

Casius Pealer, Institute for Market Transformation / Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

Emily Roush-Elliott, AIA, Delta Design Build Workshop, Greenwood, Mississippi

Alexander Salazar, AIA, Salazar Architect Inc., Portland, Oregon

Thuy Shutt, AIA, Palm Beach County, Delray Beach, Florida

Christian Solorio, AIA, Architectural Resource Team, Phoenix, Arizona

Adrianne Steichen, AIA, PYATOK architecture + urban design, Oakland, California

Intro/Closing Song: Free Music Library, YouTube, “Blurry Vision”

URL: www.youtube.com/audiolibrary

In this episode, Julie Walker, Campaign Coordinator for Opportunity Starts at Home (OSAH), moderates an insightful panel exploring the powerful partnerships at the heart of the OSAH campaign. Joining her are leaders from key areas including domestic violence prevention, early childhood development, food security, and education: Dfox from the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), Patricia Cole from ZEROTOTHREE, Robert Campbell from Feeding America, and Barbara Duffield from Schoolhouse Connection. Together, they share why their organizations joined the OSAH Roundtable and reflect on six years of collaborative advocacy to address housing insecurity across America. This panel was recorded live at the OSAH Roundtable on October 1, 2024, in Washington, DC.

To learn more about the campaign and Roundtable event, visit: Opportunity Starts at Home Roundtable (https://www.opportunityhome.org/organizations-2/opportunity-roundtable/).

Intro/Closing Song: Free Music Library, YouTube, “Blurry Vision”

URL: www.youtube.com/audiolibrary

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Sabrina Johnson, Senior Housing Policy Advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Dr. Johnson discusses the work of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the history of the environmental justice movement, the intersection of environmental justice and housing justice, the impact of environmental racism on communities of color, the impact of climate change, and ways to take action though advancing policy solutions. Dr. Johnson takes a deep dive into our recently released issue brief entitled, “Housing Policy is Environmental Policy: The Complementary Aims of Fair Housing and Environmental Justice.”

Read the article at: https://www.opportunityhome.org/resources/housing-policy-is-environmental-policy-the-complementary-aims-of-fair-housing-and-environmental-justice/

In this episode, we talk with Victoria Palacio, Deputy Director of State Strategy at the Legal Action Center. Mrs. Palacio discusses the work of the Legal Action Center, its participation in the OSAH campaign’s Roundtable, the latest findings from a survey conducted by the Black Harm Reduction Network, the impact of housing on harm reduction efforts and justice-involved populations, the importance of language in advocacy, and the future projects of the Legal Action Center.

Mrs. Palacio also speaks about the work of the Legal Action Center’s “No Health=No Justice” campaign, a multi-state advocacy and organizing strategy that works to support de-carceration efforts to ensure that people are not criminalized for conditions related to their health. The campaign involves close partnerships with Legal Action Center’s local and state partners, including Alabama Justice Initiative, Black Futurists Group, Illinois Alliance for Reentry & Justice, Just City Memphis/Decarcerate Memphis, Lifeline 2 Success, National Incarceration Association, Northeastern University School of Law/Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, RestoreHER, Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Illinois/Heartland Alliance, Safer Foundation, Southern Center for Human Rights, The Ordinary Peoples Society, Voices for a Second Chance, and Women on the Rise.

Read the article at: https://www.opportunityhome.org/resources/housing-is-a-solution-why-housing-matters-to-harm-reductionists-and-criminal-legal-system-and-health-care-reform-advocates/

Intro/Closing Song: Free Music Library, YouTube, “Clover 3”

URL: www.youtube.com/audiolibrary

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Justin Steil, a professor of Law and Urban Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Steil joins us to discuss the origins of his interdisciplinary approach to housing policy, the historical context of the Fair Housing Act, decades of failed implementation related to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) mandate, the progress made under the AFFH rule established during the Obama administration, and the rule's prospects for revival during the Biden administration.

Intro/Closing Song: Free Music Library, YouTube, “Clover 3”

URL: www.youtube.com/audiolibrary

In this episode we talk with Dr. Lance Freeman, the Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor of City and Regional Planning & Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Freeman joins us to discuss how growing up in New York City spurred his interest in housing policy, the historical context of segregated living patterns in US cities, how the government contributed to those patterns, the emergence of gentrification in urban development, and the specific policies that can better promote affordable housing and integration.

Intro/Closing Song: Free Music Library, YouTube, “Clover 3”

URL: www.youtube.com/audiolibrary

In this episode, we talk to Thea Sebastian, Director of Policy at Civil Rights Corps, and Sam Washington, Policy Associate at Civil Rights Corps. Sebastian and Washington explore the deep connections between affordable housing and safety for individuals and families and discuss why Civil Rights Corps joined the OSAH campaign’s Roundtable and participated in the campaign’s recent sign-on letter supporting the campaign’s housing priorities. They also examine the ways safety, racial equity, and housing are connected and share additional resources for learning about housing and safety.

Additional Resources:

ARPA: https://civilrightscorps.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Community-Safety-and-ARP_Policy-Guide_CivRightsCorps.pdf

IIJA: https://civilrightscorps.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/3_21_CRC_Harnessing-Infrastructure-Grants-for-Community-Safety-Report.pdf

Evidence Guide: https://civilrightscorps.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Getting-Smart-On-Safety.pdf

Intro/Closing Song: Free Music Library, YouTube, “Clover 3”

URL: www.youtube.com/audiolibrary

In this episode we talk with Dr. Eva Rosen, an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy, Dr. Philip Garboden, the HCRC Professor in Affordable Housing Economics, Policy, and Planning at the University of Hawaii Manoa, Dr. Jennifer Cossyleon, a Senior Policy and Advocacy Manager at Community Change Action. Dr. Rosen, Dr. Garboden, and Dr. Cossyleon join us to discuss a recent article published in the American Sociological Review (2021), "Racial Discrimination in Housing: How Landlords use Algorithms and Home Visits to Screen Tenants." The conversation explores their mixed methods approach to research, the different types of landlords in the housing rental market, inequitable screening practices, the importance of understanding intersectional discrimination, and what an equitable approach to matching landlords and tenants might look like.

Intro/Closing Song: Free Music Library, YouTube, “Clover 3”

URL: www.youtube.com/audiolibrary

Leaders from the health, faith, and food security sectors join us for a discussion on advancing racial equity through their participation on the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign. In the past two years, the campaign has formed a Racial Equity Working Group to advance racial equity within the campaign. In this episode, members of the Racial Equity Working Group explore how their organizations are advancing racial equity, the intersectional impact of correcting racial inequities in housing policy, the work of the racial equity working group and major reflections and takeaways. The discussion features Curtis Johnson, Vice President of Housing Strategy, Catholic Charities, Alexandra Ashbrook, Director of Root Causes and Specific Populations, Food Research and Action Center, and Charlotte Bruce, Research and Policy Analyst, Children’s HealthWatch.

Intro/Closing Song: Free Music Library, YouTube, “Clover 3”

URL: www.youtube.com/audiolibrary

In this episode we talk with Dr. Alexander von Hoffman, an American urban planner and historian at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Joint Center for Housing Studies. Dr. von Hoffman joins us to discuss his recent book chapter "The Origins of the Fair Housing Act of 1968” in Furthering Fair Housing: Prospects for Racial Justice in America's Neighborhoods, a volume that explores the past, present and future of fair housing policies in the United States. The conversation explores the historical roots of segregation, the ways that federal policy exacerbated issues of fair housing, the grassroots and legislative history of the Fair Housing Act, and the challenges facing housing integration advocates today.

Intro/Closing Song: Free Music Library, YouTube, “Clover 3”

URL: www.youtube.com/audiolibrary