Joan Pransky was an activist lawyer who fought for and defended both tenants and rent control policies in New Jersey. Michael McKee organized in New York City, founding multiple organizations and helping to defend and strengthen rent regulations at the state level. Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute reads, "The Tenant Movement Has Lost Two Leaders—Michael McKee and Joan Pransky."

Read the piece at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/14/the-tenant-movement-has-lost-two-leaders-michael-mckee-and-joan-pransky/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

This Shelterforce webinar caps off our most recent Under the Lens series, “Innovations in Community Ownership.” Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute speaks with folks who are implementing exciting new strategies for funding community ownership—both public and private—and for setting up the kinds of support ecosystems that will let these models thrive long term. Learn about the power of Los Angeles’s Measure ULA, New York City’s take on a shared services model, cooperation between conservationists and affordable housing development in New York’s Hudson Valley, and more.

Read more from our series at: https://shelterforce.org/series/innovations-in-community-ownership/

Webinars like these are free to attend. To help us support more of this work, consider making a tax-deductible donation to Shelterforce. Now through Dec.31, NewsMatch will match your donation. Learn more here: https://shelterforce.org/shelterforce-newsmatch-campaign-2025/

Tawanna Brown reads her poem, "A Memphis Love Letter." The poem was the artistic culmination of individual conversations with 13 Memphians affiliated with Centers for Transforming Communities, a partner in the Storied Communities, Community Stories project. "I was grateful to serve as a Memphis artist on the project and was honored to experience the stories of community members who hold such love and hope for the beautiful city that is Memphis," says Brown.

Read the poem at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/12/poem-a-memphis-love-letter/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

As more than 5,000 rent-stabilized units connected to the Pinnacle Group prepare to go up for auction in 2026, residents warn would-be buyers not to overlook the years of disrepair that made those units unlivable. Reporting by Roshan Abraham; read by John Ludas.

Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/10/31/rats-faulty-heating-and-mushrooms-on-the-ceiling-inside-the-fight-against-pinnacle/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

A public housing redevelopment plan in Manhattan will add mixed-income housing—but some of the first wave of tenants who would have to leave are refusing to go. Stacy Torres, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California–San Francisco, explains.

Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/10/29/rad-plan-in-chelsea-will-build-in-mixed-income-housing-but-disrupt-low-income-seniors/?preview_id=53036&preview_nonce=cfde63afd7&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=53028

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

To help ease the burden of finding affordable housing, officials in Buena Vista say businesses can allow employees to live on their property—but only temporarily. Reporting by Robert Davis; ready by John Ludas.

Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/11/05/inside-the-colorado-town-where-public-camping-is-considered-workforce-housing/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

A commonly used billing system can allow landlords to quietly shift building utility costs onto tenants. Tenants say it’s time to break open the black box. Reporting by Roshan Abraham. Read by John Ludas.

Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/10/10/la-tenants-strikes-forced-a-major-landlord-to-refund-opaque-utility-fees-their-fight-isnt-over/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

Tierra Colectiva, a community land trust in the Denver neighborhoods of Globeville and Elyria-Swansea, combines community organizing, traditional CLT development, and more unusual roles in a large affordable housing development. Listen to, "Denver Land Trust Fights Displacement Whether It Owns the Land or Not." Reporting by Amanda Abrams; read by Miriam Axel-Lute.

Read the full story at: https://shelterforce.org/2025/10/14/denver-land-trust-fights-displacement-whether-it-owns-the-land-or-not/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

The Naugatuck Valley Project grew out of factory closures and layoffs in the 1980s. But this interfaith and labor coalition also helped to not only found but sustain a group of affordable housing cooperatives in suburban Connecticut. Jill Webb reports.

Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/10/09/this-multi-issue-interfaith-organizing-group-has-supported-six-housing-co-ops-for-decades/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.

A temporary window of flexible funds in the early 2020s allowed many queer- and trans-led organizations to achieve long-held dreams of owning their own buildings and housing their members. Shelterforce's Miriam Axel-Lute reports.

Read the full story at https://shelterforce.org/2025/10/15/a-space-of-our-own-lgbtq-organizations-move-to-ownership/

℗ Music by ComaStudio.