Contact: Dr. Steven A. Moore, Co-director, [ samoore at mail.utexas.edu]
Website: http://soa.utexas.edu/csd/index
Design/Build students working on the second house built through the Alley Flat Initiative, a collaborative program to build more affordable, sustainable homes in Austin.
Mission: “The mission of the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) is to lead the study and practice of sustainable development in Texas, the nation and the world through complementary programs of research, education and community outreach.”
The Big Picture
The Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) is part of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. The CSD develops creative, balanced, and achievable solutions to the physical and social challenges facing the planning, construction, and preservation of buildings, neighborhoods, and regions. The CSD works to better understand the connections between environment, economic prosperity, and social justice through a diversity of projects, interdisciplinary teaching, and ongoing workshops.
The CSD core interests are:
- Ecology – encompassing both ecological planning techniques and green building systems.
- Social Equity – ensuring that all people, including future generations, gain adequate access to vital natural and human resources.
- Economy – understanding economic development, job creation and public finance as a primary form of sustenance for the development of healthy communities.
- Design – including both the contemporary aesthetics and the vernacular cultural practices that stimulate, enhance and empower our surroundings with meaning.
- Policy Making – applying the ethics of sustainability in pragmatic, sensible and balanced ways that can be operationalized by our civic leaders.
[Read more →]
Tagged: Affordable Housing, Education, Permanent Housing, policy, Research, Sustainable Development
Dr. Steven A. Moore
Bartlett Cocke Professor of Architecture and Planning
Director, Graduate Program in Sustainable Design
Co-director, University of Texas Center for Sustainable Development
Contact info: [ samoore at mail.utexas.edu]
HW7 courtesy ACDDC
Brief Biography
Dr. Moore teaches architectural design and courses related to the philosophy, history, and application of environmental technology. He received his undergraduate degree in architecture at Syracuse University and his Ph.D. at Texas A&M University. He is a Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts and a Loeb Fellow of the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He was appointed the Director of the graduate program in Sustainable Design at UT. In 2001, he co-founded the the UT Center for Sustainable Development (UTCSD).
Dr. Moore has had an interest in sustainable development for a long time, even before the term existed. He first began working as a practitioner in Maine, an “environmentally tough” place. In Maine, the environment made it necessary for architects to become energy efficient with their designs. The focus on energy efficiency led to a movement towards sustainable development, which then became a part of the culture. The idea of interlinking energy efficiency, sustainable development, and social/cultural values became ingrained in the work and research of Dr. Moore, who seeks to create environmentally sustainable and socially equitable architecture.
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Tagged: Education, Research, Sustainable Development
The Big Picture
“Housing first”, also known as “rapid re-housing”, is an innovative plan to house the homeless by immediately housing individuals. “Housing first” is based on the premise that stable housing is the first and primary need of a person who is homeless, with all other issues addressed after the person has housing.
The rapid re-housing approach takes a different approach than the system of emergency shelter/transitional housing progressions. In the system of transitional housing, there are steps to gaining permanent housing. For instance, a person who is homeless will move from the streets to a public shelter, then to a transitional housing program, and finally to permanent housing. “Housing first” also contrasts with the model of “housing readiness”, where an individual must address all other issues (such as substance abuse or mental illness) before the individual can enter into housing.
Programs and Services
Many of the “housing first” programs across the nation provide case management services. The housing provided by “housing first” government programs is supported through two Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs:
“Housing first” programs currently operate throughout the US including in such cities as:
Highlights/Successes
Tagged: Chronic Homelessness, Homelessness, Housing First, Mental Illness, Permanent Housing, policy, Research, Substance Abuse
March 23rd, 2010 by Victoria Gutierrez in News · No Comments
Tagged: News
Contact info: Morgan Morrison, Fair Housing Testing Coordinator, (512) 474-7007 x104, <morgan@housing-rights.org>
Website: http://www.housing-rights.org
Mission Statement: “The Austin Tenants’ Council protects tenants’ rights and educates the community on fair housing. Our vision is to make Texas communities open to all without discrimination and free of landlord-tenant disputes.”
The Big Picture
Austin Tenants’ Council started in 1972 and operates under the philosophy that everyone has a right to safe, decent, fair, and affordable housing. The Austin Tenants’ Council fulfills thousands of requests each year for help with housing problems. ATC programs focus on housing discrimination, tenant-landlord education, and housing repair/rehabilitation.
[Read more →]
Tagged: Community Organizations, Education, Fair Housing, Families, policy
Contact: (512) 326-3356, <c_buendel@yahoo.com>
Website: http://housingworksaustin.org
Mission Statement: “HousingWorks advocates a wide range of housing options so that all Austinites can afford a home that is close to jobs, family, schools, recreation, and places of worship.”
The Big Picture
HousingWorks is a nonprofit group that advocates for affordable housing, often in collaboration with other groups in Austin.
Guiding Principles:
- HousingWorks will build an ongoing broad-based coalition with diverse perspectives and interests to promote housing solutions over the long-term.
- HousingWorks will promote a public culture that not only values affordability but also ensures affordable homes are located throughout our community. It will promote neighborhoods with a wide range of housing options for all income levels (i.e. mixed income neighborhoods).
- HousingWorks will advocate policies that preserve neighborhoods, allowing families to stay in their homes and neighborhoods if they choose.
- HousingWorks will gather research and encourage dialogue across varied perspectives. Its public policy positions will be based on informed study.
- Through education, HousingWorks will build the public’s knowledge and experience around community needs, best practices, neighborhood planning strategies, real estate options, and housing finance.
- HousingWorks will advocate policies that create and supply affordable housing in every part of town and where it is most needed. HousingWorks will confront social, economic, and racial practices that are discriminatory and result in a segregated city.
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Tagged: Affordable Housing, Community Organizations, Education, Employment, Families, Homeless Prevention, policy, Research
Contact: Isabelle Headrick, Executive Director, (512) 972-5796, <headrick@blacklandcdc.org>
Pamela Johnson, Case Manager, (512) 972-5795, <pjohnson@blacklandcdc.org>
Website: http://www.main.org/blacklandcdc/who.html
Mission Statement: “Our mission is to foster a safe, inclusive community that strives for social equality by preserving and enhancing the stock of affordable housing and providing supportive programs for Blackland residents.”
The Big Picture
The Blackland Community Development Coporation (BCDC) was founded in 1983 after the efforts of the people of the Blackland neighborhood to preserve affordable housing. BCDC’s main goals are to provide affordable housing to low-income families and transitional housing for the people who are homeless or at-risk for homelessness.
[Read more →]
Tagged: Affordable Housing, Community Organizations, Education, Families, Homeless Prevention, Homelessness, Permanent Housing, Transitional Housing
In September 2004, the Austin City Council approved the “Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in Austin/Travis County” (aka “The Plan”). The Plan was drafted by a committee of the Community Action Network (CAN) Homeless Task Force in conjunction with Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department and JP Results Consulting. The development of the plan began in support of the federal government’s efforts to address chronic homelessness.
According to the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) website, The Plan addresses chronic homelessness in four categories:
- Develop plans to end, rather than manage, chronic homelessness by collecting better data on local chronic homelessness, conducting a pilot study, and conducting outcome evaluations.
- Improve discharge planning for individuals exiting provide adequate substance abuse and mental health treatment.
- Provide adequate affordable housing with supportive services, help homeless individuals access income and employment, provide services using a “system of care” approach, and increase outreach to individuals with chronic substance abuse and mental health problems.
- Build the infrastructure to address the systemic problems that lead to poverty and homelessness. This task can be accomplished through removing barriers that prevent chronically homeless persons from obtaining housing, employment, access to services and public benefits.
To read the full report, click here.
Tagged: Affordable Housing, Chronic Homelessness, Community Organizations, Homeless Prevention, Homelessness, Permanent Housing, Population, Research, Shelters, Statistics, Transitional Housing
Contact: Alan Graham, alan@mlfnow.org
Website: http://www.mlfnow.org/site/PageServer
Mission Statement: “Our mission is to provide food, clothing, and dignity to our brothers and sisters in need. We accomplish this mission through the use of 12 catering trucks that go out onto the city streets of Austin, San Antonio, New Orleans, Providence, and Nashville every night of the week, thanks to the hard work of our almost 10,000 volunteers and a single supply truck.”
The Big Picture
For this blog post, I will be focusing on the Habitat on Wheels program of Mobile Loaves & Fishes. For more information about Mobile Loaves & Fishes in general, please read this previous blog post or go their website here.
Habitat On Wheels (HOW) is part of an ongoing effort by Mobile Loaves & Fishes to effectively confront homelessness in Austin.
The HOW program works by getting people off the street by providing them with recreational vehicle housing and the support they need to improve their circumstances. This solution not only provides participants with housing, but also with a supportive community that is dedicated to helping them effect positive change in their lives.
[Read more →]
Tagged: Affordable Housing, Chronic Homelessness, Community Organizations, Homelessness, Permanent Housing
March 5th, 2010 by Victoria Gutierrez in News · No Comments
“We talk about the homeless, and the problem of homelessness, all the time. But what is home? How do we get there?”
These and other questions will be a central part of the discussion at the first National Symposium on Homelessness.
Date: March 17, 2010
Time: 8:30am to 4:00pm
Where: Ragsdale Center, St. Edward’s University, 3001 South Congress Avenue, Austin, Tx 78704
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Tagged: Community Organizations, Homeless Prevention, Research
