Joan, such an important read, that is truth telling and astute. An enamored with oneself pompous and pious president feels so pleased to hurt and disembody others’ homeownership dreams.
I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, surrounded by post-WWII and Korean War veterans building lives through GI housing programs. Our family of five lived in an 1100-sq.-ft. duplex.
My path on this issue was set early. My first job out of law school was running a tenant service. I’ll never forget the Friday afternoon a when domestic abuse victim, thrown out of her home and with nowhere to go, walked into our local legal aid office with their kids looking for help.
That reality drove my work for decades. Under Governor Robert Ray, Iowa enacted the Uniform Residential Landlord-Tenant Act to create basic protections—though the legislature has steadily dismantled them over the last decade. Later, when I was elected to the statehouse in the 1980s, I formed the legislature's first committee to study housing and homelessness. In the 1990s, the law firm I led represented homeless youth, and I eventually served on a regional homelessness board.
It is striking that housing is finally commanding widespread political attention today, but only because the crisis has expanded up the economic ladder to price out middle-class professionals. If we want real solutions, we have to remember the folks who have been vulnerable from the very beginning.
Thanks, Joan. I want people to see that those in the public eye can take an important role in almost any issue—and that resolution can take years, with years of progress followed by what we are seeing now the powerful pushback facing the civil rights and LGBT movements today. But we can't just wait for public officials, either. The old Iowa Caucuses taught us exactly how to build momentum from the ground up. We are reviving that very spirit right now.
Joan, such an important read, that is truth telling and astute. An enamored with oneself pompous and pious president feels so pleased to hurt and disembody others’ homeownership dreams.
Wow. Thanks, William. You never know what’s going to resonate with readers.
I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, surrounded by post-WWII and Korean War veterans building lives through GI housing programs. Our family of five lived in an 1100-sq.-ft. duplex.
My path on this issue was set early. My first job out of law school was running a tenant service. I’ll never forget the Friday afternoon a when domestic abuse victim, thrown out of her home and with nowhere to go, walked into our local legal aid office with their kids looking for help.
That reality drove my work for decades. Under Governor Robert Ray, Iowa enacted the Uniform Residential Landlord-Tenant Act to create basic protections—though the legislature has steadily dismantled them over the last decade. Later, when I was elected to the statehouse in the 1980s, I formed the legislature's first committee to study housing and homelessness. In the 1990s, the law firm I led represented homeless youth, and I eventually served on a regional homelessness board.
It is striking that housing is finally commanding widespread political attention today, but only because the crisis has expanded up the economic ladder to price out middle-class professionals. If we want real solutions, we have to remember the folks who have been vulnerable from the very beginning.
Thanks for your work, Ralph. It is sad that until a social problem afflicts the better to do, there is never enough attention or action to the matter.
Great article, Joan.
Thanks so much, Kali!
Great column Joan. It's important to see the view of people directly affected by these toddler temper tantrums.
Thanks, Joan. I want people to see that those in the public eye can take an important role in almost any issue—and that resolution can take years, with years of progress followed by what we are seeing now the powerful pushback facing the civil rights and LGBT movements today. But we can't just wait for public officials, either. The old Iowa Caucuses taught us exactly how to build momentum from the ground up. We are reviving that very spirit right now.
Joan, my friend, this is so spot on!
Thank you very much, Dirk!