Blog
Client success: A Veteran Finds Home
May 23, 2025
Mohammed sheltered in a tent with his dog on the edge of woods behind a movie theater. He could hear cheers at Richmond’s nearby baseball stadium and see a neighborhood, just across a busy road, transforming through rapid apartment construction. Months earlier, he had received a voucher that could enable him to live in one […]
New executive order gives housing discrimination a leg up
May 16, 2025
This week, Next City — a nonprofit news organization amplifying solutions for equitable cities — published an op-ed we wrote about the Trump administration’s latest attacks on civil rights. We’re standing up for our neighbors — fighting to repair generations of harm from discriminatory policies. We won’t let White House bluster get in the way. The […]
Meet Allies for Housing Action
May 2, 2025
Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia is a founding member of Allies for Housing Action, a coalition of renters and 18 member organizations working to build tenant power across Virginia. The AHA coalition has been around for a few years. But recently, we’ve grown—and we’ve made a bigger impact. We’re eager to tell you more […]
Why we must affirmatively further fair housing
May 1, 2025
Today, we sent a letter to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Together with our partners at Legal Aid Justice Center and the Virginia Poverty Law Center, we called on HUD to revoke a newly proposed rule that would significantly undermine equal access to housing. Here’s why. The 1968 Fair Housing Act made […]
Tim Kaine on fair housing
April 29, 2025
On Friday night, we hosted Senator Tim Kaine at the Library of Virginia to talk about fair housing. We’re happy to share highlights here, and on our social channels. We’re posting on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bluesky. Help us share the word! We’ve put together four standout moments from this special event — and we’ve posted the full […]
Rezoning Richmond to prevent displacement
April 25, 2025
This week, RVA Magazine published an op-ed I wrote with Richmond City Council member Ellen Robertson. Together, we put a spotlight on displacement — the loss of many Black residents from this once majority Black city. And we explored what we can all do about it. We write: “We should face a reality too-little discussed. Richmond’s zoning codes […]
“It shouldn’t have been this difficult.”
March 6, 2025
Last month, one of my clients moved to a safe, stable home after years of renting in a neighborhood that couldn’t have been more different. I’m happy for her. But I’m also feeling something familiar: it shouldn’t have been this difficult. Dana reached out to us with a Housing Choice Voucher — a benefit that acts like a […]
HOME of VA’s 2025 legislative priorities
January 3, 2025
As Virginia’s General Assembly prepares for its next session, we’re working to make sure fair housing has a seat at the table. In our daily work to ensure equal access to housing for all, again and again we find a familiar obstacle. Well-funded housing industry lobbyists dominate policymaking, and the results tilt law toward property […]
Can We Learn and Live Together?
October 3, 2024
New report finds enduring segregation shutting out families from opportunity Tonight I’ll join colleagues from across Virginia to discuss a powerful new report HOME of VA helped to create. The study, “Can We Live and Learn Together 2.0,” updates a similar one from 2017. Seven years later, we’re revealing new data on housing and school […]
Evictors without a cause
September 6, 2024
In Richmond, a statewide solution could address the local eviction epidemic. Every week at the John Marshall Courthouse in downtown Richmond, the story is the same: case after case of eviction filings come before a judge, and families’ lives are turned upside down. There are many reasons for this. In Virginia eviction cases, 71% of […]
Speak your mind on HenricoNext
August 1, 2024
Henrico County is working on its next comprehensive plan – and if you’re a Henrico resident, they want your input. (Even if you’re not a Henrico resident, read on to learn why this matters for you, too!) Virginia’s towns, cities, and counties must write comprehensive plans and update them every five years. These plans are […]
More protections, more work to do: new housing laws go into effect
July 1, 2024
Following this year’s General Assembly session, a slew of new bills become law today – including several that HOME of VA helped to pass. Today we’re also celebrating new laws pushed by allies in the fight to make housing fair. Here are a few highlights related to landlord-tenant relations: HB73: Did you know that even […]
