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In local news
- In August, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the city stopped inspecting rental units, and the risk of electrical fires is highest for low-income Black renters. The paper followed up by hiring a local electrician to inspect randomly selected rental units in Milwaukee’s north side. The study suggested 80% of single and two-family rentals in the area have electrical code violations. After the Journal Sentinel provided inspection reports to landlords, half said they’d fix the issues immediately, while the rest didn’t comment or respond to calls from reporters. (Read more from BigIfTrue.org: How code enforcement systems can miss serious safety violations)
- A Salt Lake Tribune analysis of public data found that emergency room visits for asthma were most common among people of color, the uninsured and areas with low income levels.
- The trial is underway for the three men charged in the shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. Just one of the jury members is Black.
- New York Focus reported that people leaving jails and prisons are having a harder time obtaining IDs like Social Security cards that are essential for finding work and a place to live. (Read more: Last year, we reported that the pandemic created more challenges for people leaving prison, including long waits for driver’s licenses.)
New from BigIfTrue.org
Adults 65 and older are uniquely vulnerable to eviction and the damages it causes. Carly Stern and I wrote about why older adults experience more severe financial, health and psychological consequences from evictions. Some things to know:
- Some communities have seen more older adults experiencing homelessness since the pandemic. When Homeless Alliance’s street outreach team noticed more older adults were living outdoors in Oklahoma City, the nonprofit hired an aging specialist to focus on connecting older clients to housing.
- Because of a low supply of affordable rentals, especially units that have basic accessibility features, evictions can push older adults out of neighborhoods where they’ve lived for decades. A Philadelphia housing attorney for older adults said his clients used to find a place within two to three months, but now it’s taking even longer.
- Some rent control laws, like those in California and Oregon, allow landlords to raise the rent for a unit after a tenant moves out. Older, long-term tenants can have much lower rents than their newer neighbors, which gives landlords financial incentive to evict them, housing attorneys said.
– Mollie Bryant
Founder and editor, BigIfTrue.org
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