Miriam Axel Lute

Albany

CEO and Editor-in-Chief at Shelterforce

Shelterforce editor, parent, small-city lover, folkie-hippie-leftie-professional mish-mash, good natured but generally opinionated. pronouns: she/her

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Articles

Is DOGE Coming After NeighborWorks?

3 weeks ago | shelterforce.org | Miriam Axel-Lute |Miriam Axel Lute

NeighborWorks America (NWA) is a congressionally chartered independent nonprofit organization that supports a network of nearly 250 local organizations in creating and sustaining affordable housing, including through homeownership. At the end of last week, alarm rippled through the community development world as news spread that NeighborWorks had been assigned a team from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
In New Jersey, Pivotal Affordable Housing Decision Turns 50

1 month ago | shelterforce.org | Miriam Axel-Lute |Miriam Axel Lute

Fifty years ago this week, news was being made in New Jersey that would get coverage in Shelterforce’s very first issue—a decision in the case of Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Township of Mount Laurel. That New Jersey Supreme Court ruling, together with a subsequent one, formed what is known as the Mount Laurel Doctrine, which requires that all New Jersey municipalities provide their “fair share” of the affordable housing needed in the state.
What’s in a Name? Investors vs Speculators

Feb 5, 2025 | shelterforce.org | Miriam Axel-Lute |Miriam Axel Lute

We talk quite a lot about investors and speculators in in the housing world these days. People say that “investors” are buying up single-family homes and “speculators” are sitting on empty lots. But the terms are often used interchangeably, or at least imprecisely, with any private for-profit owner other than an individual called an investor, and anyone we really don’t like called a speculator.
Federal Funding Freeze Memo Rescinded-But We're Not Out of the Woods Yet

Jan 29, 2025 | shelterforce.org | Miriam Axel-Lute |Miriam Axel Lute

Housing providers that get federal funding were thrown into chaos and concern this week over a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) declaring a federal funding freeze until programs were shown to comply with a raft of executive orders. Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, Jan. 28, shortly before the order was scheduled to take effect at 5 p.m. ET, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan temporarily blocked the decision, delaying its implementation until Feb. 3.
Federal Funding Freeze Temporarily Blocked-Could Mean Wave of Evictions

Jan 28, 2025 | shelterforce.org | Miriam Axel-Lute |Miriam Axel Lute

Just as President Trump’s order to freeze federal funding was scheduled to take effect on Tuesday, Jan. 28, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan temporarily blocked the decision. The freeze on funds that have already been appropriated has been delayed until Feb. 3. The freeze quickly met with widespread opposition, including lawsuits. Challengers say the move was not only disastrous for American families, but an illegal overreach restricting funds that have already been appropriated.
What Is ‘Affordable Housing’?

Jan 23, 2025 | shelterforce.org | Miriam Axel-Lute |Miriam Axel Lute

Published: January 23, 2025 What does it mean to say housing is “affordable”? Let’s begin at the beginning. At the most basic level, housing is “affordable” if, after you pay for it, you still have enough left over to cover the rest of your basic expenses. Of course this is finicky to measure, because what constitutes “enough for basic expenses” can be a matter of opinion.
How Housing and Community Development Advocates Are Preparing for Trump

Jan 17, 2025 | shelterforce.org | Miriam Axel-Lute |Miriam Axel Lute

As the new presidential administration takes power, leaders at national affordable housing and community development organizations seem torn between treating this as a normal presidential transition and acknowledging that things might be headed in unprecedented directions. Although they all signal readiness to work with the incoming administration on areas of common ground, everyone is also expecting tough times.
A Better Way to Plan School Facilities

Dec 10, 2024 | shelterforce.org | Miriam Axel-Lute |Miriam Axel Lute

This article is part of the Under the Lens series In this Under the Lens series, we'll explore the ways the educational justice and housing justice movements overlap, why it’s challenging for these two spheres to work together, and much more. New stories will publish each week now through mid-December. Keep up with the entire series by signing up for our newsletter. And if you prefer listening to the series, you can here.
The Housing-Education Intersection

Nov 11, 2024 | shelterforce.org | Miriam Axel-Lute |Miriam Axel Lute

Published: November 11, 2024 When Shelterforce’s publisher, Schlonn Hawkins, came to the publication four years ago, we were discussing all the intersections between our primary focus—housing and community development—and related topics, like transportation, racial justice, and environmental justice.
Winning Tenant Protections Isn’t Enough

Jul 18, 2024 | shelterforce.org | Miriam Axel-Lute |Miriam Axel Lute

In 1998, I traveled to Columbus, Georgia, to commit civil disobedience. Along with a group of hundreds I trespassed openly on to the base of Fort Benning (renamed in 2023 to Fort Moore), calling for the closure of the infamous School of the Americas, a training facility that had produced and supported many of the most brutal Latin American dictators and generals.