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Bill Educates & Fights Anti-Asian Hate In PA
HARRISBURG – Two PA state senators want to expand education and confront the rise in bias crimes against people of Asian American and Pacific Islander or AAPI descent. Montgomery County Sen. Maria Collett and Philadelphia County Sen. Nikil Saval have introduced Senate...
State Senators Collett And Saval Introduce Legislation For AAPI-Inclusive Curriculum To Combat Anti-Asian Prejudice
Hate is on the rise in Pennsylvania. Frequently inspired by ignorance and encouraged with dog whistles, a resurgence of bigoted rhetoric is being focused on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. State Senators Maria Collett (D-12) and Nikil Saval (D-1) introduced...
Calls for Ethnic Studies and AsAm Studies in NY, PA & CA
The fight for the teaching of Asian American studies is being waged this school year from K-12 through college. In Southern California, Anaheim Union High School District is offering a course about the Korean American experience. It’s believed to be the first of its...
Senators Saval & Collett Introduce AAPI-Inclusive Curriculum Bill To Fight Anti-Asian Hate
Harrisburg, Pa. − September 7, 2023 — To expand education and confront the rise in bias crimes against people of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) descent, State Senators Maria Collett (D-12 Montgomery) and Nikil Saval (D-1...
Grassroots Housing Reparations
In the midst of the racial protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Randal Wyatt started helping Black homeowners in Portland, Oregon fix up their houses to ensure they could stay in their homes and pass on the property to their children. It was, he...
Around Town – Rental Improvement Fund launched in Philly
PHDC announced the Rental Improvement Fund, which offers eligible landlords citywide forgivable and zero percent interest loans to cover the cost of much-needed repairs and maintenance in exchange for rent stability. PHDC recruited landlords who had previously worked...
Pennsylvania’s dangerous landlord-tenant law persists
Back in April, I wrote about the serious problem of landlord-tenant officers in Pennsylvania, who have extraordinary power with very little training. I detailed the March case of 35-year-old Angel Davis, shot in the head and nearly killed by a so-called...
Philly is offering loans for landlords to repair properties and maintain the city’s affordable housing
Philadelphia’s small landlords — those the city relies on to provide affordable housing for its residents — can apply for millions of dollars in state and city funds in a new loan program that aims to fix and preserve their aging rental homes. The city’s established...
PHDC Launches Rental Improvement Fund
PHILADELPHIA — August 23, 2023 — PHDC announces the Rental Improvement Fund (RIF). This program offers eligible landlords citywide forgivable and 0% interest loans to cover the cost of much-needed repairs and maintenance in exchange for rent stability. PHDC recruited...
Philly officials introduce Rental Improvement Fund for small landlords to repair properties
“When I first heard of the program, (my reaction) was disbelief. I’m going to get all these things fixed, at no cost?” Steve Hawkins said across the street from his property in West Philadelphia Wednesday morning. Hawkins, who purchased the home in 1999, was one of...
‘A win-win’: New repairs program seeks to stabilize Philly’s stock of affordable housing
A new citywide program is expected to help hundreds of small landlords in Philadelphia make needed repairs to their properties while keeping the units affordable to tenants amid rising rents. The Rental Improvement Fund offers two types of loans — 10-year forgivable...
Landlord-tenant office releases new eviction guidelines
Training and transparency are key elements of new eviction procedures released Friday by the Landlord and Tenant Office of the Philadelphia Municipal Court. The new guidelines will take effect starting this week, when the moratorium on evictions end. The eviction...
Building a Green, Equitable Economy: A Conversation with Steve Dubb, Rithika Ramamurthy, Johanna Bozuwa, and Daniel Aldana Cohen
Steve Dubb: Could you talk a little bit about the background of the current state of Green New Deal advocacy in the US, and how the Climate and Community Project emerged from this political moment? Johanna Bozuwa: The Green New Deal officially came onto the...
Pa.’s Whole-Home Repairs money is in limbo despite Shapiro’s budget signature
Money for a popular program to fund basic repairs and energy efficiency upgrades in homes across much of Pennsylvania is still not free to flow to counties, despite Gov. Josh Shapiro signing the budget last week. $50 million for the Whole-Home Repairs Program is among...
The Whole-Home Repairs program is remaking the housing landscape
The Thompsons' home repair wish list was growing longer by the year. The couple from Ridgway in Elk County, both of whom are disabled, had needed a new roof, front porch and more remediation for several years. “The deck of the porch was falling through to the point...
Philly’s landlord-tenant officer expected to resume evictions, despite shootings and a lawsuit
Philadelphia’s landlord-tenant officer may soon be back in business after putting a brief moratorium on evictions. Marisa Shuter, the court-appointed attorney who oversees the city’s unusual and controversial system of using private security contractors to perform...
Has the Socialist Moment Already Come and Gone?
Bernie Sanders arrived in Ann Arbor in late winter, his future to be decided in two days. Thousands of students thronged the University of Michigan campus, gripping their blue-and-white signs, one so overcome with emotion she battled back tears as Sanders spoke. Above...
Woman shot in the head during eviction sues Philly’s landlord-tenant officer, others
A woman who was shot in the head during an eviction earlier this year is taking the matter to court. Angel Davis, a former resident of Girard Court Apartments who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was shot by a security contractor hired by the city's...
‘We Failed You’: Victim Of Landlord-Tenant Officer Shooting Files Lawsuit As Legislators Step Up Pressure
After three shootings in four months, the pressure continues to mount on Philadelphia Municipal Court to change how it handles evictions.
Landlord-tenant office faces lawsuit over shooting, reform push
Momentum appears to be building behind an effort to reform Philadelphia’s eviction system, as a woman who was shot in the head during a lockout earlier this year filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the landlord-tenant officer. Several state and local lawmakers stood next...