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Tag: housing

Announcing Our New Standing Public Policy and Advocacy Committee

October 21, 2025

BY: Sarah Dobson

We’re pleased to announce the formal launch of our Public Policy and Advocacy Committee, transitioning from a successful one-year pilot into a permanent body that will guide and elevate our network’s federal policy agenda.

This marks a key step in advancing our shared mission. Building on the “Here We Stand” campaign, the committee will amplify our national advocacy efforts and reflect the diversity and expertise of our network, bringing together 20 leaders from across our network working in health, housing, aging, child and family services and disability.

The committee will focus on priority issues like Medicaid, affordable housing, and workforce development, while also exploring how data, AI, and emerging technologies can strengthen service delivery. It will help shape our federal policy positions and support coordinated advocacy across member organizations.

We’ll also leverage members’ connections to anchor strategic meetings with lawmakers, especially those in leadership or on key committees, alongside network members from the same states or districts. These engagements will support both federal and state-level advocacy.

At a time when public trust in institutions is waning, our “Here We Stand” polling offers both encouragement and direction: a majority of Americans trust faith-based providers to deliver high-quality care. This committee will help us lean into that trust by lifting up our collective voice, demonstrating impact, and deepening our commitment to the people and communities we serve.

The committee consists of:

  • Michelle Angalet, Chief Operating Officer, Inspiritus
  • Salah Ansary, Regional Director, Lutheran Community Services Northwest
  • LaSharnda Beckwith, President & CEO, Lutheran Social Services of Southern California
  • Murray Chanow, Sr. VP of Brand & Public Affairs, Upbring
  • Stephanie Chedid, President & CEO, Luther Manor
  • Héctor Colón, President & CEO, Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan
  • Anne Dennis-Choi, President & CEO, AK Child & Family
  • Maria Foschia, CEO, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry
  • Shelly Griffith, CEO, Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center
  • Chris Koenig, President & CEO, Niagara Lutheran Health System, Inc.
  • Adam Marles, President & CEO, Lutheran Senior Services
  • Amy Moore, VP of External Relations , Ascentria
  • Tara Muir, Advocacy & Government Relations Coordinator , Immanuel
  • Margaret Nimmo, Chief Strategy Officer, enCircle
  • Joan Plump, Chief of Staff, Gemma Services
  • Mark Stutrud, President & CEO, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois
  • Erin Sutton, Senior Director of Advocacy, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
  • Tom Syverson, Director of Government and External Affairs, Good Samaritan
  • Linda Timmons, President & CEO, Mosaic

We’re excited to grow this committee into a cornerstone of our advocacy efforts, ensuring our values are reflected in the lives we touch and the communities we serve.

Sarah Dobson is Senior Director of Advocacy and Public Policy at Lutheran Services in America.

Building Affordable Housing—and Hope—One Unit at a Time

October 16, 2025

BY: Susan Newton

How do you create more affordable housing? One unit at a time.

I saw this truth in action on my recent trip to California, where I joined California Lutheran Homes (CLH)—a member of the Lutheran Services in America network—for tours of affordable housing projects and the dedication of a new community space for the Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation (BMCF). Each represents a powerful example of how faith-based organizations are expanding housing services and supports to foster economic stability and community well-being.

Mission in Action: Creating Affordable Housing that Transforms Lives

California Lutheran Homes fulfills its mission daily by providing assistance for those in need of housing and services through partnerships with congregations and community-based organizations, ensuring that all people have the dignity of a safe and stable place to live. Their recent work demonstrates how affordable housing development creates more than a building, embracing people, values, and partnerships that strengthen entire communities.

During my visit, I saw a property transformation that perfectly illustrates this. What once had rotted beams and uneven floors are now high-quality homes for more than 80 low-income residents who might otherwise have faced homelessness. This restoration was made possible only through an early-stage loan from California Lutheran Homes—a great example of the type of flexible, mission-aligned financing we are working to expand through our Housing Solutions Collaborative.

As Deacon Nancy Ackerman wisely said during our visit: “We create affordable housing one unit at a time.” That commitment is at the heart of how our network brings hope and housing stability to vulnerable populations across the country.

Honoring Legacy: The Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation

The visit also included the dedication of the newly renovated Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation home—a craftsman house purchased and restored by CLH to serve foster youth in Los Angeles.

Biddy Mason’s story is one of extraordinary resilience and faith. Born into slavery, she sued for and won her family’s freedom in California, became a respected healer and midwife, and emerged as one of Los Angeles’s first Black real estate owners and philanthropists. She was also a founder of the First AME Church. Her legacy of empowerment lives on through the foundation that bears her name.

With support from CLH, BMCF now has a permanent home from which to continue the mission of providing care, mentorship, and opportunity to foster youth. It was an honor to witness this dedication and to celebrate how California Lutheran Homes helped keep her spirit alive building both homes and hope.

A Network United for Housing and Economic Stability

California Lutheran Homes is a member of the Housing Solutions Collaborative, where members share insights, strategies, and lessons learned to accelerate affordable housing development across our national network. CLH also stepped forward as a founding member of our Housing Leadership Circle, providing catalytic funding that allows LSA to advance this critical work and expand housing services and supports nationwide.

This collaboration exemplifies how the LSA network leverages faith-based partnerships to make complex housing solutions achievable, helping vulnerable communities access the stability they need to thrive.

Join Us in Building Housing and Hope

Expanding affordable housing takes partnership, innovation, and shared commitment across sectors—faith-based organizations, philanthropies, health systems, and mission-driven investors all have a role to play.

If you are an LSA member, we invite you to join our Housing Solutions Collaborative—a learning and action network where members share tools, insights, and strategies to advance affordable housing and strengthen housing services and supports for people in their communities.

If you are a philanthropic partner, purpose-driven business, or impact investor, we invite you to join our Housing Leadership Circle—a national coalition that connects leaders with opportunities to invest in affordable housing, foster economic stability, and build stronger, more resilient communities through collaboration with Lutheran social ministry organizations across the country.

Together, we can ensure that every person has access to safe, affordable housing—and the dignity, health, and opportunity that comes with it.

Join us in this mission to build housing and hope, one unit at a time. Contact me at snewton@lutheranservices.org to learn more.

Susan Newton is Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at Lutheran Services in America.

Implementation of Budget Reconciliation Law Moves Ahead as Senate Advances Housing Bill

August 18, 2025

BY: Sarah Dobson

By Sarah Dobson

As Congress continues to shape key domestic policy priorities, two major developments are advancing that directly impact our network: the implementation of the budget reconciliation law and renewed bipartisan momentum on federal housing legislation. Each presents challenges and opportunities for engagement. Below, we provide updates on what’s unfolding, how your input is essential, and where we’re focusing our advocacy efforts in the weeks ahead.

Budget Reconciliation: Implementation Timeline and Feedback on Impacts

Following the enactment of the sweeping budget reconciliation law on July 4, our policy and advocacy focus has turned to the effects of its implementation, with much of the impact depending on which state is being discussed. For example, the Kaiser Family Foundation has prepared a state-by-state analysis of the impact of Medicaid spending reductions. Further, many of the law’s provisions do not take immediate effect, instead rolling out over the course of the next five years. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has prepared a helpful interactive timeline showing the various effective dates. Click on the snapshot below to view the full timeline.

In addition, in order to most effectively communicate the impact on our network of healthcare related changes in the law, we are asking for your feedback on a brief series of related questions.  We realize not all questions will be relevant to everyone in our network—feel free to respond to only those questions that relate to your organization. Sample questions include: “What changes included in the law do you consider to be the highest priority for your organization to address?” and “Have you completed any analysis about how the law will impact your community?”

SHARE HOW BUDGET RECONCILIATION WILL IMPACT YOU

Thank you for your ongoing engagement with us in raising our unified faith-based voice with lawmakers and administration stakeholders. We will continue tracking both implementation of the current law and further legislative efforts carefully and will update you as needed.

Bipartisan Senate Housing Bill Moves Forward

On July 29, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a unanimous vote to pass the bipartisan “Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act” (S. 2651) out of committee. This is the first bipartisan housing bill markup in over a decade, following introduction of the legislation by committee chair Tim Scott (R-SC) and ranking member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA.) The ROAD to Housing Act includes 40 provisions that cover financial literacy, housing supply, manufactured housing, homeownership, program reform, veterans’ housing, and oversight and coordination of housing program and agencies.

Related to specific housing policy priorities of our network, the bill includes:

  • the provisions of the Rural Housing Service Reform Act, bipartisan legislation that would improve federal rural housing programs, cut red tape, and strengthen the supply of affordable housing by improving and strengthening several Department of Agriculture rural housing programs
  • reauthorization and improvement of the Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME); creation of a competitive pot of highly flexible funding for communities that can be used to support affordable or mixed-income housing
  • a requirement for interagency coordination between the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USDA, and the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purposes of sharing data, streamlining processes, and increasing collaboration

Senators from both parties acknowledged the potential impact of recent substantial cuts at HUD on the future success of the bill but affirmed their support for moving forward. We anticipate that the House will hold a committee markup on the legislation this fall, and we will be tracking its progress and updating accordingly as we advocate for inclusion of additional needed provisions.

For more information, please contact Sarah Dobson, senior director of public policy and advocacy.

Housing Update: HUD and LIHTC

March 12, 2025

BY: Sue Polis

HUD Staffing

Our partners at the National Low Income Housing Coalition are circulating a sign-on letter to address the planned staff changes at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Trump Administration is expected to terminate at least half of all HUD employees, making it significantly more difficult for states and communities to access the federal housing, community development, and homelessness investments they need to address their most pressing challenges. Learn more.

ICYMI: The National Homelessness Law Center recently hosted a web forum on Trump, Homelessness and the Road Ahead. Access the recording and transcript.

LIHTC

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA) is bipartisan legislation introduced in the House and Senate to expand and strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to encourage private investment in the development and preservation of affordable housing. The Action Campaign is seeking help to build broader support and co-sponsorship for this bill. You can learn more here.

Sue Polis is Vice President of Public Relations and Government Affairs at Lutheran Services in America.

Leadership of Key Congressional Committees Finalized

February 10, 2025

BY: Sarah Dobson

With Republicans in the majority in both chambers of Congress, leadership changes on key committees that affect healthcare, workforce, and housing policy are now finalized. Lutheran Services in America will engage these leaders in partnership with members to strengthen relationships and advance advocacy priorities.

HOUSING: Across our network, we are committed to addressing housing insecurity as an economic and health crisis. Our work in Congress on this issue will focus on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, now chaired by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) serving as the lead Democrat, and the House Financial Services Committee, led by Rep. French Hill (R-AR) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).

HEALTH & WORKFORCE: Turning to healthcare and workforce issues, multiple committees have jurisdiction over various areas of the law. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will now be led by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) serving as the lead minority member.  At the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees health programs under the Social Security Act, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) has become chair, and Sen. Ron Wyden will lead Democrats on the panel.

In the House, the Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee has broad jurisdiction over healthcare and the regulations and laws that govern the sector, while the Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over revenue-related aspects of the Social Security system, Medicare, and social services programs, including foster care and adoption programs—and like Senate Finance, also has a key role in shaping tax policy, including an expected 2025 tax bill. Finally, the House Education and Workforce Committee has jurisdiction over education, workforce development, and workforce policy.

Here is where things stand with key House committees:

  • House Energy & Commerce: Brett Guthrie (R-KY) was elected as chair while Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) will serve as ranking minority member for Democrats.
  • House Ways & Means: Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) will hold the top spot at Ways & Means (W&M). Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) will remain in his role as the committee’s top Democrat.
  • House Education and Workforce Committee: Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) will be the new Republican chair, with Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) leading the Democrats.

Contact Sarah Dobson for more information.

Sarah Dobson is Senior Director of Advocacy and Public Policy at Lutheran Services in America.

Housing Issues to See New Leadership in Congress, Administration

December 19, 2024

BY: Sarah Dobson

Across the Lutheran Services in America network, we are committed to addressing housing insecurity as an economic and health crisis, advocating for affordable housing not only as shelter but also to ensure that members of the community are healthy and connected to the supportive services—food, social connection, transportation and mental health care—that are necessary to thrive. Therefore, we are carefully tracking announcements on who will be moving into leadership roles in Congress and the new administration on these issues.

President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate former Texas state Rep. Scott Turner to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Turner was twice elected to the Texas House of Representatives, serving from 2013 to 2017. In 2019, during his first term, Trump appointed Turner to lead a council tasked with turning around distressed communities, including directing private investment money toward “Opportunity Zones.” Turner now chairs the Center for Education Opportunity at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former staffers from Trump’s first presidency.

In Congress, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) has signaled his desire to chair the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which holds jurisdiction over key housing policy. Former ranking member Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) lost his bid for re-election, and as such, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is expected to take his place as top Democrat on the panel. Sen. Brown was the champion of S. 3910, the “Yes in God’s Backyard” (YIGBY) Act. The legislation seeks to break down regulatory and zoning barriers for churches and other faith-based institutions to use existing land and property to develop housing. Having endorsed the bill, we will be working to help identify a new lead senator to move this effort forward.

In the House of Representatives, the Financial Services Committee has jurisdiction on housing-related issues. The new ranking chair is Rep. French Hill (R-AR), while Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) will retain her role as the ranking members for Democrats.

Our staff is working across our network to strengthen and develop relationships with these key stakeholders to advance our key policy priorities:

  • Grow our collective capacity to increase the availability of affordable housing within communities.
  • Expand the integration and reach of effective models of supportive services in housing for older adults and people with disabilities.
  • Advocate policies and funding to advance affordable housing, reimbursement for social determinants of health services and ultimately, improve health equity.

If you are interested in engaging in advocacy with the network on housing and services issues, please contact Sarah Dobson.

Sarah Dobson is Senior Director of Advocacy and Public Policy at Lutheran Services in America.

Advocacy in Action: Member CEO Ted Goins Uses Letter to the Editor to Urge Sen. Scott’s Support of YIGBY

October 9, 2024

BY: Sarah Dobson

With the support of Lutheran Services in America, Ted Goins, president and CEO of Lutheran Services Carolinas, recently had a letter to the editor published in The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina. Ted reflected on the shortage of affordable housing in the state and how faith-based nonprofits could be better supported in filling that gap.

Thanking Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) for his longtime support of legislation addressing the housing crisis, Ted urged him to now support the “Yes in God’s Backyard” (YIGBY) bill (S. 3910,) a housing policy priority for our network. The bill aims to help faith-based institutions and churches use land they already own to ease the housing crisis in their communities.

Given Sen. Scott’s position as the senior-most Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, his support will play a key role in whether provisions of the bill are included in any housing legislation passed before the end of this Congress. To learn more or join us in these efforts, please contact me.

Sarah Dobson is Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy at Lutheran Services in America.

Supporting Innovative Approaches to Expand Accessible Housing

August 23, 2024

BY: Sarah Dobson

As part of a broader effort to support innovative approaches to increasing housing availability and affordability, Lutheran Services in America has endorsed the “Yes in God’s Backyard” (YIGBY) bill (S. 3910.)

This legislation was introduced in March by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio,) chair of the Senate Banking Committee (which has jurisdiction over housing issues). The bill aims to help faith-based institutions and churches use land they already own to ease the housing crisis in their communities. The legislation seeks to break down regulatory and zoning barriers for churches and other faith-based institutions to use existing unused land and property to develop housing.

Most recently, we included support for this bill as one of our policy priorities during visits with Congressional offices as part of our May Health & Housing Solutions Summit. As Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is the senior-most Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, he will play a key role in whether the YIGBY provisions are included in any housing legislation passed before the end of current session of Congress. As such, we are now aligning efforts across our network to seek his support.

Contact me to learn more.

Sarah Dobson is Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy at Lutheran Services in America.

Join the Conversation on New HUD Funding

August 23, 2024

BY: Susan Newton

Housing affordability and availability remain critical challenges for Lutheran Services in America members and their communities. Lutheran Services in America understands the urgent need for solutions that truly make a difference. To help address this, we are hosting a conversation on September 5 to explore whether HUD’s new Continuum of Care (CoC) funding is the right opportunity for your organization.

HUD’s recent announcement of an unprecedented $3.5 billion investment in homeless services organizations—its largest-ever single-year commitment—provides a unique chance to secure competitive, streamlined funding for housing and supportive services. This is a pivotal opportunity to strengthen your homelessness response efforts.

Don’t miss this chance to learn more and discuss how your organization can benefit from this funding. Together with Lutheran Services in America members who receive CoC funding and other national partners, we’ll explore how to maximize this resource to better serve our communities.

Contact me for more details. We look forward to your participation in this vital discussion!

Susan Newton is Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at Lutheran Services in America.

Forging Connections at Grantmakers in Health 2024 Conference

June 25, 2024

BY: LSA Staff

As part of our work to strengthen relationships with community-based and national health funders, Susan Newton, senior director of strategic initiatives at Lutheran Services in America, attended the Grantmakers in Health 2024 Conference in Portland, Oregon. She joined timely and relevant discussions aimed at improving public health and equitable healthcare outcomes across the nation.

It was an opportunity to highlight innovative efforts happening across our member network ranging from successful initiatives in fostering whole-person care to robust community engagement approaches and leadership in developing and advancing housing solutions. As an example, as part of a rural health discussion, the work of our Rural Aging Action Network was highlighted, focusing on how members are leveraging social determinants of health assessments to uncover previously undetected needs.

Ensuring the work of our members is included in key conversations as the future of funding is considered a top priority for our organization. We hope to continue to take advantage of these opportunities on an on-going basis. For more information, contact Susan Newton at Snewton@lutheranservices.org.

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