Housing

Everyone deserves a place to call home. But for tens of thousands of struggling Alabama families, low wages and other challenges have left safe and affordable housing out of reach. Arise has worked for decades to help remove these barriers, playing a vital role in the passage of a state landlord-tenant law in 2006 and the creation of the Alabama Housing Trust Fund in 2012. Through analysis and advocacy, we continue to seek policy solutions to protect renters’ rights and expand the supply of quality, affordable housing in rural, urban and suburban areas across Alabama.

Featured Resources

Handbook

The Alabama Tenants’ Handbook (2024 update)

More than 500,000 Alabama households live in rental housing. For a long time, there was no state law protecting the rights of renters. As of Jan. 1, 2007, it's a different story. We now have the Alabama Landlord-Tenant Law to help make sure every rental house and apartment is a decent place to live. This handbook, [...]
Issue
Housing
Date
June 1, 2024
Author
Alabama Arise
Newsletter

June 2023 newsletter

The June 2023 newsletter features a recap of the 2023 Alabama legislative session as well as coverage from our Legislative Day.

Issues
Voting Rights, Medicaid Expansion, Budgets, Criminal Justice, Health, Housing, Tax Reform
Date
June 28, 2023
Author
Matt Okarmus
Fact Sheet

Alabama shouldn’t make housing insecurity a crime: Vote ‘No’ on HB 24

HB 24, sponsored by Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road, would make it a Class C misdemeanor to loiter on a public roadway or the right-of-way of a public roadway. This effectively would criminalize Alabamians who are experiencing homelessness and asking for help. Here are three reasons why Arise opposes this bill: Alabama should invest in [...]
Issues
Criminal Justice, Housing
Date
May 1, 2023
Author
Alabama Arise
Fact Sheet

Alabama Housing Trust Fund can help thousands find a place to call home

Alabama lacks more than 73,000 homes for households with incomes below the federal poverty line ($26,500 for a family of four). That means many seniors, students, veterans and people with low or fixed incomes in Alabama can’t afford a safe place to call home. And the pandemic only made the housing crisis worse. Between Sept. [...]
Issue
Housing
Date
December 21, 2021
Author
Carol Gundlach
Letters & Testimony

Alabama Arise testimony on distribution of federal rental assistance funds

Arise’s Dev Wakeley testified Wednesday before the Legislative Oversight Committee of the Alabama Housing Finance Authority (AHFA). He discussed Arise’s concerns about the slow distribution of federal rental assistance authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act. He also shared recommendations to speed up disbursement and increase participation. Here’s the full text of Wakeley’s prepared remarks:

Issue
Housing
Date
September 29, 2021
Author
Fact Sheet

Rental assistance resources to prevent evictions in Alabama

[caption id="attachment_711" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Affordable housing advocates rally outside the Alabama State House in Montgomery in 2015.[/caption] Are you facing eviction, or is a renter at your property unable to pay rent? Evictions in Alabama are resuming now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the federal eviction moratorium. If you are facing eviction because [...]
Issues
Housing, Coronavirus
Date
September 2, 2021
Author
Alabama Arise
Letters & Testimony

To strengthen the common good: Six principles for allocating Alabama’s ARPA funding

Introduction Dear Governor Ivey, One of the darkest years in recent memory has put Alabama’s families, communities, health system, businesses – and our leaders at all levels – to the test. Thank you for all your efforts to keep Alabamians safe and secure during this unprecedented emergency. Now that a post-COVID world is dawning, the [...]
Issues
Budgets, Criminal Justice, Health, Housing, Public Transportation, Safety Net, Tax Reform, Economic Opportunity, Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion
Date
July 7, 2021
Author
Alabama Arise
Report

The State of Working Alabama 2021

Introduction When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alabama in March 2020, it didn’t just cause massive human suffering and economic disruption. It also revealed suffering and disruption that have long existed and that policymakers have long neglected – or even perpetuated. COVID-19 has laid bare deep racial inequities in Alabama’s economy and social system that have [...]
Issues
Economic Opportunity, Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion, Budgets, Health, Housing, Safety Net
Date
February 22, 2021
Author
Alabama Arise
Report

The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 1 – Introduction: The high cost of failing to protect the common good

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alabama in March 2020, it didn’t just cause massive human suffering and economic disruption. It also revealed suffering and disruption that have long existed and that policymakers have long neglected – or even perpetuated. COVID-19 has laid bare deep racial and gender inequities in Alabama’s economy and social system that [...]
Issues
Economic Opportunity, Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion, Budgets, Health, Housing, Safety Net
Date
February 22, 2021
Author
Jim Carnes
Report

The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 4 – Praised but underprotected: Front-line workers in the pandemic

Where are we now? Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we’ve grown used to seeing, and applauding, signs in front of hospitals, fire departments, police stations and other emergency service providers saying “Heroes work here.” And we’ve learned to say “thank you” to people serving their communities’ needs at grocery, drug and convenience stores. We’ve learned [...]
Issues
Health, Housing, Safety Net, Economic Opportunity, Coronavirus, Medicaid Expansion
Date
February 22, 2021
Author
Carol Gundlach
All Issue Resources

Issue Expert

Carol Gundlach

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Dev Wakeley

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The Latest on this Issue

Here’s what Alabama Arise heard in 2024!
The Alabama Tenants’ Handbook (2024 update)
Here’s what Alabama Arise heard from you in summer 2023!
June 2023 newsletter
2023 was a momentous session on Alabama Arise policy priorities