Strategies

Offer programs to help individuals without a high school diploma or its equivalent achieve a high school equivalency credential

Provide eligible families with low and very low incomes with vouchers to help cover the costs of rental housing; also called Section 8

Facilitate mediation between tenants and landlords to resolve conflict and prevent eviction

Require developers to reserve a proportion of housing units for residents with low incomes via mandatory requirements or incentives, such as density bonuses

Support subsidized asset accumulation programs in which deposits by participants with low and moderate incomes are matched by program sponsors; withdrawals must be used for qualified expenses to retain matching funds

Offer incentives such as free or discounted bus, rail, or transit passes, reimbursements, partial payments, or pre-tax payroll deductions to encourage individuals’ use of existing public transit

Offer flexible working arrangements, allowing the duties of a single full-time position to be covered by two part-time employees

Acquire, hold, manage, and develop properties such as vacant lots, abandoned buildings, or foreclosures, and transition them to productive uses, often affordable housing developments

Provide legal representation for tenants with low incomes in eviction proceedings or offer limited legal assistance to prepare tenants to represent themselves in court

Establish locally mandated wages that are higher than state or federal minimum wage levels