WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National
Association of Social Workers (NASW) is pleased to announce it is joining the
steering committee of Opportunity Starts at Home, an
unprecedented multi-sector campaign to advance federal policies that expand
affordable housing for low-income people.
Through Opportunity
Starts at Home, a broad array of leading national organizations is
raising awareness about the housing affordability crisis and pushing for solutions.
Research
has increasingly shown that housing is a critical driver of positive outcomes
in many areas of life, including education, health, civil rights, food security
and poverty reduction.
NASW
joins the Steering Committee alongside the National Low Income Housing
Coalition, Catholic Charities USA, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
Children’s Defense Fund, Children’s HealthWatch, Community Catalyst, Food
Research & Action Center, Make Room, the NAACP, National Alliance to End
Homelessness, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Association of
Community Health Centers, National Education Association, National League of
Cities, and UnidosUS.
“NASW is honored to join these esteemed organizations on the
steering committee of Opportunity Starts at Home because this organization’s
mission strongly reflects the values of the social work profession,” said
Angelo McClain, PhD, LICSW, executive director of NASW. “Social workers for
generations have joined forces with others to address this nation’s challenges,
including providing good, affordable housing for all. This issue is
particularly crucial now as housing costs soar and millions of American
families struggle to pay rent and mortgages.”
As a Steering Committee member, NASW will provide on-going
strategic and tactical advice to the campaign, and work to mobilize its own
network of social workers around federal policy actions that will expand
housing affordability.
The ability for social workers to help their
clients overcome life’s challenges is often inextricably linked to whether
people have access to stable affordable homes in neighborhoods where they can
grow, learn, and thrive.
“We are
extremely pleased to have the National Association of Social Workers join the
Steering Committee,” said Mike Koprowski, National Director of the Opportunity
Starts at Home campaign. “Our nation’s lack of affordable housing is a
crisis. When people lack access to homes they can afford, it negatively
impacts their health outcomes, educational attainment, and ability to climb the
income ladder. That’s why influential national organizations from
different fields are joining forces to make this issue a top national
priority.”
To learn more about the campaign, please see www.opportunityhome.org