We’re moving in a new direction

Mandy Kilgore on Community of Hope, Homelessness, and Holistic Support

This week we are joined by Mandy Kilgore from Community of Hope, an organization aiming to address homelessness in Huntsville by creating a master-planned community with mental health services, addiction therapy, and workforce development. Read more and watch the video version of this episode at https://hsvyimby.com/podcast/community-of-hope [https://hsvyimby.com/podcast/community-of-hope] To learn more about Community of Hope, visit https://hsvcommunityofhope.org/ [https://hsvcommunityofhope.org/]

We’re moving in a new direction

In this episode we announced the launch of Huntsville YIMBY and why we’re starting a new non-profit chapter (hint: it’s fundraising). We also talked about what’s next for Housing for Huntsvillians. We’re going in a new direction. Namely, we’re changing our name to Welcome to Huntsville and broadening our focus. Stay tuned!

More than you ever wanted to know about guardianships

For this episode of the pod [https://hsvyimby.com/podcast/] we were joined, once again [https://hsvyimby.com/podcast/zach-anderson-on-section-8-expansion/], by elder law attorney Zach Anderson of Anderson Estate Planning [https://andersonprotection.com/]. The idea that mental illness is the main cause of homelessness is a myth that persists despite copious research [https://homelessnesshousingproblem.com/] debunking it. But there is a relationship between mental illness and homelessness. For example, all else equal, people with severe mental illness are more likely to experience homelessness. Also, homelessness causes and exacerbates existing mental illness. Most importantly for this discussion, simply building enough housing to meet demand would solve homelessness for the vast majority of people. Cash assistance would keep the vast majority of extremely low-income families out of homelessness. But for a very small percentage of the population, severe mental illness and/or addiction prohibits them from being able to stay housed even with cheaper housing and cash assistance. This conversation follows up on our interview with Mike Tanner [https://hsvyimby.com/podcast/mike-tanner-on-five-policies-that-actually-reduce-homelessness/] about conservatorship. We discuss with Zach how the law defines guardianship/conservatorship, who’s eligible,  and the legal mechanisms that are in place, and need to be in place, to protect these individuals from the harms of homelessness. It was an extremely enlightening conversation for me, and I hope you enjoy it as well.

A listener sounds off!

In this episode we read an email from a listener who wants to correct the record on some of what our last guest, Guy Sotomayor, had to say. Learn about zoning, land ownership by developers, infrastructure responsibilities, and mixed-use development in the county. We also discuss what we learned at a recent Alabama Arise training and our first Madison County Legislative Delegation Forum. Finally, we list a few upcoming Huntsville New Liberals events, including happy hours and our first business meeting.

Guy Sotomayor on what exactly the Madison County Commission Chairman does

Guy Sotomayor is a Democrat running for Madison County Commission Chairman. In this episode, he explains what the Madison County Commission does, what the Chairman does, and why you should vote him into office this November.