Low Income Housing Coalition of Alabama (LIHCA): Complete Guide to Mission, Programs, Advocacy Work, Membership Benefits, Alabama Housing Trust Fund, and How to Get Involved in Affordable Housing Solutions

1. What is LIHCA? (Organization Overview)

The Low Income Housing Coalition of Alabama, commonly known as LIHCA, represents a powerful and necessary response to one of Alabama’s most pressing challenges: the severe shortage of affordable housing for families with low incomes. Founded in 2007, LIHCA emerged from the recognition that Alabama lacked a unified voice, clear policy framework, and coordinated statewide effort to address the housing needs of its most vulnerable residents.

LIHCA is not a housing developer, property manager, or direct service provider. Instead, the organization functions as a coalition builder, policy advocate, and educational resource that brings together diverse stakeholders who share a commitment to expanding affordable housing opportunities. Think of LIHCA as the connective tissue linking nonprofits, housing authorities, developers, service providers, faith communities, businesses, government agencies, and most importantly, the residents who experience housing insecurity firsthand.

The Coalition Approach

What makes LIHCA unique is its coalition structure. Rather than working in isolation, LIHCA creates spaces where organizations and individuals from different sectors can collaborate, share knowledge, align strategies, and speak with a unified voice to policymakers. This coalition approach recognizes that the affordable housing crisis is too large and complex for any single organization or sector to solve alone.

The coalition includes members from across Alabama’s 67 counties, representing urban, suburban, and rural communities. This geographic diversity ensures that LIHCA’s work reflects the varied housing challenges across the state, from Birmingham’s urban core to the Black Belt’s rural communities to the growing suburbs of Huntsville and Mobile.

LIHCA’s Core Belief

At the heart of LIHCA’s work is a simple but powerful belief: Every Alabamian deserves a safe and affordable place to call HOME. This isn’t just rhetoric. LIHCA operates from the understanding that stable, affordable housing is foundational to everything else in life—health, education, employment, family stability, and community well-being. When housing is unaffordable or unstable, families face impossible choices between paying rent and buying food, getting medical care, or maintaining transportation to work.

LIHCA’s approach is grounded in data, driven by the voices of those experiencing housing insecurity, and focused on systemic solutions rather than Band-Aid fixes. The organization recognizes that while emergency assistance and individual support services are necessary, lasting change requires policy reforms, dedicated funding streams, and coordinated systems that prevent housing crises before they occur.

2. Understanding Alabama’s Affordable Housing Crisis

To understand why LIHCA exists and why its work matters, it’s essential to grasp the scope and nature of Alabama’s affordable housing crisis. The numbers paint a stark picture, but behind every statistic is a family struggling to find safe, stable housing they can afford.

The 90,000-Unit Gap

According to data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Alabama lacks over 90,000 affordable and available housing units for low-wage-earning families. This figure represents the gap between the number of housing units that families with low incomes can afford and the number actually available in the market. It’s not simply that Alabama doesn’t have enough housing overall—it’s that it doesn’t have enough housing that’s affordable to families earning low wages.

This gap means that tens of thousands of Alabama families face impossible housing situations. Some pay more than half their income for housing, leaving insufficient money for food, medicine, childcare, or transportation. Others double up with relatives in overcrowded conditions. Still others move frequently between substandard units, live in unsafe conditions because they can’t afford anything better, or experience homelessness when they can’t find housing they can afford at all.

Who Is Affected?

The affordable housing crisis touches Alabamians from every walk of life. Working families where parents hold full-time jobs but earn low wages often find themselves housing cost-burdened, spending more than 30% (and often more than 50%) of their income on housing. Seniors living on fixed Social Security incomes struggle to afford both housing and the medical care they need. People with disabilities face both affordability challenges and limited availability of accessible housing. Veterans returning from service may find themselves unable to secure stable housing despite their service. Young adults starting their careers often can’t afford to live independently in the communities where they work. Single parents juggling work and childcare responsibilities face especially acute housing affordability challenges.

Importantly, the affordable housing crisis disproportionately affects communities of color due to historical housing discrimination, wealth gaps, and ongoing systemic inequities. LIHCA recognizes that housing policy and racial justice are inseparable issues.

Why the Crisis Exists

Alabama’s affordable housing shortage results from multiple intersecting factors. The private market generally doesn’t build housing affordable to families with low incomes because the economics don’t work without subsidy. Construction costs, land costs, and financing costs make it difficult to develop housing that’s profitable at rents that low-income families can afford. This market failure means that without public investment and intervention, the affordable housing gap continues to grow.

Compounding the problem, wages for many jobs have not kept pace with housing costs. A full-time worker earning minimum wage cannot afford a modest two-bedroom rental in any Alabama county at the standard of paying no more than 30% of income for housing. Even workers earning above minimum wage but below the median income often find themselves priced out of safe, decent housing.

Additionally, Alabama has historically underinvested in affordable housing compared to many other states. While federal programs like Section 8 vouchers and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits provide some resources, these programs don’t have sufficient funding to meet the need. The absence of a dedicated, funded state housing trust fund has meant Alabama lacks the state-level investment necessary to leverage federal dollars and address housing needs comprehensively.

The Ripple Effects

The affordable housing crisis doesn’t just affect individuals and families—it impacts entire communities and the state’s economy. Children who experience housing instability perform worse in school and have higher rates of health problems. Workers who can’t find affordable housing near their jobs face long commutes, reducing their quality of life and productivity. Communities lose economic vitality when workers can’t afford to live where they work. Healthcare costs increase when people live in substandard housing that triggers or exacerbates health conditions. The cycle of poverty is reinforced when families spend so much on housing that they can’t save, build wealth, or invest in education and advancement.

This is why LIHCA exists—to address not just the symptoms but the root causes of the affordable housing crisis through systemic policy change, dedicated funding, and coordinated action across sectors.

3. Mission, Vision, and Core Values

LIHCA’s work is guided by a clear mission, an aspirational vision for Alabama’s future, and core values that shape how the organization operates and makes decisions.

The Mission

LIHCA’s mission is straightforward and action-oriented: to increase housing opportunities for Alabamians with the greatest financial need. This mission statement is intentionally focused. LIHCA doesn’t try to do everything related to housing—it specifically concentrates on expanding opportunities for those who face the greatest barriers and have the most limited options.

The word “increase” signals that LIHCA is about growth and expansion—creating new housing, expanding existing programs, leveraging additional resources, and opening doors that have been closed. “Housing opportunities” is broader than just building units; it encompasses access to rental assistance, homeownership programs, supportive housing, and pathways to housing stability. “Greatest financial need” centers LIHCA’s work on the families for whom the housing crisis is most acute—those whose incomes are lowest and whose options are most limited.

The Vision

While the mission describes what LIHCA does, the organization’s vision describes the Alabama it’s working to create. LIHCA envisions an Alabama where every resident has access to safe, decent, and affordable housing. Where housing is recognized as a foundation for health, education, employment, and community well-being. Where policies and funding streams support the creation and preservation of affordable housing at the scale needed to meet demand. Where communities across Alabama—urban, suburban, and rural—have the housing resources necessary for residents to thrive. Where people with the lowest incomes have genuine choices about where to live rather than being forced into substandard or unstable housing situations.

This vision acknowledges that achieving housing security for all Alabamians will require sustained effort, significant investment, and systemic change. LIHCA doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but it provides a space for stakeholders to work together toward this shared vision.

Core Values and Operating Principles

Several core values shape how LIHCA operates and approaches its work:

4. What LIHCA Does (Key Activities and Programs)

LIHCA’s work spans multiple strategies and activities, all aimed at increasing affordable housing opportunities in Alabama. Understanding what LIHCA does—and doesn’t do—helps clarify how the organization creates change.

Policy Advocacy and Legislative Work

At the core of LIHCA’s work is policy advocacy—working to change laws, regulations, and funding priorities to better support affordable housing. This includes advocating for the creation and funding of the Alabama Housing Trust Fund, supporting increased federal funding for programs like Section 8 and HOME Investment Partnerships, promoting policies that preserve existing affordable housing, advancing tenant protections and fair housing enforcement, and opposing policies that would reduce affordable housing resources or harm housing security.

LIHCA’s advocacy work involves researching and analyzing policy proposals, educating legislators about housing needs and solutions, mobilizing coalition members and constituents to contact their representatives, testifying at legislative hearings and public meetings, and building relationships with policymakers across party lines. The organization works at both state and federal levels, recognizing that housing policy happens in multiple arenas.

Education and Outreach

LIHCA educates diverse audiences about Alabama’s affordable housing crisis and potential solutions. This educational work targets several groups. For policymakers, LIHCA provides data, research, and policy briefs that make the case for affordable housing investment. For coalition members and housing professionals, LIHCA offers training on topics like housing finance, policy advocacy, program compliance, and emerging best practices. For the general public, LIHCA works to raise awareness about housing challenges facing their neighbors and communities. For the media, LIHCA serves as an expert resource on affordable housing issues in Alabama.

Educational activities include workshops and webinars, conference presentations, fact sheets and policy briefs, media interviews and op-eds, and social media campaigns that amplify housing stories and issues.

Annual Alabama Affordable Housing Conference

One of LIHCA’s signature programs is the annual Alabama Affordable Housing Conference, which brings together hundreds of housing professionals, advocates, residents, and policymakers from across the state. This multi-day conference serves as the premier gathering of Alabama’s affordable housing community.

The conference features educational sessions on affordable housing development, finance, and management, policy updates and advocacy strategy sessions, networking opportunities for organizations working on similar challenges, recognition of housing champions and innovative projects, and sessions specifically designed for tenant leaders and residents. The conference theme changes each year to reflect current priorities—recent themes have focused on topics like “Building Bridges: Affordable Homes Catalyzing Community Change.”

For many housing professionals in Alabama, the annual conference is an essential professional development opportunity and a chance to connect with colleagues doing similar work across the state.

Tenant Leadership Development

Recognizing that the most powerful advocates for housing justice are often those with lived experience of housing insecurity, LIHCA has invested significantly in tenant leadership development. The Alabama Tenant Leaders Cohort provides intensive training in grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, public speaking, media engagement, and coalition building.

Developed in partnership with the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), this training program equips residents with the skills and confidence to advocate for themselves and their communities. Graduates of the program become powerful voices for housing policy change, sharing their stories with policymakers, organizing in their communities, and participating in LIHCA’s advocacy campaigns.

This focus on tenant leadership reflects LIHCA’s belief that people closest to the problem are often closest to the solution, and that meaningful policy change requires centering the voices of those most affected by housing insecurity.

Coalition Coordination and Network Building

LIHCA serves as a hub that connects organizations and individuals working on affordable housing across Alabama. This coordination function helps prevent duplication of effort, facilitates resource sharing, amplifies collective impact, and builds relationships across geographic and sectoral boundaries.

LIHCA maintains regular communication with members through email updates, maintains an online resource library, facilitates working groups on specific issues or regions, and organizes opportunities for members to collaborate on projects or campaigns. This network-building function makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts, enabling collective action that individual organizations couldn’t achieve alone.

If you’re working in housing or related fields in Alabama, consider exploring membership opportunities with housing advocacy organizations to amplify your impact through collective action.

5. Alabama Housing Trust Fund Initiative

Perhaps LIHCA’s most significant and sustained advocacy effort has been the campaign to establish and fund the Alabama Housing Trust Fund (AHTF). This initiative represents a core strategy for addressing Alabama’s affordable housing crisis at scale.

What is a Housing Trust Fund?

A housing trust fund is a dedicated revenue source established by legislation that provides ongoing funding for affordable housing activities. Unlike programs that depend on annual appropriations that can fluctuate with political winds, a housing trust fund creates a stable, predictable funding stream specifically dedicated to housing needs that can’t be changed for other purposes.

Housing trust funds exist in many states and have proven to be effective tools for expanding affordable housing. They provide flexible funding that can be used for various housing activities including construction of new affordable rental housing, rehabilitation and preservation of existing affordable units, down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, rental assistance for families at risk of homelessness, supportive housing for people with special needs, and infrastructure improvements in affordable housing developments.

Alabama’s Housing Trust Fund Status

Alabama technically created a Housing Trust Fund through legislation, but for years the fund remained unfunded—essentially a shell with no money flowing into it. LIHCA has led the charge to change this, building a broad coalition in support of actually funding the trust fund with dedicated revenue.

The campaign to #FundtheAHTF has become a rallying cry for affordable housing advocates across Alabama. LIHCA has worked tirelessly to educate legislators about the need, demonstrate community support, identify potential revenue sources, and build the political will necessary to make meaningful funding a reality.

As LIHCA frequently emphasizes, Alabama is closer than ever to funding the statewide Housing Trust Fund, which is essential for improving low-income housing in Alabama. The organization continues to mobilize support through conferences, advocacy days, media campaigns, and direct engagement with lawmakers.

Why the Housing Trust Fund Matters

The Housing Trust Fund matters because it would provide Alabama with a sustainable funding mechanism to address the 90,000-unit affordable housing gap. Federal housing programs alone cannot meet the need—state investment is essential to leverage federal dollars, fill gaps in federal programs, address Alabama-specific housing challenges, and demonstrate state commitment to housing as a priority.

A funded Housing Trust Fund would enable Alabama to attract additional federal and private investment that often requires state matching funds, preserve existing affordable housing that’s at risk of being lost to the market, support innovative housing models and partnerships, and respond to emerging housing needs and opportunities more nimbly than is possible with federal programs alone.

How to Support the Housing Trust Fund

Alabamians who care about affordable housing can support the Housing Trust Fund effort in several ways: join LIHCA as a member to add your voice to the coalition, contact your state legislators to express support for funding the AHTF, participate in advocacy events and lobby days organized by LIHCA, share information about the housing crisis and the need for the trust fund through social media and community networks, and attend LIHCA’s annual conference to learn more and connect with other advocates.

The Housing Trust Fund represents a long-term investment in Alabama’s future. When fully funded, it will provide the resources necessary to make meaningful progress on the affordable housing crisis that affects tens of thousands of Alabama families.

6. Alabama Continuum of Care Coordination

In addition to its affordable housing advocacy, LIHCA plays an important role in coordinating Alabama’s response to homelessness through the Continuum of Care (CoC) system. Understanding this role helps clarify another dimension of LIHCA’s work.

What is a Continuum of Care?

The Continuum of Care is a federally-mandated regional or statewide planning body required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to receive federal homeless assistance funding. The CoC coordinates the delivery of services and housing assistance to people experiencing homelessness, plans for and evaluates community-wide strategies to prevent and end homelessness, and applies for and distributes federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act funding.

Alabama actually has multiple CoCs serving different regions of the state, but LIHCA provides statewide coordination and support functions that help ensure consistency, share best practices, and amplify impact across CoC boundaries.

LIHCA’s CoC-Related Work

LIHCA supports Alabama’s CoC system through several activities. The organization provides technical assistance to local CoCs on compliance, planning, and strategy. LIHCA facilitates communication and coordination between Alabama’s different CoCs. The organization monitors federal policy changes affecting homeless assistance programs, such as the HUD CoC Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that often includes significant policy shifts like caps on certain types of housing assistance.

LIHCA advocates at the federal level for robust funding for homeless assistance programs and policies that support Housing First and rapid re-housing approaches. The organization also helps connect homeless services with the broader affordable housing system, recognizing that preventing and ending homelessness requires both emergency interventions and long-term housing solutions.

Recent CoC Developments

LIHCA closely tracks and responds to federal policy changes affecting CoC funding. For example, when HUD announced changes to the CoC NOFO including caps on permanent housing funding, LIHCA educated Alabama stakeholders about the implications, facilitated discussions about strategic responses, and advocated for policy changes that would give communities more flexibility to address their specific homelessness challenges.

This responsiveness to federal policy shifts demonstrates how LIHCA serves as a bridge between national housing policy and on-the-ground implementation in Alabama communities.

7. Membership Benefits and How to Join

LIHCA’s strength comes from its members—organizations and individuals across Alabama who believe in the mission and contribute their voices, expertise, and resources to the coalition’s work. Membership in LIHCA offers both tangible benefits and the opportunity to be part of a collective effort for housing justice.

Who Can Join?

LIHCA welcomes members from diverse sectors and backgrounds, including nonprofit housing developers and service providers, public housing authorities, local and regional housing coalitions, faith-based organizations, business and labor organizations, health and human service agencies, educational institutions, tenant organizations and individual residents, housing professionals and advocates, and anyone committed to expanding affordable housing in Alabama.

This diversity is intentional—LIHCA believes that solving the affordable housing crisis requires broad coalition building that brings together stakeholders who might not typically work together.

Membership Benefits

LIHCA members receive several valuable benefits that support their work and help them stay informed about housing issues:

Policy Updates and Advocacy Alerts: Members receive regular updates about legislative developments, policy changes, and opportunities to take action on housing issues. These timely alerts help members stay informed and respond quickly when their voices are needed.

Conference Discounts: Members receive reduced registration rates for LIHCA’s annual Alabama Affordable Housing Conference, making this valuable professional development opportunity more accessible.

Networking Opportunities: Membership provides connections to other organizations and individuals working on housing across Alabama, facilitating partnerships, resource sharing, and collective problem-solving.

Training and Technical Assistance: LIHCA provides members with access to webinars, workshops, and resources on topics ranging from housing finance to advocacy strategies to program compliance.

Amplified Voice: By joining the coalition, organizations and individuals add their voice to a unified message that carries more weight with policymakers than any single organization could achieve alone.

Leadership Opportunities: Members can serve on LIHCA’s board, participate in working groups, contribute to policy development, and take leadership roles in advocacy campaigns.

How to Join

Joining LIHCA is straightforward. Interested organizations and individuals can visit LIHCA’s website at lihca.org/membership to learn about membership categories and dues structures. Membership dues are typically structured on a sliding scale based on organizational budget size, ensuring that membership is accessible to organizations of all sizes. Individual membership options are also available for residents, students, and professionals who want to support the work personally.

The membership process typically involves completing an online membership form, selecting the appropriate membership category, paying annual dues (or applying for reduced rates if available), and receiving confirmation and member benefits information. Once you’re a member, you’ll start receiving updates and can immediately begin participating in LIHCA’s activities.

Organizational vs. Individual Membership

LIHCA offers both organizational and individual membership options. Organizational membership is appropriate for nonprofits, housing authorities, businesses, and other entities that want to engage institutionally with LIHCA’s work. These memberships typically provide benefits to multiple staff members from the organization and may include organizational recognition. Individual membership is designed for residents, professionals, students, or anyone who wants to support LIHCA’s mission personally. Individual members receive updates, can attend events, and have opportunities to volunteer and participate in advocacy.

Both types of membership contribute to building the coalition’s power and expanding its impact across Alabama. For those working with other housing organizations, you might also be interested in learning about Alabama Arise’s advocacy work and how different organizations collaborate to strengthen housing support systems.

8. Ways to Get Involved and Support the Work

Beyond formal membership, there are many ways individuals and organizations can support LIHCA’s work and contribute to expanding affordable housing opportunities in Alabama. The organization welcomes participation at various levels of engagement and commitment.

Attend the Annual Conference

LIHCA’s annual Alabama Affordable Housing Conference is open to anyone interested in affordable housing, whether or not they’re formal members. The conference provides an accessible entry point for people who want to learn more about housing issues, connect with others doing housing work, and explore ways to get involved. Registration information is typically available several months before the conference on LIHCA’s website.

The conference brings together hundreds of participants representing diverse perspectives and experiences. It’s an excellent opportunity for networking, professional development, and inspiration. First-time attendees often report that the conference opened their eyes to both the scale of Alabama’s housing challenges and the number of dedicated people working to address them.

Participate in Advocacy Campaigns

When LIHCA launches advocacy campaigns—particularly around the Housing Trust Fund or other legislative priorities—there are many ways to participate even if you’re not a formal member. You can contact your state legislators to express support for affordable housing funding and policies, share LIHCA’s advocacy messages and resources through your social media networks, attend lobby days or advocacy events at the State House in Montgomery, submit letters to the editor or op-eds to local newspapers about housing needs in your community, and participate in virtual advocacy events and webinars.

LIHCA typically provides talking points, template messages, and background information to help people advocate effectively even if they don’t consider themselves policy experts. The organization believes that authentic constituent voices are powerful, and that personal stories about housing challenges and successes can be more persuasive than technical policy arguments alone.

Share Your Story

For residents who have experienced housing insecurity or who have benefited from affordable housing programs, sharing your story is one of the most powerful ways to support LIHCA’s work. Personal narratives help policymakers and the public understand the real-world impact of housing policy. They put faces and names to statistics and make abstract policy debates concrete and human.

LIHCA often seeks residents willing to share their stories in legislative testimony, media interviews, conference presentations, or written materials. The organization provides support and preparation for people sharing their stories publicly, recognizing that it can feel vulnerable to speak about personal challenges. If you’re interested in sharing your story, contact LIHCA to discuss opportunities and support available.

Volunteer Your Expertise

LIHCA welcomes volunteers with specific skills that can support the organization’s work. If you have expertise in areas like research and data analysis, graphic design and communications, event planning and logistics, fundraising and development, legal or policy analysis, or media relations and public speaking, your skills could be valuable to LIHCA.

Contact LIHCA directly to discuss volunteer opportunities that match your skills and interests. While LIHCA is a small organization with limited staff, strategic volunteer support can significantly expand the coalition’s capacity to achieve its mission.

Make a Financial Contribution

As a nonprofit organization, LIHCA relies on membership dues, grants, and donations to fund its work. Financial contributions support the organization’s advocacy efforts, educational programs, conference operations, and coalition coordination activities. Even if you’re not ready to become a formal member, you can make a one-time or recurring donation to support LIHCA’s mission.

Donations to LIHCA are typically tax-deductible as the organization operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Information about giving is available on LIHCA’s website, and the organization can answer questions about directed giving if you have specific interests in supporting particular aspects of the work.

Educate Yourself and Others

Sometimes the most important contribution is simply learning more about affordable housing issues and sharing that knowledge with others. LIHCA’s website contains resources including fact sheets, policy briefs, and research reports that help people understand housing challenges and solutions. By educating yourself and then having conversations with friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors about housing issues, you help shift the narrative and build broader public support for affordable housing.

Many people don’t realize the scale of Alabama’s affordable housing crisis or that it affects working families, not just those who are unemployed. By sharing information and challenging misconceptions, you contribute to creating the political will necessary for policy change.

Connect LIHCA with Your Networks

If you’re involved with other organizations, congregations, civic groups, or professional associations, consider inviting LIHCA to present about affordable housing issues or organizing a group membership or participation in LIHCA’s conference or events. These connections help expand LIHCA’s reach and build the broad-based coalition necessary for significant policy change.

If you’re also interested in other housing resources in Alabama, you might want to explore information about childcare assistance systems and other support services that work in conjunction with housing stability.

9. LIHCA’s Impact and Accomplishments

Since its founding in 2007, LIHCA has achieved significant progress in advancing affordable housing in Alabama, even though the organization’s core mission—closing the 90,000-unit affordable housing gap—remains an ongoing challenge. Understanding LIHCA’s impact requires looking at both tangible policy victories and less visible but equally important changes in how Alabama addresses housing issues.

Policy and Legislative Victories

LIHCA has played a central role in several policy advances for affordable housing in Alabama. The organization led the successful effort to establish the Alabama Housing Trust Fund in state law, creating the legal framework for dedicated state housing investment. While ongoing advocacy is still needed to secure full funding, this legislative foundation was an essential first step.

LIHCA has successfully advocated for increased state appropriations for housing programs, even in years of tight budgets. These incremental increases, while not sufficient to meet the full need, represent real progress and demonstrate growing legislative recognition of housing as a priority. The organization has also defended against legislative proposals that would have reduced affordable housing resources or weakened tenant protections, preventing backsliding even when proactive advances weren’t possible.

At the federal level, LIHCA has been an effective voice advocating for Alabama’s interests in national housing policy debates, ensuring that Alabama’s unique challenges and circumstances are understood by federal policymakers and that the state maximizes its access to federal housing resources.

Coalition Building and Capacity Development

Perhaps LIHCA’s most significant impact has been in building a robust, statewide coalition where none existed before. Prior to LIHCA’s founding, affordable housing advocates in Alabama often worked in isolation, limiting their collective impact. Today, LIHCA has created a network of over 150 organizations and hundreds of individual members who coordinate their efforts, share resources, and speak with a unified voice.

The annual Alabama Affordable Housing Conference has become the premier gathering place for Alabama’s housing community, attracting hundreds of participants each year. This conference provides professional development, facilitates partnerships, and creates space for strategic planning that wouldn’t happen otherwise. Many successful housing projects and initiatives have been born from connections made at LIHCA conferences.

LIHCA’s tenant leadership development program has equipped dozens of residents with organizing and advocacy skills, creating a new generation of housing justice leaders. These trained tenant leaders are now active in their communities, serving on boards, testifying at legislative hearings, and organizing their neighbors—multiplying LIHCA’s impact far beyond what the organization’s small staff could achieve alone.

Shifting the Narrative

LIHCA has contributed to important shifts in how Alabamians talk about and understand affordable housing. The organization has helped move the conversation from viewing affordable housing as charity for the undeserving to recognizing it as essential infrastructure that supports working families. LIHCA has made the connection between housing stability and other priorities like education, health, and economic development more visible and understood. The organization has elevated the voices of residents with lived experience, ensuring that people experiencing housing insecurity are seen as experts and leaders rather than just beneficiaries.

These narrative shifts may be harder to quantify than policy victories, but they’re essential for creating the political and cultural conditions necessary for sustained progress on affordable housing.

Coordination of Homeless Services

Through its work supporting Alabama’s Continuum of Care system, LIHCA has improved coordination of homeless services across the state. This has resulted in more efficient use of limited resources, better data on homelessness trends and program outcomes, increased capacity among service providers through training and technical assistance, and stronger connections between homeless services and the broader affordable housing system.

While homelessness remains a significant challenge in Alabama, the improved coordination facilitated by LIHCA has made the response system more effective and accountable.

Building Political Will

One of LIHCA’s most important but least visible impacts has been building political will for affordable housing investment. Through persistent education of legislators, media engagement, constituent mobilization, and relationship building, LIHCA has shifted affordable housing from a niche issue to one that more policymakers recognize as important.

This growing political will is evident in the increased number of legislators who champion housing issues, the inclusion of housing in economic development and workforce discussions, and the rising recognition that Alabama’s housing shortage is a barrier to attracting and retaining workers and businesses. While this hasn’t yet translated into the level of investment needed to close the affordable housing gap, it represents essential groundwork for future advances.

Ongoing Challenges

LIHCA is transparent about the fact that despite progress, Alabama’s affordable housing crisis remains severe. The 90,000-unit gap persists, and in some areas may have grown due to rising rents and stagnant wages. The Housing Trust Fund remains underfunded relative to the need. Federal housing programs face ongoing threats of budget cuts. Gentrification and displacement threaten to reduce existing affordable housing in some communities.

These ongoing challenges underscore why LIHCA’s work remains essential and why sustained coalition building and advocacy are necessary. The organization views its impact not just in terms of what has been accomplished, but in terms of the foundation being built for future progress.

10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)