On June 12, 2020, Recovery Czars Marvin Odum and Rep. Armando Walle announced the formation of a task force to prevent evictions while bridging gaps in housing stability that have been exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The magnitude of the economic hardship resulting from the pandemic is still unfolding and disproportionately impacts the lower income households in our community,” said Marvin Odum, City of Houston COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Czar. “It is important that we pull together the relevant stakeholders to help identify near-term solutions while laying a foundation to address the longer-term, systemic need to build a resilient housing ecosystem. At the same time, we must also keep expectations realistic, as there are simply not enough financial resources nor a sufficient supply of affordable housing stock available to avoid an immense amount of pain and difficulty for individuals, families, neighborhoods, and the broader community.”
Co-Chairs
- Harris County Justice of the Peace Jeremy Brown
- Civic leader Ric Campo of Camden Property Trust
Members
- John Boriack, Veritas Equity Management
- Mark Thiele, Houston Housing Authority
- Maria Verdeja, Harris County Community Services Department
- Dana Karni, Lone Star Legal Aid, Consumer Housing Unit
- Tom McCasland, Houston Housing and Community Development Department
- Courtney Johnson Rose, Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation
- Zoe Middleton, Texas Housers
- Chrishelle Palay, HOME Coalition
- Claudia Aguirre, Baker Ripley
- Alan Watkins, A Way Home and Wells Fargo
- Celesté Arredondo-Peterson, Texas Organizing Project
- Marcia Johnson, Thurgood Marshall School of Law
- Mary Lawler, Avenue CDC
- Guadalupe Fernandez, Tahirih Justice Center
- Lori Pampilo Harris, Houston Housing Collaborative
- Jay Malone, AFL-CIO
- Jeff Reichman, January Advisors
- Diana Zarzuelo, Greater Houston Community Foundation
- Cynthia N. Colbert, Catholic Charities
- Margaret Oser, United Way
- Ana Rausch, Coalition for the Homeless
- Howard Bookstaff, Houston Apartment Association
- Steven Dow, LISC Houston
The task force will address three pressing needs:
- Prevent evictions
- Mitigate impacts on tenants and landlords
- Stabilize households for the benefit of public health