Housinginsecurityandhomelessness are bothcausesandeffectsofpoverty.The Foundation’s100PercentPittsburghorganizing principleacknowledgesthatPittsburgh’srecent surge ineconomicactivityhasnotbenefited all of theregion’spopulations.Thirtypercent of Pittsburgh’sresidentsaresubsistingat 200 percentofthepovertylevelorless,and thesearethepopulationslikelytobeleftbehind orevenharmedbyrecentgrowth.Orthey maysimplystruggletostayafloatinstable markets.Thisconvergenceoffactorsmakes the Foundation’sfocusonhousinginsecurity more relevantthanever. In 2016, the Foundation sponsored a Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures series talk by Matthew Desmond, whose best-selling book, “Evicted,” gave accounts of eight Milwaukeefamiliesstrugglingatthethreshold of homelessness.Theeventgaverenewed visibilityinPittsburghtoissuesthatDowning has workedonovertheyearsandsparked the formationofataskforcetostudyand formalizeprocessesof evictionprevention and homelessness. LastMay,theFoundationheldaspart ofitsExploreSeriesofsymposia“Private Development, Affordable Housing, and NeighborhoodIdentity,”aneventfeaturing severalspeakerswhodiscussedthechallenges ofhomelessnessandevictionprevention,and outlinedongoingpotential solutions. Speakersattheeventnotedhowrising rentsandsalepriceshaveledtodisplacement of lower-income individuals and families, including those who lost their homes when the Penn Plaza apartments in East Liberty were demolished to make way for new development that would include a newWhole FoodsMarket. WholeFoods,respondingto public outcry, has since pulled out of the development. While Pittsburgh’s most acute gentrification issues are largely confined to a few rapidly redeveloping neighborhoods, advocates worry that, without a long-term strategy in place, their communities could becomethenextEast LibertyorLawrenceville,two formerly working- class neighborhoods that lower-income people now struggle to afford.The challenge, says Larry Swanson, executive director of ACTION-Housing, “is to make sure we develop affordable housing in manywaysandremain an inclusivecommunity.” 62 AffordableHousinginPittsburgh 63 RE P ORT TO THE COM M UNI TY THE P I TTSBURGH F OUNDATI ON > $ 7.25 $ 15.90 There are only 34 units of affordable housing available per 100 extremely low–income households, definedasthoseearning30percentofmedianhouseholdincomeorbelow.Thismeansthat66 outofevery100extremelylow-incomefamiliescannotfindaffordablehousing. About 44% of Pittsburgh residents spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Spendingmorethan one-thirdofhousehold incomeonhousing,referred toascostburden,generally meansdifficultypayingfor othernecessities,suchas food,transportation, and health care. Cost burdenismoreprevalent amongthosewhorent,who areyounger,whohavelow incomesorwholive alone. Hourly income needed to afford a moderately priced two-bedroom apartment in Pittsburgh Hourly minimum wage in Pennsylvania HOUSING INSECURITY IN PITTSBURGH