Expanding Housing Choice
Our Mission
Mobility Works focuses on promoting self-determination among low-income families, expanding housing choice, and supporting families with Housing Choice Vouchers to move to safe communities with quality housing and high-performing schools.
Why Housing Mobility?
2.3 million low-income households are served by the Federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, receiving financial housing assistance in the form of a rental subsidy.
Only 1 household out of every 4 that qualify for federal rental assistance receives it, leaving more than 22 million households with overly burdensome housing costs.
66% of Black children grow up in areas with 20%+ poverty, compared to only 6% of white children.
60% of HCV families receiving federal rental assistance live in places with source of income protections, which prohibit discrimination against renters and homebuyers based on the source of their income; for example, Social Security, a Housing Choice Voucher, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
The voucher alone is a subsidy; it doesn’t come with information or access. Families need information about what’s available in unfamiliar neighborhoods as well as tools to overcome barriers to using their voucher.
In researching neighborhoods on their own, many families only hear about available rentals through word of mouth. Others face discrimination from landlords during their search. Mobility programs perform vital dual roles: recruiting and supporting landlords in high-opportunity areas to rent to voucher holders, as well as coaching and advocating on behalf of their tenants.
Housing mobility programs in Baltimore, Dallas, and Chicago have helped thousands of families move from neighborhoods that don’t work for them to safer, economically mixed neighborhoods with high-performing schools, where their children have greater academic success.
Mobility Works
Mobility Works is a national nonprofit that works to promote self-determination among low-income families by expanding housing choice and opportunity. We provide training, advocacy, and technical assistance on housing mobility and related issues through a coalition of researchers, practitioners, and policy experts. Mobility Works began in 2016 as a consortium of organizations and individuals, we incorporated in 2021, and launched our Housing Mobility Network in 2022.
How can we assist you?
