Alex Freeman Smith News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Native Americans in Montana face a slew of challenges to finding housing off reservations - including discrimination. A tight housing market in the state and across the country presents its own problems for finding an affordable place to live. But Les Left Hand, program director for All Nation Youth Partner for Success in Billings, said his last name was a barrier for him and his wife when they were looking for a home, and added eventually they used her maiden name on applications. ...

About $3-million has been awarded to Virginia groups helping people facing evictions. The Virginia Eviction Reduction Pilot Program is designed to find effective services for people facing housing instability. According to the R-V-A Virginia Eviction Lab's third quarter report, eviction filings increased 86% from the previous quarter, with Charlottesville seeing some of the largest increases. ...

Kentucky is facing a serious housing shortage, and the past few years of deadly floods and tornadoes have worsened the situation. Advocates want lawmakers to commit to a $150 million Affordable Housing Emergency Action Recovery Trust Fund or "AHEART." More than 800 eastern Kentucky residents remain temporarily housed in state parks and travel trailers after last summer's flooding. Maggie Riden - Director of Advocacy for the group FAHE, which provides lending services in the Appalachian region - said the state has reached a housing tipping point. ...

Washingtonians are being squeezed out of the housing market, and some state lawmakers want to see significant changes to cities' zoning laws to ensure more people with low and middle incomes can afford a place to live. Alex Freeman-Smith, phlebotomist at the University of Washington Medical Center-Northwest, and union delegate for Service Employees International Union 1199 NW, said many people struggle to live in the community they serve, because the hospital is located in an area surrounded by single-family homes where prices have skyrocketed. "Some of my coworkers even have to dri...