It takes a village to raise a family, and it may take assistance from multiple levels of government to ensure affordable housing is available to those who need it. As NLIHC research has shown over the years, some local communities have in place programs and resources to help make up for where the federal government has fallen short in meeting the affordable rental housing needs of the lowest income people. News from two communities shows what that investment can look like- and why it’s so important.

In Connecticut, a state with one of the highest Housing Wages in the nation, advocates and government officials have high hopes a new state Department of Housing will be able to reverse that state’s trend of housing costs that swiftly outpace what low income residents can afford.

San Francisco has by some measures the highest rental housing costs in the nation. While recent reports of a leveling-off of rents in that city may be a positive sign, it isn’t as if rent there became affordable. The creation of a new city housing trust fund last year should help increase the availability of affordable housing, but it may take more than just local resources to meet San Francisco’s tremendous housing need.