2025: Empowering the Future through Education, Diversity, and Hope

Humanizing House in Your Own Back Yard

Natalie Taylor, Gonzaga University

Location

Hemmingson Ballroom

Start Date

15-4-2025 12:40 PM

End Date

15-4-2025 1:40 PM

Description

Abraham Maslow pioneered the idea of the “Hierarchy of Needs,” arguing that psychological security requires first addressing basic human needs. One of these basic needs is access to shelter. However, over 580,000 people in America experience homelessness on any given night. Moreover, the United States is experiencing a housing shortage, with an estimated 6.8 million people in extremely low-income families searching for housing, while only one in four are receiving financial assistance (National Low Income Housing Association, 2025). The problems exist in Gonzaga University’s own backyard. In Spokane there was a 106% rise in the city’s homeless population between 2016 and 2024. For those who could afford housing, shifting zoning laws have erected news barriers to joining the housing market. The implementation of the Building Opportunity for Housing Initiative has allowed for greater density of housing, including less restrictions on many single-family units (City of Spokane, 2025). However, with this has come community push-back and infrastructure challenges. This project will examine barriers to accessing housing in the region of Spokane, WA. This project will provide a map demonstrating how Spokane’s low-affordability housing and its zoning laws have changed over time. It will provide a review of the current policies affecting low-income housing in the Spokane area and it will include testimonies from individuals involved in low-income housing organizations (e.g., advocacy organizations like the Washington Tenants Union and the director of Hope House). The project will conclude with a call for support of policies such as rent control, affordable housing projects, and tenant protections.

Comments

Poster Session B

Publication Date

2025

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Apr 15th, 12:40 PM Apr 15th, 1:40 PM

Humanizing House in Your Own Back Yard

Hemmingson Ballroom

Abraham Maslow pioneered the idea of the “Hierarchy of Needs,” arguing that psychological security requires first addressing basic human needs. One of these basic needs is access to shelter. However, over 580,000 people in America experience homelessness on any given night. Moreover, the United States is experiencing a housing shortage, with an estimated 6.8 million people in extremely low-income families searching for housing, while only one in four are receiving financial assistance (National Low Income Housing Association, 2025). The problems exist in Gonzaga University’s own backyard. In Spokane there was a 106% rise in the city’s homeless population between 2016 and 2024. For those who could afford housing, shifting zoning laws have erected news barriers to joining the housing market. The implementation of the Building Opportunity for Housing Initiative has allowed for greater density of housing, including less restrictions on many single-family units (City of Spokane, 2025). However, with this has come community push-back and infrastructure challenges. This project will examine barriers to accessing housing in the region of Spokane, WA. This project will provide a map demonstrating how Spokane’s low-affordability housing and its zoning laws have changed over time. It will provide a review of the current policies affecting low-income housing in the Spokane area and it will include testimonies from individuals involved in low-income housing organizations (e.g., advocacy organizations like the Washington Tenants Union and the director of Hope House). The project will conclude with a call for support of policies such as rent control, affordable housing projects, and tenant protections.