Civic Leagues: Affordable Housing

Housing affordability affects people, families and communities across Greater New Haven — but the challenges, experiences and potential solutions can look very different from one person and one community to another.

Building on conversations convened by the Foundation in 2025 — when residents and advocates from across the region identified housing as a significant concern affecting economic mobility — this three-part Civic Leagues series will bring people together to deepen our understanding and explore what we can do about it.

Residents, community leaders, advocates, housing practitioners and others from across Greater New Haven will come together to learn, listen, build relationships and explore what we can do collectively to advance housing affordability. At the center of the series will be conversations among people from different neighborhoods and towns — creating opportunities to hear perspectives and experiences that may be different from our own and to consider solutions informed by the people and communities most affected.

Across three interactive sessions, we will ground our conversations in local data and lived experience, explore the factors shaping housing affordability, and learn about promising strategies and approaches being used locally and elsewhere. Facilitated small-group conversations will give participants the opportunity to share their own experiences, knowledge, questions and concerns, with housing practitioners and other resource people available to add context and help deepen our collective understanding.

Each session will build on the one before it — moving from understanding the challenge, to exploring potential solutions, to identifying opportunities for action. Along the way, participants will consider where they can make a difference individually and collectively, while the Foundation and other regional partners listen, learn and consider how participants’ priorities and perspectives can inform their own work.

You do not need to be a housing expert to participate. Housing touches all of our lives, and addressing affordability requires more than professional expertise. It requires the knowledge, experiences, ideas and involvement of people who live in our communities. This series is an opportunity to bring those perspectives together, learn from one another, and begin identifying ways we can contribute to stronger, more affordable communities across Greater New Haven.

Please register for one or both of the sessions below:
(Third session to be announced at a later date.)
Seating is limited, advance registration is required.

Questions? Please contact Amy Nicefaro.