COVID-19 Affordable Rental Property Assessment 

Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, Philadelphia was already experiencing a critical shortage of affordable rental housing for people and families with lower incomes. The pandemic has exacerbated ongoing and systemic inequities, particularly in Black communities and other communities of color in Eastern, North and West Philadelphia.

As an intermediary and community development financial institution (CDFI). Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Philadelphia works alongside community-based organizations and residents to implement their visions and enhance collective capacities to and create healthy and sustainable places to live, work, raise children, and conduct business.

The pandemic exposed deeply entrenched inequities in cities across the United States. These inequities are the result of long-standing racial, economic, and social inequalities that existed prior to the pandemic.

In collaboration with seven non-profit affordable housing partners and Drexel University Urban Health Collaborative, LISC convened a working group to create dashboards showing the spatial relationships between COVID-19 vulnerabilities and at-risk publicly assisted affordable rental housing properties in Philadelphia, PA.

Data indicators available city-wide, and consistent with the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (created to understand geographic patterns in disaster preparedness and response) were identified. The indicators selected were informed by listening sessions where affordable housing partners discussed owner needs, and areas for potential strategic investment and advocacy resulting from the pandemic within three core areas: residential services, property management, and building owners’ portfolios.

Thank you to our housing partners: Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha, HACE,Impact Services, Mount Vernon Manor CDC, Mission First Housing Group, People’s Emergency Center,Women’s Community Revitalization Project, and our research partner Drexel University Urban Health Collaborative.

The first set of dashboards shows city-wide at-risk properties and COVID-19 vulnerabilities. The second set of dashboards shows at-risk properties and COVID-19 vulnerabilities in the councilmanic districts of LISC's affordable housing partners.

This project was generously sponsored by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with technical assistance from the Urban Institute.