Action Housing and Community Justice Project detail countywide eviction-prevention work and outcomes

Natalie Ryan, director of housing stabilization at Action Housing, and Swain Uber of the Community Justice Project presented to the Housing Opportunity Fund Advisory Board on the Allegheny Housing Stabilization Collaborative, the coordinated eviction-prevention system known as ASK. Ryan said ASK formed in 2024 to coordinate rental assistance, legal help and mediation countywide and that “our actual current payment time is about 4 weeks” from application to payment. She told the board the HSP allocation serves households under 50% area median income and is one of four funding streams used to slot households into the best available assistance.

The presenters summarized intake and demographic trends reported in the HOF survey: the survey closed on 06/15/2026 with 642 responses; 38.5% of respondents identified as renters (a 5% increase), 69.5% reported income at or below 80% AMI (a roughly 16% increase year over year), 18.1% identified as LGBTQ and 56.7% identified as protected classes under fair-housing law. Swain Uber, describing the legal-assistance side, said the collaborative’s legal services and mediation work accompany rental assistance because “rental assistance alone does not prevent eviction.” He told the board that lawyer-of-the-day coverage and mediation have expanded, with roughly 2,000 families receiving legal advice or representation and about 1,300 mediations countywide in the most recent year.

Board members asked for greater breakdowns of the reasons leading to arrears; staff and presenters said some data exist for special circumstances—medical emergencies, job loss, recertification and habitability issues—but that broader, standardized data collection is still being implemented. Ryan and Uber said ASK’s coordinated approach reduces repeat assistance needs and improves outcomes: they reported that 80% of recipients do not return for assistance within four years and that mediation and settlement practices have saved approximately $860,000 annually in forgiven or repaid arrears.

The advisory board asked staff for a deeper data dive on causes of arrears and for the Strategic Data & Impact team to present more granular analysis at a future meeting. The presenters offered to return with expanded metrics and any available breakdowns by event type and population group.