PODCAST · government
A Little Louder
by Texas Housers
A Little Louder is a podcast by Texas Housers. We talk about fair housing, community development and community efforts to work toward just cities and inclusive neighborhoods. Subscribe today!
Episodes
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Episode 82: How high evictions and problem owners operate in tandem
We are back with Part 2 of our deep dive into evictions and ownership in Bexar and Harris Counties. After more than half a year of investigation, our research team of Sidney Beaty and Erin Hahn, have completed and shared their final report on the major issues that ultimately cause displacement....
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Episode 81: How is Texas enabling our state's top evictors?
The research team at Texas Housers has spent the first half of 2026 focused on analyzing the top evictors in Harris and Bexar counties. What they have found over a series of blogs – soon to be compiled into a report – is that through secrecy and a "profit is king" like culture, businesses are not...
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Episode 80: What's happening with Texas' Continuums of Care?
HUD's Continuum of Care program or CoCs are critical support systems for those who are either experiencing or nearing homelessness. These essential lifelines have been in jeopardy in the past few months due to funding reprioritization from the federal government. On this episode of A Little…
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Episode 79: 7 questions for low-income housing that need answers in 2026
As we enter 2026, our state leaders will begin laying the tracks for legislative reforms that they will pursue in the next legislative session in early 2027. That means that it is important for us to take stock of the big picture of low-income housing in Texas right now. Texas Housers' research...
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Episode 78: In depth with our new Executive Director, Quiana Fisher
Texas Housers has a new leader in Quiana Fisher, and we sit down with her to go into detail about why she chose this work, what she identifies as our biggest challenges in fighting for low-income households, and what is inspiring her to see that we have the power right now to achieve housing...
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Episode 77: What Texas' largest cities tell us about evictions and affordability
Texas Housers' top researchers Erin Hahn and Sidney Beaty join A Little Louder to talk about their new interactive projects. The San Antonio Renter Profiles track the costs of renting, who lives where, and challenges that tenants in San Antonio face. The Harris County Eviction Mapping Tool...
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Episode 76: Wrapping Up The 2025 Texas Legislature
We've come to the end of the 89th Session of the Texas Legislature and we're joined by Texas Housers' research director Ben Martin to take a tally on what happened. In this long and winding session, there was much that was discovered, including some new champions for housing! It's time to review...
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Episode 75: Houston's potential catastrophe around disaster recovery dollars
Hurricane Beryl and the May 2024 derecho showed the powerful and long lasting effects that a wide range of weather events can have. The federal government assessed $229 million in unmet need for home repair and personal property loss. Yet the City of Houston released its Action Plan in May, and...
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Episode 74: How aging Texans face issues with affordable housing
On this episode, Kathy Green from AARP Texas joins the show to talk about how affordable and low-income housing issues are an underreported problem for older Texans. We discuss how older Texans factor into many critical programs to aid with housing, food, and eliminating poverty and dispel myths...
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Episode 73: Breaking down HB 32 and SB 38 aka the Eviction Bills
Texas Housers is tracking several housing bills at the 2025 Texas Legislature, some good and some bad. However, one piece of proposed legislation, HB 32 and its companion SB 38, seeks to dramatically expidite and overhaul the eviction process as we know it. To learn more on how these bills would...
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Episode 72: Diving into the massive eviction hub of Houston
Houston is a cross-section of so many factors when it comes to low-income housing. It is the fourth-largest city in the nation, is famously home to relaxed zoning laws, and hosts one of the highest eviction case filinings in the entire nation, outpacing several states. With this in mind, Taylor...
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Episode 71: Back to the Capitol for the 89th Texas Legislature
Our first episode of 2025 is a running start right into the 89th Session of the Texas Legislature and there is much ground to cover. On this episode, research director Ben Martin joins the show to talk about Texas Housers' major focuses for housing this session, what bills are grabbing our...
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Episode 70: Our biggest stories (and some you might have missed) from 2024
In a supersized episode, we leave 2024 with a bang. Michael Depland speaks with the staff of Texas Housers to reflect on this past year, to talk about what we were most proud of this year, and a brief look forward into the new year. Thank you to Sidney Beaty, Erin Hahn, Ben Martin, Suzanne Baker,...
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Episode 69: What data in Dallas tells about the future of affordable housing
Ashley Flores from Child Poverty Action Lab joins the show to talk about the organization's recent 2024 Rental Housing Needs Assessment. With growing populations but without rising wages or homes to match that influx, the data tells a story that highlights an urgent need for affordable housing,...
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Episode 68: Land use deregulation and its limitations on achieving housing affordability
The shortage of affordable housing is one of the largest crises facing low-income households in our state, if not the largest. While our work at Texas Housers has long focused on solving this issue, we are now seeing a renewed interest at our state capitol in addressing this problem from many...
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Episode 67: Replacement Reserves restore aging properties. But where are they actually going?
On this episode of the show, Michael is joined by Heather Way of the University of Texas School of Law’s Housing Policy Clinic to discuss their latest report. Best Practices to Prevent Substandard Conditions in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Properties: An Examination of Replacement Reserves...
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Episode 66: How Food and Housing Insecurity Connect
As we work to serve low-income communities, it's important to recognize that they often are dealing with many issues at once, and they often overlap. Jamie Olson from Feeding Texas joins this episode of A Little Louder to talk about their mission to eradicate hunger across the state, how food and...
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Episode 65: Let's Talk Disaster Recovery LIVE
Live from the NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition convening in Washington D.C., our Southeast Regional Director Julia Orduña speaks with members of the Northeast Action Collective out of Houston – Sade Hogue, Cheryl Henderson, Dana Jones, and Rita Robles – during a special panel. The…
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Episode 64: How to make your city your home via advocacy
On this episode, we're joined by Rich Acosta from My City Is My Home/Mi Ciudad Es Mi Casa as we touch on a wide variety of housing issues in San Antonio, including fighting for renters' rights, battling against source of income discrimination for veterans, pushing back against property tax...
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Episode 63: How we would fix 'A.I.', meaning the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing
Only twice in a decade, Texas reviews its status on fair housing. State officials evaluate how they are affirmatively furthering fair housing, consider the condition of affordable housing across the state, and provide what steps they intend to take to ensure they are proactive in pursuing fair...
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Episode 62: What's wrong at Bexar Creek Apartments?
We are joined by Melody Herrera and Aggie Jaramillo to speak about their work alongside tenants of the Bexar Creek Apartments in San Antonio. Residents have described issues with poor water, pests, rodents, and air conditioning that have dated back years, and now things have finally reached an...
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Episode 61: Unmasking Ownership at Problem Properties
Over the past six months, Texas Housers has spotlighted the stories of uninhabitable conditions and mass evictions at Cabo San Lucas apartments in Houston and the ensuing barriers tenants faced to remain housed. Our work led us to investigate who actually owns Cabo San Lucas, yet no one seems to...
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Episode 60: Tenant's Rights From Nepal To Denton
While most folks in the housing justice community have a strong idea of how tenant's rights and evictions shape our broader world, Andrew Nelson, Associate Professor for Department of Anthropology at University of North Texas offers a unique perspective in how the fight for these essential rights...
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Episode 59: How do we fix what renters are facing in San Antonio?
Annually, Texas Housers' team in San Antonio releases its San Antonio District Renter Profiles to deliver a snapshot of how affordable rental housing is distributed across the city, what are the tenant demographics of each city council district, and newly added for this year, how evictions come...
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Episode 58: How Texas renters live under extreme heat
High summer temperatures in the Lone Star State are a regular occurrence. However, in recent years, extreme heat has grown more dangerous, with 2023 being the second hottest summer on record. With this in mind, Texas is not a state that requires rental units to have air conditioning. And even if…
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Episode 57: Six years past Harvey, recovery troubles remain
Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Coast six years ago this week, back in 2017. And though certain immediate response efforts were swift, the actual recovery has been a long and frustrating process for far too many. Not only are some residents still awaiting funding to make their homes whole again,...
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Episode 56: Mass evictions at Cabo San Lucas
On this episode of A Little Louder, host Michael Depland is joined by Texas Housers' community navigator Taylor Laredo, Litigation Director at Lone Star Legal Aid Dana Karni, and Texas Legal Services Center staff attorney William Ritter to discuss a Houston property that had planned to evict more...
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Episode 55: 2023 Texas Legislature Mega Wrap Up And What Comes Next
Communications Director Michael Depland and Research Director Ben Martin team up for one last trip to the Texas Legislature. On this supersized episode, they break down the victories, losses, and in between from what happened at the Capitol this year, and what we have to look for on the horizon....
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Episode 54: Highway Expansion and Stop TxDOT I-45 in Houston
Since the innovation of major highways in the mid-20th century, there has been a legacy of erasure and erosion of Black and Brown neighborhoods. Nearly 70 years later, communities of color are still fighting those battles in areas like Houston, where the efforts of Stop TxDOT I-45 aim to give…
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Episode 53: Midway Update at the 88th Session
In this halftime report from the 88th Session of the Texas Legislature, or maybe a little later in the game, Texas Housers' research director Ben Martin joins the show to provide updates on bills regarding eviction preemption, funding for renters, and other tenant protections. Also, Ben and…
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Episode 52: From Eviction Courts to the Capitol (Part 2)
A Little Louder is back to talk about the latest in housing from the 88th Session. Texas Housers has been tracking a number of specific bills at the 2023 Texas Legislature that directly impact those who interface with the eviction process. Jessica Vittorio, managing attorney at the Dallas…
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Episode 51: Housers and Allies at the Capitol (Part 1)
This supersized episode of A Little Louder features two special guests to talk about bills affecting low-income households at the 88th session of the Texas Legislature. Eric Samuels, President and CEO of Texas Homeless Network and Tanya Lavelle, Policy Specialist from Disability Rights Texas each...
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Episode 50: What's happening in housing at the 2023 Texas Legislature?
It's a new year and a new session, the 88th to be exact, of the Texas Legislature. Communications Manager Michael Depland sits down with Research Director Ben Martin to break down the housing bills with the biggest potential impacts this session including issues regarding the construction of...
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Buzz Session 7: How did ERA really perform in Texas?
The Department of Treasury launched its Emergency Rental Assistance Program in March of 2021 with Texas receiving $2.4 billion dollars to aid with families and individuals struggling to stay housed during the pandemic. Now nearly 18 months later, Texas Housers has observed the manner in which the...
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Episode 49: Let's meet Texas Tenants For Change
This week, Texas Housers communications manager Michael Depland speaks with two members of Texas Tenants For Change – Myra and Beeper. The two Houser Academy fellows talk about what went into forming a group, their common experiences as tenants despite living hundreds of miles away, and what they...
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Buzz Session 6: Breaking Down The QAP in 2023
As the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) ramps up its process to update the rules and scoring criteria by which proposed Tax Credit developments are evaluated – one of the largest creators of affordable housing in the state of Texas – via the Qualified Allocation Plan…
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Buzz Session 5: Managing Code Violations in San Antonio
In A Little Louder Buzz Session #5, Texas Housers’ community equity analyst in San Antonio Uel Trejo was joined by communications manager Michael Depland to discuss her work in shaping this most recent SAPMC, how residents feel Code Enforcement abuses its power and does not provide residents…
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Episode 48: Five Years Later, Harvey Forgotten Survivors Caucus Speaks
On this episode of A Little Louder, Texas Housers' Southeast Texas Regional Director Julia Orduña joins fellow Houser and Communications Manager Michael Depland to explore more than just a simple look back at Hurricane Harvey, but the work that survivors have put in to seize their own power and...
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Episode 47: Homeowners Association fights against affordable housing
John welcomes Ann Lott from Inclusive Communities Project in Dallas as well as our advocacy director David Wheaton to talk about a troubling trend starting in Denton regarding Homeowners Associations. The local HOA for Providence Village determined last month that housing choice vouchers will no...
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Episode 46: Intro to the Houser Academy
On this episode, John welcomes Texas Housers educator Riley Metcalfe to the show to talk about the Houser Academy, our tenant-focused initiative centered on gathering budding advocates from around the state to consolidate people power. We explore the origins of the Houser Academy, what this…
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Episode 45: Texas GLO and Discrimination
John is joined by Texas Housers' Advocacy Director David Wheaton on this episode to discuss the recent final determination from the Department of Housing and Urban Development that the Texas General Land Office discriminated against Black and Hispanic Texans in their distribution of CDBG-MIT…
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Buzz Session 4: Justices of the Peace are ignoring tenant protections
For this Buzz Session episode, John is joined by Texas Housers' Tori Tavormina and Erin Hahn who both are observing eviction court in Houston and San Antonio respectively. What they are seeing there is that while tenant protections exist for those who are receiving rent relief, they are not...
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Episode 44: Issues with Texas Rent Relief
On this episode, John explores issues we have heard personally, as well as in the media, regarding the Texas Rent Relief program. While it has been stellar in distributing funds quickly to those who need it, how can they improve accuracy and targeting? And how can we ensure that those seeking…
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Episode 43: What could a Tenant Bill of Rights do for San Antonio?
Texas Housers, alongside community members and Texas Organizing Project, have strongly declared together that San Antonio needs a Tenant Bill of Rights. We outlined on our blog what the items in a Tenant Bill of Rights in San Antonio would be, but what does that look like in detail? On this…
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Buzz Session 3: Treasury must clarify plan for recapturing Emergency Rent Assistance funds
In A Little Louder Buzz Session #3, Texas Housers’ Senior Researcher Ben Martin and Research Analyst Erin Hahn discuss the confusion caused by the Treasury Department. They make the case for why it is important to clarify the federal policies on clawing back Emergency Rent Assistance. The US...
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Buzz Session 2: Lessons to learn from COVID
In our latest Buzz Session from A Little Louder, host John Henneberger sits with Texas Housers' Southeast Texas regional director Julia Orduña, communications manager Michael Depland, and research analyst Erin Hahn to talk about what are the takeaways we've learned as advocates and those fighting...
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Episode 42: Expanding The Rights of Tenants In Austin with BASTA
On this episode, John is joined by Shoshana Krieger of BASTA Austin who stops by to talk about the fights for tenants' rights happening in both Austin City Council and alongside fellow organizers on the ground. Krieger spoke with us about demanding more protections for tenants in Austin and the...
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Buzz Session 1: Eviction Surge In Texas
A Little Louder listeners! We have a very special episode today in a new series we call 'Buzz Sessions'. This is our way of quickly reacting to news and topics happening right now. The first 'Buzz Session' we hosted features John Henneberger and Texas Housers senior researcher Ben Martin talking...
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Episode 41: Houston’s Dangerous Apartment Problem Part 1
A Little Louder is launching a new miniseries on substandard housing in Texas and this episode kicks off the special project with Professor Heather K. Way talking about her in-depth report regarding housing in the Sunnyside area of Houston. In this 2017 presentation to residents and community...
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Episode 40: Demolition Deluge in San Antonio
On this episode of A Little Louder, John is joined by Heather Way, co-director of the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law, to talk about the report “Ousted: The City of San Antonio’s Displacement of Residents through Code Enforcement…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A Little Louder is a podcast by Texas Housers. We talk about fair housing, community development and community efforts to work toward just cities and inclusive neighborhoods. Subscribe today!
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A Little Louder currently has 89 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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A Little Louder is a podcast by Texas Housers. We talk about fair housing, community development and community efforts to work toward just cities and inclusive neighborhoods. Subscribe today!
How often does A Little Louder release new episodes?
A Little Louder has 89 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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A Little Louder is created and hosted by Texas Housers.
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