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Making Housing Happen: Faith-Based Affordable Housing Models
The growing housing crisis cries out for solutions that work. As many as 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness each year, half of them women and children. One in four renters spends more than half of their income on rent and utilities (more than 30 percent is considered unaffordable). With record foreclosures and 28 percent of homes “underwater,” middle and low-income homeowners are suffering.
Many congregations want to address this daunting problem yet feel powerless and uncertain about what to do. The good news is that churches are effectively addressing the housing crisis from Washington State to New York City—where an alliance of sixty churches has built five thousand homes for low-income homeowners, with virtually no government funding or foreclosures.
This book not only presents solid theological thinking about housing, but also offers workable solutions to the current crisis: true stories by those who have made housing happen. Each story features a different Christian denomination, geographic area, and model: adaptive reuse, cohousing, cooperative housing, mixed-income, mixed-use, inclusionary zoning, second units, community land trusts, sweat equity, and more.
Making Housing Happen is about vision and faith, relationships, and persistence. Its remarkable stories will inspire and challenge you to action. This new edition includes significant new material, especially in light of the ongoing mortgage crisis.
“Shook and her colleagues powerfully blend inspiration and practical reality, weaving together the need for affordable housing, the teachings of the prophetic tradition, and the tangible accomplishments of churches and other faith-based organizations around the country . . . This book should be read by any person of faith ready to put that faith into practice.”
—Alan Mallach, Senior Fellow of the National Housing Institute and Brookings Institution
“Making Housing Happen brings hope and delivers it to the non-expert in a clear, digestible, and comprehensive way. Drawing on the experience of housing providers all over the country, Shook blends inspiration and practicality in just the right proportions.”
—Tim Iglesias, University of San Francisco School of Law
“Making Housing Happen captures the diversity of faithful approaches to addressing the wide range of housing needs in our nation. Jill’s brings these stories together with a policy lens and a theological narrative that is unparalleled. Before reading the book, I struggled with how to address the deep wounds of the housing crisis in a faithful way. After reading the book, I was moved and inspired to work with communities of faith to find solutions to homelessness. Making Housing Happen is an incredible resource and reference tool for me as I mobilize congregations to create and advocate for housing with dignity in my community. It’s stories and examples are full of inspiration, hard-earned wisdom and hope.”
—Allison Johnson, Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation
“Making Housing Happen gives students inspiring examples of how they can participate in making a difference in the lives of people throughout the community. It is real, practical, and personal. Making Housing Happen brings the dry statistics of America’s affordable housing crisis to life with moving stories of struggle and triumph.”
—Dr. Russell James III, University of Georgia
Jill Suzanne Shook works with churches to bring about housing justice in the United States. She has earned graduate degrees from Denver Seminary and Bakke Graduate School. Shook is a frequent workshop presenter and has taught university-level courses in leadership. Her articles have appeared in Sojourners Magazine.
Many congregations want to address this daunting problem yet feel powerless and uncertain about what to do. The good news is that churches are effectively addressing the housing crisis from Washington State to New York City—where an alliance of sixty churches has built five thousand homes for low-income homeowners, with virtually no government funding or foreclosures.
This book not only presents solid theological thinking about housing, but also offers workable solutions to the current crisis: true stories by those who have made housing happen. Each story features a different Christian denomination, geographic area, and model: adaptive reuse, cohousing, cooperative housing, mixed-income, mixed-use, inclusionary zoning, second units, community land trusts, sweat equity, and more.
Making Housing Happen is about vision and faith, relationships, and persistence. Its remarkable stories will inspire and challenge you to action. This new edition includes significant new material, especially in light of the ongoing mortgage crisis.
“Shook and her colleagues powerfully blend inspiration and practical reality, weaving together the need for affordable housing, the teachings of the prophetic tradition, and the tangible accomplishments of churches and other faith-based organizations around the country . . . This book should be read by any person of faith ready to put that faith into practice.”
—Alan Mallach, Senior Fellow of the National Housing Institute and Brookings Institution
“Making Housing Happen brings hope and delivers it to the non-expert in a clear, digestible, and comprehensive way. Drawing on the experience of housing providers all over the country, Shook blends inspiration and practicality in just the right proportions.”
—Tim Iglesias, University of San Francisco School of Law
“Making Housing Happen captures the diversity of faithful approaches to addressing the wide range of housing needs in our nation. Jill’s brings these stories together with a policy lens and a theological narrative that is unparalleled. Before reading the book, I struggled with how to address the deep wounds of the housing crisis in a faithful way. After reading the book, I was moved and inspired to work with communities of faith to find solutions to homelessness. Making Housing Happen is an incredible resource and reference tool for me as I mobilize congregations to create and advocate for housing with dignity in my community. It’s stories and examples are full of inspiration, hard-earned wisdom and hope.”
—Allison Johnson, Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation
“Making Housing Happen gives students inspiring examples of how they can participate in making a difference in the lives of people throughout the community. It is real, practical, and personal. Making Housing Happen brings the dry statistics of America’s affordable housing crisis to life with moving stories of struggle and triumph.”
—Dr. Russell James III, University of Georgia
Jill Suzanne Shook works with churches to bring about housing justice in the United States. She has earned graduate degrees from Denver Seminary and Bakke Graduate School. Shook is a frequent workshop presenter and has taught university-level courses in leadership. Her articles have appeared in Sojourners Magazine.
- GenresReligion
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2006
12 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 29, 2025
An inspiring set of case studies for faith-based housing development. The only drawback is after reading, I was unsure of how to get more involved! I'm starting at https://www.makinghousinghappen.org/
June 1, 2012
This book has some editing problems, but it is a good compendium of different ways that faith communities have built and sustained affordable housing. There is likely a model that will work for your faith community. The last part provides some step-by-step plans to get your group started. There is a great need for more affordable housing, and faith communities may find this to be a fulfilling mission.
May 16, 2021
A fascinating look at different faith-based affordable housing projects in the USA as well as some of theological implications for why communities of faith should be engaged in the provision of affordable housing. At times, a little evangelistic and focuses on the successful aspect of projects, this can be to the detriment of actually helping form others into replicating models discussed.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews