Notes from Los Angeles: Our Spring Task Force Meeting

Members, Partners, and Supporters of the National Housing Crisis Task Force,

Last week, the Task Force convened in Los Angeles for our Spring 2026 Meeting, two days that reminded us why this work matters and how far it has come. This event’s success left us excited for the work ahead and here are some of the highpoints from the time together.

Hearing from Mayors on Next Wave of Housing Solutions

The event kicked off Tuesday at the California Community Foundation, where Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass opened the meeting with a frank account of what her administration is doing to reduce homelessness and expand housing supply in a city that sits at the leading edge of the national crisis. Her remarks set the tone: urgency, candor, and a willingness to try things that haven’t been tried before.

The morning began with a fireside chat with three mayors – Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, and Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, joined by moderator Sarah Dusseault – who traded strategies on the revenue tools, land use reforms, and partnerships they are using to move housing at the local level. It was one of those conversations that reminded us how much practical wisdom already exists in city halls around the country, waiting to be connected. Thanks to these mayors for joining us after Accelerator for America’s spring meeting in Riverside, CA.

Deep-Dive on Sustaining  Housing With  Services 

The afternoon was given over to one of the hardest problems facing housing: how to sustain housing with services for the most vulnerable over the long run. Co-hosted with the CCF and the City of Los Angeles, the workshop put members and practitioners together – joined by the State of California’s Deputy Secretary of Homelessness Dhakshike Wickrema and Terner Center Professor Carolina Reid– and pushed the group to name the policy and capital interventions that could close financial gaps. The conversation was specific, technical, and honest about tradeoffs. We look forward to continuing it with local stakeholders.

Working Sessions and a Site Visit 

Wednesday was dedicated to advancing the Task Force’s work to design, pilot and scale solutions to the country’s housing crisis. Task Force co-chair Susan Thomas kicked off the working session, during which members gathered together to share the latest updates on and refine discrete work across the National Housing Agenda we are writing, our community foundations pro-housing work, approaches to scale modular housing, our work to activate Public Assets for housing, and a new ways to approach philanthropic capital. Each is moving from idea to implementation, and each is now far enough along that members could debate the details and plan for the future.

This convening marked a meaningful expansion of who was in the room. Alongside our members and Mayors, we were joined by Kala Gibson, Executive Vice President of Fifth Third Bank, whose continued partnership with the Task Force and perspective on the bank’s role in addressing the housing crisis were vital. We were also joined by senior housing leads from the cities of Philadelphia, Albuquerque, Boise, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Long Beach, Columbia (SC), and Salt Lake County who brought the perspective from the front lines of the housing crisis. Widening the circle in this way is central to how the Task Force moves from ideas to implementation. The playbooks and pilots we are building only matter if they reach the practitioners and policymakers who can deploy them.

We closed the meeting at the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles’ Oxford Homekey Plus Site, where Task Force members and staff helped prepare 28 units of newly rehabilitated supportive housing for the residents who will soon call them home. It was a grounding reminder that the success of our work will ultimately be measured in keys handed to people who need a home.

Welcoming New Task Force Members

During our convening, we were proud to introduce the three newest members of our Task Force. Thank you to Scott Thorson, Senior Advisor at National Association of Homebuilders, Laurel Blatchford, Director and Senior Partner at Delivery Associates, and Drew Maggelet, Director of Housing at the Call to Action Foundation for joining our group with energy and enthusiasm. You can read more about their impressive work here.

Lastly, we’d like to extend a special thank you to our Los Angeles-based hosts for welcoming us into the community. Special thanks to Task Force Members Lourdes Castro Ramírez (HACLA), Josh Humphries (CCF), and Aaron Thomas (Standard Communities) for showing us the dynamism of Los Angeles!

Looking forward to all that’s ahead.

Colin