In both rural and urban areas, housing stability is key to thriving family and community life. Throughout Appalachia, housing and land prices are rising in ways that undermine these priorities. In addition, the ability to own and use land has long been threatened by problems with title and ownership issues. Researchers with the AJRC are working with community organizations in the region to explore other questions foundational to securing housing and community stability.
We ask:
How successfully do new programs expanding access to legal counsel for tenants facing eviction ensure increased housing stability?
How have demographic and economic shifts in the region affected the accessibility of affordable housing in our communities?
How are those phenomena different across rural and urban communities in Appalachia?
What supports (formal and informal) exist in our local communities to ensure housing access and what are the gaps in service delivery?
How do problems such as the dilution of ownership through heirs’ property impact the ability of communities and families to access and keep housing?
How do legal structures enhance or undermine housing security in the region?
What best practices exist in the region and how might university resources be leveraged to support and grow those practices?
Current Housing and Community Stability Projects
Legal Representation in Eviction Court: The Effects of Legal Access on Tenant Outcomes & Experiences
Receiving an award from the prestigious Russell Sage Foundation, a transdisciplinary team of researchers and students are analyzing data from Knox County courts and Legal Aid of East Tennessee to determine whether expanded access to legal services improves tenant outcomes across multiple measures, from displacement to monetary judgments. In partnership with Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM), the team will conduct in-court observations and interview tenants, judges, and lawyers to further study the program and its implementation. Few studies have investigated the implementation or impact of such policies on tenant outcomes, and this is the first to focus on a mid-sized, urban county in the South. Read more about this project
Community Partners
Established in 2023, the Knoxville-Knox County Office of Housing Stability (OHS) leads efforts to prevent and respond to housing instability and homelessness. The joint office collaborates with the Knoxville-Knox County Homeless Coalition, housing agencies, homelessness service providers, and people with lived experience of homelessness to set a common vision with shared goals informed by a systems-level, evidence-based approach that is data-driven to keep families in their homes and connect people to housing opportunities and services.
Across 26 counties from Chattanooga to the Tri-Cities, Legal Aid of East Tennessee provides civil legal representation free of charge for those who need it most – for the elderly, for families, and for victims of domestic violence – and work closely with clients to help navigate legal challenges and seek out justice.
Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) is a 50-year-old, member-driven organization dedicated to empowering Tennesseans in their efforts to have a greater voice in determining their own future. SOCM accomplishes this by training local leaders and by developing and sustaining long-term, democratically run, and locally rooted membership organizations in communities throughout Tennessee. Together, SOCM members work towards a Tennessee where all people are treated with dignity, where the environment is preserved and protected, and where corporations and public officials are held accountable to the needs of the people.
Affiliated Faculty
Stephanie Casey Pierce
Assistant Professor, Public Policy & Administration, Department of Political Science
College of Arts and Sciences
Solange Muñoz
Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Geography & Sustainability
College of Arts and Sciences