Thread by @reveal

1/ Reporters with our partners @texastribune, @neenareports and @ewaltersTX, have been digging into how Houston’s affordable housing crisis got worse after Hurricane Harvey.

Here’s what they dug up in this week’s episode ... revealnews.org/episodes/the-s…

2/ For years, studies have ID’d #Houston as one of the most racially segregated cities in the country.

Harvey might have made that worse, damaging 800,000 homes in the city of Houston alone. More than half those homes were rental units.

3/ @neenareports and @ewaltersTX spent a lot of time with Pamela Banks, a real estate agent in Houston who is trying to help low-income renters. She works with many clients that have Section 8 vouchers – part of a government program that helps people afford rent.

4/ The reporters followed one of Pam’s clients, Denise Taylor, for months.

Denise moved to Houston from Chicago last year, hoping use her Section 8 voucher to find a better neighborhood to raise her daughter.

But a lot of things have held her back.

5/ For one thing, Hurricane Harvey hit just weeks after Denise moved to Houston. More from @neenareports on the storm: revealnews.org/episodes/the-t…

6/ And even though she found a decent number of apartments in her price range in good neighborhoods, landlords refused to rent to someone with a Section 8 voucher.

7/ In Cook County, Illinois, where Denise is from, it’s illegal to turn down a renter just because of their Section 8 voucher.

Not so in Texas. In Texas, it’s actually illegal to *punish* a landlord who does this: capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/His…

8/ Real estate leaders told @neenareports and @ewaltersTX that landlords should be allowed to turn down voucher holders. They say the program adds a lot of bureaucracy that can hurt a landlord’s bottom line.

9/ But Houston created a nonprofit to try and help get rid of some of that bureaucracy.

Even then, landlords were so reluctant to take voucher-holders that in more than a year, only about 16 families have been helped by the program.

10/ Denise thinks she’s not being rejected because of her voucher, but because of her race. Ninety percent of voucher holders in Houston are black.

11/ And @neenareports and @ewaltersTX found that the majority of voucher holders here live in the poorest, most racially segregated neighborhoods.

12/ For months, Denise searched for a place in a good neighborhood that would take her voucher. Find out whether she succeeded on this week’s episode of @reveal with our partners @texastribune: revealnews.org/episodes/the-s…

13/ And as always: Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter for more stories like this, delivered straight to your inbox. revealnews.org/newsletter