New ‘Roof Over Our Head’ coalition forms to shape Louisville housing affordability policies through resident engagement

A new housing coalition enters a crowded policy landscape

A new Louisville coalition called Roof Over Our Head has launched with plans to gather resident input on housing conditions and affordability, positioning public engagement and story collection as central tools in shaping policy proposals. Organizers describe the effort as a citywide partnership focused on gaps across the housing system, including homelessness, rising rents, safety and quality concerns, and barriers to homeownership.

The coalition’s rollout comes amid sustained local debate over how to increase the supply of affordable homes, prevent displacement, and better align public spending with need. Louisville Metro Government has already advanced a multi-year housing strategy, My Louisville Home, unveiled in October 2023 with a stated goal of creating and preserving 15,000 affordable housing units. City leaders have also cited a substantially larger shortage for the lowest-income households, pointing to a need on the order of tens of thousands of units affordable at that income range.

What the coalition says it will do

Roof Over Our Head’s initial framework outlines five priorities that emphasize narrative change and coordinated advocacy alongside policy goals. The coalition is planning public listening sessions and educational events throughout 2026, seeking to capture resident experiences in the rental and homeownership markets and incorporate those accounts into a longer-term agenda.

• Reframing housing as core civic infrastructure
• Centering community voices through story collection and public engagement
• Building public support for long-term, citywide solutions
• Coordinating partners working across homelessness, renting, and homeownership
• Driving policy changes intended to expand access, affordability, and fairness

Where it fits among existing initiatives

The coalition is launching as Louisville’s housing ecosystem pursues multiple, overlapping approaches. In September 2025, the mayor announced Home for Good, a collaborative action group aimed at increasing Permanent Supportive Housing and housing 250 people experiencing chronic homelessness by 2027. Separately, ongoing advocacy around local budget priorities has focused on the scale of annual funding for the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the Homeless Initiative Fund, and housing stability services such as eviction legal assistance.

At the policy level, Louisville has also moved toward incorporating anti-displacement analysis into decisions about public subsidies for housing development, a shift intended to better match subsidized rents to local incomes and reduce the risk that publicly supported projects contribute to displacement pressures.

What happens next

Coalition leaders say the next phase will be designed to translate community engagement into specific policy requests. The practical impact will likely be measured by whether Roof Over Our Head can build agreement among stakeholders on funding levels, zoning and land-use changes, tenant protections and eviction-prevention tools, and strategies that expand housing options across income levels and neighborhoods.

Housing policy decisions are increasingly being shaped by both technical assessments of need and the lived experiences of residents navigating the market.

With multiple initiatives already in motion, the coalition’s distinct test will be whether it can add durable public participation and coordinated advocacy to a landscape where the central challenge remains the same: increasing the number of homes that are genuinely affordable to Louisville’s lowest- and moderate-income residents.