The People Trump and DOGE Hurt

Four members of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) filed a lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after HUD, with no warning, terminated Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) grants. More than $30 million in congressionally authorized funding to fair housing groups was suddenly withdrawn. Those funds are used to fight housing discrimination and enforce fair housing laws across the country.

That’s a lot of acronyms in one sentence. And even though we get that when fair housing groups lose $30 million in funding, a lot of people suffer as a result, sometimes we need to see that impact in more personal terms for it to truly sink in.

Zoe Ann Olson is the executive director at the Intermountain Fair Housing Council in Idaho. They’ve been around for 31 years. On February 27, she received three termination notices, advising her that she was losing grants that were essential to the Fair Housing Council’s work; they were canceled by DOGE. They each contained the same language: “HUD is terminating this award because it no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.”

As you read about the work the Intermountain Fair Housing Council (IFHC) does in Idaho, work that Musk, Trump, and DOGE think is a waste of taxpayer dollars, you’re going to be outraged.

The IFHC is a nonprofit organization. Its mission is to ensure open and inclusive housing for anyone in Boise, Idaho, but they end up serving community members in all 44 of Idaho’s counties. The council’s goal is to put an end to housing discrimination, and they carry that out with very specific programs. Among them, informing people about fair housing laws and providing housing information and referrals, counseling, and assistance with mediating, eviction prevention, and filing fair housing complaints. They also provide education and outreach on fair housing laws and best practices to housing providers, community members, government officials, and others.

That means they try to prevent mass evictions. At the time they lost their grant funding, they were working on two events. One, in the Moscow-Lewiston area, involved five mobile home parks that had been taken over by an out-of-state landlord.

Another was in Mountain Home, Idaho, population 15,979 according to the 2020 census.

They accomplish their work with just nine full-time and 10 part-time or seasonal staff, dividing over 225 cases among them. In an average year they address over 100 evictions, but they provide intake services for far more people, numbering into the thousands. Many, if not all, of those people will go unserved in the future because the IFHC is the only fair housing enforcement and education organization in Idaho.

Pictures from the Council’s 2023 to 2024 Annual Report

Among their other work:

• Helped hundreds of survivors of domestic violence and stalking find safe housing for them and their children. (That work not only keeps people safe, it also lowers the number of emergency room visits and health care costs.)

• Helped hundreds of elderly and disabled people find the kind of housing that lets them remain in their homes. (Many people who are disabled and unable to stay in permanent housing end up in nursing homes at a cost of approximately $200 per day paid by Medicaid.)

• Resolved two cases against large housing providers who refused to comply with laws that required them to provide reasonable accomodations to make housing work for disabled veterans. One veteran waited two years, but once their case manager reached out to the IFHC, they were able to quickly resolve the situation

On January 28, 2025, President Trump’s executive order freezing federal grants prevented IFHC from obtaining the funds to pay staff, contractors, and bills for the work that had already been performed as well as ongoing contractual obligations. In other words, it was a death knell if it stood. The February notices confirmed that the new administration was, inexplicably (if you believe government should do good for people), petty enough to strip funding from a group that does nothing but help those in need.

Idaho does not have a single county with sufficient affordable, accessible housing. If Trump has his way, there will be no one to advocate for Idaho’s residents.

Keep in mind that it’s not just this one organization. There are others across the country doing work to make sure Americans have a place to call home, a place to keep their families safe and rest their heads at night. This isn’t about making government more effective. It’s about cruelty. That’s the point. Housing assistance programs could collapse, leaving families without a safety net and putting countless lives and futures at risk. The freeze would have devastating consequences for millions of Americans, regardless of political affiliation. Fair housing is not a partisan issue. It has been supported by both Republicans and Democrats since the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968. None of that seems to matter anymore.

Olson, the IFHC’s executive director, helped me understand their work and the impact of these cuts in Idaho. They are devastating. And not just for the people who receive services—she explained that for many of the people she works with, “it is our life’s commitment to serve community and create transformative justice. Fair housing is the law. It protects everyone and ensures that everyone has access to safe and affordable homes…Now our life’s work is at risk, and we worry about the thriving of our community members now and for future generations.”

Amazing people. I wish them the best of luck with their lawsuit. The people in their community need them.

Olson concluded by thanking me for hearing their story. I wanted all of you to hear it, too.

We’re in this together,

Joyce