Welcome back to The Weekly Wrap, our Friday roundup of stories that explain the problems oppressing people in cities and elevate the solutions that bring us closer to economic, environmental and social justice.

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Bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act Seeks to Tackle Roots of Housing Crisis

With a 24-0 vote, the U.S. Senate this week advanced its first large, bipartisan housing package in over a decade, Smart Cities Dive reports. Sponsored by unlikely allies Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren, the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025 includes proposals to expand and preserve the country’s current housing supply and improve access to affordable housing.

The legislation “directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a new grant and loan program for qualifying homeowners and small landlords to address home repairs and health hazards, develop best practice frameworks for zoning and land-use policies and create a pilot program to incentivize housing development of all kinds in Community Development Block Grant participating jurisdictions, among other actions,” Politico reports.

Los Angeles Wants to Stop Law Enforcement From Hiding Their Identities

Officials and leaders in Los Angeles County want to stop law enforcement officers from hiding their identities while on duty, the Associated Press reports. The county’s Board of Supervisors has voted unanimously to direct the counsel to draft an ordinance that stops officers — including federal agents — from wearing masks to veil their identities.

Through this ordinance, law enforcement would also be required to display identification and agency affiliation when working in public. Exceptions would be made for officers who need to use masks for medical protection or agents conducting undercover operations.

Federal agents have increasingly refused to identify themselves or show their faces when detaining immigrants during raids. Advocates and elected officials have pointed out that the public has a right to know who is detaining people and the agency that they work for.

“People are being pulled out of their cars, beaten, and ripped from their families by men in tactical gear with balaclavas, no badges, and no names,” Supervisor Janice Hahn, a co-author of the motion, told the Associated Press. “That’s not how law enforcement in a democracy should operate.”

Harlem Families Facing Eviction as MTA Moves To Expand Train Line

Some families in Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem are facing eviction as the MTA moves to continue expanding the Q train line in the borough, Gothamist reports.

Tenants in a building on East 116th street and 2nd avenue received letters from the transit agency stating that they had a “90-Day Residential Vacancy Notice.” The MTA is seizing the building through eminent domain to build a new train station on 116th street, and current tenants must be out by mid October. And though they were offered support to relocate by the MTA, residents told Gothamist that they are struggling to find alternative housing at the same price of their current units.

This building is one of at least 19 that will be taken over for the Q train line expansion. Adding more stations will improve transit access areas that are considered transit deserts with historically working-class communities, but it’s leaving existing residents in the lurch.

ICE Arrests on Church Property Are Unconstitutional, Lawsuit Says

A coalition of faith-based organizations is suing the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem over the arrest and detainment of immigrants in religious locations, Truthout reports, with plaintiffs arguing the arrests violate the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

This lawsuit comes months after the Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era policy that banned ICE from arresting immigrants in sensitive locations like schools, houses of worship and hospitals, CNN reports. Since rolling back this protection, immigrants have been detained at places of worship, at medical facilities, and at schools throughout the country. Church attendance is down in some congregations as a result, with some programs going underground.

This Michigan Program Gives Cash to New Moms

The Associated Press spotlights Rx Kids, a program in Michigan that gives money to pregnant mothers and to parents in the first year of their children’s lives, easing the financial burden of parenthood. It began in Flint and has expanded to Pontiac, Kalamazoo and five counties, but it will soon be implemented in one rural county and several cities near Detroit.

Rx Kids was launched in 2024 and gives mothers with newborn babies up to $7,500 — with no rules on how the money is spent and no income requirements. Officials and advocates believe this could become a model to support parents who are struggling with the high cost of having and raising children in the U.S. As Next City reported last year, it’s one of several guaranteed income programs that’s helping protect against the economic, social and public health costs of post-partum mood disorders.

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MORE NEWS

• Ohio city whose Haitian migrants were disparaged by Trump braces to defend them against deportation. AP

• Missouri’s oldest Black bookstore just closed. The Kansas City Defender plans to reopen it as a newsroom and public archive. Nieman Lab

• Meet the Californian who pushed Texas lawmakers to help fix the state’s housing crisis. The Texas Tribune

• New proposed legislation aims to protect Pennsylvania homebuyers in flood-prone areas. WHYY

• Gaza’s cash crisis is another painful reminder of how powerless we’ve become. Prism

• Hundreds of old EV batteries are helping stabilize Texas’ shaky electrical grid. Inside Climate News

• California is training more firefighters to boost their numbers on the ground. Los Angeles Times

• Memphis residents protested xAI’s arrival. Now the company is funding upgrades for four schools. Chalkbeat

• 20 years after Katrina, Louisiana residents are most vulnerable to ‘die of despair.’ Capital B News

• Chicago moves to make its bike and scooter share system better and cheaper. Smart Cities Dive

OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

• DEADLINE TODAY: The Lululemon Community Wellbeing Grant is open to applications from community-led nonprofits around the globe that are creating equitable access to movement and mindful programming. Apply by Aug. 1.

• The Impact Project launched a new public health map to track federal policy changes and their local effects on the U.S. health system.

• Muslims for Just Futures and Sustainable Economies Law Center are launching an institute for movement leaders and lawyers to strengthen movement infrastructure and build collective responses to state repression. Apply by Aug. 25.

• Smart Growth America is accepting applications for its Community Connectors program from locally-led initiatives to reconnect communities and improve street safety. Apply by Aug. 31.

• Norfolk Southern’s Thriving Communities Grant and the Safety First Grant are accepting applications for initiatives that drive community resilience and local economic development; public safety and first responder readiness; and sustainability and workforce development. Apply by Sept. 1.

• Check out Next City’s jobs board for new opportunities.

EVENTS

• Aug. 6 at noon Eastern: The Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing is hosting a webinar on social prescribing connectors’ role in addressing social determinants of health.

• Aug. 6 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern: The Columbia Climate School is hosting a discussion with researchers and community leaders about the climate risks in Harlem.

• Check out events from Next City and our partners here!

This post was originally published on Next City.