The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently announced the death of Cushing N. Dolbeare, its Founder and Chair Emeritus. Cushing died of cancer on March.... The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently announced the death of Cushing N. Dolbeare, its Founder and Chair Emeritus. Cushing died of cancer on March 17, 2005 at her home in Mitchellville, MD. She was 78.

Cushing began the National Low Income Housing Coalition in 1974 when she organized the Ad Hoc Low Income Housing Coalition in response to the Nixon Administration's moratorium on federal housing programs. She served as NLIHC's Executive Director from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1993 to 1994. She remained active with NLIHC as a researcher, policy analyst, and board member until her death.

Cushing was one of the nation's leading experts on federal housing policy and the housing circumstances of low income people. She designed the methodology for and was the original author of Out of Reach, NLIHC's widely cited annual report on the gap between housing costs and wages of low income people. She was also well-known for her work on analyzing federal housing subsidies, documenting the disparity between the cost of tax-based subsidies that benefit homeowners and direct spending on housing assistance for low income households.