By Sarah Petersen, Executive Director, Open Communities
Our zip codes shouldn’t determine our life outcomes. Yet we know where we live impacts everything: access to jobs, good schools, healthy food, health care, green space, transportation, and social networks. Even our lifespans are influenced by our address. Neighborhoods don’t just happen. Policy decisions shape where we live. They impact where housing is located, who can afford to live there, and what resources are available. To create communities we can all call home, we must influence policy decisions that build our neighborhoods—with our votes.
This year, Open Communities (OC) was the recipient of a mini grant through the Our Homes, Our Votes campaign to spread nonpartisan voter awareness on housing issues and help tenants register to vote, “because housing is built with ballots,” as the campaign’s slogan states.
Based in Evanston, Illinois, OC is a nonprofit that strives to create inclusive communities where everyone has equal access to safe, stable housing. We stand up for tenants who face discrimination in their housing searches. We advocate for people with disabilities to make apartments accessible. We navigate housing challenges with tenants and homeowners to help them keep their homes and reach financial goals. We educate people about housing rights and inform policymakers about how their policy decisions impact real people’s access to a safe place to live.
Every day we see the housing crisis growing. People spend 30%, 40%, 50% or more of their paychecks on housing costs, leaving little leftover for necessities like food or healthcare. Our communities desperately need more housing, particularly units that are affordable and accessible. The way we get more housing is with our votes. According to the NLIHC annual report, homeowners voted at a rate 20% higher than renters in the last midterm election. If rising rents aren’t on homeowners’ minds, addressing high rents won’t be at the top of their ballots.
As an Our Homes, Our Votes grantee, OC integrates nonpartisan voter education and outreach into the housing rights and financial education we already do. While tabling at events in the community, we share Our Homes, Our Votes “I am a renter and I vote” stickers and magnets. We ask if people are registered to vote and have them scan the QR code to check their registration and see their ballots. We talk about how affordable housing is not always on the mind of most voters who are homeowners. We tell tenants it is up to us to vote for policies that make accessible, attainable rental housing a priority for our communities. In one-on-one meetings with housing counseling clients, we ask them to check their voter registration and use the moment to educate them about their voting power.
OC incorporates Our Homes, Our Votes slides into our housing educational workshops with social service providers and the public. When we educate people about their right to housing free from discrimination, we also talk about their right to vote. Organized actions that included voting were key to passing important civil rights legislation, like the “Fair Housing Act of 1968,” that protects the right to equal access to housing regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, or family status. Celebrating our 55th anniversary next year, OC’s roots are in the Civil Rights Movement and efforts are focused on ensuring everyone can live where they choose. Today’s growing housing crisis and the continuing impacts of segregation require a powerful tool to build neighborhoods that work for all of us. We have that tool at our fingertips—it’s our votes. Are you registered?