NLIHC joined a letter to HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge in support of three policy goals developed by directly impacted grassroots leaders and organizers from Resident Action Project (RAP), Residents Organizing for Change (ROC), Residents United Network (RUN), The Freedom BLOC, Detroit People’s Platform, Residents Organized for HousingLOUISIANA (ROHLA), and Community Change. The letter asks the Secretary for support in operationalizing three goals: (1) urging local jurisdictions to treat people experiencing homelessness with care; (2) ensuring that landlords participating in federal subsidy programs maintain homes that comply with health and safety standards; and 3) providing additional support and resources for HUD-subsidized tenants to organize to improve their housing communities. More than 60 tenant leaders, including three NLIHC board members, proposed these goals to the Secretary in a May 10meeting in Washington, D.C., which served as the last stop in the “Put Tenants First: Grassroots Housing Justice Tour.”
The Grassroots Housing Justice Tour was led by Community Change Action, organizers, and grassroots leaders. During the multi-week tour – which made stops in Lafayette, Louisiana; Cottage Grove, Oregon; and Akron, Ohio – tenant leaders focused on the shared challenges arising from the criminalization of homelessness, as well as on substandard housing conditions and the positive impacts of tenant organizing.
Read Community Change’s Twitter thread highlighting the Put Tenants First action in D.C. at: https://bit.ly/44YntYf