NLIHC Southeastern Tenant Protections Cohort Grantees Convene in Atlanta, GA for Southeastern Tenant Protections Roundtable

By Nada Hussein, NLIHC Research Analyst, State and Local Innovation   

NLIHC convened its 2024-2025 State and Local Innovation Southeastern Tenant Protections Cohort in Atlanta, Georgia on July 24 and 25—a one-of-a-kind meeting outside of NLIHC’s Washington, D.C. headquarters. More than 25 people representing NLIHC’s Southeastern Tenant Protections grantees across five states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee—came together to discuss ongoing efforts to: (1) advance, implement, and enforce tenant protection policies in the South; (2) center racial equity in their advocacy efforts; and (3) promote tenant leadership and engagement in their communities.  

The agenda for the two-day convening was dynamic and responsive to the needs, challenges, and current work taken on by the Cohort in their respective jurisdictions. During the convening, attendees heard from national partners working on state and local tenant protection policies, including the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, the National Housing Law Project, the Southern Economic Advancement Project, Urban Institute, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. The conference also provided attendees the opportunity to discuss topics related to data collection for strategic narrative creation, rural organizing in the South, and the ways in which housing advocates can sustain their work in the face of divisive political climates, lack of political will, and lack of critical resources needed to advance tenant protections and keep renters stably housed. 

NLIHC launched its Southeastern Tenant Protections Cohort in 2024 through an internal request for proposals (RFP) to provide one-time capacity building grants to state teams in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee to support tenant protection laws, policies, and programs at the state and local levels. The cohort, which formally concludes in December 2025, consists of housing advocates, legal aid service providers, and tenant advocates working in tandem to strengthen renters’ rights and safeguard against the threat of eviction—and in the worst cases, homelessness.  

Through the conclusion of the grant year, NLIHC will continue to work with its Southeastern Cohort to help its partners develop a community-based advocacy strategy, engage tenant leaders, conduct-on-the-ground partnership development, and reach out to educate elected officials and other stakeholders. It is the ultimate goal that the cohort will work to conduct policy reform and systems change work that supports the introduction, passage, implementation, and enforcement of tenant protections that seek to advance racial equity and rectify the longstanding power imbalance between landlords and tenants that often leaves renters at the will of their landlords and at the risk of housing instability.  

Grantees selected for the 2024-2025 Southeastern Tenant Protections Cohort include the following teams: 

Alabama: Low Income Housing Coalition of Alabama, Fair Housing Center of North Alabama, Legal Services of Alabama 

Florida: Community Justice Project, Miami Workers Center, Florida Rising Together, Florida Housing Coalition 

Georgia: Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc., SOWEGA Rising, Inc., Housing Justice League, Georgia Appleseed 

Mississippi: Mississippi Center for Justice, Mississippi Housing Partnership, National Association of Social Workers – Mississippi Chapter 

Tennessee: Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, Tennessee Renters United, Open Table Nashville, Greater Memphis Housing Justice Project, Memphis Tenants Union 

For more information on the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Southeastern Tenant Protections Cohort, please visit: https://nlihc.org/resource/nlihc-announces-2024-2025-state-and-local-innovation-grantees.