Housing is too important to leave to the market, or to governments alone. We'll need a mass movement of movements with a shared vision to make housing a real human right.
The rents are too damn high - and housing is too important to leave to the market. The Trump budget wants to cut affordable housing vouchers and funds. Evictions, displacement and criminalizing the unhoused are not the only choices we have.
HOUSING AS A HUMAN RIGHT - Updates on Community Land Trusts (CLTs) and other progress toward a social housing ecosystem in California. Join us in person or by zoom, for this East Bay Affordable Housing Month special event, our monthly speaker meeting.
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Supportive Housing Community Land Alliance (SHCLA), a new CLT to address needs of mentally ill persons in Alameda County.
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Cooperative homeownership proposals with the Northern California Community Land Trust (NCLT)
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Legislative priorities to protect renters and finance more kinds of affordable housing from East Bay Housing Organizations.
- New organizing initiatives from Berkeley and Oakland Tenant Unions and Homeless Unions, and proposals for safe vehicle and tiny house villages.
Gray Panthers have been hosting events for Affordable Housing Month since 2018, highlighting seniors and disabled adults, housed and unhoused. This year we are hosting 2 events, a live social last week, and this one, our speaker meeting (a week earlier than usual) a hybrid.
Last May, we brought inspiring lessons from the 4th international Social Housing Festival #ISHF and its organizer Housing Europe's common goal for Housing as a Human Right: to continuously grow the percent and variety of permanently affordable, non-commodified housing stock in service to participatory, green and inclusive neighborhoods and cities -- advancing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and Charter of Human Rights. We discussed the emergence of such a movement here in the US and California. And, we've stayed involved with multiple groups and coalitions working on this.
Wednesday, May 21, folks joined us either in person (at Tarea Hall Pittman South Branch of the Berkeley Public Library, near Ashby BART), or on zoom for updates and discussion of where California's potential social housing in 2025. Despite everything state and federal opponents throw at us -- undermine Fair Housing, cut HUD staff, block renter protections, criminalize the homeless, trash talk tenants, end Emergency Housing Vouchers, sell off public housing, block tenant protections, profiteer off of disasters There are everywhere signs of new roots and shoots. --- an independent collaborative ecosystem of networked tenant unions, nonprofit developers and professional advocates is growing with relations beyond short-term funding coalitions.
May 21 PROGRAM
1:30 Welcome and Introductions
1:45 Featured Speakers
Q&A & Discussion
3PM East Bay Gray Panther Member Business
Action Alerts and Announcements
4PM Adjourn
We look forward to seeing you there! All are welcome!
