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Organizing
Community development relies on policies, resources, and recognition that were won by decades of organizing—and organizing remains essential to face new threats, preserve existing wins, and continue to fight back against the big lie that the way things are is inevitable.
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Could Massachusetts Get Rent Control Back After a 32-Year Ban?
In Massachusetts, the collection of more than 124,000 signatures makes it likely that a statewide rent control measure will be on the ballot in November.
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NJ Tenant Organizing—Looking Back at the Film Techos y Derechos
A decades-old tenant organizing film—now in digital form for the first time—is still relevant today.
Crossing the Digital Divide During COVID
Flyers, phone calls, and podcasts, oh my! Organizations blend past and present strategies to stay in touch with community members.
Keeping Gentrification From Following Green Space
LA organizers work with park professionals on policies to allow green space investment in neighborhoods that have lacked it without paving the way for displacement.
It’s Time to Move On From Community Consensus
When we rethink the problem as one of political voice rather than community consensus, it opens up new, innovative techniques to determine public priorities.
Tenant Responses to the Eviction Crisis: A Roundtable Discussion
Nationally, a 10-organization research team estimates that 30 million to 40 million Americans face the possible loss of their homes. How can we avoid this horrific outcome?
‘We Need Those Houses’—Activists Take Over Vacant Housing Authority-Owned Homes
About 50 people—mostly single mothers and their children—have been living in vacant Philadelphia Housing Authority units since March. The move-ins are both acts of necessity and a political protest against the PHA.
What Happens if 23 Million Renters Are Evicted?
Shelterforce spoke with researchers, advocates, lawyers, housing economists, and rental housing industry representatives to understand what that crisis would do to evicted individuals and their families, and to shelter systems, public health, and the rental housing market.
Did Ithaca Really Cancel Rent?
In early June, residents and organizers successfully pressured the Ithaca Common Council to pass a resolution that requests that the state grant them the authority to cancel rent in response to COVID-19. Contrary to many headlines, it didn’t actually cancel rent—yet.
Murder, Redlining, and the Fight for Jamaica Plain
Ken Reardon reviews “Redlined: A novel of Boston” by Richard W. Wise, an exciting novel about a community’s fight for survival against disinvestment.
Three Lessons Learned from Working in Isolation
A New York-based organizer says although we may be physically divided due to social distancing, we can be emotionally bounded through our common purpose.
Housing Justice Organizers Don’t Want to Return to ‘Normal’
As they organize for immediate relief for those whose housing was affected by the pandemic, tenant leaders are also building power to demand long-term changes.
Rent Strikes Launching Around the World May 1
Organizers calling for the cancellation of rent are taking to digital platforms to get the word out about the action, where tenants will withhold some or all of their rent until their conditions are met.