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Door-to-door: Advocates canvass neighborhoods, informing tenants and trying to prevent evictions

Conor Morris

October 19, 2020 |

FreshWater Cleveland |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

Chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are using door-to-door campaigns to inform tenants about their rights if facing an eviction. Although evidence is limited about the success in preventing the evictions, some tenants have expressed that the outreach has helped them feel heard and many are more likely to show up in court.

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What legislators can learn from a Boston public housing development

Jasmine Nicole Olivier

October 02, 2020 |

The Boston Globe |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Over the four decades that a major Boston public housing development was run by a tenant management corporation (TMC), residents' safety and relations with police improved in ways that serve as lessons today as gun violence in neighborhoods with high poverty rates has prompted debates over reimagining public safety. As the first of many TMCs in the nation, the one at the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments lowered crime by changing the dynamic between residents and police, through greater community control. The TMC, with its own police department, was disbanded in 2012. Crime since has gone up there.

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How Lightfoot and housing activists reached an uneasy détente in the battle for Woodlawn's future

Alex Nitkin

July 22, 2020 |

The TRiiBE |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

After tense negotiations and protests, the Coalition for a CBA (Community Benefits Agreement) and the mayor of Chicago agreed to an ordinance guaranteeing a percentage of affordable housing for tenants making below 50% of median income. The coalition expects gentrification to accelerate due to the nearby $500 million Obama Presidential Center, making housing unaffordable for current residents. In addition to negotiations, the coalition organized a blockade of the mayor’s office and set up a “tent city” to emphasize their message. Not all residents want the ordinance and neither side got everything they want.

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Renters are rising up to unionise and take on dodgy landlords

Andrew Kersley

July 09, 2020 |

Wired |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Renters' unions in the United Kingdom have provided more aide recently because the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated problems facing renters. The Association of Community Organisations for Reform Now is one of the largest renters’ unions in the UK and has been helping members fight illegal evictions and stop landlords from breaking lockdown rules. The group fears a “glut of evictions” when the government lifts restrictions. There are many renters’ unions in the UK, which might dilute their effectiveness, and the combined membership in the thousands is just a small fraction of Britain’s 4.5 million renters.

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Co-Op City Succeeds With Census While Much of NYC Struggles. What's Its Secret?

Gabriel Sandoval

May 19, 2020 |

The City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

In New York City, where the average census response rate is only 49 percent, the city's largest co-operative housing complex achieved over a 70 percent response rate, well above the 40 percent rate typical in the co-op's neighborhood of the Bronx. Co-op City, as it is known, has a strong sense of community and promoted the census through its internal TV station, robo-calls, and community newspaper.

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Helping Tenants and Landlords Resolve Issues — Before Going to Court

Jared Brey

May 19, 2020 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The city of Philadelphia piloted a mediation program that showed how landlord-tenant disputes could be resolved short of an eviction lawsuit. Though the program only lasted two months and heard just a handful of cases, it demonstrated that landlords will participate voluntarily in a system that can equalize a power imbalance and resolve disputes in ways that prove less damaging to both parties. Demand for the mediation program could ramp up if an expected wave of evictions hits because of the pandemic's effects on the economy.

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Tenants Organize to Keep Building Affordable Through Nonprofit Purchase

Laura Wenus

December 20, 2019 |

San Francisco Public Press |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Affordable housing in San Francisco is becoming more and more unattainable. When the landlord tried to change its status to not be rent-controlled to not, a group of residents at said building banded together with a nonprofit to preserve the building. A nonprofit, the Mission Economic Development Agency, bought the property from the landlord so that its residents could maintain their rent in a very expensive city. Organizations like MEDA are key to helping the city and its residents transition over time to ownership.

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A New Kind of Cooperative in Oakland Fights Against Speculative Development

Oscar Perry Abello

December 03, 2019 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Real estate cooperatives are able to raise capital from their members, ensuring re-investment in the communitie they serve. In Oakland, California, the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EB PREC) finances real estate acquisitions through California’s cooperative ownership model. EB PREC also works with partners from the Sustainable Economies Law Center and the People of Color Housing Network, which provide additional resources and expertise.

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They were evicted and had to take their homes with them. But they also won something in return.

Cristina Bolling

September 09, 2019 |

La Noticia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

When the mobile park they lived in was sold and evictions were imminent, residents of Oakhaven banded together to demand relocation packages and other rights. While they were eventually forced out, they succeeded in winning more money than they were originally promised, and they credit this to their ability to organize and petition.

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This Oakland Community Hub Was Designed for Restorative Justice

Emily Nonko

August 08, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Partnerships between nonprofits strengthen efforts to promote economic justice. Working together, several nonprofits focused on economic and restorative justice in Oakland have succeeded in opening Restore Oakland, a community and multipurpose center. The new building, which received funding from private donations and from the Akonadi foundation, provides a space nonprofits like the Ella Baker Center and the Restaurant Opportunity Centers United (ROC United).

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