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NEW VOICES FOR AFFORDABLE HOMES
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Tell Congress to Include Housing Resources in Next COVID-19 Package |
| In the coming weeks, the Senate will begin negotiations on the next COVID-19 relief package. Now is the time to weigh in with your elected officials to ensure housing stability during and in the wake of the pandemic. With just a few clicks, you can send a pre-formatted letter to your senators and representative which says that any final negotiated package should include: $100B in emergency rental assistance; at least $11.5B in homeless assistance; at least $4B for Housing Choice Vouchers; and a national uniform evictions moratorium. Thanks to your advocacy, the House passed the “HEROES Act” in May which includes all of the campaign’s priorities. Also, yesterday, to further underscore the urgency and pressure the Senate to act, the House passed the “Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act“, which pulls all the housing and homelessness provisions from the “HEROES Act” into a stand-alone bill. Now is the time to urge immediate action in the Senate. |
| In addition to thousands of individuals letters that have been sent to Congress, the campaign has also rallied organizational support from groups in health, education, civil rights, environmental protection, and more. Earlier this month, these organizations sent a sign-on letter urging the Senate to act. Signatories included leading national organizations such as the American Psychological Association, Children’s HealthWatch, National Education Association, NAACP, JustLeadershipUSA, Healthy Schools Campaign, Natural Resources Defense Council, and many more. |
| Recent public opinion polling finds strong support for these policy priorities. In fact, 93% of the public favors emergency rental assistance; 90% favor expanding funding for homeless assistance; and 89% favor enacting a uniform nationwide evictions moratorium. Over half of the population (54%) express concern that they will lose their housing if they don’t get additional assistance to help cover costs — and this concern is more acute among lower-income households and people of color. By a 2:1 margin, people want to see government make major housing investments even if it means increasing the deficit, including 79% of Democrats, 76% of Independents, and 49% of Republicans. The campaign has built a set of infographics highlighting these poll findings, which can be accessed here. To raise awareness, please circulate these infographics widely, including on all social media platforms. |
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| Help us keep the momentum going to ensure these housing resources are included in any final negotiated package. Please send this letter to your senators and representative and share widely with your networks. To send a letter, simply type in your street address, click submit, and the letter automatically goes directly to your elected officials. |
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| Campaign Updates Vision, Mission, and Goal Statements to Amplify Racial Equity |
| The campaign has updated its vision, mission, and goal statements to explicitly center racial equity. The campaign’s Racial Equity Working Group, a subset of the Steering Committee, spearheaded this work over the past several months. The new statements are on the campaign’s homepage and represent the contributions of organizations from housing, health, education, civil rights, criminal justice, food security, social work, and faith communities. |
| Race continues to be a major factor in predicting one’s likelihood of experiencing rental cost-burdens, homelessness, and living in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. Achieving racial equity in housing means that race no longer predicts these outcomes. While the work of the campaign’s Racial Equity Working Group began before the COVID-19 pandemic and recent anti-police brutality protests, these current events nonetheless instilled an even greater sense of urgency. It is clear that a direct line connects the nation’s history of racist housing policies to today’s over-policing of Black and Brown communities and to people of color being disproportionately harmed by disasters like the coronavirus. |
| Shaped in response to these realities, the new statements are as follows:
- Campaign Vision: The nation’s historically marginalized households and those with the lowest incomes live in safe, accessible, affordable homes in neighborhoods that are free from discrimination and where everyone has equitable opportunities to thrive.
- Campaign Mission: Build a movement with stakeholders from many sectors to generate widespread support for federal policies that correct long-standing racial inequities and economic injustices by ensuring quality housing for people with low incomes.
- Long-Term Goal: Through federal housing policies that expand resources and correct long-standing structural and racial inequities, we will ensure that people with the lowest incomes can afford a good home, which adds to their quality of life through better health, greater educational attainment, and stronger earnings.
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| The new vision, mission, and goal statements will inform all campaign activities from advancing policy solutions to educating elected officials, opinion leaders, and the public. The new statements are an early first step in an ongoing effort by the campaign’s Racial Equity Working Group to raise awareness of historical and persistent racial discrimination in housing and to elevate solutions that rectify these pernicious inequities. |
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