Chances are high that if you’re reading this website, you’re already in the housing sector.
But the point of the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign is to broaden the movement to many other sectors that also have a vested interest in affordable housing for low-income people. And we need housing advocates to help recruit those new voices!
If you work in the housing sector but sometimes feel that housing is an overlooked issue, here’s your chance. Tell colleagues, partners, and friends in other sectors (i.e., education, health, anti-poverty, criminal justice, veterans, etc.) that this campaign is pushing forward.
Our nation needs more educators to stand up and say that good affordable housing helps their students thrive; more doctors to stand up and say that good affordable housing “vaccinates” their patients from certain health hazards; more economists to stand up and say that good affordable housing stimulates growth and helps people climb out of poverty; and more criminal justice reformers to stand up and say that good affordable housing enables solid transitions and prevents recidivism. The broader the movement, the better our chances in achieving real policy change.
HELP US BRING OTHER SECTORS INTO THIS CAMPAIGN
This won’t take long, and it could be a game-changer for someone else who isn’t aware of the campaign and its important messages. Right now, we ask that you copy the short message below and disseminate to your networks, particularly to those in other sectors.
Dear ____,
I’ve recently learned about the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign and I thought you would be interested in learning more. It is a newly-formed national, multisector campaign with an influential steering committee of some of the nation’s leading organizations. The campaign’s focus is to bring various sectors together to meet the housing needs of the nation’s low-income people.
Today in America, there are only 12 counties where a full-time worker on minimum wage can afford a one-bedroom rental. Safe, decent, affordable housing is one of the key foundations of opportunity, but it is out of reach for far too many families.
Various sectors are increasingly recognizing that affordable housing is inextricably linked to their own priorities and goals – education, health care, civil rights, economic mobility, anti-poverty, homeless, veterans, criminal justice, and more. Powerful new constituencies are forming to jointly tackle this challenge together. To learn more, check out the campaign’s website at opportunityhome.org.
Sincerely,