Spotlight On... Recent Local Organizing Victories

• Residents Gather in Cincinnati for Leadership Conference 
• Resident Action Project Launches in Washington State
• The Power of One
• J-RAB, INC Business And Service Coordination Center

Residents Gather in Cincinnati for Leadership Conference 

Jurisdiction-Wide Resident Advisory Board (J-RAB) held its second annual Empowerment Conference this past July 29-30 at the Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. More than 100 resident leaders attended the conference designed to develop the leadership skills of current and future residents of Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA).

While the majority of those attending the conference were residents of CMHA, the conference also attracted attendees from Tennessee and Kentucky. “We are thrilled that so many residents came together to share their stories, challenges, and successes with one another,” said Delorise Calhoun, president of J-RAB.  

Speakers representing local and national organizations shared leadership strategies to help residents move forward through conversation and action. The two day conference featured topics such as becoming resident managers; understanding empowerment; knowing your legal rights as a resident; meeting the transportation needs of a community; and learning how to act, lead and drive change.

“When we work together to address the challenges that confront public housing residents, we all benefit and we all succeed,” said Ms. Calhoun.

Resident Action Project Launches in Washington State 

The Washington Low Income Housing Alliance (the Housing Alliance), the Washington Housing Alliance and Action Fund, and other non-profit organizations have come together to support affordable housing residents, homeless individuals, and social service workers in launching the Resident Action Project (RAP).  The project intends to create a powerful statewide network of community members to advocate for the necessary resources to ensure decent and affordable housing for all Washingtonians. 

According to the “One Night Count,” 4,505 people were without shelter overnight on January 28-29, 2016, just in Seattle.  While Seattle was the first location in the state to declare a homeless state of emergency, homelessness and insufficient affordable housing plague the entire state.  In Whatcom County, 719 homeless individuals were counted during the “Point in Time Count” and in Spokane county, there were 981 homeless individuals on a given night. This high rate of homelessness stems directly from the unavailability of affordable housing. A minimum wage worker in Washington State must earn $23.13 per hour to afford a decent 2-bedroom apartment, far above the state’s minimum wage of $9.47. RAP seeks to respond to the crisis of rising rents and growing homeless populations through community-based, resident-led advocacy.

RAP was founded in 2015 when the Housing Alliance held a meeting to determine if residents living in or looking for affordable homes would be interested in organizing an advocacy group. In just a year, RAP members have achieved a great deal. Through in person meetings and conference calls, RAP has created foundational documents and curriculum plans, conducted research, and significantly expanded the group’s membership. Currently focused on organizing Seattle-area residents, members of RAP are pushing to expand the effort to include more resident leaders statewide. In May of 2016, RAP leaders introduced their project at the Housing Alliance’s Annual Conference on Ending Homelessness in Spokane and urged those present to help expand RAP in their communities. By July, RAP members had begun travelling across the state to share materials, communication, and training with other residents.

RAP aims to expand across Washington and continue to empower residents to advocate on their own behalf, participating in the movement for continued investment in affordable housing. This effort further supports models for statewide resident activism to challenge decades of social policy that has sought to silence their voices. 

To learn more about the Resident Action Project, visit the Washington Housing Alliance Action Fund website at http://housingactionfund.org/resident-action-project.

The Power of One

Guest contributor: Tennessee State Representative Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville)

In the 1957 film, “12 Angry Men”, the character played by Henry Fonda was the lone juror who refused to bow to peer pressure from the other eleven jurors and send an innocent man to prison.  Fonda’s character made real the point that one person’s point of view or perspective can make a significant impact on a group, large or small. The same can be said of Residents Councils in our public housing neighborhoods. Large or small, one person or one group’s perspective and point of view can make a significant difference.

I am a big fan of the Residents Council concept for citizens in our housing neighborhoods, and I am an unashamed cheerleader for the Lincoln Homes Residents Council (LHRC) in Clarksville, Tennessee.  Led by our president and my dear friend, Martha Weatherspoon, the council has started conversations, some uncomfortable for our community, about changing perspectives and attitudes of both the neighbors and the community at large. And like the movie mentioned above, it has been one person’s (Martha) dogged determination to keep the conversation going that is helping to move our perspective from one of disdain to discernment.

Not all the activities of the Council have resulted in awkward moments.  There have been countless activities of learning and fun for the children and adults who live in the neighborhood sponsored by the Council. Ice cream socials, movie nights in the park, etiquette and ball room dancing classes, and Spanish classes are the norm. They help in so many ways by bringing the community into the neighborhood and by bringing the neighborhood together. Our LHRC has a library in the front meeting room as you enter the office, serving as a stark reminder that learning is a priority here.

The Council also gives the neighborhood a voice in matters that need attention. Your grass too high? Got a pothole in front of your house? People speeding down your street? The Council functions as a government of sorts by giving voice to the concerns of the citizens. What could be more American than that?

The most important role of the Council is to provide opportunities for leadership for the residents. Often forgotten or ignored, some residents get a second wind as a leader of a small group discussion that many times yields answers to questions. That is about enabling and empowering people to solve their own problems through a conductive dialogue and a unified voice. 

Residents Councils serve as the leader, arbiter, historian, librarian, clearinghouse, and beacon of hope all rolled into one organization. 

J-RAB, INC Business And Service Coordination Center

Guest contributor: Dr. Claver L. Pashi, PhD, Project Director

At its 2nd Annual Resident Empowerment Conference held in June 2016, J-RAB, INC. showcased its Business and Service Coordination Center (BSCC), which had just opened its doors in May, 2016. J-RAB, INC has developed a local small BSCC to assist Resident Owned Businesses to improve their capacity and abilities to take advantage of missed HUD Section 3 employment and contracting opportunities.

The BSCC facility is designed by the residents and for the residents. It is a social entrepreneur business facility developed to nurture the needs of starting and developing Resident Owned Businesses (ROBs) and low to very low income entrepreneurs, enabling them to effectively compete for Section 3 sanctioned Housing Authority, city, and county contract opportunities and projects. 

The BSCC model, through its staff, network of partners, and online resources, also facilitates capacity building training for public housing residents and low to very low-income individuals, to prepare them to be ready to access contracting, subcontracting, and training opportunities generated through HUD Section 3 regulations (primarily) and other income generating opportunities (secondarily).

The BSCC further offers its member public housing residents and low to very low income entrepreneurs access to various services and skill building in general management skills, marketing, accounting, legal, banking, and more at an affordable cost.