Community Partner: Right to Housing Alliance
Intern: Kathryn Rees
Site Supervisors: Jessica Lewis
What is Right to Housing Alliance?
The Right to Housing Alliance is a human rights
organization led by low‐income residents. We’re a
partnership of community members, organizers, and
attorneys working to elevate housing to the level of a
human right and secure community control over land.
Through direct action, coalition building, education, and
advocacy, we’re empowering new community leaders and
building a movement to transform the housing system in
Baltimore to value the principles of human rights.
Tasks:
• Identify tenant organizations at public housing
buildings throughout the country and organize a national
call to build a coalition among residents and housing
activists
• Compile a database of tenant organizations and other
grassroots efforts that are organizing around public
housing policy issues
• Survey residents about their experiences in Baltimore
City Rent Court
Interning at RTHA has given me a firsthand look at community
organizing. A major tenet of the organization that really resonates
with me is building community power. RTHA measures its success
not by the amount of money it raises or the number of people it
serves but, first and foremost, by its ability to support community
members as they band together to help one another. Listening to
residents discuss their housing problems at community meetings has
shown me how lack of safe, affordable housing can make all the
difference in a person's life‐‐especially in one's ability to keep his or
her job. I've learned a lot about housing policy issues at the
community‐level and how they vary from city to city through the
process of compiling a database of tenant organizations nationwide.
‐Kathryn
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