California is in the midst of the worst housing crisis in the state's recent history.
Although the Golden State has the largest economy in the U.S.—and the fifth-largest in the world—rampant inequality and a decades-long housing crisis have put millions of individuals at risk for housing insecurity. That's in addition to the 150,000 individuals who are already experiencing homelessness in the state.
The primary cause of this crisis is that there simply isn't enough housing to accommodate the almost 40 million people living in California. The reasons behind the housing shortage are varied and complex, including the disparity between skyrocketing rent prices and stagnant wages; laws that limit development, including density restrictions and zoning laws; and high land costs, among others.
It's one of the most pressing and longstanding problems for the state. According to a survey from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), Californians named homelessness, housing costs and availability as the most important issues for government and state legislators in 2020. (This survey was conducted in January of last year, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.)
In addition to countless local organizations, a number of statewide groups are fighting for housing justice in California. These are some of the organizations leading the charge.
The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action is the 501(c)(4) arm of the ACCE Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on issues including housing justice, worker justice, creating sustainable communities and fostering civic engagement. ACCE Action focuses its efforts almost exclusively on housing policies. It currently has more than 15,000 members throughout the state, with locations in Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento and San Diego.
Some of its successful campaigns include helping the city of Richmond pass a measure that implemented rent control and required landlords to show just cause when evicting tenants, and the statewide Tenant Protection Act of 2019, which passed thanks to advocacy by ACCE Action and a number of other housing groups. According to ACCE Action, the Tenant Protection Act extended "protections to 8 million tenants who previously had none by capping rent increases at 5% plus inflation and stopping unfair evictions."
Housing NOW! California is a coalition of more than 60 organizations that work to make housing more affordable while simultaneously working against the displacement crisis that overwhelmingly impacts working-class communities of color.
Its stated goals for California include stronger rent control and just-cause eviction laws throughout the state, an Affordable Housing Trust Fund, statewide laws that ensure large corporations financially contribute toward affordable housing, and stronger code enforcement.
Although it is led by tenants, Housing NOW! California also includes sympathetic landlords, realtors and community, faith and labor organizations. Some of its endorsing organizations are the ACCE, the SEIU California State Council, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA) and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA).
Housing NOW! California believes that housing should be for people instead of for profit, that solutions should be led by those most affected, and that housing policy should prioritize the most vulnerable Californians.
Tenants Together is a statewide coalition of local renter organizations that work to advocate affordable housing in California. It is California's only statewide renters rights organization. Member organizations include the Coalition for Economic Survival, Housing Long Beach, Los Angeles Tenants Union, Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights and Affordable Housing Advocates.
Tenants Together employs a three-pronged approach in its work: (1) building capacity by supporting local tenants organizations; (2) movement-building by connecting local groups; and (3) statewide advocacy.
Additionally, Tenants Together understands that renters “don’t live single-issue lives” and that a successful movement cannot stand on its own. As such, it seeks to build alliances with other movements, including those advocating for racial, gender, economic, environmental and disability justice, among other causes.
Housing is a Human Right (HHR) is the housing advocacy division of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Its focus is increasing tenant protections and advancing progressive housing policies. In order to do so, HHR employs what it calls a "multi-pronged, community-based approach" known as the "three Ps." These are: protect tenants, preserve communities and produce housing.
HHR operates under the belief that housing is a public health issue. Its sister organization, the Healthy Housing Foundation, provides housing to low-income and unhoused individuals in the L.A. area. It currently owns and operates two homeless housing buildings in Los Angeles.
Among its recent advocacy work, HHR supported the grassroots movement to repeal Costa-Hawkins—California's anti-rent-control law—it supported Prop 21 (which failed at the ballot last year) and it opposed the controversial SB 50.
Housing California is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to "prevent and end homelessness and increase the variety and supply of safe, stable, accessible and permanently affordable homes." Housing California focuses on three issues: land use, budget and funding, and homelessness.
Its approach is rooted in education, advocacy and outreach. It works to educate lawmakers about how legislation affects housing and homelessness, hosts the largest annual conference on affordable housing and homelessness in the nation, organizes residents so that they may advocate for others and helps build coalitions with other groups.
Housing California receives foundation support from the Bank of America Foundation, the California Community Foundation, the Ford Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the Union Bank Foundation and Wells Fargo, among others.
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While these organizations have been fighting the state’s housing crisis for years, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an already dire situation. Housing justice advocates and tenants alike have been calling for a moratorium on evictions and canceling rent.
In December, California passed the Tenant, Homeowner and Small Landlord Relief and Stabilization Act of 2020, which prohibits all COVID-related evictions until Feb. 1, 2021 and extends legal protections for tenants. However, this won't likely be enough to offset the impact of the pandemic.
According to the Los Angeles Times, a recent report by the Economic Roundtable predicts that job loss related to the pandemic will result in a significant increase in homelessness in California.
These groups have shifted their focus to addressing the underlying causes of California's housing crisis while simultaneously fighting for tenant protections during the pandemic. For now, it continues to be an uphill battle with no end in sight.
