Housing Justice

We believe everyone in our communities should have safe, accessible, sustainable, and permanently affordable housing. No matter what our differences are, the color of our skin, whether we rent or own, whether we are a student or a senior, we all deserve a roof over our head and a safe place to call home. Housing is the foundation on which our lives are built.

Yet, people in west-central Wisconsin don’t access to the housing we need. Decades of federal and state policies have deregulated and privatized housing markets. In Wisconsin, local governments are hamstrung by state preemptions, such as a ban on rent control, a ban on inclusionary zoning, and limitations on municipal inspections of rental properties. The field is tilted in favor of corporate landlords and out-of-state real estate investors, making it harder for us and our neighbors to make ends meet and afford our homes of our own.

Housing is not just an urban problem. In rural areas, the increasing rate of housing insecurity has outpaced the national average. According to the University of Wisconsin, “an estimated 47% of rural renters are cost-burdened (i.e., they pay more than 30% of their income on housing), and half of those households are severely cost-burdened, paying more than 50% of their income on housing.”

We know that the people closest to the problems are closest to the solutions, and grassroots leaders are experts of our own experience. That’s why we are organizing with our neighbors to build the political muscle we need to work towards housing justice. Something has to change.

Get in touch to join the fight for housing justice.