Devin Ross
Hundreds Call on Raleigh City Council Candidates to Address Rising Housing Cost Burden
Report from Raleigh Candidate Assembly
At least 447 members of ONE Wake institutions and neighborhoods across Raleigh turned out for a hybrid assembly with 19 candidates for Raleigh City Council last night, including all mayoral candidates. Together we called on them to work with us, and our partners Habitat for Humanity of Wake County to address rising housing cost burden that is displacing long time, low income homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods.
This assembly was the culmination of 16 months of patient, grassroots organizing that has engaged over 1,500 households in Southeast Raleigh through canvassing and house meetings.
During those conversations homeowners shared stories about families who were forced to leave the neighborhoods where some had lived their entire lives due to skyrocketing housing costs. The same homeowners who once labored to improve their neighborhoods and build community in neglected parts of our city now fear losing their homes, and many have already lost their homes.
To address this issue, ONE Wake leaders and homeowners have met regularly with the Wake County Board of Commissioners to help shape a new program, the "Homeowner Care Fund," which would help reduce some housing costs to help keep homeowners in their homes. The County is currently considering an initial $5 million investment in this program (learn more here).
During our assembly last night, ONE Wake leaders asked each candidate whether they would follow the County's lead and invest in the Homeowner Care Fund by the next fiscal year to help keep low income homeowners in their homes. Every candidate said YES!
What's Next?
1) Vote Tripling: at the conclusion of our candidate assembly, all ONE Wake members in the audience pledged to vote in the upcoming election, and to speak with three friends and family members to make sure that they vote as well. Early voting begins on October 20 - so have those conversation soon!
2) Relational Canvassing: ONE Wake canvassers have knocked on 1,170 doors to have relational conversations with infrequent voters in low voting precincts that have been hardest hit by rising housing costs. Our goal is to engage 3,800 infrequent voters by November 8. All canvassers are asked to attend one 60 minute virtual training, and to complete at least two canvassing shifts. Learn more and sign up here!
3) Subscribe to ONE Wake's YouTube Channel: ONE Wake is shifting our livestreaming to YouTube since many of our members don't have Facebook accounts. Please follow this link to subscribe so that you get a notification when we go live next!
Do you like this page?