A radical new plan for housing
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for [their] health and well-being.... including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services...
– 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (emphasis added)
More than seven decades have passed since the United States signed the first Universal Declaration of Human Rights, affirming the basic right to housing.
In the decades since, as the national housing crisis grew, our government adopted a hodgepodge of nibble-around-the-edge policies that barely dented the problem or worse, exacerbated it. And across America, marginalized communities have borne the brunt.
Massive issues – structural and institutional racism, climate change, massive income inequality, globalization – undergird our housing crisis. That means our solutions need to be big enough and bold enough to get the job done.
It's time for large-scale, progressive solutions – not a handful of half-funded investments or a tax cut for the super-rich disguised as "incentives," but a wholesale reimagining of our country's housing policy.
Yesterday, I released a plan that will create equitable, affordable, accessible housing across the country, to finally make good on the promise we made at the UN 70 years ago.
Read about it here and join the conversation!
My plan takes on the housing crisis by committing the federal government to partner with communities, and by proposing a set of bold, transformative solutions in five key areas:
- Public Housing
- Homelessness
- Renter Relief
- Equitable Homeownership
- Fair Housing Policy
I'm stepping up to make sure housing finally gets the attention it needs. In the coming weeks, we'll talk more about these solutions. In the meantime, head on over to Facebook and share your ideas about and experiences with the housing crisis!
More soon,
Earl