Home To Stay Minneapolis Coalition Kicks Off Campaign For Rent Stabilization
The new coalition used kickoff to begin work mobilizing voters to support rent stabilization charter amendments in November
MINNEAPOLIS - Everyone – no matter their race, income, or zip code – should have a safe, stable, affordable home. That is why community and faith groups have formed a new coalition, Home To Stay MPLS, representing thousands of renters, workers and leaders of faith across Minneapolis.
Members of the Home To Stay coalition held a rally and community meeting on Thursday evening to kick off a campaign to win a rent stabilization policy in Minneapolis. During the rally the coalition announced their plans for a voter turnout launch event on August 22nd, where the group will begin an intensive, citywide push to get voters to the polls starting September 17th when voting opens in Minneapolis. More details will be released closer to the event.
Abdijalil Yusuf, a leader with the Muslim Coalition of ISAIAH, said: “For any society to grow and thrive, everyone needs stable housing. No matter their race, ethnicity, income, they need a stable home to live in and to raise their children and to grow.”
He added: “Displacement is a problem that a lot of community members are facing, because of corporate greed and the greed of the landlords that put profits before people and sacrifice people’s stability and wellbeing in order to line their own pockets. We must end this cycle of musical chairs with people’s homes. We need rent stabilization in Minneapolis and we all need to come together and work towards that”
The majority of Minneapolis households are renters, and more than 30% of renters are cost-burdened, meaning they pay more than a third of their income on rent alone.
Donna Salinas Morales, a renter and leader with Unidos MN said: “Landlords continue to exploit and raise rents on immigrant families. It’s unjust that we have to continue to live in these conditions as rent continues to increase. We have failed to mention that these increases also have to do with gentrification. This matters because it not only affects me but it affects all of us. This is why I ask to push for the stabilization of rent and better living conditions in Minneapolis. We cannot continue to live like this, and we won’t”
Another speaker, Hannah Merrill, a renter on the Northside of Minneapolis and leader with the Young Adult Coalition of ISAIAH, added: “Everyone here has a rental story, everyone in this crowd has a rental story. Our families, our neighbors, everyone has a story about rent hikes. And that’s why we are here. We get to decide. This is a majority renter city [...] so the people that are here and the people that we bring out should get to decide for ourselves [...] We are going to get rent stabilization on the ballot and we are going to vote for it. Because we deserve to decide for ourselves what we want to organize around. We are building the Minneapolis that we want to live in.”
Nadia Hecker-O’Brien, leader with Jewish Community Action added: “As a Jew, I know [...] that my house is only my home as long as my neighbors have the ability to stay where they are and be assured the same safety and stability I have the privilege to experience.”
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The Home to Stay Rent Stabilization coalition is an alignment of organizations and unions representing thousands of Minneapolis residents across race, income and zip code who support amending the Minneapolis charter in order to give the city the power to pass a rent stabilization policy in 2022. Founding members of the coalition include United Renters For Justice/Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia, ISAIAH, SEIU, Jewish Community Action, and Unidos MN.