Roughly one million people in California live in apartments and houses with affordability requirements of some sort. These residents represent a potential political force that, if organized, could significantly advance advocacy for housing and healthy communities in our state. In early 2013, representatives of nonprofit affordable-home developers, resident-service providers, and a variety of advocacy organizations held a series of meetings to discuss the vision and reality of developing a first-of-its-kind, statewide resident base of power in California. These meetings resulted in the creation of the Residents United Network (RUN), which was unveiled in April 2014 at Housing California's Annual Conference.
* Who: Affordable-home resident and community leaders, frontline resident staff, developers, and advocates (Facilited by Housing California and Center for Community Change)
* What: A new model of collaboration and empowerment for healthy communities, with a focus on affordable homes, through training/leadership development
* Where: Statewide
* Why: To engage affordable-home residents in the decisions that affect the health and stability of their lives and communities and harness people power as a political force in order to influence policy and budget decisions at the state, regional, and local level. Our vision: A California where citizens of low- and moderate-income communities are actively engaged as a powerful political force to advance
housing affordability in both state and local political and policy making arenas. Our ultimate goal: A place to call home in a healthy community for everyone in California.
