Renters Unite at District 6 Convention
Over 60 tenants and community advocates from San Francisco's District 6, which encompasses SoMa, Tenderloin, and Treasure Island, congregated on June 28th at the Bayanihan Community Center for a tenants convention. The momentous gathering provided participants with information concerning their rights as renters, on-site legal counsel, and additional supportive resources from tabling nonprofit organizations
Organized by the San Francisco Anti-Displacement Coalition (SFADC)– a citywide network of 28 organizations, among them SOMCAN– the event was held in response to the growing issue of real estate speculation in SoMa and other rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods that has led to the increased harassment and no-fault evictions of low-income tenants. Member organizations saw an urgent need to not only inform tenants of their rights, but also to inspire greater community engagement.
SOMCAN’s Organizational Director, Angelica Cabande, facilitated the event. After a brief presentation breaking down the current housing crisis, she introduced a documentary which followed the stories of various San Franciscans who have faced– and fought off– evictions.
Community involvement did not stop with the leaders of organizations; local youth participated as well. High school interns from SOMCAN's Land is Life program acted out short skits about troublesome situations that tenants could find themselves in. After each scenario played out, convention-goers were asked to guess the best course of action for the "tenant" in question. The recommended course was then explained by Jason Truong, a housing rights attorney with Asian-Pacific Islander Legal Outreach. “I was impressed with the young people’s involvement," said Kenya Hatcher of Hospitality House, one of the co-presenting organizations. "They are our future leaders.” Land is Life is a summer internship program for teens interested in exploring the correlation between racial, environmental, and housing justice.
In any threat of eviction, it is best to seek help immediately. "Tenants should make sure they are taking the right steps to hold their landlords accountable," said Raymond Castillo, SOMCAN's Tenant Organizer. “We see a lot of cases in which the landlord will claim that a family member is moving in and that’s the reason given for the tenant being evicted. But we later find out that the family member ended up not moving into the unit after all. It was only a ploy to raise the rent. Meanwhile, the original tenant has to struggle to find a new home."
The convention ended with attendees pledging to support one another, educate their neighbors on what they've learned, and be on the lookout for any real estate speculation on their respective blocks. Everyone left with a black knapsack emblazoned with the catchphrase “Renters Unite!” filled with tenants rights pamphlets and literature.
According to the organizers, the next steps are to push for stronger legislation that upholds the rights of tenants and to continue educating and mobilizing vulnerable community members. Similar events are already in the works for other districts.
Tony Robles of Senior & Disability Action, also with the SFADC, framed the issue most succinctly: “Gentrification is really capitalism erasing human interaction and memory. What we fight against is the forgetting of our communities, our elders, our youth.”
