Housing for All

The need for affordable housing in this city is beyond a crisis point, and the numbers are staggering. DC has over 40,000 people on the waiting list for subsidized housing, over 5,000 unhoused residents, close to 30% of Black renters spending 50% or more of their income on housing, and one in four renter households spending more than 50% of their income on rent. Housing in DC has become a luxury item. DC’s housing policies should urgently address the needs of working families and communities living in unstable housing conditions, protect people from becoming unhoused in the first place by curbing rent increases and evictions and build housing that people can genuinely afford. DC must also live up to its values and make our public housing a safe place to live. Failing to invest in public housing repairs has unjustly caused generations of residents to live in environmentally hazardous conditions.

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Housing is a human right. I will fight to create housing policies that build equity through tools such as community land trusts, prevent the displacement of our Black and brown residents, invest in public housing repairs, stabilize rents and protect tenants.

 

I will work to:

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• Integrate community land trusts and social housing models that center on permanent affordability, avoid resident displacement, and build assets for residents and their families.

• Fund public housing repairs, so units are rehabilitated and maintained to prevent future deterioration. Public housing residents deserve to live in homes that are safe, healthy, and thriving.

• Preserve affordable housing units by strengthening rent control, closing loopholes, and strengthening tenant protections.

• Expand emergency and supportive services to unhoused individuals. Homelessness is a visible example of our city’s policy failures to address housing for everyone. Instead of creating “No-Tent” zones and sweeping homeless encampments, the city should provide needed services, top-tier shelters, and long-term affordable housing opportunities.

• Improve the housing needs of seniors, people with disabilities, and other communities with varying housing needs like victims of domestic violence and LBGTQ+ youth.

• Invest in placed-based strategies to ensure affordable housing of all types, including family-sized units, is distributed equitably throughout DC.

• Implement strategies that will examine the development of publicly owned land and the use of publicly owned properties to create targeted affordable housing.