WHO: Organizing Neighborhood Equity- ONE DC
WHAT: Press Conference for our Human Right to Housing and TentCity
WHEN: July 10, 2010
WHERE: 7th and S Streets, NW for Block Party
7th and R Streets, NW for Press Conference/Tent City
TIME: The block party will take place from 12-5 pm. Press Conference at 4 pm. Civil disobedience will begin at 5 pm.
On July 10th, ONE DC members and supporters will stand for equity and construct a TENT CITY on Parcel 42 until Equity is achieved-and the development of Parcel 42′s housing is affordable for families making under $50,000.
ONE DC has organized for over four years to ensure that the housing development planned for Parcel 42 addressed the housing crisis faced by no-to-low-income households. Two years ago, ONE DC members believed that they had a victory with Parcel 42 – Fenty’s administration agreed to build affordable housing development, which would include 94 units with a promised $7.8 million city subsidy. However, Fenty’s administration differed from ONE DC’s members’ definition of affordability. They wanted 100% units affordable at 60% of the DC Metro Area Median Income (AMI); ONE DC expected the city and Shaw community’s originally agreed upon promise-income-tiered up to $50,000 (units affordable for those making up to 30%, 40% and 50% AMI). ONE DC wanted to ensure equity in the face of DC’s ever-increasing AMI. In 2008, ONE DC protested in front of Fenty’s home; he then agreed to make the Parcel 42 development 100% affordable for those making 50% of the AMI. ONE DC still demanded income-tiered housing at Parcel 42.
In early June, ONE DC learned that Fenty’s administration and developers backed away from their commitment to develop affordable units for no-to-low income households on Parcel 42. After three years of broken promises and failed negotiations to develop income-tiered housing that is truly affordable, ONE DC and the Take Back the Land Coalition are joining forces to exercise our constitutional and moral rights to protest unjust and inequitable city laws.
ONE DC believes it’s time to fight again and protest Fenty’s broken promise, and highlight his lack of commitment, to create new affordable housing for families making less than $50,000.
The fight for affordability on Parcel 42 illuminates the city’s housing and economic inequalities. The parcel is located in Ward 2, one of the wealthiest wards in the District. While well over 6,000 people sleep on DC streets every night, the only remaining downtown, city-run shelter was closed in Ward 2, where the average family income exceeds $140,000, moving those most in need to Ward 8, one of the poorest wards in the city, where the average family income is less than $35,000. To anyone paying attention the picture of displacement is quite clear.
ONE DC believes development should not mean displacement.
ONE DC believes housing should be a human right and as such the housing that is developed should be affordable for the current DC residents, particularly no-to-low-income households to preserve racial and economic equity in the District.
We Shall Not Be Moved: ONE DC’s Demands:
ONE DC member demands include
- a revision of the DC’s woefully inadequate definition of affordable housing
- that DC Government dedicate more resources to the development of housing for families making less than $50,000 a year
- stabilization of funding of the Housing Production Trust Fund
- income-tiered housing on Parcel 42 that is affordable for families making no more than $50,000 a year
ONE DC’s Perspective on the Housing Crisis for No-to Low-Income Households:
According to National Council of State Housing Agencies, less than 20 percent of District of Columbia’s units are affordable for those making less than 50% of the DC Metro Area Median Income. Currently, the DC Metro Area Median Income is $103,500 for a family of four.
ONE DC believes that the ever-increasing DC Metro AMI continues to limit the construction of affordable housing for households making less than $50,000. According to the above study, over 80 percent of the affordable housing constructed has targeted incomes making around or more than $60,000 for household of four, with rents starting around 1000 for a one bedroom.
Without a Housing Choice Voucher (currently approximately 30,000 DC residents are on the voucher waitlist), many no-to-low income families are effectively priced out of the market-rate and so called affordable housing markets. ONE DC’s believes that District of Columbia must dedicate greater subsidies to ensure fairness and equity for no-to-low-income DC households.
ONE DC (formerly Manna CDC) was founded in 1997 to help organize long-time, low-to-no wage income DC residents to exercise their political strength to address structural injustices in their neighborhoods, including gentrification and inadequate employment opportunities. ONE DC’s campaigns include the right to land, housing, and jobs. For more information on ONE DC, please visitwww.onedconline.org.
ONE DC is part of the Take Back the Land Movement, a national network of local organizations engaged in the struggle to elevate housing to the level of a human right and gain community control over land. The Take Back the Land Movement is coordinated by the US Human Rights Network (USHRNetwork.org). Get more information at Takebacktheland.org |
