Sacramento Housing Affordability Crisis

The lack of affordable housing and rise of homelessness in Sacramento is driven by deep economic inequality. And while we are called to treat the symptoms, we will not stop the pain until we get to the root of the problem. The housing example illustrates key factors that undergird our economic and social experiences. The motivation to increase profits was the driving force behind predatory lending, the rise of wall street landlords, skyrocketing rent increases, and the push to build luxury and market rate units instead of providing protections against rent hikes and developing or preserving affordable housing. Structures such as the secondary market and institutions such as banks or lobbyist groups worked to secure those profits through practices and policies. Entrenched beliefs about the American dream, the supremacy of the free market, and meritocracy were used to scaffold and legitimize our approach, even as it displaced communities and deepened the wealth gap.

ACCE’s solution is to build community power.

1. Build and maintain a mass base of tens of thousands of directly affected community members who organize and fight for the communities they want. This base is made up of core leaders who join ACCE to address individual and community concerns and a broader base of voters whom we have engaged through community canvassing over the last 10 years. Our organizers recruit members through door to door outreach, online organizing, presentations, civic engagement programs, and other forms of community outreach.
2. Develop leaders through daily relational work, political education, organizing training, and hands on experience to build a team of sophisticated campaigners who can engage allies and decision makers with confidence. Our leadership focus is not just on storytelling, but on topics such as how to engage your personal network; recruit members; facilitate meetings; conduct a power analysis; develop a campaign plan; plan and lead actions; and conduct negotiations.
3. Narrative shift work that addresses our current reality, uplifts a positive vision for the future, provides a path to success, and promotes our ideological framework. This requires a concerted focus on promoting equitable ideals through our spokespeople, campaign messaging, social media, and how we talk about wins.
4. Take up proactive, comprehensive organizing campaigns building our base and delivering meaningful short and long term wins as we move toward our vision. In addition to advancing our members’ interests and winning relief in the short-term, an additional benefit is diverting our opposition’s attention from their agenda to engage with us on our terrain.