Bay Area

Housing Justice Advocacy Groups Call for Rent Freeze

Published

6 years ago

March 26, 2020

Tenants and members of ACCE Action, Bay Area TANC, East Bay Housing Organizations, East Bay Democratic Socialists, and MOMS 4 Housing marched together on Nov 23, 2019, in Oakland’s March for Housing Now. These same groups and over 140 housing organizations are now calling for a rent freeze due to the COVID19 Pandemic. One marcher holds a sign reading “HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT,” a rallying cry that ACCE Action often uses. Photo by Zack Haber.

In the wake of the housing crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, housing justice advocacy organizations and tenants are calling on California leaders to freeze rent, put a moratorium on all evictions, and allow unhoused people to move into empty units.

“Rent and mortgage payments must be frozen as long as people are unable to work because of COVID-19, and any rent and mortgage debt accumulated during this time must be forgiven,” reads an open letter that Alliance of Californians for Community (ACCE) addressed to California’s leaders.

A poll conducted by NPR and PBS taken on March 13and 14 showed that 25% of people making 50,000$ or less in the United States had already lost their job or had their hours cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the percentage of lower-income people who’ve lost work is likely much higher in California and over a week later, where Governor Gavin Newsom put a statewide “shelter in place” order in place.

Since a state mandate has prevented so many people from working, advocacy groups and tenants claim renters can’t earn money to pay rent. The state mandate requires residents to “stay home or at their place of residence” except for essential jobs, shopping for essential items, and outdoor exercise. Advocacy groups say that unsheltered communities present a public health risk during the pandemic, but some have suggested that empty housing units, empty publicly owned buildings, and hotel units could be used to house the unsheltered.

“For the sake of humanity — everyone who wants to be brought indoors needs to be brought in immediately. All publicly owned property and vacant units — including luxury units — need to be opened up to currently homeless people,” reads ACCE’s letter.

On March 20, a coalition called Housing Now! sent a similar open letter to Newsom making almost the same demands as ACCE’s letter, though the letter stopped short of advocating for housing people in currently empty units. Around 150 California organizations signed the letter including Causa Justa / Just Cause, East Bay Democratic Socialists of America, and California YIMBY.

Around 25 California elected officials signed the letter including Berkley’s Mayor, Jesse Arreguin, and Oakland City Council member Nikki Fortunato Bas and City Council President Rebecca Kaplan.

While housing justice advocacy groups have called on leaders to change policy, groups of residents are confronting power directly by moving into vacant housing units and/or preparing to refuse to pay rent through rent strikes.

On March 14, an unhoused man and two families moved into a vacant home in the El Sereno neighborhood of Los Angeles. On March 18, a group of unhoused and housing insecure residents who call themselves “Reclaim Our Homes,” moved into 11 more homes in the same area. CalTrans owns all 12 homes and planned to destroy them to extend the 710 Freeway, but the agency has left them empty even after their plans fell through in 2018.

On March 16, Station 40, a multi-racial working class collective who’ve rented their home in San Francisco for 17 years announced they are going on a rent strike.

“Now more than ever, we refuse debt and we refuse to be exploited. We will not shoulder this burden for the capitalists,” the collective wrote in an open letter, addressing their rent strike.

Bay Area Tenant and Neighborhood Councils (TANC), a group of Bay Area tenants who organize into tenant unions that then make demands on landlords has released a statement called “Rent Suspension Now!,” which also calls for a rent freeze. The statement acknowledges that though Alameda County Sheriff’s office has committed to currently not enforcing evictions, there must be a guarantee that evictions related to current lost wages not occur in the future.

“During the crisis, rent must be completely forgiven; there should be no expectation to pay it now, or ‘back pay’ it in the future. Nobody should profit from this crisis,” TANC’s statement reads.

TANC is currently accepting members. Tenants who want help unionizing can join TANC at baytanc.com/signup/.

Zack Haber

Posts by Zack Haber

Related Topics:Alliance of Californians for Community COVID-19 rent freeze

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

Published

3 days ago

September 7, 2026

Oakland Post

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Activism

Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association

The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”

Published

2 weeks ago

August 29, 2026

Post News Group

Dawna Williams, EOBA executive director speaks to attendees at the Black August Eperience on Aug. 21. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Flynn of EOBA.

By Jana Lang Propel Youth Reporter

Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association

The East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA) and Youth Alive! came together on Aug. 21 to share with their community all that Black August means to them.

Held on EOBA’s patio at 816 98th Ave. in Deep East Oakland, the two organizations hosted their second annual Black August Experience, featuring a food tasting, financial literacy and mindfulness workshops, and voter registration with the League of Women Voters Oakland (LWV).

Black August is known as a time to uphold the legacy of prisoners who protested their conditions by fasting, fighting, and educating themselves on the economic and political circumstances that contributed to their incarceration.

According to its website, “EOBA is a multi-service youth and community development hub that goes far beyond the ring. While rooted in the discipline of boxing, for nearly 40 years EOBA has also integrated robust programs in workforce development, food justice, afterschool enrichment, financial literacy, mentorship, and wellness.”.

The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”

Through Coro California, another leadership organization serving young people across the state for 80 years, they gained a broader understanding of Black August.

EOBA Executive Director Dawna Williams spoke about how much she learned about Black August from the youth who created it. “I let them educate me,” she said. Instead of talking about prison reform and mass incarceration, Williams and youth interns found that Black August meant so much more. “We would have done a disservice if we had just focused on who the people were and what their situation was…We tried to take their message from back in the day and make it relevant to the young people today. What do they need to know?”

Youth interns created and placed posters around the patio to help participants understand how traditional Black foodways, civic engagement, financial literacy, and the power of education are relevant to Black resistance today.

An EOBA member described Black August with Youth ALIVE! as “a whole vibe. “This year we added the Fun Zone for the kids, because you really cannot go wrong with a Fun Zone. I also loved seeing everyone chillin’ in the outdoor lounge, catching some Vitamin D and just enjoying a Friday evening together.”

The food tasting, a popular event from last year, featured traditional Black foods such as black-eyed peas, johnny cakes, and fried chicken. Led by Williams, the tasting included a talk about how these traditional foods were made and why they are forms of Black resilience.

The “‘Plate of History’ was a favorite of the online writers. “Fun, educational, and did I mention delicious? Our Taste of History cook, Angela Southall, served up some good eats while connecting food to history and culture.”

The writer also commended the “League of Women Voters Oakland for their civic leadership and for getting our young people informed, ready, and registered to vote.”

Overall, it was a “good Friday event in East Oakland,” the writer said.

Upcoming Black August events: Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The websites for East Oakland Boxing Association, Youth Alive! and CORO are sources for this report.

Jana Lang is an Oakland resident, teacher, gardener and poet participating in the Propel News Initiative.