The Oregon Housing Alliance is spending the week in our nation’s capital, Washington DC, with the National Low Income Housing Coalition. On Wednesday, March 21, we’ll join hundreds of other housing advocates to meet with our congressional delegation to speak out for more safe and stable homes for our neighbors in Oregon.
You can join us from the comfort of your home! Let’s use this day to speak up for housing! It’s easy:
- First, find your Congressperson. Each Oregonian has one Congressperson – find yours here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative.
- Our US Senators are Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Jeff Merkley. You can find their office information here: Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Jeff Merkley.
- Will you call, email, or write a letter? They all work! Choose whatever is easiest for you.
- Pick what you’d like to talk to your Congressperson and Senators about:
- Are you concerned about the President’s budget for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development? One of the things that concerns us is that it removes all the money for maintaining our vital supply of public housing around the Country. We can’t afford to lose affordable homes in Oregon to disrepair – these apartments are home to seniors, people with disabilities, and families just starting out. Read more here. If you want to read more about other impacts of the proposed Presidents budget, you can read this post.
- Are you concerned about only one in four households being able to access help paying their rent through Housing Choice Vouchers? Housing Choice Vouchers mean families are stable and can pay for other basic necessities, like food and medicine. More of our neighbors need this assistance, and we’d like to see Congress expand funding for Housing Choice Vouchers. Read more here.
- Are you concerned about people experiencing homelessness in our communities? We are too. The National Alliance to End Homelessness has a summary of what is needed to more appropriately fund homeless service programs at the federal level. Read more here.
- Figure out what you’d like to say.
- Tell them you’re a constituent, and share your town or neighborhood!
- Start with a sentence about why having a safe and stable home matters to you. Share one of our values messages: https://www.oregonhousingalliance.org/talking-about-home/.
- Share some basic statistics about what’s happening in your community – share a personal story about the need for more affordable homes, or consider picking one fact from our county need sheets from your community.
- Ask your Senators and Congressperson to act. Tell them about the issue you’re concerned about, and ask them to act to protect Oregonians struggling with housing instability.
- Thank them for their service!