3 major victories to make you believe in community organizing

Last week, our grantees won three monumental victories in the movement for permanently affordable housing in New York City:

• After a decade-plus battle, Picture the Homeless and the citywide coalition it spearheads won a $1.65 million commitment from the De Blasio administration to fund Community Land Trust—a nonprofit that creates and manages affordable housing, civic, commercial, public spaces, and other assets on behalf of the local community.
• In New York City, nearly 20,000 families are evicted each year and nearly half wind up in homeless shelters. That will change soon because CASA and the Right to Counsel Coalition of NYC just made New York City the first city in the nation to guarantee legal representation for low-income renters facing eviction in housing court.
• Members of Northern Manhattan is Not for Sale coalition succeeded in pressuring Community Board 12 to oppose a zoning move that would have put hundreds of rent stabilized tenants at risk of displacement.

Community organizing is slow, challenging, and tremendous work. I wanted to share these victories with you because organizing is also about celebrating what we can achieve when we—North Star Fund, donors like you, allies, and all New Yorkers—invest in community-led solutions and unite behind the power of the people.

P.S. If you didn’t get on the #PeoplePoweredPhilanthropy bandwagon last month, it’s not too late to show love for the long haul. Become a sustainer today.