Tenant Organizing

Empowering & Engaging

Through education, advocacy, building-based organizing, leadership development and membership engagement, CAT provides tools and resources for tenant empowerment. By working with low-income tenants to build power, CAT is helping tenants win improvements in their housing conditions and creating a more stable future for communities across Oregon.

As the housing market continues to tighten, the relevance of stable housing has become important to most people. This is a critical time for us to engage new and diverse voices in the housing justice movement. Through leadership development and community organizing we seek to build the power of low-income tenants to win improvements in housing conditions and direct the future of our communities.

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Membership Engagement

All of our tenant-led campaigns are designed and executed by our members and tenant leaders. Members help organize rallies and other direct actions, such as public testimonies and forums. We firmly believe that personal storytelling is the most effective and powerful way to build community and bring about systemic change.

 
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Safe Housing Project

CAT has been organizing tenants in the buildings where they live with the Safe Housing Project since 2004. Since we began, tenants have identified habitability and repair issues, as well as their vulnerability to no-cause evictions from retaliation, as their top priorities. The Safe Housing Project has organized over 50 buildings and apartment complexes since 2008.

At each of our member meetings, trainings, and actions, we provide opportunities for tenants to share their stories to one another, elected officials, and our community.

We also conduct focus groups and surveys to gather information from members about what kinds of challenges they face in their housing and what works best to help them overcome these challenges. To set policy priorities and direction for the organization, we facilitate dot-voting and consensus building exercises.

Enjoy the full benefits of tenant organizing by joining CAT today and becoming a member!

Tenants that participate in the Safe Housing Project develop skills in leadership, public speaking, meeting facilitation, and grassroots organizing. Tenants also learn about their rights as renters and how to reduce indoor health hazards. CAT staff and volunteers teach renters in apartment complexes how to organize around essential repair issues by demanding for safe, stable and affordable housing. We provide renters experiencing repair problems with education, expertise around city code and city inspectors, and support to fight for better quality housing.

The goal of the project is to improve housing conditions and build tenant power through education, training and building-based organizing.

        • We do door-to-door outreach to get other tenants in the building involved.

        • We organize and facilitate tenants’ meeting to discuss repair needs throughout the complex.

        • We provide education about renters’ right and tools to identify hazards within the home through workshops.

        • We support tenants’ action to get repairs.

        • We provide legal referrals, calls to the city inspectors and technical support.

        • We train and provide advocacy opportunities for tenants to address repair and habitability issues to the city and media on a larger scale.

The first step is for neighbors to start talking to each other. Through collective action, tenants gain strength and reduce their chances of being retaliated against by their landlord for demanding improvements that are required under the law. If you live in the Portland area and would like more information about organizing in your building, contact our Organizing Team.