Housing: Crisis, Information, Resources

Housing means somewhere to live, a house or apartment.

During this EL-Civics unit, students are learning more about housing from their ESL teachers.  

Apartment Complex

Learning about housing is very important because there is a housing crisis in the San Mateo area now.  A crisis is a big, intense problem.  It is hard to find an apartment or a house to rent.  It is also difficult to buy a house or condo because they are very expensive.   There are many people here but not enough housing - houses or apartments.  And the prices - to rent or lease or buy - are very high. 

Recently, Representative Jackie Speier had a Townhall so people could discuss this situation and consider solutions.  You can read about it here and here.

On Wednesday, March 16th in the evening and Friday, March 18th in the morning, speakers from SFOP/PIA will talk to ESL students about housing.

SFOP/PIA is an Inter-Faith Group in San Francisco and the Peninsula.  They help people with housing, health-care, education, immigration, and more.  You can see their Facebook page here.

Aracely and David will speak about what students can do if they have housing problems.  They will speak in both English and Spanish. 


Resources:

If you need to find somewhere to live or you must leave where you are living now, here are some resources that might help you:

SFOP/PIA – San Francisco Organizing Project/Peninsula Interfaith Action – is a grassroots coalition of congregations and schools working to create solutions to the economic and racial injustices on the San Francisco Peninsula.   They can provide help or information about housing, evictions, etc.  Aracely Mondragon   Her email is aracely@sfop.org   http://www.sfop.org  http://www.sfop.org/issues-results/affordable-accessible-housing/  San Mateo Residents for Renter Protection is part of SFOP/PIA.  Look for it on Facebook.  Some of our students are involved with this group. 

Samaritan House helps people meet immediate basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, worker resources, and counseling. 

Hip Housing – home sharing program.  Matches residents with renters.  http://hiphousing.org/

Neighbors Helping Neighbors:  volunteer organization that helps with housing problems. Housing Coordinator:  NHN.HousingProgram@gmail.com  Phone: 650-283-0270 (no texting please) 

NHN Events Calendar: http://teamup.com/ks1b6f74434be230d5/                                                

Facebook: https://facebook.com/NeighborsHelpingNeighborsPaloAlto

Legal Aid Society of San Mateo - free legal help for low-income San Mateo County residents.


You can also go to smace.org website.  Click the dropdown menu to go to “students” and then click on “community resources.”  Look for the house icons.

Information:

There are many articles in the San Mateo Daily Journal about the housing crisis situation.  You can do an Internet search to read these articles.  Type "housing crisis San Mateo Daily Journal" into your browser, and you will find many articles.

UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project  http://www.urbandisplacement.org/     UC Berkeley is studying displacement.  Displacement is when people with less money or power are pushed out of where they live by people with more money or power.    The website has maps showing where this is happening.  The area around the Adult School is dark purple – advanced gentrification.  This means the area is changing, becoming higher in price. 

14 year old Gabriel Banuelos worked to help his family with an eviction notice.
He succeeded in helping his family get money to relocate to a new home.