During the Greensboro City Council meeting this June, there was an entire section of the seating area s filled with people wearing green, purple, and yellow shirts representing the Keep Gate City Housed campaign, clapping loudly.
We clapped because the city council of Greensboro decided to approve a budget that included $440,000 for the Tenant Education Advocacy and Mediation (TEAM) Program, resourcing it full time and an additional $1.47 million to be earmarked for cash rental assistance.
We clapped for the city council making the right decision, but we were also clapping in celebration of all of the people who made this effort happen through the work of organizing in a coalition led by our friends at the AFSC of the Carolinas. Simply put, organizing is the act of courageously coming together with people you do and don’t know, in solidarity, to build people power and make change towards a shared purpose.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever heard people clap for a city budget vote before,”
– Mayor Nancy Vaughan
How did Guilford for All get involved with the Keep Gate City Housed campaign?
First, we talked to our neighbors
In the summer of 2023, Guilford for All (G4A) and the Carolina Federation spoke with hundreds of our neighbors and invited them to join us to help us craft our People’s Platform. During this process, access to affordable housing was identified as the most pressing issue in Guilford County and across North Carolina. At this same time, our friends at the American Friends Service Committee of the Carolinas (AFSC) were deeply engaged in policy research on the issue of housing and beginning the formation of a campaign to address some of the issues of housing.
Next, we voted to join the Keep Gate City Housed Campaign
After their research, our partners at the AFSC asked us if some of our volunteers and members might be interested in supporting the Keep Gate City Housed campaign to demand that our city council use our city budget to fully fund the TEAM Program. We said yes to this in December, and then in February, G4A hosted a Teach-In for our members and volunteers. On March 3rd, after collaborative discussions with AFSC, our members voted overwhelmingly for G4A to formally join the Keep Gate City Housed campaign alongside the AFSC, faith community partners, and others.
Finally we canvassed, sent postcards to elected officials, and helped lead actions at city hall
After voting to approve the campaign, Guilford for All leaders joined coalition partners at City Council and County Commission budget town halls and one-on-one meetings where the coalition identified elected champions. We worked with AFSC to host an awesome campaign kick off.
We knocked doors and invited people to community conversations in which we identified neighbors who were impacted by housing and were willing to speak out in front of City Hall. Some of them did, bravely sharing their stories in front of our elected leaders. Other members participated in eviction court watch, participated in a mock eviction court, attended delegation meetings with city council members and engaged in many other efforts led by our coalition partners. We talked with over 300 neighbors who signed pledge cards supporting the campaign, and sent over 150 postcards to elected officials supporting the demands.
Lauren Cunningham shares her personal experience with housing insecurity and why we’re fighting for more support for our neighbors facing eviction.
This collective work of all the Keep Gate City Housed coalition partners led to nearly $2 million dollars in our city’s budget to go to supporting renters and prevent evictions that wouldn’t have been included otherwise!
While we celebrate this win, Guilford for All and the Carolina Federation knows there’s more work ahead of us to win the Guilford County and North Carolina we dream of.