Resources
This page contains resources for renters navigating the affordable housing crisis. The map and categories below compile county agencies, social services, legal aid resources, and tenants rights organizations, primarily in Santa Cruz County and the Bay Area, but also statewide and nationally.
Report a Housing Code Violation
County Environmental Health Department
env.hlth@SantaCruzCounty.us
(831) 454-2022
City Code Compliance Division
(831) 420-5100, option 4
District Attorney’s Office, Consumer Protection
dao@co.santa-cruz.ca.us
(831) 454-2400
Tenants Rights
BLANK
Regional Tenants Unions
Residents Insisting on Social Equity (RISE)
risefremont.org
Residents United Network
Facilitated by Housing California and Center for Community Change, the group is designed to engage affordable-home residents in the decisions that affect the health and stability of their lives and communities and harness people power as a political force in order to influence policy and budget decisions at the state, regional, and local level.
housingca.org/run
Silicon Valley@Home
A membership organization that advocates for policies, programs, land use, and funding that lead to an increased supply of affordable housing. Educates elected officials and the public about the need for housing, and links between housing and other quality of life outcomes, including education, health, transportation and the environment.
siliconvalleyathome.org
SPUR: Ideas and Action for a Better City
With offices in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, SPUR is a civic planning organization and a member-supported nonprofit organization. Publishes The Urbanist, and host more than 200 events a year.
spur.org
Tenants Together
Statewide renters’ rights organization focused on:
Education: Tenant Rights Hotline provides peer-counseling. Tenant Leadership Institute trains residents on organizing in their own buildings and communities on advancing tenants’ rights.
Organizing: Provide resources for individual tenants to form Tenant Action Groups and recruit groups to become member organizations of Tenants Together. Provide technical assistance on organizing campaigns and build coalitions to win state and local legislative battles. Prioritize cities that do not yet have groups focused on tenant organizing.
Advocacy: Tenant Lawyer Network trains tenant attorneys across the state to advocate for renters’ rights, files impact litigation, and provides legal assistance to campaigns in drafting and reviewing legislation, as well as lending expertise to many state bills that impact renters’ rights.
tenantstogether.org
Urban Habitat—Housing Justice Campaign
Co-organized the 6 Wins Network, made up of 20 Bay Area social justice, faith, public health, housing, and environmental organizations came together in 2010. Developed the Equity, Environment and Jobs (EEJ) scenario for Plan Bay Area.
urbanhabitat.org/policy-advocacy/housing-justice
Regional Organizations
BLANK
Anti-Eviction Mapping Project
AEMP uses qualitative and quantitative mapping to “document the dispossession of San Francisco Bay Area residents.” Includes impacts of Ellis Act evictions, tech shuttle stops, and AirBnB on rent increases, gentrification, and displacement, as well as the political networks that support these measures.
antievictionmap.com
East Bay Community Law Center Housing Program
Berkeley/East Bay Legal program focused on defending eviction lawsuits brought against low income tenants
ebclc.org
East Bay Housing Organization
A membership non-profit organization dedicated to working with communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties to preserve, protect and expand affordable housing opportunities through education, advocacy, organizing, and coalition building
ebho.org
Eden Council for Hope and Opportunity (ECHO)—Alameda County
A comprehensive housing counseling agency providing education and charitable assistance to the general public to obtain and maintain housing and improve social, economic, familial, and educational conditions
echofairhousing.org
Housing California
Advocates for affordable housing policies and budgetary allocations in the state Capitol Holds annual conference on housing in Sacramento
housingca.org
Law Foundation of Silicon Valley—San Jose
Advocates on behalf of renters
lawfoundation.org
Non-Profit Housing of Northern California
Focuses the non-profit sector and government policy on strategies to build, develop, and preserve affordable housing. Does legislative advocacy and offers technical assistance, public policy development, professional training, networking opportunities, and resources for housing policy analysts, advocates and activists.
nonprofithousing.org
National Organizations
BLANK
Project Sentinel
HUD (Housing and Urban Development, federal agency)-approved housing counselling agency
housing.org
Grounded Solutions Network
The National Community Land Trust Network and Cornerstone Partnership joined forces to form this network. Works nationally, connecting local experts with networks, knowledge and support.
groundedsolutions.org
—See: the National Community Land Trust Network directory that includes listings for 24 CLTs in California, more than any other state in US, and resources for creating a CLT.
Homes for All
National campaign launched in 2013, through the national Right to the City umbrella organization, with the goal of broadening the conversation of the housing crisis beyond foreclosure and putting forth a comprehensive housing agenda that also speaks to issues affecting public housing residents, homeless families, and the growing number of renters in American cities.
homesforall.org
Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University
Aims to investigate and illuminate housing’s critical role in the economy and in communities, serving as a resource for scholars, public and private sector leaders, housing practitioners, and policymakers. Their signature annual report, The State of the Nation’s Housing, summarizes their analysis of key trends each year.
jchs.harvard.edu