Dear RUN,

Last week, RUN members from San Diego and LA packed Zoom rooms to speak up. In our first two virtual “There Ought To Be A Law” brainstorms, RUN came up with 90 ideas for how to ensure all Californians have safe, stable, affordable housing in 2021. Ninety! And we’ve got three more to go!

What were some of the ideas bubbling up? A lot of them had to do with COVID-19, as you might expect. Protecting vulnerable Californians from pandemic evictions, especially people who just don’t have rent money, topped the list. And in a year marked by uprisings against police violence, RUN members suggested moving money away from police and towards investment in mental health services and supportive housing, similar to what Measure J in LA proposes. When we considered how to pay for more affordable housing? “Tax the rich,” leaders said.

Do you have opinions about what RUN should fight for in 2021? You have a few ways to share them. If you live in Sacramento or the Central Valley, join the regional convening next Thursday 10/15 at 3:30pm. If you live in the Bay Area, join the regional convening next Friday 10/16 at 11am. If you’re a Spanish speaker, join our Spanish-language and Orange County convening 10/16 at 8am.

If you live somewhere else, or you’d just like us to add your thoughts into the mix, hit reply to this email! Then look out for the RUN survey, coming late this month, to vote for your top ideas.

Take good care,

Tori

Connect with RUN

• Join us at a regional convening!

Sacramento and the Central Valley: Thursday, October 15 at 3:30pm. Register here.      

Orange County (in Spanish - any Spanish speakers may join from outside of Orange County): Friday, October 16 at 8am. Register here.

Bay Area: Friday, October 16 at 11am. Register here.

• A reminder: from September 30 - October 14, we will NOT have Community Care calls. That means NO Community Care Call this week. Please attend your regional convening instead, and we’ll see you back on October 2.
• Join us at the virtual RUN Summit, December 3 and 4, 2020. Apply here through October 28. Who should go to the Summit? 1. People who attend the regional convenings. 2. People who have attended a Summit in the past. 3. People who have been to our Community Care calls. Not sure if that’s you? Ask your organizer or email us back.

News you can use

• Here’s a look at how Austin, Texas decriminalized homelessness. Turns out a lot of the laws from the 1990s were written by white nationalists, some of whom were from California.
• Closer to home, some people who left California to find affordable housing in Oregon are now contending with wildfires there. Oregon, Washington, and Idaho are struggling to deal with the impact of California’s high rents.