In light of recent reports of the federal government proposing the elimination of Section 8 housing vouchers, Communities Resist Executive Director Nick E. Smith released the following statement:
“Since 1974, Section 8 housing vouchers have provided essential housing assistance to some of the most vulnerable Americans: low-income residents, residents with disabilities, and many others. The waiting list to get into the Section 8 program stretches into years. The reason that people need this assistance is because the average cost of rental housing is too expensive for most families in the first place.
Eliminating Section 8 is not only cruel, it would devastate communities across the United States and plunge our cities and towns into levels of homelessness not seen in several generations. That’s the risk we face with this budget proposal.
I urge officials to think about the most vulnerable communities that will be hurt by these proposed cuts, and reconsider any proposal that eliminates one of the most essential lifelines that’s existed for decades.”
Communities Resist (“CoRe”) is a community-based housing legal services and advocacy organization established and led by people of color to empower, educate and represent low-income communities and community coalitions preventing gentrification and displacement. Founded in 2019, CoRe has racked up several impressive wins, stopping nearly 1,000 evictions, filing 4,000+ affirmative litigation cases, engaging more than 8,000 New Yorkers at housing rights workshops and recovering settlements of all sizes for tenants across New York City.
“After years of feeling powerless against our abusive landlord who wasn’t providing heat and hot water nor repairing my apartments, my neighbors and I had no other choice than to reach out for help. With the help of our attorney from Communities Resist we were able to organize a Tenant Association and fight back against the abusive landlord. We finally won,” said Ramona Blash of 316 Suydam St. Tenant Association.
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