I just got off the phone with Troy Theil, founder of Community for Affordable Housing (CFAH), who spoke at the FIABCI Affordable Housing Summit that I attended last week. Troy is a strong supporter of Attain Housing here on the Eastside, but he sees that we need to go beyond treating the symptoms of our housing crisis and address more of the root causes. One cause is the great economic inequities. Another cause are laws and policies that get in the way of creating housing that is affordable to rent and own. Troy has a strong background in real estate and legislation related to housing as well as a passion for investigating what really works and advocating for needed changes.
Knowing that at our recent EISCC and ARCH workshop there was considerable interest in learning how to be better advocates for housing that people can afford, I asked Troy if he would be interested in speaking at an event focused on advocacy for better laws and policies related to housing. He said “yes.” So, how can we make this happen? Who is “in”? Can we create something that can be repeated in different locations, not just Seattle or the Eastside? Who would like to work on a press strategy? This is a real challenge since much of the press relies on advertising from real estate organization that are invested in protecting the status quo.
Elizabeth Maupin, M.Div.
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