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THE PROBLEM
12%
of the unsheltered population of San Diego County are youth. That number represents more than 1,500 youth.
source: sdyouthservices.org
San Diego, like many cities across California and the country, is facing a major housing crisis. While in recent years leaders have begun trying to address this human rights crisis, we've simply been fighting the symptoms. To take steps in tackling the housing crisis, we must address and target the root causes.
Some of the root causes of the housing crisis we seek to address through our projects are as follows:
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Lack of commitment to smart development and policies, that will begin to address the systemic issues we face from decades of inaction on housing and transportation planning and development.
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Failure to plan for our city's growth in the past and present.
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The stigmatization of and misinformation around increased density, multi-family homes, and public housing.
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History of exclusion in land planning and housing and transportation policy decisions, especially of youth and other marginalized communities
WHAT WILL IT TAKE?
108,036
is the number of housing units the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) determined San Diego would need to build by 2029 in order to adequately serve our rapidly growing city. However, since the report was released in 2021, San Diego's built less than 20,000 new units to reach that goal.
This crisis is so much more than the numbers though. To achieve housing justice in San Diego we need to tackle the systemic and harmful policies of our past as we reimagine our lived environments for the future. Using our lived experiences and youthful creativity, we must collaboratively create the solutions we want to see.
What is the solution to such an overwhelming and long-term problem?
We need to tackle the systemic and harmful policies of our past as we reimagine our lived environments for the future.
We play our part in advancing this solution by organizing youth in San Diego, stakeholders that have been historically excluded. Youth are overwhelmingly pro-housing, but our voices and perspectives are often left out of the decision-making process due to intentional and circumstantial barriers to entry.
Our strategy is to increase the capacity, confidence, and ability of impacted groups, predominately youth, to be a part of the solution. Together we will:
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Host educational community events
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Foster a supportive pro-housing community by organizing
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Connect youth stakeholders to the broader pro-housing community
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Bolster passionate young leaders in the pro-housing movement
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Find ways to maximize the benefits of current investments in infrastructure as our city continues to grow and develop
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Inspire creative collective action to call for smart future-oriented solutions
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Counter-overrepresented anti-housing voices currently dominating the narrative
We have recently split this work into three focus areas.
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Eliminating Exclusionary Zoning
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Eliminating decades old policies denying justice to many San Diegans seeking a home in our region.
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Enacting Social Housing
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Creating opportunities for mixed-income communities free from rent burden.
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Ending Youth Homelessness
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Addressing the very present crisis impacting youth across the region by connecting youth with resources and providing lived-experience-informed feedback to service providers.
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TIME FOR SOME HOPE...
San Diego is Pro-Housing! No, literally...
At the end of 2022, San Diego was one of 6 cities to earn the State Pro-Housing
Designation. However, the fight is far from over. We must continue to push for
pro-housing policies and ensure the progress we've already made to earn such a
designation is not lost. Join us in this effort.
At Our Time to Act, we have HOPE for the future of housing and transportation in San Diego. We believe that more housing options for our fellow residents mean preventing exclusion in this beautiful place we call home.
If you also believe that there is HOPE for our future, we would love for you to join us in the fight. There are plenty of ways to get involved. If you want to learn more about our work and how to get involved in housing justice, please check out one of our past info-videos. Keep an eye out for new videos related to our current work coming soon. Please consider joining our newsletter to keep up to date on ways to support the cause, or meet with one of our Housing Justice Directors if you have any questions! Applications to join one of our housing justice teams are open, if you are passionate about creating more housing opportunities to prevent exclusion in San Diego, consider joining our team!
Apply to join one of our Housing Justice teams working to end the housing crisis.
Want to learn more about the housing crisis and policies in San Diego? We have you covered.
Schedule a one-on-one with our Executive Director
Keep updated with our progress and other projects.
YOUTH ARE PRO-HOUSING!
Find more videos on our Youtube Channel!
HOUSING RESOURCES
We understand that much of the work we do in housing justice is pushing for long-term solutions to lasting and systemic problems. Due to the nature of housing and land-use policy and development, the housing crisis is impossible to solve overnight. While this can be discouraging, we cannot let this get in the way of our fight for a better future. If we don't start now, we will never achieve a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable housing and transportation future for San Diego.
That being said, we are also aware that many of the problems we intend to solve are everyday realities for many San Diegans, especially youth. Below are some resources that seek to address the housing crisis in the short-term and provide some relief to the issue of housing insecurity and the challenges that can arise as a result of it.
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PHOTOS FROM PAST EVENTS
MEET THE TEAM!
MASAKI MENDOZA
he/him/his
Director of Housing Justice
Eliminating Exclusionary Zoning
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AAROHAN HARIHARAN
he/him/his
Director of Housing Justice
Enacting Social Housing
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ALONDRA HERRERA
she/her/hers
Housing Justice Organizer
Ending Youth Homelessness
NOAH GONZALEZ
he/him/his
Housing Justice Organizer
Eliminating Exclusionary Zoning
LOUIS AVALOS
he/him/his
Director of Housing Justice
Ending Youth Homelessness
